Thomas Straker’s Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

December 8, 2025.Reading time 1 minute.

Makes 10 – 15 scoops

Ice cream – at least as far as I knew – was about making custards, then combining with more creams and flavours.

So could this one work?

When I was a kid, I would put milk and Strawberry Nesquik into my parents’ ice cream maker and sure it was yummy, though frozen (icy) milk does not make ice cream.

Anyway, short of time and having promised ice cream for a lunch, I chose this Thomas Straker recipe: and hot damn: it’s awesome.

And so so easy.

Dulce de Leche (caramel) can be found at most supermarkets. So now there is no excuse.

Ingredients

500ml whole milk
400gm dulce de leche
124ml double cream

Method

Put the milk and dulce de leche in a saucepan and set over a medium heat. Stir constantly until the dulce de leche has totally melted. Set aside to cool.
Once cooled, whisk in the double cream., then transfer to an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturers’s instructions. Store in the freezer.

Adam Liaw’s Vietnamese Affogato

July 24, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Makes: 1 1/2 ltr of ice cream

This incredibly simple ice cream doesn’t even require an ice cream machine, though I did use our churner and the result was wonderful.

We had Nat’s parents over for a mid-week meal and so a streamlined menu was a must.

This ice cream absolutely nailed the brief.

Ingredients

1 – 2 shots of strong espresso per person*

Condensed Milk Ice Cream

1 can (395hm) sweetened condensed milk
600ml thickened cream

Method

To make the ice cream, pour condensed milk and cream into the bowl of an electric mixer and whip to stiff peaks. If not using an ice cream maker, transfer to a container and freeze for a least 4 hours or until firm.
Place a large scoop of the ice cream in a chilled glass and serve with a shot of espresso in a glass on the side. Pour the coffee over the ice cream and eat immediately with a spoon.

* Substitute Frangelico or similar to really dial it up!

Claudia Roden’s Apple Chaussons

June 15, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Makes: 8 pastries

I’m not the pastry or dessert person in our house, though I have come to appreciate that the French really did understand that you really don’t need to go overboard to achieve something truly delicious.

And this is a classic example of that. Chaussson aux Pommes.

This is such a classy, self-contained number.

Largely pre-prepared and something you could happily eat the next day with a coffee.

I spend my time on the savoury. The first and second course. Decanting the wine. Etc.

Though jeez I am happy for the slight stretch to include these in our last meal.

Won’t be the last time.

I have very slightly adjusted the recipe.

Ingredients

2 sheets of puff pastry
4 apples
1 tbsp lemon juice
100ml apple juice (or water)
50 – 60gm caster sugar, to taste
4 egg yolks, plus 1 to glaze
80ml crème fraîche or double cream
Sunflower oil for greasing
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

Take the puff pastry out of the fridge to dethaw and preheat the oven to 200c.
Peel, core and quarter the apples, dropping them into a bowl of water with the lemon juice to stop them discolouring. Drain them and put in a pan with the apple juice, put the lid on and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes until they are very soft. Remove the lid and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated.
Mash the apples with a potato masher, stir in the suggar and cook over a medium heat, stirring, for about 2 – 3 minutes to allow for liquid to evaporate.
Beat the 4 egg yolks with the crème fraîche. Add this to the apple mixture and cook over a low heat, stirring vigourously, for 1 – 2 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. Leave to cool.
Lightly oil a large baking sheet with baking paper. Mix the remaining egg yolk with a drop of water.
Cut the 2 pastry sheets into four squares. Lightly brush the tops with the egg yolk glaze and bake for 20 minutes until puffed up and browned.
Leave the pastries to cool slightly, then slice through the middle with a serated knife and fill each one with about 2 heaped tbsp of the apple cream. Dust with icing sugar.

Patricia Wells’ Caramelised Upside-down Pear Tart (Tarte Tatin aux Poires)

June 2, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 8 – 10

This is such an elegant yet rustic tart, expertly plated by Nat for a long afternoon of bistro French.

It can be prepared in advance and served with a homemade vanilla bean ice cream, it ended what was just a wonderful lunch.

Perfectly on theme.

