Tag Archives: Dessert

Coconut Panna Cotta

11 Sep

Multicultural Inspiration from…

Italy

One of the many things I love about being Italian is the dessert. I have a sweet tooth, courtesy of my dad, and I’m learning to make peace with that and all it brings (including having a perpetual layer of fat around my formerly flat stomach). After all, it was a wise person who once said “life’s too short to skip dessert.” With those wise words in mind, I decided to attempt a fairly traditional Italian dessert that I’ve only ever eaten once or twice; panna cotta.

I’ve typically avoided panna cotta in the past because my stomach hasn’t always agreed with desserts of the creamy or custardy nature. Not sure why, but I always ended up feeling incredibly sick after eating anything with a lot of cream in it. Never ice cream though, only ever cream. I know, I was a weird child. How ever, I’m finding that the older I get and the more in love I fall with all things food, the more willing I am to try things that have previously not agreed with me. After flicking back over a few photos from a work function around a year ago and noticing a little lump of white, I remembered that little lump was, in fact, a white chocolate panna cotta. And I loved it. I wasn’t super confident in my abilities to replicate it and not let myself down, so I decided to try a coconut panna cotta instead (as you know, I am ever so slightly obsessed with coconut!).

The inspiration for my recipe came from dessert king David Leibovitz’s recipe for the Perfect Panna Cotta. But, of course, with my own twist. Here’s what you’ll need for your own coconut-infused piece of heaven (makes 6 small cups)…

  • 400ml coconut cream
  • 40g caster sugar
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 2tsp powdered gelatin
  • 3 tbsp cold water
  • 3tbsp desiccated coconut
  • coconut spray oil

Yup, that is seriously all you need. This really is very easy, no tricks – I swear!

Ok first things first. Put the coconut cream and the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, until the sugar dissolves.

Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium bowl (don’t go too small, as you’ll be adding the cream mixture into this bowl later), and let it just sit for 5 minutes or so.

Ok, once the gelatin has rested, gently pour the warm coconut cream mixture into the gelatin, and stir until the gelatin dissolves.

Next, add in the desiccated coconut, and mix that in too.

Lightly spray 6 little ramekins with the coconut oil spray, and pour the panna cotta mixture, evenly splitting the mixture between them.

And guess what? You’re done! That’s literally all there is to it! Put them in the fridge, let them set for at least 5 hours (overnight is better if you can wait!), and then dig in!

First up, I sprinkled mine with a little shredded coconut, because in my world, there’s no such thing as too much coconut!

I nervously dug my spoon into my panna cotta, and got ready to potentially be quite sick…

… and WOW!!! It was delicious!! It was soooo soft and silky smooth, studded with the tiny, little bits of desiccated coconut. I was really surprised, actually – I didn’t think I’d be able to make something that I hadn’t ever really eaten before!

The only thing I thought I could have improved on was the coconut I topped it with – toasted coconut would have been much better… so, I justify my second panna cotta with that reasoning.

Yeah, winner. Massive winner. The toasted coconut just brought out the coconut flavour so much more, and the crunch really added another dimension of yum to it all! I was really glad I finally gave it a try, and since then, have being trying even more foods that I never really liked before – and guess what? I really like a lot of them now! Yay!!

Over to you guys – what have you grown up hating to eat and now love?!

Pistachio, White Chocolate and Honey Macaroons

29 Aug

Multicultural Inspiration from…

France

“Remember that time we were at your uncle’s 50th birthday, and they had those awesome pistachio macaroons? They were awesome…”

Sous-Jeff isn’t a man of many words, but he certainly knows how to make a point. He’s also not a fan of the French, citing that they’re arrogant and full of themselves, and are only good for 4 things: Kronnenburg Beer, croissants, Tony Parker and Thierry Henry. He doesn’t actually know any French people, nor has he been to France, but he’s fairly certain in his convictions. However, at my uncle’s 50th birthday party, he added a 5th thing to his list – the pistachio macaroon. He’s never been a fan of macaroons before, labeling them the most over-rated dessert to come out of MasterChef. Personally, I’m a fan, but only if they’re done well. So, with that surprise comment of his out of the blue, I decided that it was finally time for me to face my culinary fears, and try to make a batch of pistachio macaroons. The stakes were high and the odds already stacked against me. With that, I prepared to battle grounds and took to the pantry, armed with my Australian Women’s Weekly High Tea cookbook. Here’s how it went down…

