Slowcooked Butter Chicken

I was very lucky to get a slow cooker for my birthday late last year. At the time I was five months pregnant, incredibly nauseous 24 hours a day and not really in the mood to go anywhere near the kitchen. Six months later the weather was much cooler and I had much less time to prepare dinner, what with a new baby and all, and so came my first attempt at using the slowcooker or crockpot as it seems the Americans call them.

I googled my way around the internet and stumbled across Stephanie over at A Year of Crockpotting (who literally used her crockpot for 365 days. Funny that). There are loads of recipes I am looking forward to trying but I started with Butter Chicken. Boy, am I glad I started with Butter Chicken. To be honest, I don't think I have moved away from Butter Chicken yet! I've made it several times and we're all loving it. I wonder how long till we get sick of it. No time soon, I hope because it is so incredibly easy to prepare and very tasty.

(I followed Stephanies recipe, however, I used 2 teaspoons of butter rather than 6 tablespoons and 3 tablespoons of tomato paste rather than a can).

900g boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tbs butter
15 cardamom pods
2 tsp curry paste/powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 can coconut milk
3 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs lemon juice
1 cup plain yogurt (to add at the end)

Carefully sew together the cardamom pods using a needle and thread ro put them in a little cheese cloth bundle. Put chicken in crockpot, and add onion, garlic, and all of the spices. Plop in the butter and tomato paste. Add lemon juice and coconut milk and stir. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. The chicken should shred easily when fully cooked.

Stir in the yogurt 15 minutes before serving. Discard cardamom pods. Season to taste and serve with rice.

Sathya-rating *****

Rice pudding

I don't recall having rice pudding when I was a kid. The first time I had it was maybe a year or two ago when I made chocolate rice pudding (which it seems I didn't blog about). I enjoyed it but never made again. For some reason it popped into my head recently. Probably because I thought it would be easy to prepare, I wouldn't have to leave the house, it does not contain chocolate but would still be comforting.

Yes, poor, poor Sathya cannot have chocolate at the moment. Its devastating! Our gorgeous baby boy screams and screams for two days when I eat chocolate. You know, I think I'm struggling more with no chocolate than no alcohol. Big call I know.

Anyway, enough fantasising about booze and chocolate! I searched the web and found so many different recipes but Deb's (adapted from Gale Gand) over at Smitten Kitchen seemed best as I had everything at hand.

Its perfect. Creamy, sweet and absolutely delicious. I have made it a few times since finding the recipe. You can serve it with any fruit (we really like banana too), here I have served it with dried cranberries.

1/2 cup Arborio rice
4 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 pint raspberries, other berries or dried fruit (optional)

In a large saucepan, place all the ingredients, except the fruit. Bring it to a gentle boil and then turn it down to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom, for about 30 to 40 minutes. Taste the rice to check for doneness. The rice should be very soft and plump.

Take the pudding off the heat and pour into dessert bowls and stir in some fresh raspberries, or other dried or fresh fruit. Serve immediately.

Sathya-rating *****

Pumpkin Cannelloni

For Mothers Day this year we decided to spoil Mum by cooking her a nice lunch. Straight away I knew what we should make, and thankfully my sister Sal agreed.

We went to the Adelaide Central Markets on Saturday and got all the ingredients. Sal roasted the pumpkin at home later that day, so this dish was pulled together easily on Sunday. Sal rolled the cannelloni, I prepared the white sauce and the boys did the salad and the garlic bread. It was a perfect lunch on a cold wintery afternoon with family in the warmth by the fire.

This recipe comes from Bill Grangers new book and is a winner. I will definitely be making it again, everyone ate their plates clean and commented on how much they enjoyed it. I found the recipe at Lorraine’s blog Not Quite Nigella. Lorraine made this with ricotta and stated that next time she would do it with feta to counter balance the sweetness of the pumpkin, which is what we did and it worked a treat.

6 large fresh lasagne sheets or 12-14 smaller sized ones.
35g/1 oz parmesan

Filling
1.25kg peeled, deseeded pumpkin cut into 3 cm cubes
1 large red onion, cut into thin wedges
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Cheese sauce
40g butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
750ml milk
1 bay leaf
240g feta

Simple tomato sauce
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Preheat the oven to 200C. To make the filling, place pumpkin and onion on a large baking tray and drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle thyme, chili, salt and pepper on top and roast for 45 minutes until golden stirring occasionally. Cool slightly and mash with a fork ensuring to leave some texture.

