Chocolate fondant

With a top temperature of about 6 degrees, this time of year screams for comfort food. What is more comforting that pudding? Moist cake, gooey sauces, flavoured creams.. ah, bliss. We have one chocolate fondant left in the freezer. Alas, it's not for me. Hmmm, forfeiting dessert (and pudding at that) for my boyfriend.. now that's caring about someone!

I usually serve these fondants with raspberry or mixed berry coulis and cream. For something a little different, however, I served these fondants with honeycomb cream and crumbled honeycomb.

Note: my changes and suggestions are italicised. 

Chocolate fondants

(Recipe adapted from Rosemary Shrager's School for Cooks)

Serves 4
100 gr dark chocolate
80 gr butter
80 gr icing sugar
20 gr GF plain flour
2 eggs
pinch salt

Step 1: Fondant batter
Melt the chocolate with the butter and sugar over hot water then cool.

Melt a little butter and, using a pastry brush, grease 4 ramekins very thoroughly with butter then dust with flour.

Add the eggs, a pinch of salt and the sieved flour to the cooled chocolate mixture. 3/4 fill the ramekins. Freeze for at least an hour.

Step 2: Cooking the fondantsPreheat an over to 200 degrees (180 degrees fan forced). Cook for 12 minutes or until done. The puddings are done when the cake is cooked and the middle wobbles slightly. Turn out carefully (the centres will be runny) and place on a plate.

Step 3: Making the honeycomb cream
To make the honeycomb cream, whip some cream and add finely ground honeycomb to taste. Stir to combine. To achieve a smooth result, sift the honeycomb powder into the cream.

Honeycomb

I made chocolate fondants the other night (recipe and photos to come). I usually serve these gooey pots of love with berry coulis and whipped cream. However, I felt like mixing things up a bit so I decided to try my hand at making honeycomb. Chocolate fondant with crumbled honeycomb and whipped cream.. mmmm delicious, right!?

Honeycomb
(Recipe from Masterchef)

182 gr caster sugar

70 gr glucose syrup

55 ml water

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Place the sugar in a saucepan with the glucose and the water, mix to make a slurry. Place the pan over high heat, swirling the mixture in the pan, until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved, wait for the bubbles to slow down and for the mixture to take on a faint golden tinge. Line a large bowl with baking paper and have a whisk ready. Add the bicarb and quickly whisk vigorously, then immediately pour into the lined bowl. Set aside to set for 45 minutes.

Vanilla and passionfruit friands

A few weeks ago passionfruits were ridiculously cheap... so I purchased 20 and made passionfruit and chocolate tartlets. I had a lot of pulp left over from this recipe as all I needed was the juice from the fruit. I didn't want to waste it so I froze the pulp to use for another day and another recipe.

I love to cook. I find it relaxes me and takes my mind off anything that's troubling me. Sometimes I cook for pleasure and other times I cook to show the people I care about that I love them. These little babies were born as a "sorry for being such a prat" treat.

Note: The passionfruit and cocoa measures are estimates only as I didn't measure how much I was using at the time.

Vanilla and chocolate passionfruit friands

(Recipe by Stef @ Essential ingredients)

Makes 6

3 egg whites
1/4 c GF flour (I use white wings)
55 gr almond meal
3/4 c icing sugar
92 gr butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
pulp of 6 passionfruits

(To make chocolate passionfruit friands, add 2 tbsp of cocoa with the other dry ingredients)

Step 1: Making the friand base recipe
Preheat an oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees if using a fan forced oven) and grease six holes of a friand tray.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Sift the almond meal, flour and icing sugar into the egg white mixture. Stir to combine. Add vanilla and pour in the cooled butter, stir to combine.

Step 2: Preparing the passionfruit
Put the passionfruit pulp in a small food processor and blitz until pureed. Pass the pureed pulp through a sieve, reserving the juice.

Add the juice to the friand batter and stir to combine.

Step 3: Cooking
3/4 fill the greased friand holes with batter. Cook for 25 minutes, turning the tray half way through cooking.

Flourless crunchy date and hazelnut chocolate cake

Baking is a passion I think is best shared with others. Often when I bake things for work morning or afternoon teas, they are things I've never made before -- risky, I know. But the fine people I work with are more than happy to indulge my love of baking by being guinea pigs in my cooking experiments. Win-win!

This cake is really rich. To cut through the richness, serve with double cream or vanilla icecream.