To make a batch of approximately 15 pistachio macaroons with white chocolate and honey ganache filling, you’ll need…

  • 45g unsalted, roasted pistachios
  • 3 egg whites
  • 55g caster sugar
  • green food colouring
  • 200g icing sugar
  • 90g almond meal

And for the ganache:

  • 60ml single cream
  • 155g white eating chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 tsp honey

First up, preheat the oven to 130°C, and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Next, put the pistachios into a food processor and process until finely ground – I just pulsed mine so I didn’t process them too finely.

Separate the eggs if you haven’t already, and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

Add in the caster sugar and a few drops of food colouring (as much or as little as you want, depending on the shade of green you want!), and beat again until the sugar dissolves and the green is blended.

If the bowl you’ve been beating the eggs with isn’t very big, transfer the mixture to a large bowl now. Then, fold in all but a tablespoon of the pistachios, the icing sugar and the almond meal, in two batches.

Here is where I encountered my first problem – the step where you have to put the mixture into a piping bag, and pipe delicate little circles onto the baking paper. 1. I’m not particularly delicate. 2. Turned out that I had no piping bags left. Time to improvise – a thick, plastic, snap lock bag with a little hole cut into a corner. It’d have to do! If you’re doing this step properly, you’ll need a 1cm plain tube, piping them into 4cm rounds, approximately 2.5cm apart. Tap the trays on the bench so the macaroons spread evenly, sprinkle them with the remaining pistachios, and let them sit for around 30 minutes – this enables them to form a “crust” so that they cook properly.

Now the easy bit – bake the macaroons for around 20min, or until they get the tiniest bit of golden-ness in colour.

While they’re baking, you can make the ganache. This is where I struck my next problem. I followed my instructions to the letter – bringing the cream to the boil in a small pot, , removing it from the heat, and then pouring it over the chocolate and honey in a bowl, stirring it until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

My problem was that the chocolate didn’t melt, so I panicked and added a little more hot cream. I stood my ganache as per directed, until it cooled to room temperature. Unfortunately, it didn’t thicken up anywhere near enough. Fail.

But, back to the actual macaroons themselves – they came out of the oven bang on 20 minutes. Some were perfect…

… some of them, not so much.

I can only assume the dodgy, cracked macaroons were a result of my not so perfect piping. Oh well, live and learn! Then, I had to put them together… I’d put the ganache in the fridge for 30 minutes, and it did thicken slightly, but still not quite enough! To make a thick filling. It was just still fairly sloppy and gooey, but as far as the taste went – delicious!

I nervously presented my creations to Sous-Jeff. No, the filling isn’t meant to be dripping down the side of the macaroon. No, it shouldn’t be cracked on top. No, they’re not perfectly round. Just shut up and eat it, I don’t care what it looks like, I care about how it tastes!!! Luckily for me, it passed the taste test, it was “good,” “nice,” but apparently still not as good as the ones from the 50th. Sous-Jeff’s mum, my lovely mum-in-law, tried one too; “far too sweet for my palate, but delicious!” was the verdict there. Personally, I was disappointed by the fact that my ganache was a failure, but I was thrilled with the flavours – the white chocolate and honey was a perfect combination, and yes – it was very sweet. But, I am a chronic sweet tooth, so it tasted perfect to me!

Over to you, lovely readers – when was the last time you gave something a try that you really wanted to live up to standards, and how did it go?!

Mum’s Dessert Masterclass: Tiramisu and Brutti Ma Buoni

5 Aug

Multicultural Inspiration from…

Italy


It is a rare day that my mother and I share a kitchen. We are polar opposites, but both very strong, typically stubborn, Italian women. We also both love cooking, but often have very different ideas on what works well in the kitchen. I learnt almost all I know about cooking from my mum, her mum, and my dad’s mum. The women of my family are all incredibly talented cooks, and I feel blessed to have been able to learn from the best! Where we differ, however, is that mum is very traditional in her approach to cooking, especially proper Italian dishes, whereas I like to experiment a little and try lots of different things in the kitchen. So, when I randomly decided it was time for me to learn to make some traditional Italian desserts, mum was the first person I called to help me out and teach me a few tricks (because she knows them all!).