To make the cheese sauce , heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes or until bubbling. gradually whisk in the milk then add bay leaf and cook. stirring until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the feta and season with salt and pepper.
Lightly butter a baking dish or use a non stick one ensuring you use one that will snugly hold the cannelloni. Pour 1/3 of the cheese sauce onto to base of the baking tray. then assemble the cannelloni by filling in each one with 2-3 tablespoons of filling and fold over to make a tube to enclose filling.

Place cannelloni in a single layer on top of cheese sauce and then sprinkle some water on the pasta. Pour the rest of the sauce on top ensuring that the cannelloni is covered with sauce. Cover with grated parmesan.

Cover and freeze at this stage. Or if cooking this now, bake in a 180C oven for 35-40 minutes until golden and bubbling.

While this is in the oven, prepare the tomato sauce - empty tomatoes into a saucepan and cook over a medium heat for about 15-25 minutes until reduced and thickened. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 1 minute.

Serve the cannelloni topped with the tomato sauce and a nice green salad.

Sathya-rating ****

Fijian Creamy Lentil Soup

Summer must be officially over as it is cooling down and I am making lots of soups. The best so far was a chicken, corn and noodle soup by Karen Martini on Better Homes and Gardens which I forgot to take a photo of, but I'll defintely make it again and post it.

This lentil soup I made on the weekend is delicious. It was incredibly easy to prepare and was hearty enough with a bread roll for dinner. I love that, cos you can make a big pot and reheat it easily when you don't have time (ie, Austen the baby needs to be held). The caramilised onions were a nice touch, but I don't know if I'd bother next time. Although the cummin seeds through the caramalised onions were great, maybe I'd just dry roast and add them on their own at the end.

375g (1 1/2 cups) red lentils
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock or water
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
250ml milk
1 tsp sea salt
60g unsalted butter
1 brown onion, diced
1 tsp cumin seeds

Pick over the lentils, removing any stones or discoloured ones. Rinse thoroughly and place in a deep saucepan with the vegetable stock or water, turmeric, ginger and tomato.

Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a food processor and blending until smooth. Return the pureed lentils to the warm pan, stir in the milk and salt and simmer gently over low heat until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan over high heat. Add the onion and cumin seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, for eight minutes, or until the onions are brown and caramelised.

To serve, ladle the soup into warm bowls and sprinkle generously with cracked black pepper to taste. Scatter the caramelised onion and coriander over the soup and serve immediately.

Sathya-rating ***

Broccoli & Rice

It's disappointing when you see a recipe that sounds tasty and you think to yourself, 'Yeah, that would be nice for dinner tonight'. You walk to the shop especially to get some ingredients, the baby has fallen asleep so you start dinner while you have a chance as dinner time is always crazy times. Baby wakes up so you quickly shut production down and settle him.

Hours later you find another moment to try and finish dinner off. Again, the baby is unhappy and you have to stop. Dad comes home and says something encouraging along the lines of 'that smells good', so you plant the baby on Dad's lap and finally finish off the dish and serve it.

Finally, you sit down, take the first bite and realise it is terrible.

This kind of thing breaks my heart. It happened to me with this Broccoli, Rice and Cheddar Casserole dish from Serious Eats. Boo hoo.

Pioneer Womans Chocolate Cake

Another cake, I apologise! I shall try to make something different soon. However, this cake is fantastic! It comes from one of my personal favourite sites -
Pioneer Woman.

As you can imagine, we have had plenty of visitors coming to meet our gorgeous baby boy. I managed to throw this cake together without a special trip to the store or too much trouble. We got lots of pieces of cake an 'mmm's this is so good' which is exactly what we needed. Chocolate cakes are often dry I find, not this one, soft and moist.

Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
225grams butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 180C degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.
Melt 200grams butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
350grams icing sugar
Stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Sathya-rating ****

Plum Cake & Welcome to the world

Its been over a month since I have signed in or typed anything for you all. What a time it has been! On 1 March the moment we had been waiting for finally arrived and we welcomed our gorgeous little boy Austen Patrick into the world. After a crazy week in hospital we have spent the last 2 weeks getting settled in at home, and slowly but surely we're getting there. With this news I hope you can sympathise with how little I have been in the kitchen (what with 44C degree days here in Adelaide and a heavy load) and now trying to literally find time to do anything let alone cook and blog about it. Hopefully I will work it out soon and you will find me here more often.



Isn't he gorgeous? I think so haha.

Anyway onto the yummy stuff. A few weeks before Austen arrived my lovely friend Hannah had a dinner party and I offered to bring dessert. Coincidentally Mum left with me a bag of home grown plums, so I decided the dessert must use these plums. As a side note, let me say I hate plums, I find them sour and don't like the flavour, so I wasn't very excited about all this.

I was generously given "The Cooks Companion" by Stephanie Alexander for Christmas so I thought I'd start looking for a recipe there. I didn't have to look long as under the plum section there was this wonderful recipe. It was easy to make and the cake was gorgeous, the topping is the winner I think. I'd never made a cake like this before, the method was interesting, and I wasn't sure it was going to work, but it did. Give it a try, its delicious, everyone loved it, and some of them were outstanding chefs! Always nice to impress and receive compliments from chefs!

180g softened butter
150g castor sugar
135g plain flour
135g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
70ml milk
1/2 cup ground almonds (or fresh breadcrumbs)
10-12 ripe blood plums, halved and stoned

Topping:
60g butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 200C and lightly grease a 26cm springform tin.

To make the topping, melt butter and stir in sugar and cinnamon, then allow to cool a little. Whisk eggs well and stir into cooled butter mixture.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in flours and salt. Mix eggs with milk, then add to flour mixture and mix to make a softish dough (it should drop easily from the spoon). Spoon batter into prepared tin (it should not fill more than a quarter of the depth, as the cake rises a great deal), smooth the top and sprinkle over ground almonds. Arrange plums on top, cut-side up, starting around outside edge and working towards centre. Spoon topping over and around plums on cake. Place cake in oven and reduce temperature to 180C.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a fine skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm with cream or ice-cream. Any leftover cake can be warmed, wrapped in foil, in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes.



Sathya-rating *****

Apricot Jam

A friend of mine at work had an excess of apricots from her tree at home and passed them onto me. They were incredibly ripe and delicious and I realised straight away they wouldn’t last long so decided I would have my first attempt at making jam. Not just any jam, apricot, which is my favourite.

I typed ‘apricot jam’ into Google and found this very easy recipe on www.cuisine.com.au a great Australian recipe site and got straight into it. It was all very easy and the end result was incredibly rewarding and worthwhile, the jam was delicious! It didn’t last long here, so I am looking forward to the next bag of fruit and my next attempt.

The recipe is below, but please note, I didn’t add the apricot kernels.

1.2kg ripe apricots
570g sugar
4 apricot kernels, chopped
Juice of a lemon

Wash apricots well and pat dry. Pit them (keep the kernels) and dice flesh into 1cm cubes. Mix diced apricots with sugar in a large pot and let stand for at least an hour or preferably overnight in refrigerator. Add chopped kernels. Bring mixture to boil, stirring so it doesn't catch. It will rise in the pot with large bubbles. Skim off any scum that forms on top. Lower heat to a vigorous simmer until bubbles get smaller. Test for thickness by placing a few drops on a small cold plate (from refrigerator). When ready, remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and place in preserving jars following the maker's instructions.

Makes about a litre.

Sathya-rating *****

The best stuffed tomatoes - ever!

One of my favourite blogs is Orangette written by a gorgeous woman called Molly. I have probably told you about her before, she takes wonderful pictures and every recipe I have made has become a favourite - like the eggplant curry.

I have a new favourite which Molly demanded everyone make, and if I may be so bossy, I think you all should as well! Rice stuffed tomatoes adapted from Luisa Weiss.

The photo isn't terribly exciting but the flavour (and the ease) of this recipe make them perfect! Yum. I made them a lot before it turned really hot over here in Adelaide. Now, I try to avoid using the oven as pregnancy + heat doesn't mix!