Flourless crunchy date and hazelnut chocolate cake

(Recipe adapted from Lindt)

Serves 16

200 gr Lindt crunchy caramel chocolate

50 gr Lindt 75% cocoa

200 gr fresh dates, halved and deseeded

150 ml water

45 ml Frangelico (I didn't have any so I used brandy)

1/2 vanilla pod

180 gr unsatted butter

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

pinch salt

120 gr brown sugar

200 gr hazelnut meal

100 gr dry roasted hazelnuts, skinned and chopped

Ganache

125 gr Lindt 75% cocoa

125 ml cream

20 gr sugar

20 gr glucose syrup

40 gr unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 170ºC (150ºC for fan forced oven) and grease a 26cm springform tin.

2. Place dates in a saucepan along with water, Frangelico and split vanilla bean. Simmer over a low heat until dates are soft. Remove from heat and push dates through a coarse sieve, creating a smooth purée. Set aside to cool.

3. Using an electric mixer, whisk eggs, egg yolks, salt and brown sugar until mixture is light and fluffy.

4. Place butter in a saucepan and melt over a medium heat. Break up chocolate and place in saucepan with the butter. Remove from heat and stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

5. Mix the chocolate and butter into the whipped egg. Fold in date purée and hazelnut meal, ensuring there are no lumps. Mix until well incorporated and fold in hazelnuts. Pour cake batter into greased tin and smooth top with the back of a spoon.

6. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until cooked. Allow cake to cool in the tin. When cool, remove and top the cake with ½ recipe of plain ganache.

Make the ganache

1. Place the cream, vanilla, sugar and glucose in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

2. Once boiling, pour over the chocolate.

3. Mix with a whisk (or barmix) until the chocolate is molten und the mixture is smooth and glossy.

4. Add the butter and mix until molten.

Sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and almond praline

Pudding and winter go together like icecream and summer. While I love pudding at any time of year, there's something extra nice about having a nice fluffy saucy pudding with a dollop of cream when it's cold outside.

This pudding went down a treat. It's probably the best sticky date pudding I've ever had, a sentiment reaffirmed by my boyfriend. I'm especially happy in the knowledge that we have another two in the fridge for tomorrow night.

My comments for this recipe are in italics.

Stickdate pudding

(Recipe adapted from Masterchef)

Serves 4

90 gr dates, pitted and roughly chopped

155 ml water

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

82 gr firmly packed brown sugar

30 gr butter, softened chopped

1 egg

75 gr GF self raising flour (I use White Wings)

Almond praline

55 gr caster sugar

17 gr slivered almonds

Butterscotch sauce

25 gr butter

110 gr brown sugar

125 ml cream

Step 1: Prepare the dates

Preheat oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan-forced). Lightly grease four (½ cup capacity) metal dariole moulds (I used ramekins).

Place dates and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Remove from the heat. Add bicarbonate of soda, stir until dates start to break down, set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

Step 2: Prepare pudding batter

Beat butter and sugar in a bowl using a hand beater, gradually add egg, beat until light and fluffy.

Add date mixture, stir to combine. Carefully fold through sifted flour, divide mixture evenly between the four moulds, until 2/3 full.

Step 3: Cooking the puddings

Put a kettle of water on to boil.

Fold a clean tea towel in half and place it on the bottom of a baking tray (this will prevent the bottom of the pudding cooking quicker than the rest of the pudding). Place moulds in a baking tray, carefully pour the boiling water in the tray until it comes up 1/3 of the side of the moulds. Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until golden and skewer comes out clean (I found I only needed to cook the puddings for 25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes).

Note: if the puddings start to brown, loosely cover with a piece of foil, shiny side down.

Step 4: Make the almond praline

Meanwhile, for the almond praline, combine sugar and 1 tablespoon of water in a saucepan over medium heat and cook caramel without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Scatter almonds onto a baking paper lined oven tray, pour over caramel and cool until set. Break praline into pieces.

Step 5: Make the butterscotch sauce

For the butterscotch sauce, combine butter, sugar, and cream in small saucepan over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring sauce to the boil, reduce heat and cook for 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.

Step 6: Serving

Run a butter knife around the pudding to loosen. Invert the hot pudding onto a serving plate, top with butterscotch sauce, shards of praline and a dollop of cream.

Chicken pistachio korma

This picture really doesn't do this curry justice. Not only is this easy to make, it tastes great too.

The thought of making a curry from scratch has always been fairly daunting for me. I always thought they'd be really complicated and taste nothing like the curries I've come to love from some of the local digs in Canberra. For those of you in Canberra I highly recommend Blu Ginger (in Civic) and Taj Agra (in Dickson).

So one day during my lunch break I ventured out into the cold to buy a mortar and pestle. What better way to christen it than to make a curry... from scratch!?