The first thing we made are Brutti Ma Buoni biscuits. These are favourites of mine that mum usually makes at Christmas time, and for other big family gatherings. Brutti ma buoni translates to English as “ugly but good,” which they are. They’re not the prettiest sweet, but they are certainly delicious! They are a crunchy, meringue type of biscuit, and mum’s version is chocked full of hazelnuts and chocolate (yum yum yum!). Here’s how we made them…

First up, turn the oven on to about 180°C and line a cookie tray with baking paper. Next, get out the food processor and throw in 80g of toasted hazelnuts and 100g of roughly chopped dark chocolate. Process them in quick 2 second pulses until they’re roughly chopped up and well combined, and set them aside.

Next, put 2 egg whites and half a cup of caster sugar into the bowl of your Kitchen Aid, Mix Master, or just a bowl that you can use an electric hand mixer with. Whisk the whites until they are white, stiff, thick and fluffy.

Throw in the nuts and chocolate mix, and gently fold in.

Using one tablespoon, take a spoon full of mixture out of the bowl. With a second tablespoon, push the mixture off, and gently onto the baking tray:

Now, here’s the easiest part – into the oven they go, let them bake for 5 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave them in there! If you can leave them in overnight, that’s the best case way to go, otherwise leave them in for a good 5 hours or so. If you’re like me, you might also enjoy them soft and gooey and fresh out of the oven after the 5 minutes and another 10 minutes rest. Damn good.

They come out like little meringue biscuits, crunchy shelled, and with lots of chocolate and hazelnuts packed in. LOVE them!

Next up, mum decides it’s about time I learnt to make tiramisu (meaning, “pick me up”). I have a confession to make; I’m a terrible Italian. I don’t really like tiramisu. Because I hate coffee. Yup. Worst Italian ever… sorry mum and dad!!! But, just because I’m not such a fan of it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t know how to put this iconic Italian dessert together – and hey, I might eventually grow to love it! My favourite part of cooking with mum is going through her dozens, possibly hundreds (no joke) of cook books. A lot of which are hand written. Somehow, mum quickly locates the exact book and page where we can find her tiramisu recipe. This is a very traditional Italian dessert and makes an appearance at almost every single one of our family celebrations.

We grab out the ingredients – all very Italian: mascarpone, coffee, and UNIBIC sponge finger biscuits! What you’ll actually need is:

  • 250g mascarpone cheese
  • 200ml thickened cream
  • 3 eggs, seperated
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 3/4 cup Marsala
  • 1/3 cup of strong black coffee
  • 1 x 250g pack of sponge finger biscuits

First, beat the mascarpone and sugar in Kitchen Aid (or other device) (and yes, mum is very, very much in love with the Kitchen Aid!).

Then, add in the egg yolks, and beat them in.

In another bowl, beat the cream for a few minutes, until thick…

In yet another bowl, put in the egg whites and 1 tbsp of sugar, beating until thick and fluffy. I’d just like to point out that at this point, the kitchen has turned into a screaming arena, as I need to remind mum constantly (read: every 45 seconds) to slow down, as I’m writing everything down and taking photos. Unfortunately, she works at 10000 miles an hour, and somehow keeps forgetting about me. Anyway, once the egg whites and sugar are all fluffy and thick, put them into the mascarpone mixture, and fold them in gently.

Now, add the cream into the mixture, and again, fold it in very gently.

Ok, leave that mixture for a moment, and grab out your coffee, Marsala and biscuits next (Marsala is an Italian wine, produced in Sicily).

Combine the coffee and Marsala in a bowl, and grab out a big (sorry, not sure of the exact measurements!) dish. Dip the biscuits 2 or 3 at a time in the mixture, and let them soak it all up.

Very gently squeeze out the excess liquid from the biscuits…

… and lay them down in the dish, side by side and tightly packed.

Spread a layer of the creamy mixture over the biscuits, completely covering them.