4 large, good-tasting tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
Olive oil
1/3 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup water
5 fresh basil leaves
Salt
Breadcrumbs
baby potatoes, sliced into rounds

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Holding them over a bowl, scoop out their insides – flesh, seeds, and juice – and let it all fall into the bowl. Set the tomatoes in a lightly oiled 9”x13” baking dish. Then fish the flesh out of the bowl, and chop it. Return it to the bowl with the juice and seeds.

In a medium saucepan, warm a glug of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent. Add the rice, and continue to cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Add the tomato flesh, juice, and seeds – it may look like a lot, but add it all – as well as the water. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces, and add them too. Add a generous pinch or two of salt. Reduce the heat slightly, cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and if needed, add more salt.

Spoon the par-cooked rice mixture into the tomatoes. Top them with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs. Arrange the potato slices around the tomatoes in the pan. Give everything a good drizzle of olive oil. (You might want to flip and rub the potatoes a bit, to make sure that each has a nice coat of oil.) Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The tomatoes should shrivel a bit and release some of their juices, and the potatoes should cook through.

Cool for 15 minutes or so before eating, so that the tomato juices have time to settle.

Sathya-rating *****

December Daring Bakers Challenge - French Yule Log

Its time for Daring Bakers! Yay!

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

I am a little late as I was in a rural part of Australia, Streaky Bay, without access to a computer and I couldn’t do it before we left on 27 December as posting day was 28 December. Hopefully I am not banished for this. We shall see though, as Daring Bakers has become much more organised and regulated in 2009.

This time last year the Daring Bakers made a Yule Log so when I first saw the challenge was a Yule log, I was a little disappointed as I thought it was the same, but I have since learnt that a French Yule Log is very different! I must say, however, that I enjoyed last years much more in taste and preparation.

This recipe took a lot of time and effort to prepare, so please don’t attempt unless you have those 2 things in abundance, which I didn’t at this crazy time of year plus being 7 months pregnant!

Thanks you to Hilda and Marion for hosting Decembers challenge. It can’t be easy to choose a recipe that both hosts are happy with and that they imagine all Daring Bakers will be happy with! Hats off to you ladies!

I think as Daring Bakers we need to be honest and open and give our feedback on these recipes so that is what I will do. I did not enjoy this challenge, preparing or eating it. Disappointing huh? I think it was partly the recipe, and partly me and my kitchen! Firstly, it was about 32C degrees (90F), my kitchen light had blown and I couldn’t change it as the ceilings are so high, my KitchenAid was playing up and finally the batteries in my scales ran out. Humph.

The taste testers enjoyed this though and it looks like many of my fellow Daring Bakers did as well so don’t take too much notice of me. I’m terribly hormonal!

FRENCH YULE LOG RECIPE by Flore of Florilège Gourmand

Element #1 Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

80g almond meal
50g icing sugar
15g plain flour
3 medium egg whites
50g sugar

Finely mix the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar. (If you have a mixer, you can use it by pulsing the ingredients together for no longer than 30 seconds).

Sift the flour into the mix.

Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff.

Pour the almond meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.

Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it.

Spread the batter on a piece of parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc...) and to a height of 1/3 inches (8mm).
Bake at 180°C for approximately 15 minutes Let cool and cut to the desired shape.

Element #2 Dark Chocolate Mousse

2.5 sheets gelatin or 5g powdered gelatin
40g sugar
10g glucose or golden syrup
15g water
3 medium egg yolks
175g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
350g heavy cream (35% fat content)

Soften the gelatin in cold water. (If using powdered gelatin, follow the directions on the package.)

Make a Pate a Bombe: Beat the egg yolks until very light in colour (approximately 5 minutes until almost white).

Cook the sugar, glucose syrup and water on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer, the mixture should reach 244°F (118°C). If you do not have a candy thermometer, test the sugar temperature by dipping the tip of a knife into the syrup then into a bowl of ice water, if it forms a soft ball in the water then you have reached the correct temperature.
Add the sugar syrup to the beaten yolks carefully by pouring it into the mixture in a thin stream while continuing to beat the yolks. You can do this by hand but it’s easier to do this with an electric mixer.

