Spiced Pear and Chocolate Strudel

My December #PhabPhyllo recipe in conjunction with Mediterranean Delicacies is an ode to everyone out there who hates raisins and has to endure Christmas pudding, mince pies and Christmas Cake on repeat at this time of year (my husband happens to be one such person). So I created a festive strudel that has all the wonderful flavours of Christmas: spice, orange, nuts and chocolate...just not the raisins, and it's utterly scrumptious if I don't say so myself...

Halva Mousse in Phyllo Cups

This is one of the easiest and quickest desserts I've ever come up with. I created them for Mediterranean Delicacies (whom I collaborate with often). The phyllo cups take a little time to make, but you can make them days in advance and just keep them in an airtight container. The mousse can also be frozen and served as a semifreddo which I love! Either way it's delish - so it's up to you...

Pears poached in Saffron and White Wine

I helped my dear friend and amazing photographer Robyn Davie with the food for a wedding shoot and this was my naughty dessert - it's simple, delicious and tastes as good as it looks. Thank you for the photos Robyn!

Easiest, Gooiest, Chocolate Brownies

You can make these brownies using only 5 ingredients. They're quick, easy and delightfully gooey. The other day I was sent a whole range of sugars from Natura Sugars and I have to say their sugars are pretty damn perfect for baking. For these brownies, use either the Light Muscovado or the Fine Demerara, alternatively you can use castor sugar :)

Chocolate, Banana and Hazelnut Cake Jars

Time for another cake jar - I know they are a little bit gimmicky but they really do go down a treat and they stay fresh for much longer and can be frozen ahead of time very easily - and I actually think they're pretty cool :)

Tres Leches Cake Jars

Tres Leches Cake is a popular dessert in South America and literally translates to ‘3 milk cake’ in Spanish. The three milks relate to the creamy mixture you pour over the cooked cake consisting: condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream. It's bloomin delish, and oh so pretty when you serve them in little jars - perfect for summer by the pool, picnicking or just being cute and awesome at eh same time ;)

Churros

These are very naughty, but also very very nice :) They're often described as Spanish doughnuts and eaten as a snack or at breakfast, but I'd happily serve them for dessert. 

Pear and Cinnamon Pie Pops

Sweet little baked treats that take a little bit of effort but look just dandy and taste rather scrumptious :)

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Salted caramel is big at the moment and I can see why; it goes with everything and I have yet to find a dessert that it doesn't double in deliciousness. It's dangerous stuff, but in the best way!

I decided to use the salted caramel decadence in an apple tart - apples are in season, cheap and always cheerful. The tartness of the apples really works well with the richness of the salted caramel and the whole thing is just crazy-good.

Cookie Sandwiches

The scrumptious people at Sasko Flour asked me to come up with something delectable for Valentines Day. Cookie Sandwiches are a big baking trend at the moment and are a seriously indulgent way to say 'I think you're bloomin awesome'. I have created 3 recipes; Chocolate Chip and Ice Cream, Carrot and Cinnamon with Orange buttercream and Chocolate Brownie and Peanut butter buttercream. I have no doubt you'll find one that tickles your fancy.

Pear and Frangipane tart with Amarula Custard

I think this picture says my 1000 words; it's everything about this little number that I want you to know.

Pear and Frangipane tart with Amarula custard

I don't think people use pears enough in desserts, but they are a firm favourite of mine. The pear and frangipane tart is by no means an original idea - this is just my cheeky take on the original idea. It is important to get large, juicy ripe pairs and to have a delicate hand when making this recipe, all the flavours are delicate and the poaching, pastry making and putting together require some love and time. But then again I think all good food needs that.

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)

Pastry:
100g butter
200g flour
1 tbsp castor sugar
90 ml cold water

Pears (to poach):
4 large pears (pealed, cored and halved)
3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla pod (deseeded)

frangipane filling:
75g butter (at room temp)
100g castor sugar
2 eggs (at room temp)
100g  PnP blanched almonds (blended until powder)

Chocolate leaves: (if you want to)
80g dark chocolate
non-poisonous leave to paint i.e. lemon leaves

Amarula Custard:
2 eggs
3 tbsp cornflour
2 cups milk
1 cup amarula

Method:
For the pastry:
Pop the butter, flour and sugar into a food processor and blitz until the texture resembles bread crumbs. Add the water whilst blitzing again until the pastry comes together and forms and a rough ball. Dust a working surface with flour, turn out, bring together and roll into a ball. Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 min. Meanwhile:
Preheat the oven to 180*C

For the pears:
Scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod
Bring the sugar, water and vanilla seeds up to the boil and pop the pears into a sauce pan, cover and simmer for 12 minutes until the pears are just tender. Remove from the poaching liquid and set aside to cool.
(At this point, if you want to go the extra mile, you can reduce the vanilla and sugar water until it becomes a thick syrup to glaze the pears.)
Roll the pastry to fit into a loose bottomed tart tin in the shape of your choice (I used a rectangular one). Grease the tin and press the pastry into the tin so that the edges overlap slightly. Prick the pastry and blind bake for 1o minutes, then remove covering and bake for a further 8 minutes until pastry is beginning to lightly brown on the edges. Set aside to cool.

For the frangipane filling:
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time until well combined. Add the blitzed almonds and flour and fold through. spread evenly through the bottom of the tart case and top with the cooled pears. Baste pears with a little sugar syrup. Baked for 25-30 minutes, until set and starting to brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

To make the chocolate leaves:
Simply melt the chocolate and paint a thick layer of chocolate on the back of each leaf. Allow to set on a plate, leaf-side down. Once set, carefully peal off the chocolate and set aside until needed

To make the custard:
Mix together the milk, flour and eggs in a heavy-based saucepan and whisk over medium heat until thickened (enough to coat the back of a spoon), add the Amarula and continue whisking until thickened.
Serve generous slices of the tart with spoonfuls of custard and decorate with chocolate leaves.