Add on the next layer of biscuits…

… and another creamy layer.

Half way through making the tiramisu, mum decides that I’m doing such a good job in between taking photos that she’s going to take it with her to the dinner party she’s going to that night. She passes me a little dessert glass dish for me to make a miniature version. Thanks, mum.

Her final touch is dusting some very good quality Dutch cocoa on top…

… and here you have it! A favourite in my family, and many other Italian families too, I’m sure. From all accounts, it was a hit at the dinner party, so I guess I’ll count that as a win for my first attempt!

With a bit of a headache from the constant “MUM! Just slow down!!!!”, a handful of brutti ma buoni, two new cook books that mum wasn’t using any more (because she has a billion), and a big hug, I head back up the driveway to my car, and have a giggle. I was so determined not to be like my mum when I was younger. I was sure I’d be different. We fought a lot in my younger years, because I was a stubborn, introverted, frustrated and confused teenager, and she was a tough, strict, Italian mum trying to deal with her eldest of three daughters growing up. But, here I was, cooking alongside mum in the same kitchen, and ready to embark on a new career as a travel consultant. The same career my mum started out in. And I couldn’t be prouder to be like my mum now :)

Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio

14 Jul

Multicultural Cuisine of…

Desserts


 

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio
647 Chapel St,
South Yarra
(03) 9827 7060
Visit Website

“OH MY GOD! We’re on Chapel Street!”
“Umm… yeah….??!”
“Chapel Street!!! Do you know what’s here?!”
“Umm… the Jam Factory? Where we’re going to the movies? That’s why we’re here, yeah??”
“Yeah, but now that we’re here, I can finally go to Burch and Purchese!!!! I totally forgot it was so close to the Jam Factory! Oh my God!! Please can we go and get some cake?! It’ll be amazing! Seriously! I won’t even get popcorn at the movies, I just want cake! Yes? Yeah?! Let’s go, come on!”

This was the conversation that occurred between Sous-Jeff and I, two grown adults, not a child and a parent as it may suggest. I had a rare Sunday off work, and we had absolutely not a thing planned, other than a sleep in and some gluten free, buckwheat pancakes covered in fresh strawberries and a little vanilla sugar for breakfast (delicious, by the way!). We loooove a trip to the movies, and realised that not only had we still not seen the new X-Men, but we also actually had 2 free movie tickets sitting on the fridge! Time to get out and use them! The only Sunday day time session of X-Men was at the Jam Factory, so off we went.

A few months ago, I’d heard for the first time all about Ian Burch and Darren Purchese on another blog (I can’t remember which one unfortunately…), which led me to the Burch and Purchese blog, and their magnificent dessert abilities. Not long later, I saw Darren’s appearance on MasterChef, with one of the most magnificent cakes I’ve ever seen. I knew I had to get to their studio, but hadn’t had the chance, until this fateful day, when, standing out the front of the Como centre crossing the road, I realised my close proximity to sugar land!

Bless him, Sous-Jeff knows he can’t win an argument with me when there’s cake involved, and on my side was the fact that he too had seen the cake appearance on MasterChef, and wanted to get involved in this delicious phenomenon. So, with an hour to kill before the movie, off we went!

It didn’t look like much from the outside, but I had a feeling that we wouldn’t be disappointed. “Aren’t you meant to be gluten free at the moment? Pretty sure that means no cake…” I shrugged my shoulders and decided that a quick break in the diet wouldn’t kill me, already resigned to the cakey fate awaiting me through the door..

… and I walked into my dream. Wow. It was all soooo pretty… and look, home made jams and chocolates for sale!

And, … WOW!!!! An entire wall lined with little glass jars, containing ingredients such as coconut ash, sugared rose petals, and 24 carat gold leaf… ohhh imagine the cakes I could create with this as my pantry!

The kitchen was even open, with two young ladies cooking their way around. What I wouldn’t have given to get in there are have a turn…

I hear a laugh, and turn around to see one of the lovely shop assistants giggling at me, standing in front of the glass jars, mouth wide open and eyes darting about in wonder. Sous-Jeff is laughing along with her, shaking his head and probably wondering why he agreed to this outing.

Back to the glass display cases at the front of the store, Sous-Jeff tried to hurry me on to choosing a cake for myself. He already know what he wants, but I’m torn between basically everything there. With a little more begging and pleading, and the promise that I’ll let him taste mine, I talk my way up from one cake, to two, plus whichever Sous-Jeff wants. The art of compromise is essential in marriage.

With our three pieces of heaven chosen and delicately placed into a box, with their descriptions sticky taped inside, I carefully clutch my delicious package in my cold hands, and make my way to the door. “Would you like a few spoons in case they don’t make it home?” the shop assistant asks with a giggle as we make our way out? “Yes, definitely,” is Sous-Jeff’s reply, and with cake and spoons in hand, we head back to the Jam Factory for our movie.

“Ok, open the box up, let’s go.”
“Excuse me?!”
“Yeah, we’ll just eat them while we walk back so we’re not late for the movie.”
“EXCUSE ME?!?!”
“Just give me the cake!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand. You do not just eat cakes like this on the run. No. Just no. Honestly.”

(At this point, the lady walking along behind us starts to laugh, and backs me up that they are indeed beyond amazing and should be enjoyed properly. She’s carrying two B&P boxes… lucky duck.)

We continue to argue like this for the remainder of the walk back, and settle on yet another compromise – we can’t take them home as the chocolate on top is starting to melt, and we will not be eating on the run, so we settle down in the food court in the Jam Factory, and eat them there, where I can still eat with my eyes (and take some photo evidence for you before they’re destroyed!).

The first piece of heaven to be taken from the box is the Vanilla|Pistachio|Lemon|Green Tea cake, comprising of:
White chocolate and vanilla mousse, pistachio cream, crunchy green tea meringue, lemon cream, pistachio cake, green tea macaroon and a brilliant white chocolate spray.

The macaroon is the first victim, and is absolutely gorgeous. The little bits of crunchy merigue follow… just as good! Next comes a spoonful..

… Oh wow… words cannot describe this… the most incredible, silky, smooth flavour of the white chocolate and vanilla mousse, just melting away in your mouth, hits you first. Then, a bit of punch from the lemon cream, perfectly citrusy and tangy, but also super sweet and almost creamy. Last to hit me was the pistachio cake, soft and crumbly, with a perfect pistachio flavour. Perfection in a cake!

Next cab off the rank was the Chocolate|Mandarin|Salted Caramel cake, which was made up of Kendari 60% chocolate mousse, Murray River salted caramel, burnt mandarin cream, St Clements marmalade, aerated chocolate shortbread and chocolate mirror glaze.

The gorgeous little painted chocolate square and mandarin candy on top looked too cute to eat… Sous-Jeff however didn’t really care too much and swiftly plucked them both off and took a bite, before handing what was left to me.

In fairness, I did get the first bite – I dug my spoon into the centre of the little cake, and was met with this:

Layers of silky smooth chocolate mousse and mandarin cream, with an absolutely perfect chocolate shortbread base. The saltiness was very subtle and perfectly balanced out the incredibly rich chocolate mousse. Really, really yummy.

Last out was the Dark Chocolate|Pear|Hazelnut cake, made up of Tarakan 75% chocolate and vanilla mousse, caramelised pear, hazelnut cream, B&P “Nutella,” chocolate hazelnut brownie, pear jelly, dark chocolate velvet spray and a chocolate twig on top with a little nut crumble. Unfortunately, by the time my camera got to this cake, the twig had kinda melted…

The little ball of pear jelly was first down the hatch, and it had a really interesting, almost grainy texture – very pear-y and sweet, but not too much so. Further we dug, to reveal…

The chocolate vanilla mousse, “Nutella,” and hazelnut cream were perfect together, very rich and sweet, and that brownie was just amazing! To my great delight, I discovered you could actually buy the little brownie bases from the store – yay! Upon further digging into this lovely little cake, I also discovered…

… little bits of caramelised pear!!! Yum!!

With our cakes devoured and my photos taken, we realise we’re now running late for the movie! We silently shuffle into our seats just as the lights are dimmed and the previews begin and settle in to our movie as the sugar coma beings to kick in. Although the flavour combinations weren’t overly experimental or spectacularly different, the actual taste was beautiful, they were presented flawlessly, and I can’t recommend highly enough that you get in there are give them a try!!

 

Would rate it 9 out of 10.


Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio on Urbanspoon

High Tea at Aria Bar and Lounge, The Langham

3 Jul

Multicultural Cuisine of…

England

Aria Bar and Lounge at the Langhan
1 Southgate Ave,
Southbank
(03) 1800 641 107
Visit Website


“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just marry rich old men and be ladies of leisure and do this all the time?” comments one of my lovely girlfriends, as we make out way to the Langham Hotel. Ironic, because as we are making our way over, the wind is blowing so hard that we are trying desperately to keep our skirts down and swearing profusely at mother nature. Hardly classy ladies.

A few weeks ago, EJ was speaking to a gentleman that comes into our workplace to use the gym. They were speaking about cakes and dessert (a topic that naturally comes up in a gym), and he mentioned that he worked at the Langham Hotel, and the chef there puts on an absolutely spectacular high tea spread. That was all the convincing we needed.

EJ, Ms Em, A.Shaw and myself arrived in the very beautiful foyer of the Langham, looking not so beautiful – the wind had completely disheveled our hair and we were shivering with cold.

Up and up we climb, until we reach out destination: Aria Bar and Lounge. We are shown to our seats, and open up our beverage menu, while admiring the beautiful surroundings and giggling at the very posh and proper ladies, dripping with pearls, looking like they do this every Saturday. Our sitting is on a Saturday afternoon from 2:30 – 4:30pm, at $65.00 per person. We’re running a few minutes after 2:30 and can already see other table’s food… looks goooood!

While we await the arrival of our drinks, out comes an appetising 3-tiered tower of deliciousness…

Our first tier has a collection of gorgeous little sandwich fingers. I wasn’t such a fan of the brown/wholemeal bread – the cucumber sandwich was quite boring and bland. The egg sandwich was delicious, but the standout winner was the poached chicken sandwich – absolutely heavenly and creamy! Wish we’d said yes to a second helping now!

The bottom two tiers housed scones and all the fixings. The scones were still warm when we got to them, and we had both plain and sultana scones to choose from. I’m not much of a sultana lover, but the ladies said they were delicious.

I went with the plain scone and raspberry jam, and it was absolutely delicious! So good, I went back for seconds! Warm and soft and crumbly, it tasted perfect with the sweet jam.

Half way through all of this, out came out drinks. A bottle of Moscato to share, as well as a hot chocolate for EJ and a pot of English breakfast tea for the rest of us. And, we got real sugar cubes. Wow.

Finished with our initial three tiers, we decide to venture out into the main sugar arena. Oh my…

We decide to start with the only savoury bite, a caramelised onion and feta quiche. It was amazing. So much so, that we each ate two. Woops!

Now, time to get serious. We’ve signed up for the Chocolate Bar High Tea, and chocolate is what we want! Here’s what came next…

Chocolate Eclairs
 
Amarascata roulade with cocoa nibs
Jaffa Orange Shot
Lemon lime and bitter curd tart
Langham Torte with cherry and brandy
Valhrona chocolate mousse cake with passion fruit jelly topping
Warm chocolate chip pudding
Almond Florentines
Roasted nut and chocolate clusters
Chocolate dipped biscotti

I can’t even begin to describe just how incredible they all were… absolutely perfect! My favourites were the Amarascata roulade – the strawberry mousse was just indescribably good, and the Jaffa shot – the combination of the orange and chocolate, with the three different layers, was fabulous.

We completely lost track of time, and before we knew it we were kindly asked to settle our bill. I felt it was $65 well spent – the food was incredible, the service impeccable – they even brought out an extra three-tiered sandwich and scone tower when they realised they’d catered our table for three instead of four. It was a lovely way for us four ladies of leisure to spend our afternoon – although, now we understand why ladies of leisure must spend so much time at the gym, working it all off! If you haven’t done high tea before, I’d highly recommend it. If you have, where have you been, and how was it?

Would rate it 9 out of 10.


Aria bar and lounge (melba) on Urbanspoon

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