Food / 2 June, 2017 / My Baba

10 Punchy Puddings for a Summer Garden Party

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients: 

200g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 free-range eggs
200g self-raising flour
4 tbsp good-quality strawberry jam
250ml lightly whipped double cream
250g strawberries
icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with paper cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together, preferably with an electric whisk, in a large bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy (this can take 5-7 minutes, so this stage should not be rushed).

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. (If the mixture looks like it is curdling add a spoonful of the flour.) Fold in the remaining flour with a metal spoon until you have a soft, smooth mixture.

Pipe or spoon the mixture into the paper cases until half full, add half a teaspoon of jam and then cover with the remaining cake mixture. The finished cake case should be about three-quarters full.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the cakes are pale golden-brown and spring back when pressed gently with a finger.

Remove the cakes from the oven and set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Using a small knife make a well in the top of each cake by removing a disk of cake. Fill this well with whipped cream and top with a strawberry. Serve with a generous dusting of icing sugar.

Caramel- Almond Ice Cream Torte

Ingredients:

4 pints Vanilla Ice Cream
220g of caramel sauce
110g cup of roasted almonds

Method:

Press 4 pints of softened vanilla ice cream into a 9-inch springform pan. Freeze until slightly firm, 10 to 15 minutes.

Top with 220g of caramel sauce (slightly warmed, if too thick) and 110g  of toasted sliced almonds. Freeze until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. To serve, remove from pan and slice.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients:

450g strawberries
110g cream cheese
55g powdered sugar
55g tsp vanilla
crushed biscuits

Method:

Cut off the tops of the strawberries and hollow out the inside with a paring knife.

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer.

Fill each strawberry with the cheesecake filling using a spoon, knife, or a piping bag.

Dip the strawberry, cheesecake side down, into the graham cracker crumbs.

You’ll want to serve these the same day you make them –  the strawberries will get a little mushy with the filling in them if you wait until the next day to eat them.

Frozen Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

For the crust:

330g crushed digestive biscuits
55g sugar
6tbs unsalted butter

For the filling:

6 extra large egg yolks
55g sugar
1 can (400g) of sweetened condensed milk
2 tbs grated lime zest
165ml freshly squeezed lime juice (4 to 5 limes)

For the decoration:

220g cold heavy cream
55g sugar
55g vanilla extract
thin lime wedges

Method: 

The crust:

Combine the crushed digestive biscuits, sugar, and butter in a bowl.
Press into a 9-inch pie pan, making sure the sides and the bottom are an even thickness.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool completely.

The Filling:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes, until thick.
With the mixer on medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice.
Pour into the baked pie shell and freeze.

The Decoration:

Beat the heavy cream on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until firm.
Spoon or pipe decoratively onto the pie and decorate with lime.
Freeze for several hours or overnight.

White Chocolate and Passion Fruit Cheesecake

Ingredients

300g shortbread biscuits, crushed
125g unsalted butter, melted
 150g white chocolate
3 gold-strength gelatine leaves (see note)
 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
500g cream cheese, softened
395g can condensed milk
300ml thickened cream
Pulp from 6 passionfruit (to give 3/4 cup)
125g caster sugar

Method:

Grease a 23cm springform cake pan. Combine biscuits and butter, then press into base of cake pan. Chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water), stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Heat milk in a pan over medium-high heat until just below boiling point, then squeeze excess water from the gelatine leaves and add leaves to the hot milk, stirring until dissolved. Set aside.

Whiz cream cheese, condensed milk and milk mixture in a food processor until smooth. Add chocolate and pulse to combine. Whisk cream to soft peaks, then fold into chocolate mixture. Pour over biscuit base. Chill for 6 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, pulse the passionfruit pulp in a food processor a few times to separate the pulp from the seeds. Strain, reserving seeds and juice, but discarding the pulpy flesh. Set aside.

Place sugar and 100ml cold water in a pan over low heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Increase heat to medium-low and cook, swirling the pan occasionally and brushing down the sides with a damp pastry brush, for 5-6 minutes until a golden caramel. Add passionfruit juice and 1/4 cup (60ml) water (be careful as it may spit), reduce heat to low and stir until smooth. Cool slightly, then stir in the reserved seeds. Chill until ready to serve.

Serve the cheesecake drizzled with passionfruit sauce.

Pina Colada Fro-yo

Ingredients:

250 g Greek-style coconut yoghurt
500 g frozen chopped tropical fruit, such as pineapple, mango, banana
75 g dried tropical fruit
4-6 ice cream scones

Method:

Add the yoghurt and frozen fruit to a food processor and blitz until smooth, then finely chop and fold through most of the dried fruit, saving some to serve.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a large star-shaped nozzle, then freeze for about 30 minutes, or until frozen but still soft.

Pipe the fruity fro-yo into your ice cream cones and scatter over the reserved dried fruit.