Continue beating until cool (approximately 5 minutes). The batter should become thick and foamy.

In a double boiler or equivalent, heat 2 tablespoons (30g) of cream to boiling. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.

Whip the remainder of the cream until stiff.

Pour the melted chocolate over the softened gelatin, mixing well. Let the gelatin and chocolate cool slightly and then stir in ½ cup (100g) of WHIPPED cream to temper. Add the Pate a Bombe.

Add in the rest of the WHIPPED cream (220g) mixing gently with a spatula.

Element #3 Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

50g sugar
135g heavy cream (35% fat content)
135g dark chocolate, finely chopped
45g unsalted butter, softened

Make a caramel: Using the dry method, melt the sugar by spreading it in an even layer in a small saucepan with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat, watching it carefully as the sugar begins to melt. Never stir the mixture. As the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan occasionally to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Cook to dark amber color (for most of you that means darker than last month’s challenge).

While the sugar is melting, heat the cream until boiling. Pour cream into the caramel and stir thoroughly. Be very careful as it may splatter and boil.

Pour the hot caramel-milk mixture over the dark chocolate. Wait 30 seconds and stir
until smooth.

Add the softened butter and whip hard and fast (if you have a plunging mixer use it). The chocolate should be smooth and shiny.

Element #4 Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert

Note: Feuillete means layered (as in with leaves) so a Praline Feuillete is a Praline version of a delicate crisp. There are non-praline variations below. The crunch in this crisp comes from an ingredient which is called gavottes in French. Gavottes are lace-thin crepes. To our knowledge they are not available outside of France, so you have the option of making your own using the recipe below or you can simply substitute rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K for them. Special note: If you use one of the substitutes for the gavottes, you should halve the quantity stated, as in use 1oz of any of these cereals instead of 2.1oz.

60g of gavottes (lace crepes - recipe by Ferich Mounia):
80ml whole milk
8g unsalted butter
35g plain flour
15g beaten egg
3.5g sugar
½ tsp vegetable oil

Heat the milk and butter together until butter is completely melted. Remove from the heat.

Sift flour into milk-butter mixture while beating, add egg and granulated sugar. Make sure there are no lumps.

Grease a baking sheet and spread batter thinly over it.

Bake at 430°F (220°C) for a few minutes until the crepe is golden and crispy. Let cool.

Ingredients for the Praline Feuillete:
100g milk chocolate
25g butter
30g praline
2.1oz (60g) lace crepes(gavottes) or rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K (I used cornflakes)

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.

Add the praline and the coarsely crushed lace crepes. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate.

Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard.

Element #5 Vanilla Crème Brulée Insert

115g heavy cream (35% fat content)
115g whole milk
4 medium-sized egg yolks
25g sugar
1 vanilla bean

Heat the milk, cream, and scraped vanilla bean to just boiling. Remove from the stove and let the vanilla infuse for about 1 hour.

Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks (but do not beat until white).

Pour the vanilla-infused milk over the sugar/yolk mixture. Mix well.

Wipe with a very wet cloth and then cover your baking mold (whatever shape is going to fit on the inside of your Yule log/cake) with parchment paper. Pour the cream into the mold and bake at 210°F (100°C) for about 1 hour or until firm on the edges and slightly wobbly in the center.

Let cool and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm up and facilitate the final assembly.

Element #6 Dark Chocolate Icing

½ Tbsp powdered gelatin or 2 sheets gelatin
60g heavy cream (35 % fat content)
60g granulated sugar
¼ cup water
30g unsweetened cocoa powder

Soften the gelatin in cold water for 15 minutes.

Boil the rest of the ingredients and cook an additional 3 minutes after boiling.

Add gelatin to the chocolate mixture. Mix well.

Let cool while checking the texture regularly. As soon as the mixture is smooth and coats a spoon well (it is starting to gelify), use immediately.

How To Assemble your French Yule Log

Depending on whether your mold is going to hold the assembly upside down until you unmold it or right side up, this order will be different.

THIS IS FOR UNMOLDING FROM UPSIDE DOWN TO RIGHT SIDE UP.

You will want to tap your mold gently on the countertop after each time you pipe mousse in to get rid of any air bubbles.

