Category: Dessert

Apple and Sultana Muffins

.Reading time 1 minute.

Makes: 12

We went on a bit of a muffin crave a few months back.

Every Sunday, we would whip up a batch for lunches and snacks, usually doubling the recipe on account of Tom (6) hoovering six (6) of them as soon as they could be handled.

These muffins are pretty down-the-line muffins though the boys whole-heartedly helped cut and mix all the ingredients. And any recipe that the boys participate in is one to type up; because getting participation and having fun in the process is half the point.

Our craves move on and the muffin ship has sailed for the moment, though if I did a batch of these one night as a treat, I have no doubt the ship would be back in port.

Keep it simple, treat yourself and enjoy.

Ingredients

200gm self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
50gm wholemeal flour
100gm caster sugar
2 eggs
125ml skim milk
4 tbsp sunflower oil
2 apples, grated
100gm sultanas

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180c.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar.
  3. In another bowl, mix the eggs, milk and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well and then fold in the apple and sultanas.
  4. Divide between 12 greased muffin cases and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and hand them to your Tom.

Simple strawberry cheesecake

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Simple strawberry cheesecake

Serves: 12

We had a request in the house for cheesecake last week.

Not one made by me, but a limited-time cheesecake at Woolworths from the veritable Cheesecake Factory folk; the people behind the US restaurant chain and some pretty great and outrageous cheesecakes.

Problem was that when I asked an attendant at Woolworths, he drew a blank. And a good walk past the refrigerators also drew a blank.

Plenty of apple pies and orange juice and sushi rolls, though no cheesecake.

Social media was too fast for our local Woolies.

So here is a simple cheesecake alternative.

Nothing like the ‘Factory’ would produce, though a very good – and very simple – cheesecake nonetheless.

This could become a habit.

Ingredients

250gm digestive biscuit
100gm butter, melted
1 vanilla pod
600gm soft (cream) cheese
100gm icing sugar
300ml double cream

Topping

400gm strawberries, halves
25gm icing sugar

Method

  1. For the base: butter and line with baking paper a medium-to-large loose-bottom round baking tray.
  2. Put the digestive biscuits in a large plastic food bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin.
  3. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl and pour over the butter.Mix until the crumbs are well coated. Transfer to the baking tray and press down firmly to make an even, firm base/layer. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour to set.
  4. For the filling: Remove the vanilla seeds from the pod.
  5. Place the soft (cream) cheese, 100gm icing sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl and beat with an electric beater until smooth.  Add the cream and continue beating until fully combined.
  6. Spoon the mixture on top of the biscuit base. Smooth the top and allow to set in the fridge overnight.
  7. When serving, puree the strawberries and 25gm icing sugar and sieve.
  8. Un-mould the cheesecake, throw on some berries, sprinkle with more icing sugar and pour over the strawberry puree.

Chocolate Spiders

.Reading time 1 minute.
FullSizeRender (10).jpg
Seriously?!

Chocolate Spiders

Makes: 15 spiders

Nat’s Oma (German for grandmother) used to make these for Nat and all the grandkids… all the time.

Five spiders down, I can assure you that the simplest things in life are the best and that you’ll need far greater self-control than I have to not eat them one they’re chilled.

Go spiders!

Ingredients

1 packet Chang’s Original Fried Noodles (100gm)
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
200gm milk chocolate

Method

  1. In a microwave-safe bowl, break up the chocolate into small chunks. Add the peanut butter and melt on high for about 60 seconds. Stir the chocolate mixture and if not fully melted, heat for another 15 seconds or so until melted.
  2. Add the noodles and mix well, try not to break the noodles.
  3. On a baking paper lined tray, spoon the mixture into small mounds and refrigerate until hard.

Energy Muffins

.Reading time 1 minute.
FullSizeRender (6).jpg
Tasty, filling… energy.

Energy Muffins

Serves: 15 – 18

There are muffins and then there are these muffins: energy muffins.

I found them in Delicious Magazine.

They’re dense, they’re soft, they’re incredibly tasty. And they’re really filling. Have one at 10 and you won’t need lunch until 2.

Read the ingredient list and you’ll know where the energy comes from.

You should whip up a batch for the week.

Seriously good.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups caster sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sultanas
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup, grated apple
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing sugar, to dust

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Use paper cases to line the muffin pans or grease muffin pans.
  2. Sift sugar, flour, cinnamon and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sultanas, carrot, apple, coconut and walnuts.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and fold until just combined; do not overmix.
  4. Spoon into muffin pans and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Pecan Torte

.Reading time 1 minute.

Pecan Torte

Serves: 6

She might not be happy with the inclusion of this recipe, though there are a few of them that define my mother and her cooking talents… and none comes more to mind that this torte.

Nobody that has ever had it, has thought anything differently: it is genius.

Every time I have it – and I have had it probably 600 times – I literally gasp at how bloody wonderful it is. It is literally genius.

The origin of the recipe  – according to my mother – is Mexican and my grandmother found it whilst she lived it LA many years back.

Don’t be confused.

Some freshly whipped cream, some fresh strawberries, this is the least contentious, most no-questions, shit-yeah dessert I think you can make.

I vouch my cooking heart on it.

P.S. This was course #5 of #6 at our Long Lunch/Wedding. It was called ‘Mexican Wall’.

Ingredients

6 egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
16 Sao biscuits
Whipped cream
Strawberries

Method

  1. Beat the egg whites with the baking powder until stiff.
  2. Beat in the sugar gradually, and continue to beat.
  3. Fold in the pecans, vanilla and Sao crumbs.
  4. Bake in a large buttered springform pan at 190 C for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool.
  5. Two hours before serving spread with the whipped cream and chill.
  6. Garnish with strawberries before serving.

Stephanie Alexander’s Chocolate and Almond Cake

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Stephanie Alexander’s Chocolate and Almond Cake

Serves: 6 – 8

You want decadent, you got it!

A favourite of the wonderful Stephanie Alexander, it is simple to prep and even simpler to serve; double cream, some raspberries and a picnic on the grass like we did.

This is a tick tick number and one to definitely try for a casual dinner when you want to really wow the team.

Ingredients

125gm good quality dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids)
1 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp espresso
100gm unsalted butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
¾ cup ground almonds (we blitzed them in the food processor)
3 eggs, separated: lightly beat the yolks, beat the egg whites until firm though not dry
Icing sugar for dusting
Double cream and raspberries or strawberries to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven the 160c. Butter an 18c, round cake tin and line with baking paper: this is a cake that can split and leak easily so the baking paper is best.
  2. Combine chocolate, brandy and espresso in a heatproof bowl that fits snugly over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat without stirring the chocolate until it is melted. Stir and add the butter and sugar. Mix well.
  3. Add ground almonds and stir very well. Remove from the heat. Stir in the beaten egg yolks. Lighten the mixture with a spoonful of the beaten egg whites and then softly fold in the rest.
  4. Spoon the batter into the cake tin. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove and allow to completely cool in the tin, remembering that the cake is fragile and will plit.
  5. Carefully turn onto a plate, dust with icing sugar and serve with the cream and berries.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Flax

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 20 – 40 cookies

Until I wrote up this recipe, I wasn’t entirely sure what flax was, except to have used it in the protein balls we periodically make for snacks.

Found in the healthy section of Coles or Woolies, I assumed – rightly it turns out – that it was one of the many healthy grains/seeds/whatever superfoods we had largely ignored until recently.

Seriously right I was.

The butter and sugar in these cookies probably don’t win them a dieting star, though they win a few other stars; namely, that they are great cookies and namely, that they have this incredible flax stuff throughout.

So Flax?

It is basically amazing and we have – apparently – been eating it for years.

Super nutritious, super high in fiber, low in carbs, packed full of amazing stuff and associated with everything from weight loss to hair gain.

The list of benefits simply doesn’t end!

Anyway, we just wanted cookies for our lunch and the boys’ lunch and it seems, if you can add flax, you’ve made yourself a super cookie.

Add the butter and sugar and who am I to disagree!?

P.S. Boys agree!

Ingredients

2 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup flax seed meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
225gm unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raised
¼ cup whole flax seeds

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, manually or with a hand mixer. Beat until the mixture is fluffy.
  3. Combine the two mixtures, stirring until the flour is fully incorporated, then add the oats, raisins, and flax seeds. Mix well, but don’t over mix.
  4. Prepare a baking sheet with baking paper. Scoop out heaping tablespoons of cookie dough, and gently form each into a ball, and place them 5cm apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with whole flax seeds. Bake for 11-14 minutes, uncovered, until the cookies turn golden brown (but are still moist in the middle). Rotate the baking sheet halfway through to ensure evenly baked cookies.
  5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or towel to cool. If using only one baking sheet, repeat until you’ve used all of the dough.

Honey Roasted Cashews

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 1 Nat

Well, if you’re going to do it, do it right!

Cashews, butter, honey, sugar, salt and some roasting time.

Right, right?!

These are predictably awesome and predictably outrageous. Worryingly, if you have an air fryer like we do, they’re even more within reach.

Life is short and honey roasted cashews definitely need to be part of it.

Make a batch today and never look back.

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp honey
300gm cashew nuts
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (or get your air fryer ready)
  2. Melt the butter on a low heat and add the honey. Stir well until mixed.
  3. Take your sauce off the heat and throw in your cashews. Mix well until they’re completely covered in honey and then turn out onto a lined baking tray, spreading evenly.
  4. Pop in the oven for five minutes and then toss. Repeat again. If they’re still looking pale, repeat once more. Or air fry for 6 minutes.
  5. When they’re golden and toasted, pour into a bowl with the sugar and salt. Mix together, giving the nuts a bit of a shake.
  6. Leave the nuts to cool, stirring occasionally to break them up.
  7. Good luck not eating them in one sitting.

Guillaume Brahimi’s Blueberry Muffins

.Reading time 1 minute.

Makes 12

I’ve cooked a few Guillaume Brahimi recipes and they’re always great. His Roast Organic Chicken with tomato confit, spinach and cauliflower veloute is a very fine, homer French recipe.

I have made these muffins as gifts a few times, especially at Christmas. They’re as good as a bottle of Champagne and as simple as they are, they taste so clean and fresh. The way muffins should be versus the dense centrally-baked stuff you get served in meetings.

These will take you 20 mins to make so just do it. They’re worth every minute.

Oh, the sifting of the flours etc is an important component of this dish and the texture of the muffins so don’t skip it.

Ingredients

1 tbsp lemon zest
½ cup caster sugar
80g butter, melted
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup plain wholemeal flour, sifted
1 ½ cups plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp baking power, sifted
250g blueberries

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Combine the lemon zest, sugar, butter, milk and eggs in a bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and the baking powder. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mix, then add the blueberries. Stir until it is combined; do not over-mix.
  3. Spoon the batter into lightly greased muffin tins and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove, then cool on a wire rack.

Apple and Cinnamon Galette

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 8

I can’t remember screwing up a dessert and so I don’t know why I don’t do them more.

(Of course, it’s possible that desserts always work no matter what, because butter, sugar, cream, chocolate in any combination and baked any which way are going to be fine!)

When I do cook dessert, I’ve gotten into the habit of doing the dessert early in the morning when I’m fresh and have plenty of time for the entrée and main.

Otherwise, if I did the dessert last, I’d probably never get to it in lieu of getting the meat and vegetables right.

What I have resolved about desserts is that simple desserts can work just as well as sophisticated desserts: whilst I’d love to make a vanilla bean mascarpone ice cream every time to accompany said 17 types of chocolate Gordon Ramsay dessert, a simple tart with some pouring cream is still bloody good.

This particular dessert is very simple and while you probably wouldn’t see it in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, you might find it in my bistro if I had one.

Try it. You’ll be very happy you did.

Ingredients

120g digestive biscuits (Milk Arrowroot etc)
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs plain flour
190g caster sugar
1kg small, sweet apples (I used Fuji, though Pink Lady or Gala would be fine)
40g unsalted butter, melted, cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract
Icing Sugar to dust
Pure (thin) cream to serve

Shortcut Pastry

1 ½ cups plain flour
125g chilled, unsalted butter, chopped

Method

  1. For the shortcut pasty, place the flour and ¼ teaspoon salt in a food processor and whiz together. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. With the food processor running, pour 3 tablespoons iced water in through the feed tube and process until the dough forms a ball around the blade.
  2. Tip the dough onto a board and shape into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disc and tightly enclose tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 50 minutes until dough is firm.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200c and line a pizza tray or baking tray with baking paper.
  4. In a food processor, whiz the biscuits to fine crumbs with the cinnamon, flour and 1 ½ tablespoons sugar. Set aside.
  5. Peel, halve and core the apples. Slice very thinly into half moons, ideally with a mandolin.
  6. Melt the butter in a large frypan over a medium-low heat. Ad 2/3 cup sugar (150g) and stir to combine. Add the apple and vanilla and cook for 2-3 minutes until the apple is coated and slightly softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the pan.
  7. On a floured board, roll out the pastry into a round, 2-3mm, 28cm ring (or to fit tray); it should be 5cm longer than the end of the pizza tray (or baking tray) so that the pastry can be overlapped a small way back over the apple.
  8. Press the dough into the corners of the tray. Spread the biscuit mixture evenly over the base.
  9. Pile the apple mixture evenly over the biscuit mixture including any juices. Gently fold the overhanging dough over fruit. Sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons over the pastry rim.
  10. Bake for 35 – 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
  11. Leave to cool for 40 minutes and transfer to serving plate. Sift and dust lightly with icing sugar.