“Fruit right of the tree is the most precious treasure for a food stylist.”
Aran Goyoaga @ Cannelle et Vanille
I starved PAB of baking goodies for a while. With the blog back to some semblance of normalcy, the blog {and the dessert starved family} heaved a sigh of relief. With PAB hacked, I didn’t bake for 4 days, no pictures taken, no dessert served. Things are looking up now, and I baked a Strawberry Orange Rough Puff Pastry Tart early yesterday morning!You could tell that all was well, life was normal again. I was up early on Sunday morning, rolling out pastry I had made the night before, chopping strawberries, taking pictures of the dog, the fruit, the flowers … yes there was a song in my heart and a spring in my step! It was thanks this good man here, who helped get my blog back on its feet! Patiently he listened to my daft queries, alarming questions, ifs, buts, whatifs … and then calmly secured PAB! The Ethical Hacker is just a shout away if you ever run into network/security issues as I did!The ‘not so terrible any more’ teen was back in the kitchen early that morning, maybe relieved that her mother was back to baking and not ‘living on the edge‘! She loves strawberries, and we are flooded with beautiful ones these days. I had 3 boxes in the fridge and finally found the inclination to use them.Also had freshly made bitter tangerine marmalade sitting on the counter, a batch made in exasperation to keep the mind busy when I was mentally fighting the hacker. My time in the kitchen, my own space is where I find peace when times are troubling. Tangerines from a neighbour soon became marmalade, bitter sweet like my life was turning out to me!That morning was inspiring in itself so I reached out for stuff on my kitchen shelf to make the filling. Aged balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, bitter tangerine marmalade, orange zest … combined with my basic 2 ingredients shortlisted in my head, rough puff pastry and strawberries, to make this delicious tart. So much colour, flavour, texture and good taste! The crisp, buttery pastry and the soft cooked fruit made life sweeter by the second. One bite later, in a heart beat, life seemed worthwhile. All was good again!!Thank you Gera for your concern, suggestions and email, and Sanjeeta too. And thank you Mr Ethical Hacker for making my online world secure again. Lesson learnt : Never despair! There is a world full of good folk out there!The kids too learnt with me {and probably lived it through too with sweet cravings!}. They questioned why anyone would hack, they struggled to understand why! Then they rejoiced when the good man brought PAB back on it’s feet, living the good, bad and ugly with me {in reverse order}.Tart time! Make it with rough puff pastry, home made is what I like {and have no other choice LOL}, or with store bought puff pastry. Whatever you choose, this gets made in a jiffy. Each time I make a batch of puff pastry, I am amazed at how versatile it can be. Yes buttery as it might be, this is one of lifes indulgences that I enjoy!Next thought in mind is savoury tart maybe. Just shows that my life is back on track and I am thinking of ways to feed the ever hungry blog again! Thank you all for hanging in here.
[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry Orange Rough Puff Pastry Tart
Summary: A quick, light, fruity tart to make. Use any seasonal berries and have it ready in next to no time.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Roll out the pastry to a 10.5 X 8.5″ rectangle. Brush a half inch border right around with low fat cream, and fold over the edges and crimp with a fork. Brush again with low fat cream and sprinkle edges with brown sugar. Paint the base with melted bitter orange marmalade. Chill for 15-20 minutes while you preheat the oven, and prepare the fruit filling.
Toss the strawberries in a big bowl with the brown sugar, orange zest, balsamic vinegar and cornflour and mix well.
Take the pastry out of the fridge and fill the base with fruit mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes until the pastry is light golden and puffy, and the fruit soft.
Take out of oven, and pain the fruit with the melted apricot glaze.
“A good meal soothes the soul as it regenerates the body. From the abundance of it flows a benign benevolence.”