Line your mold or pan, whatever its shape, with rhodoid (clear hard plastic, I usually use transparencies cut to the desired shape, it’s easier to find than cellulose acetate which is what rhodoid translates to in English) OR plastic film. Rhodoid will give you a smoother shape but you may have a hard time using it depending on the kind of mold you’re using.

Pipe one third of the Mousse component into the mold.

Take the Creme Brulee Insert out of the freezer at the last minute and set on top of the mousse. Press down gently to slightly ensconce it in the mousse.

Pipe second third of the Mousse component around and on top of the Creme Brulee Insert.

Cut the Praline/Crisp Insert to a size slightly smaller than your mold so that it can be surrounded by mousse. Lay it on top of the mousse you just piped into the mold.

Pipe the last third of the Mousse component on top of the Praline Insert.

Freeze for a few hours to set. Take out of the freezer.

Pipe the Ganache Insert onto the frozen mousse leaving a slight edge so that ganache doesn’t seep out when you set the Dacquoise on top.

Close with the Dacquoise.

Freeze until the next day.

The next day...

Unmold the cake/log/whatever and set on a wire rack over a shallow pan.
Cover the cake with the icing.

Let set. Return to the freezer.
You may decorate your cake however you wish. The decorations can be set in the icing after it sets but before you return the cake to the freezer or you may attach them on top using extra ganache or leftover mousse, etc...

Transfer to the refrigerator no longer than ½ hour before serving as it may start to melt quickly depending on the elements you chose.

Sathya-rating **

Italian meatballs with tomato sauce

Recently we went up to Queensland for a bit of a holiday and stayed with our gorgeous friends Polly and Shane. Polly and I are in our element in the kitchen, so there was plenty of cooking to be done, which was loads of fun.

One of my favourite meals during our time there were these meatballs. Mmm mm. Prior to this event I had never really like meatballs, they seemed pointless, why not just bolognese? I know, I know, silly of me huh? I totally understand why meatballs now! These are perfect! I've made them several times since, and they are very popular.

180ml olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
100grams pinenuts, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
handful of parsley, basil and rosemary, roughly chopped
2 tsp fennel seeds, ground
50g fresh breadcrumbs
250g ricotta
25g parmesan, grated
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
500g minced beef or pork

Sauce:
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100ml red wine
large tbs tomato paste

Start with the meatballs - fry the onion, garlic and pinenuts in half the olive oil until soft.

In a large bowl combine the herbs, fennel, breadcrumbs, ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, egg and mince. Add the cooled onion mix and some salt and pepper. Leave the mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before making into balls.

Form the balls with about 50grams of the mixture (about the size of a walnut) and then flatten a little to make it easier to cook on both sides. Make balls out of all the mixture and then you're ready to fry.

Fry the meatballs in a large pan with the remaining olive oil until golden brown. Cook in batches so the pan isn't too crowded.

For the sauce, fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil for a few minutes till soft and add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and then add the meatballs gently to the sauce and simmer for a further 10 minutes, covered. Allow this all to stand for 10 minutes and serve with pasta of your choice.

Sathya-rating *****

Daring Bakers November Challenge - Caramel Cake

It is that time of the month for many food blogs around the world to be taken over by the wonderful Daring Bakers - yay! I love it. I have missed some challenges unfortunately, and for this I apologise. Pregnancy has caused vomiting all day, every day for 6 months straight which hasn't helped my time in the kitchen (or anywhere for that matter!) but this month I managed to complete a challenge so here I am again.

This months task was set by Dolores with the help of Alex, Jenny and Natalie and is a gorgeous caramel cake recipe created by Shuna Fish Lydon.

As you can see, I decided to make cupcakes, which turned out successfully. I as worried I may have lost my touch with months of not baking but I was fine. I didn't find this recipe difficult at all, I don't know how others feel? My caramel syrup came up easily, the frosting mixed together nicely and the cakes were perfect. I prepared the syrup and frosting on a different day to the cakes and when realising just how sweet the frosting was halved the sugar in the cakes, which I am very happy about as they overall effect was still very sweet. I am a sweet tooth, so when I think something is very sweet, it really is!