Tart tatin

This is one of those desserts that I will forever be enamored with French for making but will forever resent the French for naming...'Tart tatin' -the only way to say it is as if you have just tasted something awful and bitter so that you widen your mouth into a frog-like smile to let the words drip off your tongue to get the pronunciation right. In Layman's terms you would pronounce it 'tert - tata' with a 'n' on the end that is present but in the same annoying way as the 't' in 'Moet'. - in short, if you don't get it or can't get it, forget about it, just make it and tell your friends that it is a French apple tart, or say 'tart tatin' under your breath in the hope that they will all be too embarrassed to ask you to repeat it. Either way you should make this.

Tart tatin

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
7 apples (granny smith)
1/2 cup sugar
50g butter
1 packet ready-made puff pastry
Cream to serve

Method:
Preheat oven to 220*C and grease a 23 centimeter oven proof frying pan or completely metal cake tin (you are going to melt the sugar in it on the stove top)
Peal, core and halve the apples.
Pour the sugar into the pan/cake tin and place on the stove top on high heat. When the sugar begins to dissolve swirl the pan so that the sugar melts evenly, once the sugar has melted and has turned a golden brown colour, continue to swirl until it turns a lighter shade of caramel (approx 5 min), now add the butter and swirl the pan so that, as the butter melts, it dissolves into the sugar to create a caramel.
When the caramel is a deep brown take it off the stove. (If it begins to darken too quickly, put the bottom of the pan into a sink of cold water which will stop the cooking process immediately.)
Carefully arrange the apples, centre side up in the caramel in the pan.
Cut the pastry into a circle just larger than the pan and carefully cover the apples with the circle of pastry. Tuck in the edges and prick the top with a fork.
Bake for 20 minutes on 220 and then a further 20-25 minutes on 200.
Remove from the oven, place a plate on top of the pan and, making sure not to burn yourself, turn the pan and plate over to release the tart onto the plate.
Serve warm or cold with cream.

If you are serving your tart the next day - I would advise you glaze it with a little melted apricot jam as the longer the tart stands, the more its shine will dissipate.

Pears in mulled red wine

This is a fool-proof dessert. Literally. Anyone with a bottle of plonk and half a brain can make it and yet, I so seldom see it done. It's one of those glorious-looking, can't stuff it up, serve it hot or cold or even the next day wonders.

I was in Kenton visiting my mother for the weekend and my uncle had flown out from England to surprise us so it was a full-on family do. The weekend was a menagerie of laughter, food and wine, all culminating in a big Sunday lunch on my last day. He loves desserts, so when planning the spread I had to bear this in mind. Cooking desserts away from your own kitchen is a bore; there's always something vital missing in the pantry, the oven never works in the way you want it to and something inevitably flops, but that's where this dessert comes in handy; pears, wine, sugar, cinnamon, you can get these four ingredients anywhere in the world, no oven, no worries and every time I've made it, it has the 'wow' factor.

Avoid family arguments, keeping everyone happy. Make this.

Pears in mulled red wine

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

• 4-6 pears
• 1 bottle red wine
• 1 tsp cinnamon/2 sticks cinnamon 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Ice cream/ mascarpone cream to serve

 Method:

• Put pears in a deep saucepan, pour in sugar, wine, cinnamon
• Cover and simmer for 20 min, turning pears occasionally to ensure even colouring, until pears are just soft, remove pears and boil syrup for a further 15 minutes until reduced and thickened.
• Serve warm or cold with ice cream or mascarpone cream.

Mascapone cream:
whip 250ml cream until stiff and, in a separate bowl, whip 1 tub of mascapone to loosen it, then add the seeds of 1 vanilla pod or some vanilla paste, fold the mascarpone into the cream and refrigerate until needed.

Ice cream bomb

Here's a recipe for an awesome summer dessert (guilt ridden I feel the need to overcompensate for the lack of posts and recipes this month...forgiven? I do hope so.)

It's a new take on the traditional Ice cream bomb. White chocolate and raspberries work a treat together, team them up with ice cream, Madeira cake  and good dose of decadence and you've got yourself a killer dessert that will wow the socks off any mother-in-law.

If you like this recipe then you should definitely have a peek at my Chocolate and blueberry ice cream cake

Raspberry and white chocolate ice cream bomb

Ingredients: serves 8

• 1 Madeira cake
• 3 large organic eggs (separated)
• 1/3 cup castor sugar
• 125g cream cheese
• 125ml cream
• 1 vanilla pod 
• 100g white chocolate (chopped)
• 50g raspberries 

Topping:

• 100g white chocolate (melted)
• 50g raspberries to scatter

Method:

• Line a 2ltr glass/ceramic bowl with clingfilm (the clingfilm should some well over the edges so that you can fold it back over the dessert) and put in the freezer to chill.
• Slice the Madeira cake into squares about 1cm in thickness.
• Remove the bowl from the freezer and push the squares of cake around the sides, meeting edge to edge to form and layer. (Cover any holes with left-over pieces of cake.)
• Scatter in raspberries and chopped chocolate.
• Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and castor sugar until pale and thick (about 4-5 minutes).
• Add the cream cheese and cream and mix until combined.
• Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to your cheese mixture.
• Lastly, fold through the egg whites being careful not to knock out too much of the air.
• Pour into the bowl to cover the filling, then fold over clingfilm and put back in the freezer for 8 hours or overnight.
• Remove 5 minutes before serving and allow to sit, then turn onto a serving dish and gently pull the clingfilm down to leaver the dessert out of the bowl. (Then throw the clingfilm away please.)
• Pour over melted chocolate and raspberries and serve.