Chicken pistachio korma

(Adapted from Poh's Kitchen)

Serves 5

4 onions, roughly chopped
¾ cup pistachio kernels
3 green chillies, roughly chopped
30ml oil
3 tsp ginger paste
3 tsp garlic paste
1 tbs coriander powder
1 tsp white pepper powder
700 gr diced chicken thigh fillets (skin and fat removed)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup yogurt
1/2 cup cream
3/4 tsp garam masala powder (made from ground equal quantities (2 gr of each) of roasted cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, cloves, green cardamom and black peppercorn)

Step 1: Prepare the sauce
Boil onions in a pot of water for 10 minutes, drain, cool and puree in a food processor.

Meanwhile put the cumin seeds in a fry pan and roast for a few minutes, be careful not to burn them. Using a mortar and pessel, grind all of the spices so that you have a fine powder. Set aside.

Puree pistachios and green chilli.

Step 2: Cook the sauce
Heat the oil and add the onions and saute for four minutes, do not brown. Add ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for one minute and stir in coriander and pepper powders. Add pistachio and green chilli paste and cook for about a minute.

Step 3: Cook the curry
Put in the chicken with the salt and sugar and mix well. Add a little water (1/4 cup) and simmer over a medium heat until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the yogurt and cook for a further two minutes.

Add cream and garam masala and stir through.

Serve with boiled basmati rice and green beans.

Fajitas and tortillas

Despite the vast improvement in gluten/ wheat free products over the years, there's one thing I find to be consistently gross, hard and near unpalatable -- tortillas! For those of you that are gluten free you'll know exactly what I mean. If you are after store bought GF tortillas that roll without snapping, good luck finding one. After seeing a post by a blogger that I quite like (Anita at Leave Room for Dessert -- http://leaveroomfordessert.com/) with a recipe for tortillas and fajitas, I decided it was time to give gluten free tortillas a go.

Gluten free tortillas

(Recipe adapted from Anita at Leave Room for Dessert)

Makes 5

2 c gf plain flour

1/16 tsp baking powder

55 gr butter, soften slightly

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp gluten substitute (e.g. Organ Gluten Substitute)

1/2 c plus 1 to 2 tbsp warm water

Fajitas

500 gr rump steak, thinly slice

1 red capsicum, thinly sliced

1 tbsp oil

Sour cream

Lettuce

Salsa

Grated cheese

Fajita marinade

1 c water

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground chilli powder (more if you like things spicy!)

pinch ground cloves (I ground up 4 cloves in the mortar and pestle and used those)

3 tsp minced garlic

1/4 c red wine vinegar

1/4 cup oil

1 orange, zest pared into strips and juiced

1 lemon, zest pared into strips and juiced

Caramelised onions

1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp brown sugar

Step 1: Making the tortilla dough

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and gluten substitute into a bowl. Add the butter, rubbing it and the flour between your fingers until you get a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in 1/2 c warm water. Mix to form a dough. If your mixture is dry add a little extra water, 1 tbsp at a time, working the mixture into a dough after each addition. Bring the mixture together to form a ball, kneading together for a few minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and rest for 20 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare the marinade

Place the water, red wine vinegar and juices into a bowl. Add all of the spices and 2 ribbons of zest from both the orange and the lemon. Slowly whisk in the olive oil and set aside for 15 minutes.

Marinate the meat for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Step 3: Caramelising the onions

Place the sliced onions and oil in a small sauce pan over a medium heat. Cook the onions until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat a little and add the brown sugar. Continue to cook the onions for around 20 minutes, stirring as needed so they don't stick to the saucepan.

Note: if you find the mixture is getting too dry, add a little more oil.

Step 4: Rolling out and cooking the tortillas

While the onions are cooking, you can roll out and cook your tortillas.

Break the dough into 5 equal portions, rolling each portion into a small ball. Preheat a fry pan or crepe pan to a medium/high heat. Roll out one of balls, on a silicone mat or lightly floured board, until a thin tortilla round is formed.

Place the tortilla on the preheated pan and cook for 1 minute on each side, or until lightly browned. Place the cooked tortilla on a plate and cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with remaining dough.

Note: little air bubbles will form in the tortilla dough when you are cooking it. This is normal.

Step 5: Cooking the meat and capsicums

Heat a fry pan to medium/ high heat. Add the oil, a few tablespoons of the marinade and the capsicums. Cook the capsicums for a few minutes until tender and remove from the pan.

Add the meat to the fry pan in a few small batches and cook until just browned. Keep the cooked batches covered while you finish cooking the meat.

Step 6: Assembling the tortilla

Place the tortilla on a plate. Spread a line of sour cream and salsa (I prefer mine without salsa) down the middle of the tortilla. Add the lettuce, meat, vegetables and grated cheese in a line down the centre of the tortilla, leaving room at one edge to fold up. Once the bottom is folded up, fold in the sides and enjoy!