I brought these along to a big family event this evening and one walk around the room on a tray and they all disappeared and seemed to be devoured just as quickly.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 180C

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
450g icing sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Sathya-rating ***

Tiramisu - David Lebovitz

I don't know about you, but if Tiramisu is on the menu somewhere, I always order it. Therefore I think of myself as quite the connoisseur! There seem to be so many different ways for it be made and presented. I am rarely disappointed, but there are outstandouts among all these tiramisu's I have ordered, I can't think how to describe it other than nice and moist, juicy, boozy and chocolatey as well as the definite flavour of mascarpone.

So when I saw David Lebovitz' recipe recently and noticed how easy it all was to prepare I decided it was time to give it a go at home. The perfect occassion arose, when friends of ours came for dinner who both own successful restaurants with my favourite little girl, Indiah. I made delicious meatballs (coming here soon) and this tiramisu for dessert. I always get a little nervous cooking for people in the hospitality industry, they know so much and chances are they'll discuss it (often at length) on the way home. Everyone loved this though, I think I was actually the most critical - the balance wasn't quite right - too much boozy biscuit and not enough creamy goodness. There's an easy solution for that though, I'll just double the mascarpone/egg mix next time!

½ cup (125ml) espresso, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon cognac
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
pinch of salt
90g sugar, divided
250g mascarpone
twelve ladyfingers
optional: 1 ounce (30g) bittersweet chocolate
unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving


Mix together the espresso, rum, and cognac.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff. Scrape the egg whites into a small bowl.

Separately beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until stiff and light-colored, about three minutes. Beat in the mascarpone with a spatula or whisk by hand, until smooth.

Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.

Place a large soup spoon, of the mascarpone cream into each vessel (I used martini glasses).

Dip each ladyfinger in the espresso mixture for 5-10 seconds, until completely, utterly soaked. (Dried ladyfingers will take longer to saturate than softer ones.) Break the ladyfinger in half to be sure; they should be dropping wet, and can't be saturated enough. Then layer them over the mascarpone cream in each vessel. Use two ladyfingers per.

Grate a lots of dark chocolate over serve and top with remaining mascarpone cream. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours, or overnight.

When you’re ready to serve shake powdered cocoa generously on top.

Sathya-rating ***

Coconut Bread

First and foremost, I'm sorry I haven't been giving this little blog much attention of late. I can give you many excuses, but I don't really like excuses, they're boring and don't really relate to the world of food, so please believe me its not because I don't love this blog and all that comes with it, its just been a full on time in my life (and will continue to be what with a baby coming in Feb)!

Anyhow, I'm here to tell you about a Bill Granger recipe I came across, mixed up and served when my gorgeous friend Anna came over for a cup of tea recently. Coconut Bread. YUM! It was delicious. I often make banana bread as its such an easy pull together recipe that is highly satisfying, so this appealed to me immediately. Everyone really enjoyed it and the loaf disappeared in one afternoon (hence the photo). It does take an hour to bake, but its defintely worth it. The house smelt sensational, we served it warm with lashings of butter and cups of tea and were all extremely content.

2 eggs
300ml (10 fl oz) milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 ½ cups plain (all purpose) flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
150 g (5 oz) shredded coconut
75 g (2 1/2 oz) unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together.

Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and coconut, and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined. Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, be careful not to over-mix.

Pour into a greased and floured 21 x 10 cm (8 1/2 x 4 in) loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.
Leave in the tin to cool for 5 minutes, and remove to cool further on a wire rack.

Serve in thick slices, toasted, buttered and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 8-10 thick slices.

Sathya-rating *****

Donut Muffins

I spotted these little babies over at Dishing Delights and was sold. I made them a few days later, quickly and easily and they were delicious! Simple little cakes with a cinnamon sugar topping - how can you go wrong!

My sister, Sal remembered I was making them and dropped in and really enjoyed them as well. So much so, she made them herself.

This is the type of recipe I will use over and over as its easy and everyone will enjoy.

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

2 large eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
55 grams butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Position oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper cups.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix with light strokes until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don't overmix; batter should not be smooth.

Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in one or two of the muffins come out clean, 15-20 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt the butter and place in a bowl just large enough to hold a muffin. Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffing are done, dip them one at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Sathya-rating ****