Ingredients

6 tbsp unsalted butter
7 to 8 firm pears, preferably Bosc, peeled, quartered and cored
1/2 c sugar
Crème fraîche to serve

Pâte brisée (Flaky pastry)

1 to 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
7 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp ice water

Method

Prepare the Pâte brisée: place 1 cup of flour, the butter and salt in a food processor. Process just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. All the ice water and pulse just until the pastry begins to hold together, about 6 – 8 times. Ao not let it form a ball. Transfer the pastry to waxed paper; flatten the dough into a disk. If the dough seems too sticky, sprinkle it with additional flour, incorporating 1 tbsp at a time. Wrap the pastry in waxed paper and refridgerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 220c.
Melt the butter in a deep skillet (30cm) over medium-high heat. Stir in the pears and sugar. Cook, stirring carefully from time to time, so the pears and sugar do not stick, 20 minutes. (The more you stir, the more likely you are to end up woth caramel, which you do not want.)
Increase the heat to high and cook until the pears and sugar are a deep, golden brown, though not caramel. Shake the pan from time to time to ensure the sugar does not burn.
Literally pile the pears into an unbuttered round (27cm) clear glass baking dish or a special tin-lined copper tart Tatin pan.
Roll out the Pâte brisée slightly larger than the dish. Place the pastry on top of the pears, tucking a bit of the dough around the edges and down into the dish. You do not need to prick the dough.
Place the tart in the center of the oven and bake until the pears bubble and the pastry is a deep, golden brown, about 35 – 40 minutes.
Remove the tart from the oven and immediately place a large, flat heatproof serving platter top-side down on top of the baking dish or pan. Invert the pan and give the bottom a firm tap to release any pears that might be sticking to the bottom. Slowly release the baking dish, so the tart falls evenly onto the serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature, passing a bowl of crème fraîche to spoon over the tart.

Chocolate and Strega Tiramisu

July 24, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 6

I love an old school Tiramisu, the more traditional – the better!

Its important to dial up the alcohol so you have that warming hit with every spoonful.

This recipe is from Ellen Beerworth’s famous cookbook and I can’t wait to try it tonight (its currently setting in the fridge)

By Nat x

Ingredients

3 eggs, separated
1/3 cup caster sugar
250g cream cheese (at room temperature
1 cup thickened cream (not light!)
1 1/2 Tbs cocoa + extra for dusting
1 c espresso (2 Tsp instant coffee mixed with warm water)
2 Tbs dark rum (I have a whole bottle here if anyone ever wants to borrow some)
250g Savoiardi biscuits

Method

Beat the egg yolks and 1/4 c of the sugar until thick and pale (about 7 mins). Mix in the cream cheese and combine well (if its lumpy at this point the cream cheese was too cold, put over heat and beat until it smooths out).
Wisk the cream with the remaining sugar (1.5 Tbs) until soft peaks form.
Add the whipped cream to the egg and cream cheese mixture and divide evenly into two bowls.
In one of the bowls sift 1 1/2 Tbs cocoa and stir until its combined.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Divide the egg whites between the two bowls and fold in until combined.
Mix the espresso with the dark rum in a shallow bowl. Dip in the biscuits for about 20 seconds so they are really soggy and make layers of biscuits, plain mascarpone, biscuits and chocolate mascarpone.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Neil Perry’s Chocolate Cake

January 19, 2021.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 10

This is the second time I have had this cake and it is brilliant.

Neil Perry says it is his favourite which is not hard to understand.

It is not only fantastically simple, it is like a soufflé. An incredible chocolate soufflé.

And it will easily last a day so you can cook it the night ahead like Nat did.

A sophisticated dinner party, hard not to go past this.

Ingredients

400gm good quality dark chocolate, broken up
6 eggs separated
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 1/2 tbsp Cointreau
300ml pure (whipping) cream, plus extra whipped to serve
Icing sugar to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 175c. Cut a piece of grease proof paper to fit a 20cm round cake tin, with double layer for the side and a singlet layer for the bottom. Spray the tin with cooking oil and fit the greaseproof paper in snuggle.
Melt the chocolate in a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of hot water. (Don’t scald the chocolate by allowing the water to boil.) Remove the chocolate from the heat and allow to return to room temperature.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and 2/3 of the sugar until pale and creamy. Add the Cointreau and continue to beat until well combined. Add the chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and stir until completely incorporated, then slowly stir in half the cream. Set aside.
Whip the remaining cream until soft peaks form. Start whisking the egg whites in a very clean bowl. When soft peaks start to form, slowly add the remaining sugar and whip until very firm. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Finally, fold in the whipped egg whites.
Pour into the cake tin, put the tin in a bain-marie or on a baking tray and add enough hot water to come about 2.5cm up the outside of the tin. Bake for 45 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 150c and bake for another 45 mins. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for another 20 minutes. Cut around the edge of the tin, turn it over onto a plate and the cake should slide out easily.
Cut slices using as knife dipped in hot water and clean the knife after each cut. (Place on white plates.) Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with lightly whipped cream.

