Cherry marzipan scones

These are rather posh scones and are a little more fiddly than usual but are ideal for a treat or of course for tea on the verandah with Hugh Grant and Colin Firth ….

This recipe is from a food blog called the Bonjon Gourmet and I’ve been waiting impatiently for cherry season to try it out.  I love the almondy flavour of the scone dough and the cherry sandwich layer becomes quite oozy and jammy.  You could probably use tinned cherries, but you’d need to squish quite a lot of the liquid out of them first.

Cherry Marzipan scones

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh marzipan, crumbled
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, in 1/2″ cubes
3/4 cup plain greek yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted and quartered:
1-2 tablespoons milk
a small handful of sliced almonds (preferably unblanched)
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Using a food processor, combine the marzipan, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine and break up the almond paste. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Add the yoghurt and the almond extract, and pulse just until the mixture begins to form a ball.

Put the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, dust the top lightly with flour, and roll into a 12 by 8″ rectangle, turning and flipping the dough, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Lay the prepared cherries over half the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the cherries, and press down gently but firmly (this will help the cherries stay in place when you slice and move the scones). Freeze the whole thing until fairly firm, but not frozen, 20 minutes.

Put a rack towards the top of the oven and preheat to 210ºC. Line a heavy baking tray with parchment paper, and stack it on top of a second heavy baking sheet (this helps to stop the scones from burning on the bottom).

Trim away the outer 1/4″ from each side of the scone, then cut into 12 squares. Brush the tops with milk, sprinkle with the almonds, pressing them lightly into the scones, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

Transfer the scones to the baking tray, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake the scones until they are golden brown on top, 18-20 minutes.  Serve warm with cream or creme fraiche.

Key lime pie

The name “Key Lime Pie’ has always made me think of Jamaica and the West Indies, of hot summer days and azure seas and the scent of lime blossom in the night air.  As we’ve had rather a cold spring here, I thought I’d give it a try, and it’s deliciously refreshing and very easy to make.

This is a combination of a couple of recipes I found.  You can use most types of sweet, crunchy biscuits for the base - I used Nutikrust caramel flavoured, but they are quite sweet so next time I’ll probably go back to good old digestives or ginger nuts.  I also used the ‘less sugar’ variety of Nestle condensed milk which had the perfect amount of sweetness to counteract the lime juice.

Key Lime Pie

300g digestive biscuits/ginger nuts etc
1/4 cup ground almonds
100g butter melted

1 x 397g tin condensed milk
3 medium egg yolks
finely grated zest and juice of 4 limes

double cream, whipped
extra lime zest, to decorate

Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor (or use a pestle and mortar or put in a strong plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix in the almond meal and melted butter and press into the base and about 4 cm up the sides of a 22cm loose-based tart tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk for a minute with an electric beater. Add the condensed milk and whisk for another 3 minutes then add the lime zest and juice and whisk again for 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled base then put the pie back in the oven for 15 minutes. Allow the pie to cool, then chill for at least 3 hours or overnight if you like.

When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the pie from the tin and put on a serving plate. To decorate, dollop the cream onto the top of the pie and sprinkle with the extra lime zest.

Tomi's Mexican Cornbread

Cornbread is part of traditional American cuisine, and is particularly associated with the South and Southwest US. It is usually eaten with a barbeque or with chili con carne.

In the United States, northern and southern cornbread are different because they generally use different types of corn meal and varying degrees of sugar and eggs. Southern cornbread has traditionally been made with little or no sugar and smaller amounts flour or no flour, with northern cornbread being sweeter and more cakelike. Southern cornbread traditionally uses white cornmeal and buttermilk. In Texas, the Mexican influence has resulted cornbread made with fresh or creamed corn kernels and jalapeño peppers.

I hadn’t eaten ‘proper’ cornbread (I make an easy cheesy mealie bread which is similar but not as delicious), until Tomi (who’s from Kansas) made some for us and I realise how perfectly it goes with a braai or a chilli con carne.  This recipe is based on one from Paula Dean which I’ve adapted a bit by using self raising flour and an extra egg and cutting down the amount of baking powder.  I’ve also cut down on the amount of sugar, although the sweeter version is also very nice.  Try to use yellow cornmeal or mealiemeal as it gives the finished cornbread a lovely, golden colour.  

Mexican cornbread

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal (polenta) 1 cup self-raising flour, sifted 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 can creamed corn 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup chopped jalapeños, or to taste 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (grated) 1 small onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C (180 fan forced). Grease an 8-inch square pan well with butter and put in the oven until really hot.

In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the beaten eggs, buttermilk, creamed corn, oil, and onion and mix until smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the cheese and jalapenos. Top with the remaining batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm straight from the pan.

Persian love cake

I first tried this cake at a little cafe called "the pocket" on Moffat beach which serves some of the best coffee on the Sunshine Coast, mostly because I couldn't resist the name but also because I love pistachios - besides tasting delicious they are so pretty with their purply green colours, and the combination of flavours with the cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg is rich and exotic.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Gerard Yaxley of Qöm Restaurant, originally published in Gourmet Traveller (I googled it :)

Persian Love Cake 

Ingredients

180 grams almond meal
110 grams demerara sugar
110 grams brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
60 grams butter, softened
1 egg
125 grams Greek yogurt, plus extra to serve
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
5 tablespoons shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and line an 18 cm springform tin with baking paper.

Mix the almond meal, sugars and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with your fingers to cover the base evenly.

To the remaining mixture, add the egg, yogurt and spices, and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Pour this mixture over the base, and sprinkle on the chopped pistachios.

Bake until golden brown and just set, approximately 30 minutes.  Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.  Serve with extra Greek yogurt on the side.

thai red curry roast chicken

This is another recipe I found on one of my favourite food blogs - Not Quite Nigella.  I follow her on Instagram and Facebook and her food photography is wonderful and her recipes are delicious.  This recipe is easy to prepare and is a different way of serving a roast chicken if you want to add a bit of extra flavour and spice.  I used chicken pieces but I’m sure it would work just as well with a whole chicken.  Don’t leave out the Thai lime leaves - they add a delicious limey kick - I also added some extra lime juice right at the end.

Thai Red Curry Roast Chicken

  

Serves 4

1 whole chicken about 1kg (or chicken pieces)

2 tablespoons red curry paste (or green curry paste)

1.5 tablespoons oil plus extra for drizzling

3 kaffir (Thai) lime leaves, finely sliced

2 teaspoons finely chopped lemongrass

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 lime

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks

1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

2 tablespoons fresh coriander (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C.  Mix the curry paste, oil, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, the juice of half the lime, salt and sugar in a bowl. Brush just over half of the mixture all over the chicken and the butternut. Drizzle the butternut with a little extra oil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear, add water and steam until cooked.

After 30 minutes, take the chicken out the oven and brush again with the remaining paste and toss the butternut and drizzle a little more oil if needed. Return to the oven for another 30 minutes or however long it needs (usually 30 minutes for every 500g). If you are using chicken pieces return them to the oven for another 20 minutes.  Carefully check that they are cooked through before serving.

Put the chicken and butternut on a serving plate and squeeze over the juice of the remaining half of the lime and sprinkle over some chopped coriander (if you want).  Add the cooked rice to the juices in the pan and serve alongside the chicken and roast butternut.

summer berry pie

This is a recipe I found on pinterest from a blog called vikalinka.com.  I’ve adapted it a little as the original was a bit too sweet for my taste.  It’s really simple to make, and if you can find a really good quality all butter pre-made pie shell you can forget about making the pastry yourself and use that instead.  Just make sure you use really fresh ripe berries. 

Summer Berry Pie

Ingredients

600g fresh mixed seasonal berries (eg raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mulberries etc)

4 meringue nests (broken into pieces)

1 cup double cream

1/2 cup creme fraiche

seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1/2 tsp vanilla essence)

1 tbsp rum (optional)

For the pie

250g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)

50g icing sugar

125g unsalted butter (cut into small cubes)

I large egg

a splash of milk

butter for greasing the pie tin

Mix the flour and icing sugar in a large bowl, add the (cold) cubed butter and work it in the mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Add the beaten egg and a bit of milk just to bring the dough together and form it into a ball.  Wrap it in a plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle your work surface and the rolling pin with some flour, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out big enough to fit a 9″ loose bottomed pie tin. Grease your tart tin with some butter, and lay the pastry over making sure it comes up the sides.  Trim off the extra bits and prick it all over with a fork.  Cover it with cling wrap and put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 180C. Take the pie dough out of the fridge (or use your pre-made one) and line it with baking paper, fill with baking weights or uncooked rice and bake it “blind” for 10 minutes, then remove the baking weights and baking paper and bake for 10 minutes longer until golden.  Allow to cool completely (very important!).

Whip the cream and creme fraiche with the vanilla bean seeds and rum until soft peaks form. Mix in the broken meringue and put the mixture in the pie shell. Top with the mixed berries and sprinkle with a little icing sugar.