Oh, gluttony is a sin I always seem to indulge in quite willingly and when it comes to Indian food, boy, do I indulge! My boyfriend and I eat Indian food quite often and we’re lucky that there are many great (and cheap!) Indian restaurants in Melbourne. It’s almost become a tradition to over-order and eat way too much. There’s just so many great dishes to try. Our favourites are lamb vindaloo, chicken makhani,  garlic naan, pappadums, raita, chutneys… I could go on and on!

At the end of every Indian dinner we have, Z likes to finish off with kulfi, a really sweet iced dessert made with milk and usually flavoured with spices, nuts or fruit. It’s similar to ice-cream, but is quite dense and solid as opposed to the airy, light texture of ice-cream. It’s the perfect sweet treat to finish off a rich and spicy meal.

So, last night, I decided to try and make kulfi myself and after perusing a few recipes online, I think I have come up with a pretty good version. Try it for yourself. It’s delicious!

Cardamom Pistachio Kulfi

2 cups full cream milk

¾ cup sugar

10 cardamom pods, crushed

½ cup pistachios, chopped

extra pistachios, to sprinkle

1. In a large heavy-based saucepan, boil the milk and sugar until the volume is reduced to a third. It should smell very sweet and be quite thick.
2. Remove from the heat, add the cardamom (shells and all). Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Strain the mixture, then add the pistachios. Divide the mixture into individual ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
4. To serve, dip the ramekins into hot water for 20 seonds or so, invert onto a plate and sprinkle with extra nuts.

Makes 4 to 6, depending on the size of the ramekin.

I love autumn and it’s my most favourite season of the year. The days are mild and sunny with lovely clear blue skies and crisp, gentle breezes. The night always seems to catch up on us unawares and I love how the deciduous trees’ leaves begin to change into pretty shades of red, yellow and orange and fall in preparation for the winter. It’s fresh, invigorating and there’s a sense of renewal in the air…

It’s not even May yet, but it seems that those lovely autumn days are over and the transition into winter has arrived in Melbourne rather early. The wind is gusty, biting cold and always seems to whack you in the face when outdoors, the rain seems heavier and louder and the chilly weather just makes you want to stay in bed all weekend, cuddling a loved one watching DVDs or burying your nose in a good book. Fashion drastically changes too, with scarves, tights and knee-high boots dug out from the back of the wardrobe to keep us cozy and warm. This kind of weather also marks the start of heavy homely comfort food like soups, stews and delicious rich desserts like this date and banana pudding with butterscotch sauce.

Sticky date pudding is a real winter favourite here in Australia. It’s a moist, muffin-like pudding with dates and the usual suspects of of butter, sugar, flour and eggs. Once cooked, they are doused in a good helping of butterscotch sauce and a dollop of thick cream or vanilla ice-cream alongside. I decided to make a variation of this dessert with the addition of bananas and a few chopped pecans sprinkled on the top for some crunch.

Date and Banana Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce

180g dried dates, pitted and chopped

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

75g butter, softened

150g brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 eggs

180g self-raising flour

2 medium ripe bananas

3 tablespoons of pecans, chopped

thick cream or vanilla ice-cream, to serve

Butterscotch Sauce

200ml cream

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50g butter, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line 8 holes of two 6-hole Texas muffin pan and set aside.
2. Place dates in a saucepan with 180ml of water. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and add the bicarbonate of soda. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
3. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl using an electric mixer or food mixer. Add vanilla and add the eggs one at a time, ensuring it is well incorporated.
4. Add date mixture and bananas. Fold through the flour and divide amongst prepared tins.
5. Bake for around 25-30 or until cooked through and tested with a skewer/knife.
6. For the sauce, add all ingredients into a small saucepan. Stir over moderate heat until butter is melted and everything comes together. Allow to cool slightly before using.
7. To serve, invert a pudding onto a plate, whack on a big dollop of cream or ice-cream and douse the pudding in the sauce. Sprinkle the pecan nuts on top. Ta-dah!

Last month, my full-time job was made redundant (thanks global financial crisis!) and being unemployed for five weeks prior to Christmas has made it tough in the money stakes, but luckily Mr. VISA has since come to my rescue.  For the last fortnight, I have been ringing up the credit, running around like a headless chicken and narrowly avoiding car bingles as I fought with the million other shoppers for a parking space, to buy presents for family, presents for friends, presents for my boyfriend (whoo, Guitar Hero World Tour!), presents for several Kris Kringles and finally, to keep myself sane, a small present or two for me (a pretty scarf and a Moleskine diary). Phew!

Money troubles aside, I do love the festive season as I get to spend time with my family and friends, enjoy summer at it’s best and in true Australian tradition, I love to eat the copious amounts of food at the numerous BBQs which frequent my December calendar. There’s nothing that says Christmas more to me than a few burnt sausages, a juicy slice of watermelon for dessert and a suntan from sitting outside eating all day.

Although unemployed and having lots of “spare” time up my sleeve,  I have been rather slack in the baking department and I didn’t do any Christmas baking this year. No gingerbread house/men, no shortbread, no sweets. Although a blessing in disguise for everyone’s waistlines and arteries, I still feel a little guilty. So today, on New Year’s Eve Eve, I made a big batch of passionfruit marshmallows to share with my family and friends who missed out on the usual goodies that I make. These marshmallows are the most fluffiest, softest and tastiest morsels of sweetness they will ever encounter so hopefully all is forgiven!

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and here’s to a Happy New Year! :)

Passionfruit Marshmallows

Recipe by pastry chef Catherine Adams of Rockpool found in the December 2007 edition of Gourmet Traveller.

180ml passionfruit juice (you’ll need around 10 passionfruit)

500g caster sugar

20g powdered gelatine

2 eggwhites

snow sugar, for dusting (Snow sugar is icing sugar with vegetable fat, cornflour and dextrose added to prevent the sugar from absorbing moisture and dissolving. Icing sugar/confectioner’s sugar is a suitable substitute if you can’t obtain snow sugar)

1. Lightly grease and line a 17cm x 25cm shallow cake pan an dust base liberally with snow sugar. Combine passionfruit juice with gelatine in a bowl and set aside.
2. Combine caster sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan and coojk over low heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves, then increaseheat to medium and cook for 5-10 minutes or until syrup reaches 125C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat, add passionfruit mixture to syrup and stir until gelatine dissolves. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk eggwhites and a pinch of salt until frothy. Gradually add passionfruit mixture, whisking continuously on medium speed until mixture has doubled in size, then slowly decrease speed and mix until mixture is warm (about 40C). Pour into prepared cake pan, and using a lightly oiled spatula, spread evenly, then dust top liberally with snow sugar. Stand at room temperature for 3 hours or until firm. Using a sharp, serrated knife dusted with snow sugar, cut marshmallow into squares and roll in snow sugar to coat.

Store in an airtight container between sheets of baking paper at room temperature for up to two weeks.

The blog has been on hiatus for the past month not due to the usual reasons of laziness or lack of inspiration. I have the most boring excuse of all to give you: I am on a diet :(

I have been on this health kick for about a month now, trying to have a better diet and increasing my physical activity (if you live in Melbourne and ever in need of a laugh, you can witness me trying to “run” along the Hume Highway almost each day. Or come to my local gym and watch me flail my arms and legs in a Body Combat class. It’s hilarious.). It hasn’t been too bad to be honest, though. I have been eating less processed and fried foods, increased my fruit and vegetable intake and I have drastically limited my consumption of desserts and sweet treats!

After limiting my sweet tooth for over three weeks now, I thought it was about time a real treat was in order. My mind went into overdrive as the possibilities to break my “sugar drought” were endless. Triple chocolate ice-cream sundae with fudgy chocolate sauce? A big custardy trifle with lashings of cream? A warm bowl of banana butterscotch pudding with rich vanilla ice-cream? I could have it all and had much difficulty in deciding!

As I flicked through my online recipe archive with the many “must try” bookmarked pages, one ridiculously easy recipe just sang to me… churros with dulce de leche sauce. How can one go wrong with some deep-fried goodness dipped in caramel?!

Just make these little crispy suckers. You can thank me later.

Churros with Dulce de Leche Sauce

Adapted from a recipe by the Bodega Tapas boys found in Gourmet Traveller, October 2007.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

vegetable oil, for deep frying

mixed ground cinnamon and caster sugar, for dusting

Dulce de leche sauce

400g can of condensed milk

60ml of milk, warmed

1. For the sauce,  place unopened can of condensed milk into a large saucepan and cover completely with water. Bring to the simmer over medium heat and cook for 2 hours, adding more water if necessary to keep can covered. Cool completely in water (do not remove can while still warm as it may explode), then open and remove dulce de leche. Combine dulce de leche with milk in a bowl and stir until smooth. Set aside in a warm place until required.
2. For the churros, combine oil, 600ml water and salt in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Gradually add flour and baking powder, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until dough is smooth.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan to 165°C. Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a 1-centimetre star nozzle. Carefully pipe 10cm lengths into the oil, cutting the churro from the bag with scissors, being careful as the hot oil may splash (if this is too fiddly, pipe the batter into a slotted spoon first, then lower into the hot oil). Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and toss in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well combined.
4. Serve warm or cold with the sauce. Don’t forget to lick your fingers :)

* The plate used in this post was kindly given to me as a farewell gift by the boys at work. Thank you Gareth, Pete and John. This post is for you! :)

Nothing makes me happier than sunny, warm weather, exploring open spaces, taking photos in magical light, spending quality time with my boy and indulging in good food and wine. Luckily for me, I was able to have all of it on the weekend.

I have just returned from a weekend getaway to the Yarra Valley in Victoria’s north-east. This place is known for its lush greenery, wonderful regional produce and fabulous wineries. It is only 45 minutes from Melbourne, yet it feels like a totally different world and is a fantastic place for a foodie/wino to visit, even if it’s just for the day.

The weather was so lovely and warm and on our last day there, I wanted to finish with a simple dessert which wouldn’t take too much time to prepare.

As there is nothing better than seasonal fresh fruit, we happily consumed a big bowl of fresh local strawberries with a rich cinnamon mascarpone cream. Just perfect for Spring!

I hope you enjoy the random photographs that I shot whilst in the Yarra Valley too :)

Strawberries and Cinnamon Mascarpone

500g strawberries, washed

250g mascarpone cheese

a few big tablespoons of icing sugar

ground cinnamon

1. Mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar and cinnamon to taste.
2. Serve with the strawberries. That’s it!

Mmm, I love lemons! Sometimes only seen as the sour yellow cousin of the mighty orange or the accompanying friend in many an alcoholic beverage. They are one of the very few fruits which can be used well in both sweet and savoury dishes and they are available all year long.

I’ve used them as the star in a few recipes on this blog (see here and here) and once again, the spotlight is on them. The cooler months produce the best citrus and this winter, the lemons have been absolute beauties.

So, what to make with the big bag of lemons I bought from the market last week? A lemon tart of course! This humble tart has kind of lost it’s popularity throughout the last decade and I don’t really know why. You can’t really go wrong with a slice of rich buttery pâte sablée encasing a delicious, tangy lemony filling. It makes me drool even just writing about it!

It’s a shame the lemon tart isn’t as popular as it used to be. Bring back the lemon tart I say, let it reign supreme once again!

Lemon Tart with Candied Lemons

Adapted from a recipe in Australian Gourmet Traveller, August 2008.

4 eggs

400ml cream

150g caster sugar

4 lemons, juiced

zest of 2 lemons

Candied lemons

2 small lemons, thinly sliced

250g caster sugar

Pastry

(I used the pastry recipe in my mango tart recipe)

1 ½ cups plain flour

½ cup icing sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

125g cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 large egg yolk

1. Process all ingredients for the lemon filling in a food processor until just combined. Transfer to a large jug or bowl and refrigerate until the froth separates from the liquid. This should take a few hours.
2. For the candied lemons, place lemon slices in a saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, then drain and repeat 4 times. Combine sugar and 250ml water in a separate saucepan, bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, then add lemon slices and cook over low heat until tender and translucent (30-40 minutes). Cool.
3. For the pastry, whizz the flour, sugar, butter, salt and zest Add the butter and whizz until it becomes pebbly, with large bits and small bits. Add the egg yolk and a tablespoon of water and combine until the dough comes together. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead for a minute. Wrap the dough up and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes. Roll the dough out between two sheets of non-stick paper and line a 22cm (9 inch) fluted flan tin. Place in fridge for 30 minutes to chill and rest. Remove the lined tin from the fridge.
4. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Blind bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the exposed edges are a very light brown. Remove the baking paper and weights. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°. Meanwhile, skim top of lemon filling to remove froth, pour into pastry case and bake until just set (30-40 minutes). Cool to room temperature in tart tin, place candied lemons on top and serve.

Serves 8.

You know what there should be more of? Recipes for desserts to serve one. You don’t really come across single serve dessert recipes too often, because well, it would be a major pain in the bum to measure out the quantities to bake/cook to do so. For instance, imagine a chocolate mousse recipe for one. The quantities of the ingredients required would read something like: 40g chocolate, 50ml of cream, half an egg… you get my drift. It’s just ridiculous.

After thinking about it for a while, I set out in creating an easy winter dessert recipe that could serve one without being too much of a bother to prepare. I struggled for a while re-calculating a few of my favourite recipes, but a lot of them required eggs and after a few conversions, I realised that I wasn’t going to measure out a third of an egg or whip up a tablespoon of cream.

But after staring at my too-ripe pears on my kitchen bench, I knew what would work brilliantly… a pear crumble! It’s one of the easiest recipes to prepare (all using your fingers), it can be made for one and the recipe below can be adjusted to serve two, three or as many as you like!

Maybe I should set out in creating a book of recipes that only make one serving. How’s this for a possible title: “Desserts by yourself… literally” :p

Crunchy Pear Crumble

1 large ripe pear, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

Crumble

½ cup rolled oats

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons plain flour

40g of unsalted butter, softened

good sprinkle of ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In your serving bowl, toss together the chopped up pear and teaspoon of sugar.
3. In another small bowl, mush together all the crumble ingredients, making sure it’s kind of lumpy.
4. Sprinkle the crumble mix over the pears and bake for around 15 minutes or until the fruit is soft and the crumble is golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice-cream or thick cream.

Serves one.

Crème caramel to the French, flan to the those in the Spanish speaking countries. Whatever you want to call it, until tonight, I had never tasted this old-school dessert before. My only experience with them has been salivating over them in foodie magazines, recipe books or on television cooking shows. You don’t often see them being offered in restaurants these days either, so the poor crème caramel and I have never had the pleasure to meet.

To me, it always looked like one of those desserts that were too tricky and fiddly to make. I’ve always wondered how they were baked for so long without turning hard and chewy. I was also curious as to how the caramel didn’t stick to the moulds and how they managed to keep their shape after you popped them out.

After flicking through Neil Perry’s ‘The Food I Love’, I found a recipe for this dessert and with my first attempt this afternoon, I managed to make six perfectly wobbly crème caramels in time to enjoy after dinner. To my surprise, both the caramel and custard were dead easy to make. I was also extremely nervous when it came to removing them from their moulds, but after a mini hot water bath, they easily inverted onto the serving plates to swim happily in a pool of sticky caramel syrup.

So how would I describe my first taste of the crème caramel? Well, it was wonderful. The tiny hint of bitterness in the sweet caramel matched wonderfully with the subtle flavour of the baked vanilla custard. And the texture of it all is something else altogether. It’s definitely a dessert to make again!

Crème Caramel

Recipe by Neil Perry in ‘The Food I Love’.

1 litre (4 cups) full-cream milk

115g (½ cup) caster sugar

1 vanilla bean, split with seeds scraped out

6 egg yolks

6 eggs

Caramel

225g (1 cup) caster sugar

125ml (½ cup) water

1. Combine the milk, sugar and vanilla bean and seeds in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for 45 minutes.
2. For the caramel, bring the sugar and water to a gentle simmer, stirring briefly to dissolve the sugar. Do not stir once it’s simmering. Watch the sugar and water carefully, and simmer only until it starts turning a deep caramel colour. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and carefully pour equal amounts of the caramel into six 250ml capacity moulds. Hold the moulds at the top of the rim and swirl to coat the moulds halfway up their sides with the caramel. Set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Lightly mix the eggs and yolks in a bowl. Strain the cooled milk mixture into the egg mixture, slowly whisking. Strain again and pour into the prepared moulds. Lay a tea-towel on the bottom of a roasting tin. Place the moulds inside the tin and fill the tin with hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the moulds. Cover the tin with foil and place in the centre of the oven to cook for 30-45 minutes, or until set (the time will vary according to the oven). Allow to cool, then store in the refrigerator. for at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. To serve, pour some boiling water in a bowl and place a mould in the water for about 20 seconds. Carefully run a knife around the inside of the mould and jiggle the mould to loosen the custard. Place the serving plate on top and quickly upturn the crème caramel and slowly remove the mould, allowing the caramel to gently spill down the edges of the dessert.

Makes 6.

Why is it that whenever I visit the local grocer, I always seem to bring home more than expected? Am I just a sucker for fresh produce? Does the big green enviro bag I carry need to be brought back filled to the brim? Can I not resist the colourful rows of fruit and vegetables just begging to be brought home? Does the big fat Italian man at the front of the store yelling at me, “ah, molto bella! Fresh-a peach-a for you-a dahling! Cheapa, cheapa! For you bella, only dollar fifty a kilo! Just for you, buy please!” tempt me into parting with more money? I have no idea!

I had the intention of only buying a few potatoes and carrots for my mum to make soup today, but instead, I came home with a kilo each of plums, bananas, peaches, nectarines and two punnets of strawberries and four pineapples (they were 50c each and no, that’s not a typo). With so much beautiful fruit and summer nearing its end in a few weeks, I thought a few batches of fruity ice-cream would be one of my last hurrahs to seasonal fruit. Enjoy! :)

Ice-cream

Both recipes follow the exact same steps and the ingredients are pretty much the same, with a hint more sugar for the plum version and a bit of water to help cook the peaches.

Plum

800g ripe plums, halved and stoned

200g sugar

500ml cream

200ml full-cream milk

2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

Peach

800g ripe peaches, halved and stoned

180g sugar

¼ cup (60ml) water

500ml cream

200ml full-cream milk

2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

1. Place the fruit and 50g sugar in a medium saucepan, cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for around 10-15 minutes or until the fruit is just cooked and soft (for the peach version, add the 60ml of water). Allow to cool. Blend the cooked fruit until smooth. Strain the puree and discard the skins and other bits and pieces. Set aside in the fridge.
2. In a bowl, whisk the remaining sugar and egg yolks. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and milk and bring it to the boil. Remove from heat, add the vanilla extract. Add this hot liquid to the egg/sugar mix and whisk until combined. Pour this mixture into a clean saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until it is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon. If you find that there are little eggy bits floating in your custard, grab a balloon whisk and whisk like mad.
3. Once the custard is ready, transfer to a clean bowl and place in the fridge until thoroughly chilled.
4. Combine the chilled custard and fruit puree and churn in an ice-cream maker for 30 minutes or until thick.

Each recipe yields around 1.5L.

I have also made a strawberry version on this blog. See here.

My boyfriend has promised me a nice dinner tonight, so in return, I will be taking care of dessert. I’m feeling so lazy today and don’t really feel like making anything fancy, so I think an easy spiced chocolate mousse would be perfect.

This dessert is a bit like love really… it’s spicy, it’s sweet and you always end up wanting more :)

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Spiced Chocolate Mousse with Almond Praline

You can use any kind of unsalted nut for the praline: macadamias, hazelnuts, cashews. I used flaked almonds as they were in my pantry at the time.

(adapted from a recipe found in Gourmet Traveller, by Matt McConnell, executive chef of Bar Lourinhã in Melbourne)

250g dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa solids)

4 eggs, at room temperature and separated

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon chilli powder

¼ teaspoon allspice

300ml thickened cream, lightly whipped

Almond praline

100g flaked almonds, lightly toasted

100g caster sugar

1. Melt the chocolate and allow to cool slightly. Whisk in the egg yolks and add the spices.
2. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mix. Place in the fridge whilst you prepare your egg whites.
3. Whip the eggs whites until they reach soft peaks and gently fold them into the chocolate cream mixture. Divide the mousse into bowls/cups/whatever and place in the fridge to chill.
4. Lightly grease a baking tray with oil or non-stick baking paper. Pour the toasted almonds on top and set aside.
5. Place the sugar and two tablespoons of water into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and allow the toffee to boil and colour. Do not stir the toffee, just swirl the pan if need be. Once the toffee has reached a dark golden brown colour, carefully pour over the almonds and mix it around with a metal spoon. Allow to cool and set.
6. To assemble, roughly chop the praline and sprinkle over the mousse. Serve immediately.

Makes quite a lot, but it should be able to serve 4-6 people. Just depends on how greedy you are with the portions :)