Super low calorie Chocolate Chip Brownies

August 23, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Makes: 32

During Covid, the decision was made that we should be like the Kardashians and always have a stocked cake stand in our kitchen.

The main beneficiaries have been the three boys who now have a permanent patisserie on hand, especially five minutes before dinner: 6.55pm, grab a piece of fudge or a cupcake or a slice of cheesecake, why not?

The issue is that I certainly don’t need a 24/7 patisserie in our house, let alone anywhere I can walk or drive.

A recent honeycomb lasted an evening. As just one example.

Which is why this brownies are amazing.

Cut into 32, these are 23-calories each. Yep.

23.

And even if they were 33 or 43, it’s a patisserie miracle.

And sure, they’d find it hard to duke it out with something full of walnuts and butter, though on their own, they’re great.

And you won’t have regrets the next morning.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup stevia
1/4 cup milk of choice
2 tbsp egg whites
1 cup fat-free vanilla yoghurt (we used Greek)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
2 tbsp chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 180c. Spray a square baking dish with non-stick spray and line with baking paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl mix the stevia, milk, egg whites, yoghurt and vanilla.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry. Mix to combine and pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. All to cool before slicing into squares.

Nat and Rob’s Long Lunch

March 23, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

Serves: 30

Last Saturday, Nat and I finally did it.

We got married! In Palm Beach. In front of our family and very closest friends.

It was a close to eloping as Nat’s mother would allow.

Here we are:

And our three monkeys, Oliver, TT. And Max:

Rather than a traditional wedding – which neither of us wanted – we based the whole thing around a long lunch (with a very short wedding to begin). Because long lunches we do, weddings much less so.

Six courses. And plenty of champagne and wine.

My mother Ellen was a genius planning the menu, a process that took weeks and weeks to refine, test, refine and debate. We really would not have gotten there without her, especially the part where she cooked 20 duck confit two nights beforehand.

Hats off to Nat too: she sliced 16 kilos of onion, made 4 litres of corn stock, cubed 5 kilos of snapper, cured a salmon and reduced 10 litres of cream and fish stock two, one and zero days to the d-day. (These are qualities anyone should look for in a wife!)

And so it’s on the record, firstly, thanks to everyone that helped on the day…

Ellen: the menu, cooking half the food, looking a million bucks on the day:

Court: planning, support and advice for the day as well as cooking a cookie for the cookie course… and setting up and cleaning up after:

Bec, Woodles and Lob: for their amazing contribution to the cookie course.

(And Woodles again for her beautiful, off-the-cuff speech that could have dissected me, though instead just reinforced what a beautiful person Nat is…)

Sare Bear: for her incredibly generous contribution of the flowers and photography. We owe you big time.

Rob A, Greg and Sean: for being the logistics backbone of the day: hauling up wine and champagne, setting up in the rain, cleaning up in the pouring rain the next day.

Rob A (again) and Deb: for running around for weeks beforehand helping organise things and always asking what more they could do… the best parents-in-law anyone could ask for:

(And thanks for the cracker speech Rob. Unusually light on me! And Deb’s toast: Mazzeltov!)

Bill: for his really moving speech… it is clear how much he loves Nat and there wasn’t anyone that wasn’t really touched by the end of it:

Giles: my best mate and someone who can be relied upon to have a brilliantly funny speech up his sleeve for any occasion, even if I still can’t understand a word!

Oliver and Tom: these young men delivered two wonderful speeches that were as touching as they were funny. The entire house was in tears:

Brooke: for the beautiful bouquet:

Christian (The Boathouse at Blackwattle Bay), Laura (Palisade) and Vincenzo (Appetito, Rockpool in Perth): the best trio of cooking and waiting we could have ever asked for. Serious professionals:

Daniella: our always dependable friend who can help out with our kids on a Saturday night, plate 31 snapper pies, speak Italian and flip our AirBNB whilst we are in the Maldives.

Secondly, for everyone that asked, here are the dishes we served on the day:

#1 Soup and Sandwich

#2 Cheese and Salad

#3 Duck and Cherries

#4 Snapper Pie

#5 Mexican Wall

#6 Cookies and Cream (a shot of Baileys):

– Cookie 1 – Lobba’s Choc Chip
– Cookie 2 – Court’s Peanut Butter-Stuffed Cookies
– Cookie 3 – Woodle’s Butter Cookies
– Cookie 4 – Bec’s Hazelnut Cookies

Thirdly, here is the shortlist of photos from the day.

And the photos from our guests.

And finally… thank you to my gorgeous wife and best friend. Thank you for agreeing to marry this old dog.

I promise I’ll make it worth your while NB: