Chocolate Berry Pav

This recipe is to die for!!  The pav is lovely and crisp with a delicately chewy centre which I love and as an added bonus – it’s chocolate, something else I just can’t get enough of. 

You can do this dessert all year round and I have experimented with a variety of toppings.  In the summer I love to use fresh raspberries and/or blackberries and/or strawberries and in the winter I mix a drained tin of boysenberries in with the cream itself which provides a completely different twist.  For a berry overload use the boysenberry cream and then top with fresh berries.  I’ve even made miniature chocolate berry meringues to complete a finger food theme for my brother in laws party and I can tell you that they really went down a treat that night.  Whatever the combination, I just know that you’ll love this delicious dessert.

Meringue

6 egg whites

300g castor sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

75g finely chopped dark chocolate

1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Topping

500ml cream

500g of fresh berries

50g grated chocolate

To make the meringue

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Beat egg whites until they form peaks and then gently add the sugar little by little until the egg whites are stiff.  Add the cocoa, chocolate & vinegar to the mixture and then gently fold until everything is nicely combined.  

Place mixture on a lined baking tray.  Put into the oven, then immediately turn the temperature to 150 °C. 

Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until the crust is crisp and you can still feel softness in the centre.  Once cooked, turn off the heat and leave the pav to cool inside the oven with the door left slightly open which should take about 1 hour.

To make the topping:

Whip the cream until nice and soft and top the cooled pav with the cream.  Delicately toss the fresh berries all over the top of the cream until you’re happy with what it looks like.  Top with the grated chocolate and then serve.

Serves 8-10 people.

Strawberry & Chocolate Friands

Friands have to be one of my favourite sweets to indulge in and this recipe is really quick and easy to make.  I make them in mini muffin tins 1) because I don't have a proper friand tin (shock horror) and 2) they are the perfect bite size treat.

If you don't have chocolate then simply leave it out.  You can even replace the strawberries with other berries - fresh or frozen.  Blueberries are awesome!!

If you are wondering what to do with the egg yolks, you can make a healthy home made mayonnaise, aioli or Nigella has a wonderful sponge recipe that uses just yolks no egg whites.

If you want a completely gluten free option, replace the plain flour with rice flour.

Ingredients
3 egg whites
90g of melted butter
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
100 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 big strawberries cut into 24 pieces

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease two 12 hole mini muffin pans.

Place the egg whites in a bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients and beat roughly with a fork.  Stir in all the remaining ingredients except the strawberries until nicely combined.

Spoon into the muffin pans and top each friand with a strawberry piece.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until friands are golden.  Leave them in their pans to cool for 5 minutes before turning them on a cooling rack - trying to resist the urge to have one.

Makes 24

Happy living peeps!!!

Toffeed Fruit Salad

I must admit that when it comes to creating dishes, I prefer something easy and not overly complicated but packed with flavour.   It's not that I can't be bothered putting a lot of effort into cooking, it just means when the family are hungry, the food needs to be on the table with as little stress as possible and if this means in less than an hour, then that's even better.  If it's a dish that needs a little time to marinade or do it's thing, then again, it's got to be fairly simple.

I have a few cooks/chefs that I love and if I'm totally honest, my favourite TV channel is the Food Channel especially when cooks/chefs such as Jamie Oliver & Nigella are on.  Their food seems to connect with me and let's face it, they don't seem too bothered with the fancy stuff.

There's also a couple of NZ cooks/chefs that I love as well with Anne Thorpe and Annabel Langbein being right up there.  To me, it's not just about their food - they have a point of difference in their purpose.  Anne Thorpe's food is gorgeous and through her fight with cancer she's chosen dishes that are good for the body and soul.  Annabel's current purpose is all about helping create dishes from her garden whilst teaching people how to create a garden as well which is something I can connect with.

I have many of Annabel Langbeins books and was pleased to receive her latest one from the girls this xmas.  I also received Anne Thorpes book Kai Ora for xmas not once, but twice a few years back, so one sits at home with me and the other is at the beach house in Matarangi. 

I have created many of Anne & Annabel's dishes and even placed my little twist on them every now and again when I don't quite have the right ingredients or enough to feed the multitudes, but to me, that's what food is about.  Playing around with flavours that you like and making it work for you and your family and the following experience is an example of this.

I had the extended family coming over for dinner the other day, so thought I'd give Annabel's Toffeed Oranges with Honey Ginger Yogurt a go.  Unfortunately I didn't have the required 10 oranges so decided to use the two I had and mixed them up with strawberries and a few kiwifruit.  I also decided not to make as much toffee to reduce the sugar levels in the dish.  Final result - absolutely stunning!!!

Recipe is easy - 10 oranges sliced or diced dependant on the look you are going for .. OR a combination of fruit (about 1 kg altogether).  Place them into a large flat dish and add 2 tablespoons of cointreau or orange liquor (if you don't have it, then leave it out).  Mix together and then make the toffee.  

The toffee is 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water, heat on low until the toffee is dissolved then turn up high and let it bubble away without stirring until it turns golden making sure it doesn't crystallise.   Pour all over the fruit and let it stand for at least 1-2 hours.  The toffee bubbles as you pour it over the fruit then sets to begin with, but after awhile the toffee liquifies as it reacts with the fruit.  Although I used half these measurements for my toffee, it was gorgeous.

The honey and ginger yoghurt is simple.  1 cup of natural unsweetened yoghurt, 1 tsp of ground ginger and 3 tablespoons of honey. 

Divide your fruit into 6 serving dishes, then top with yoghurt before serving.

Happy living people!!

If At First You Don't Succeed, Try And Try Again

It's common sense isn't it?  I mean we are bought into this world to take risks and test ourselves on our own abilities in life.  That's how we learn, how we progress isn't it?  Maybe so, or maybe it's the fact it's nearly midnight and I thinking to myself as I type this, that it's a little too deep for this time of the night.


Yes ... so .... I wanted to share with you my latest creations I decided to test over the past week.  The first is what I call my Retro Rose Cake.  I saw something similar on a blog I Am Baker and thought I'd give it go. Unfortunately the frosting was too wet and because my visitors were arriving within 15 mins of me finishing it, I had to improvise with black in white sprinkles :-(  In saying this, I love how the colour came out but I have learnt from this mistake and will ensure next time it comes out PERFECT!!!!

A work in progress for sure ... I call it my Retro Rose Cake

My second creation is a Chocolate Ruffle Cake which was a lot more successful than the Retro Rose Cake.  I made this for Sharianne Rangitaawa's 20th birthday.  It was a surprise from her mother Dora.


I decided to try a new frosting recipe I found on a blog called Let Them Eat Cake!!  The recipe was so quick and easy I was really amazed with the results.  In fact, the recipe called for Dutch Cocoa to not only give it a rich flavour, but the dark chocolate colour too.  Unfortunately I used the last of the dutch cocoa in the cake itself, so I decided to use my budget out of the box cocoa instead .. end result ... colour was brilliant .. flavour was awesome!!!!


I have tried the ruffled effect before on a couple of other cakes, so I knew what to expect.  What surprised me was just how beautiful the finished product was.  

Unfortunately I need to work on my photography skills because this is the best photo I got before it was taken away to be devoured by Dora, Sharianne and the rest of the whanau.  Learning from this cake ... get better photo's :-)


Have a great night!!

Food - The Essence Of Life

Baking is something I have grown up with all my life.  In fact food itself has always been an important part of our family life, not because you need it to survive, but more the fact that it  brings people together, creates happiness and laughter, strengthens relationships or simply produces treasured memories. 


Reflecting back, I have great memories of regular Sunday lunches at my grandparents in Ngaruawahia.  With life being so busy during the week my grandfather made a special effort to ensure he brought together all of his family to share in the weeks adventures over a roast lunch. As a child, it wasn't just my grandfathers cooking I looked forward to (although he loved his cooking and made the best chowder in the world), but more about seeing my cousins once again to play another friendly game of league on the front lawn or whatever else we had planned to do that afternoon and see what eventuated from there.


Although those memories were created with a Sunday roast, I have many more over a simple plate of mince that my aunty used to be renown for.  Yip there was no one in the world who could whip up a pot of mince like my Aunty Raina and feed the millions who used to visit her and her whanau when they lived in Ngaruawahia.  Her house used to have a huge front lawn and as a child I would play for hours with my cousins.


As the family grew, everyone got older, my whanau continued to have regular dinners or lunch's where we all came together to share a meal and discuss the affairs of the world. It continued, even when parts of the family ventured to Australia to build a better life for themselves or when the older passed away.  Those get togethers have remained strong, and an integral part of my whanau.  In fact, just in the past week there have been 3 instances that occurred, whether it be planned or unplanned, a huge crowd or just a few people and all went away happy.


I have to be honest though, there is nothing in the world that beats the sound of children playing and people laughing.  It's that very reaction that I treasure.  That I love.  Knowing that although the stresses of life may be strong for some, for that moment, that event, those stresses are forgotten and people are happy.


Anyway, back to baking which was my original idea and although my latest creation was for a good friend Dora Lester - actually, that's a lie, it's for Dora's children as a gift to their father this weekend. Anyway I felt compelled to sway off the beaten track slightly.  I mean baking is food and there are many instances where I have baked a cake for one of the many get togethers.  


As a child, baking was my introduction to cooking and the very first thing I made was a chocolate cake.  Well, the One Egg Chocolate Sponge from the Edmonds Cookbook to be exact.  I was 7 when I first attempted that recipe and it has stayed with me all this time.  I do make it every now and again, however my regular chocolate cake comes from an old secret recipe that was passed onto me from my aunty.  Although she has passed away now, she used to make this cake in a 20cm size and freeze loads of it down for when we would visit or needed her chocolate cake fix.  My sister Tanya used to be addicted to this cake, so it wasn't a surprise if we would call into Tanya's for a visit and out would come a perfect chocolate cake with ganache dripping from it's top.


Dora's cake is my aunties chocolate cake recipe with cream cheese frosting and chocolate waves.  The picture really doesn't give it justice at all, and I really must invest in a camera of my own.  I'm sure my husband is getting slightly annoyed that I keep asking to use is iphone.

This cake is huge (13 inches x 4 inches) so there is a bit of work that went into it. So baking the cake on Wednesday night, then filling the 4 layers with the same cream cheese frosting the next morning.  In fact I started at 5.45 am yesterday morning for the filling and frosting and had to do a little karakia to ensure I had all the frosting ingredients.... eeeek!!.  Luckily I did and I'm happy with the finished result and I know Dora and her children were happy with it too :-)


Next week I'm doing another cake for the same family so thinking of that design will be an adventure for me this weekend.


Have a great day!!