Frederick W. Hackwood
It was the cover of the book the minute I unpacked the couriered parcel that took my breath away! Southern Flavours – The Best of South Indian Cuisine sent to me for review from Blogadda, the largest community of bloggers in India. Rich, vibrant, full of culture & authentic recipes,a book that would definitely catch my eye in the book shop! I have a special connect with South India where I spent 5 years of my childhood. While in school in Bangalore, most kids would carry neat round steel boxes with curd, lime or tamarind rice with that sinfully delicious looking bright red pickle floating in oil on top, the contrast between white rice and red pickle completely fascinating. Others would carry steel ‘tiffin‘ boxes {no tupperware etc} filled with pillowy soft freshly made idlis {steamed rice cakes} with the magical ‘gun powder’ crowning it!Those years gave me a strong connect with South Indian cuisine, which for North Indians seemed out of reach 25 years ago. When we got back to New Delhi, I remember piling into the car every fortnight {with the dals and rice soaked and drained}, with my mother driving several miles to get the mixture ground. Specialised grinders were hard to find. Then the overnight wait for fermentation to take place; then the next morning the precious coconut was dehusked and ground into chutney. The reward – light as air idlis and crisp buttery dosas!My taste buds still tingle at the very thought of that vibrant food, so this wonderful book was really welcome. I was tearing through it and hit the kitchen pretty soon. Mine being a well stocked North Indian kitchen, I was pretty short on fresh ingredients like coconut and tamarind {my last batch from a sweet reader of PAB has been used up}. To make up, I had a leafy curry leaves tree in my backyard, and loads of ginger, green coriander and fresh chilies on hand!My first stop had to be curd rice as I do make some once in a while. I was really embarrassed on reading the recipe in Southern Flavours as my earlier curd rice attempts fell short on every level. Was soon stirring a big bowl of this delicious authentic tempered ‘tiffin’ favourite from Down South. The bowl was scraped clean … mmmm! It was full of flavour, healthy and comforting!The next stop was going to be snacky, something for the kids who love lentil patties or medhu vadas {recipe follows}. These are like an Indian version of savoury doughnuts, but made with a lentil batter as opposed to plain flour. Healthier {though deep fried}, crisp and fabulous in winter! I didn’t get to the chutneys {dipping sauce} and the family enjoyed them crisp out of the oil!I had trouble getting them into dough-nut shapes the first time around {tough is the word}, and on my second batch 2 days later, I had marginal success. I think it’s an art I yet have to master, but they are taste great in any shape! I now have tamarind soaking for a chutney, ingredients on hand for tamarind rice, lime rice, rasam {like a clear hot spicy soup} … and so much more!This is a sneak into a book packed with authentic and old recipes from Chandra Padmanathan, who adds a little trivia to most recipes, which is what makes the book all the more interesting. You get transported to another era, sometimes a wedding, sometimes childhood, sometimes sweet potato season … a culinary connect on every page!
Summary: A popular snack, normally served with idli for breakfast, and at all auspicious occasions. It can also be served as a teatime or cocktail snack
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1 cup husked, split gram dal {urad dal dhuli}
1/2 cup cooked rice
4 green chilles {I used 2}
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder {hing}
1/2″ piece ginger, peeld and grated
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 sprig curry leaves
1tsp salt or to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Wash dal. Drain and soak in 2 cups water for 2 hours.
Drain completely. Add rice, green chillies, asafoetida powder and ginger. Grind to make a smooth batter, gradually adding 1-2 tbsp water.
Add coriander leaves, curry leaves and salt. Mix well.
Heat oil in a deep frying pa to smoking point. Lower heat to moderate. Wet your hands and flatted a ladle of batter into a 2″ round patty. Make a hole in the centre and gently slip into hot oil . {Beware of trying this if you are not used to deep frying. Please exercise great caution when working with hot oil. I make small balls of vadas by dropping the batter gently into the oil with a teaspoon.}
Fry vadai in batches, turning frequently, till golden brown and crisp.
Drain and place on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
“For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
PAB is back! I got hacked, yet am somewhat back! Must be something in the air. First my computer got fried, yet again, obviously without warning. There I was typing a guest post for a sweet friend, and zilch… all gone! Got onto the laptop for food therapy and to my SRC assigned secret haunt, the wonderful Parsley, Sage, Desserts…and Line Drives. Bookmarked Berries & Buttermilk Pudding instead!Quickly jotted everything down, lest the recently replaced motherboard that died again last night might give me trouble again, then went to check what Lisa’s latest post was… read she suffered the same fate! She wrote ” First I just want to say that this post was almost set to go Wednesday, and then my computer crashed. It was fixed briefly, but then it crashed again. Thankfully I didn’t lose anything, but went through two days of no computer hell! You know how it is. Can’t live without them, really can’t live without them.“I had it worse. Got the computer fixed to lose my blog in the next few hours. Bluehost finally told me 24 hours later that the site had been hacked!! Numb with shock, I reached out to Mr PABs nephew who helped me stay calm, kept me guided and reassured. Googling for answers, I did read that the first step is to stay calm.That was easy thanks to past experiences. At work, we lived through the traumatic Gulf war with our aircraft and crew stuck in the Middle East, I’ve done years of ‘handling’ bomb scares at the airport, flight evacuations, sniffer dogs, cargo offloading etc that have taught me to stay calm at the worst of times, breathe deep!
The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from.
It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog! Click here if you’d like to join!!
Time for dessert! The minute I saw my assigned ‘secret blog’ for the month I did a little whoop of joy! Yes! It was Lisa’s blog, one that is full of beautiful pictures, droolworthy food and laugh-your-head-off tales! I spent half the day reading her ‘addictive‘ stories …I peeled myself off her tales and hit the recipe index. I wanted to make just about everything! Hamburger Buns, Char Siu, Ciabatta, Best Ever Brownies, Orange Pistachio Olive Oil Cupcakesand eventually settled for my first choice, Berries & Buttermilk Pudding!I had strawberries and buttermilk; the whole milk was replaced with low fat cream. No mixed berries, but a promising jar of blueberry preserves {Sylt Blabar} that I had got from Sydney last year would add to the flavours. Mine might not look as exciting and vibrant as Lisas, but hopefully would deliver the punch.Fruit is always inspiring, desserts in glasses even more. These are fun to make even though I thought they might be set puddings like a panna cotta as I read the gelatin in the ingredients. They are pretty much wobbly custard-like puddings, and the gelatin possibly acts as a thickener/mild setting agent of sorts.Make it for Valentines Day, or just for any day. Use fruit of the season … we are flooded with strawberries these days!
[print_this]
Recipe: Berries and Buttermilk Puddings
Summary: Light pleasing buttermilk puddings served with a perky fruit sauce.
For buttermilk puddings: 1.5 tsp unflavored gelatin {I would increase this to 2 tsp next time} 1/4 cup cold milk 1 1/4 cup low fat cream 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise,scraped 9 tbsp sugar 1 1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk 2tbsp berry preserve For sauce: 1/4 cup dry red wine 1/4 cup water 3 tablespoon sugar 1 (3-inch) strip lemon zest 1 (3-inch) strip orange zest 1 bay leaf 2 1/2 cup quartered strawberries
Method:
Buttermilk Pudding:
Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup cold milk in a small bowl and let soften 1 minute.
Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a small heavy saucepan and add pod. Add cream and sugar and bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture to hot milk mixture, stirring until dissolved.
Quick- chill in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, until cold but not thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
Stir in buttermilk, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large glass measure, discarding solids. Pour into glasses / bowls and chill until set, at least 8 hours.
Strawberry Sauce
Bring wine, water, sugar, zests, and bay leaf to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 10 minutes.
Add strawberries and simmer 5 minutes. Discard zests and bay leaf, then purée strawberry mixture in a blender until smooth {use caution when blending hot liquids}. Force through clean fine-mesh sieve and discard solids. Chill sauce, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 1 hour.
To serve: Spoon sauce over puddings and top with remaining berries.
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BlueHost is a good company to be hosted with, the staff ever helpful. Lessons to be learnt!! For those of you who have been untouched by the miseries of the net, please change passwords often, backup now {download a database back up plugin if you haven’t already}, update plugins etc on a regular basis. I have no idea what went wrong, but don’t be complacent. Thank you Varun, Rekha, Katie, Suma, Sanjeetha, Gourmise & all of you who tweeted… thank you from the bottom of my heart!
“Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.”
Joanne Harris, Chocolat
Never. Without. Chocolate. There’s something about chocolate … deep, sensuous, satisfying, comforting, seductive, addictive. I was on twitter after ages yesterday and came across a random tweet with someone despairing the lack of chocolate at home! A rather unsettling tweet that was!I had a bar of absolutely delicious bitter chocolate from Moscow that a friend got for me. Mmmm … more chocolate; life was becoming sweeter by the minute!Whats not to love about this fabulous combination, one that is high on my list of favourites and one that I enjoy playing with in my kitchen in the ‘orange’ months which sadly are restricted to the winter ones here. The conversation reminded me of the Dark Chocolate Mousse & Orange Panna Cotta that I made in December but never got down to posting!Couldn’t be a better time to bring this dessert to see light of day and share this quintessentially beautiful pairing … Chocolate & Orange = YUM!!
[print_this]Recipe: Dark Chocolate & Orange Panna Cotta
Summary: Indulgent and ever so pleasing, a dark chocolate orange dessert offers a match made in heaven. Set in glass goblets to enjoy its visual appeal!
125gm dark chocolate, chopped {I used 54% couverture}
Zest of 1 orange
Orange Marmalade Panna Cotta
300ml low fat cream
125 ml whole milk
2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp bitter orange marmalade
1/2 cup sugar {use slightly less first, then adjust if required since the marmalade will also add to the sweetness}
Method:
Dark Chocolate Orange Cream
Place the chocolate in a large bowl.
Bring the cream to a simmering boil in a small pan and pour over the chocolate. Add the zest of 1 orange and stir until the chocolate has melted and is satiny smooth.
Place 6 wine glasses at a slant in a loaf pan, and pour the chocolate mixture into them. Leave these to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours till they hold shape.
Orange Marmalade Panna Cotta
Sprinkle the gelatin over 25ml or about 1/4 cup of milk and place the bowl over hot water for gelatin to melt.
Bring the cream, sugar & remaining milk to a simmering boil over low heat, simmer for 5 minutes.
Take cream mixture off heat, whisk in the gelatin and bitter orange marmalade. Whisk well so that the gelatin is mixed uniformly. Adjust sugar if required. Cool to room temperature and then pour over the set dark chocolate orange mousse.
Chill until set for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Bless this man Audax. Was I thrilled to see a simple yet classic challenge to begin the year with. The holiday season being such a busy one, I was relieved to see scones, something that is quintessentially a tea table beloved, and a great snack anytime, dessert too. I managed 2 batches – Sweet & Savoury: Pistachio & Cranberry Scones; Cheddar & Garlic Greens Scones.
Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!
What I didn’t envisage was the time and effort this good Daring Baker put into researching and experimenting with scones. Hats off to Audax from Audax Artifex!He offered so many versions, milk, buttermilk, cream , so much insight into making the perfect scone, getting into the crumb of things, things that make a scone what it is…and things that could lead to its failure!You got to love a challenge which challenges you to think of the chemistry behind the baking. MUST make sure the baking powder is ‘active, alive up-to-date’ else you can kiss ‘light as feather‘ scones goodbye! Use a dash of baking soda if you choose to go the buttermilk route … handy tips!I was so happy to use buttermilk though I failed to read the number of scones to be stamped out, and went with a dozen so mine didn’t rise sky high. There were a dozen but they were great. M U S T have them warm {or reheated} to know how sublime goof food can be!My word, the cheese and garlic scapes scones were to die for. I added some sea salt both within and sprinkled on top … and the son was soon begging for more. Split with a spoonful of a garlic chives dip …nirvana! It was time to go a step further … sweet scones this time!The Thermomix makes these babies so FAST, so I was whipping up batch number two soon. Would make 8 this time I thought! I planned on orange vanilla scones that I would split and serve with strawberries and clotted cream, but a power cut 5 minutes into batch number 2 laid my plans to rest. Sigh … an hour later, power was back but the scones had been sent back to Stone Age!!I was back to making another batch before I knew it; this recipe is so good and simple if you follow the basics! This time I did Pistachio and Dried Cranberry Scones, a good use for some ground pistachios and dried cranberries I had left over from a previous baking misadventure.These came out beautifully too, the tops ‘dressed up‘ with flowers and leaves from dough trimmings. I had fun making these as well. Some were devoured with butter, and some with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, both divine! I didn’t get pictures of the latter, but they were GOOD!
Thank you Audax for a great daring challenge; it was delicious in every way and very satsifying. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the scones our other daring bakers have stamped out!
Summary: Light as feather scones two way … sweet and savoury. Both good and great options for tea. {eggless/vegetarian}. The recipe is infinitely adaptable to individual tastes too.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: Serving: About eight 2-inch scones or five 3-inch scones
1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sea salt for sprinkling
Method:
Preheat oven to very hot 240°C.
Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones. Add the cheddar and garlic and mix through with a fork.
Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.
Note:For the Pistachio & Cranberry Scones, substitute the sea salt with 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, and add 1/4 cup of coarsely ground pistachios and dried cranberries, Don’t add the garlic, cheddar or toppings. The method is the same.
“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”
Benjamin Franklin
Some days I just dazzle myself with my efficiency, days that are few and far between, but it gives me confidence that I can still achieve quite a bit on better days!! It was a cake for my SILs birthday, AND macarons, all done on fast track. Inspiration came from our MacTweetstheme for January and the Bavarian mousse on this Chocolate Bavarian Mousse Cake; that is how this Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons came about to be.On a day like this I raced and baked a sponge, made a Bavarian cream, then a mousse, layered a cake and even had it chilling in a couple of hours!! Even more dazzling … got the macs piped even as the kids grumbled getting out of bed and into the shower; ffound ‘feet’ before 8am, just after I had banished the kids to school!! Cake demoulded, ganached and snazzed up with my macs and I was a happy baker! The ganache wasn’t in my plan, limited as it seemed because of the time crunch, but the daughter begged for chocolate to be included in the master plan. I think the cake would have looked beautiful without the dark chocolate hues, but teens need to be kept happy, so…The macarons ran with the basic colours of fruit in the cake, pink for strawberries and green for kiwi. I was lucky to find feet so early in the morning. For the boost of mac-confidence I have to applaud the uber talented Stella @ BraveTart…and she is brave. She bakes mean {readGORGOEUS!!} macarons, and did away with many mac myths in a second.Reading her post made me feel ultra confident, and a day old egg white out of the fridge did yield the frills or feet! I also dumped the granulated sugar in with the whites and whipped them altogether, but this time wasn’t nervous. Bravery is a strong emotion, and I was rewarded in under 10 minutes …pretty little mini macs.The sponge is a basic one, a 3 egg recipe that lives in my head… 3 eggs + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup flour. Minimal ingredients {with the seed of 1/2 a vanilla bean} and minimal fuss that results in a light airy sponge. This is my to-go recipe for a Swiss roll too!I did try to rustle up some shimmer and glimmer to jazz the macarons to meet the razzle dazzle theme, but the shimmer is rather muted! Well the thoughts {and my morning} dazzled in any case. The macarons were sandwiched with some dark chocolate ganache reserved from the frosting.Bavarian is fast becoming my choice of filling in cakes, one that finds its roots in a crème anglaise of sorts, as we still moan the lack of local whipping cream in India. The mousse compliments fresh fruit beautifully, and is delicately flavoured with vanilla bean. It was a little less firm in the filling as I used kiwi too {I think the high citric content in kiwi interferes with the setting of gelatin}. It did set though, but just. Next time I might stick to just strawberries to get a firmer mousse … like the one below!The weather that whole day {week actually} was cold and rainy, hence the cake pictures aren’t bright and happy. I had some mousse left over as the cake was taller than my desert ring, so I set some in glasses. I absolutely love the idea of doing individual portions like these that can be made ahead, and dressed up with seasonal fruit, as in this case strawberries perked up with some fresh basil!These were GOOD, oh so good! The Bavarian set perfectly, the little vanilla bean specks flavouring it beautifully. I topped the goblets with a strawberry puree, like the one layered in these White & Dark Chocolate Desserts with Strawberries. To add colour and flavour, I snipped in some fresh basil which I am fortunate to have these days. I left these in the fridge for a couple of hours again, and the strawberry, lime and basil flavours matured nicely!The play of textures and the visual appeal was great! Dolled up with a macaron and I have never heard the fridge door opening SO MANY times! The kids were constantly in and out of the kitchen to look at it longingly. The minute dinner was done, it was a race to the fridge again. Door opened again! “Now?”
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally do the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons
Summary:A marriage of flavours and textures, 2 desserts, one basic mousse. Add in some fresh seasonal fruit, top with macarons and you have … Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons, & Vanilla Bavarian Mousse with Strawberries & Basil
1/2 vanilla bean scraped {or pure vanilla extract}
Basic Sugar Syrup
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp granulated sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
4 egg yolks {large; 5 if small}
300ml whole milk
200ml low fat cream, room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
75gm sugar
1 1/4 tbsp gelatin {increase in warm weather}
200ml cream, chilled
2 tbsp powdered sugar
Chocolate Ganache
200gm dark chocolate bits {or chopped}
200ml low fat cream
1 tbsp honey
Fruit for filling
300gm strawberries, chopped {reserve 3-4 for garnishing
2-3 kiwi, peeled, chopped {reserve 1/2 for garnishing}
Vanilla Macarons
1 egg white, aged a day
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp egg white powder
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Strawberry Puree for the Bavarian Mousse Goblets
300gm strawberries, chopped fine
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar {increase/decrease as per tartness of strawberries}
Juice of 1 lime
6-8 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded
1tbsp water
Method:
Vanilla Sponge
Preheat oven to 190C. Line the base and sides of a 9″ round tin with baking parchment.
Beat eggs, vanilla bean and sugar over simmering water until the eggs are thick and mousse like, about 7-10 minutes. Once they triple in volume, remove from water, and continue to beat until the mixture cools dwon {about 5 minutes}
Fold the flour in carefully, in figure 8 moves, to ensure you don’t release the air.
Turn into prepared tin, and bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is light golden and springs back when touched.
Remove from tin, take off parchment, and coole completely on rack.
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
Bloom gelatin in 2-3 tbsp of water. Place in a bowl of hot water to dissolve fully.
Whisk the yolks with the sugar in a bowl.
Heat cream, milk and half the sugar {15gm} until simmering. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar with a balloon whisk, and add 1/3rd of the hot milk mixture over it, whisking continuously until well combined. Pour this back into the pan with the remaining milk mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the cream is thickened and coats the back of the spoon. {Don’t allow it to boil}. It is important to constantly stir to prevent the bottom from curdling or burning. If that happens, take a balloon whisk and whisk vigorously. If you fear your custard curdled too much, remove from the heat and pass it through a fine sieve before proceeding with the recipe.
Thermomix: Place all ingredients in TM bowl, and cook at 90C, Speed 3 for 7 minutes.
Remove from heat immediately and stir the gelatin well into this hot mixture well, then quickly strain this into a bowl. Cool over a bowl of crushed ice, stirring frequently.
Once cool, beat the remaining 200ml chilled cream to soft peaks, and gently stir into the mousse.
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Glaze
Place chocolate in a bowl.
Heat the cream and honey in a pan until simmering. Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup ganache in a piping bag for macarons.
Assembling Torte
Cut the sponge horizontally into 3 layers. Place in dessert ring on serving platter. {Dessert ring should fit nice and snugly. I use this adjustable dessert ring I bought in Sydney.} Place one layer of cake, top with the strawberries and kiwi, then half the Bavarian mousse. Repeat with the next layer. Cover and chill overnight for the Bavarian to set.
Unmold from the dessert ring, frost with the ganache and garnish as desired. Chill until ready to serve.
Vanilla Macarons
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the powdered sugar, almond meal, vanilla powder and egg white powder briefly in the bowl of your food processor to mix. {you can sift it too}
In a large clean bowl, beat the egg white and the granulated vanilla sugar till it becomes firm and holds peaks, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the beaten egg white with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and falls in ribbons like molten lave, stop folding. {Do not overmix}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest for about about 15 minutes {to an hour}.
Bake them for about 15 minutes until the shells feel firm to touch.
Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
To assemble macarons
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Pipe a tiny bit of the reserved ganache from above on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Leave to set.
Strawberry Puree for the Bavarian Mousse Goblets
Lightly crush the chopped strawberries with the powdered sugar with a fork until the strawberries release their juices. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and reserve in a bowl in the fridge. Distribute over the glasses once Bavarian is set, and chill until served.
Notes: I bake my macarons on the upper shelf in my oven, using just the lower element for heat. I also use double baking trays.