Chocolate Truffle Chestnut Torte with Honeycomb

Ingredients:

190 g plain flour
30 g cocoa powder
110 g cold sugar
110 cold unsalted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large free-range egg yolks

Filling:

300 g dark chocolate
300 g sweetened chestnut purée
300 ml double cream

HONEYCOMB TOPPING

2½ tablesspoons golden syrup
100 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method:

To make the pastry, blitz the flour, cocoa powder and caster sugar in a food processor.

Cube the butter, then mix it in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the vanilla extract, then the egg yolks, one at a time, until it comes together.

Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry to 1cm thick and use to line the base of a deep 20cm cake tin. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas 5.

Bake the pastry for 18 to 20 minutes, then allow to cool.

For the filling, melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Allow to cool to room temperature, then stir in the chestnut purée.

Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks, then fold in the chocolate mixture. Pour over the pastry base and smooth with a palette knife. Set in the fridge for around 3 hours.

Combine the golden syrup and sugar in a pan over a low heat, slowly dissolving the sugar and melting the butter. Let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda – it will fizz up! Pour into a shallow, oiled tin (about 20cm x 30cm) and leave to set for about 10 minutes.

Roughly chop and sprinkle over the torte, then serve.

Apple Lychee and Strawberry Crumble

Ingredients:

Crumble:

2 tbls unsalted butter, plus 6 tablespoons cubed and chilled
3 large Gala apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
165g sugar
Pinch sea salt
8 lychees, canned in syrup, syrup reserved
1 pint raspberries
220g flour
110g sugar

Strawberry sauce:

1 pint strawberries , hulled and sliced
3 tablespoons sugar
Good-quality vanilla ice cream
Mint sprigs, for garnish

Method:

For the crumble:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat a wok over high heat and melt 2 tablespoons butter.
Add the apples and stir-fry 1 minute.
Add the cinnamon and sugar and stir-fry until the apples caramelise, about 2 minutes.
Add the lychees and raspberries, stirring carefully.
Remove from the heat and divide among four 6-ounce ramekins.
In a medium bowl, rub together the 6 tablespoons chilled butter, flour and sugar until crumbly.
Sprinkle generously over the fruit to cover.
Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until the topping is bubbling and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

For the sauce:

While the crumble bakes, add the strawberries, 1/4 cup reserved lychee syrup and the sugar to a small wok or saute pan and bring to a simmer.
Simmer until the mixture becomes thickened and reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.
When the crumble is cooked, top with scoops of vanilla ice cream, the strawberry sauce and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1½ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. kosher salt
110g unsalted butter
110g firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp. firmly packed light brown sugar
55g granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
165g ground cinnamon
660g Ice cream

Method:

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and 2 Tbsp of the granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and remaining 2 Tbsp granulated sugar.

Form the dough into 1½-inch balls, roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 in. apart.

Bake until set and edges are slightly golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Form sandwiches with 2 cookies and ¼ cup of ice cream.

Serve immediately or freeze, covered, for up to 3 days.

Retro Arctic Roll

Ingredients:

optional: edible flowers

For the sponge:

3 large free-range eggs
100 g golden caster sugar , plus extra for sprinkling
75 g plain flour
A few knobs of butter , for greasing
1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder
For the filling:

2 x 500 ml tubs of good-quality ice cream, vanilla and chocolate
300 g good-quality strawberry or raspberry jam
1 Crunchie or Dime bar or a bag of Maltesers , bashed up

To serve:

200 g fresh berries
juice of ½ a lemon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

Move the ice cream to the fridge so it starts to soften.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, and whisk until pale, fluffy and at least doubled in size.You can do this with an electric mixer, or by hand if you’ve got the muscle.

Once it’s looking good, sift in the flour and slowly fold it through with a spatula

Grease a baking tray (roughly 26 x 36cm) with butter, then line it with greaseproof paper and grease that too. Spoon half your sponge batter on to the tray, blobbing it about in different places, then sift the cocoa powder into the remaining batter and fold it in.

Spoon the chocolatey sponge into the gaps on the tray, and use the spoon to drag it through the white sponge in S-shapes and circles until it looks beautiful and marbled. Make sure there are no gaps. Place the tray on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Grease another large sheet of greaseproof paper with butter and sprinkle over a few good pinches of sugar.

Take the sponge out of the oven and confidently flip it over on to the paper. Peel and discard the top piece of paper, then, while the sponge is still warm and flexible, loosely roll it up into a long sausage, including the paper, and leave it to cool for around 20 minutes.

Once cooled, gently unroll the sponge and spread over half of the jam.

Take big dessert spoons of your soft ice cream and randomly distribute them over the sponge, leaving the last 5 or 6cm at one end free of filling so that it creates a seal when you roll it up.

Put whatever you don’t use back in the freezer.

Dollop over teaspoons of the remaining jam, then sprinkle your bashed-up chocolate bar all over.

Use a spatula to smear everything into a fairly smooth dense layer.

Confidently, start rolling the sponge up again, making sure there’s no paper inside it. If the filling starts to slip out, just push it back in. Twisting the ends and squeezing it into a long, fairly even ice-cream sausage.

Pop it into the freezer for 3 hours, and take it out around 5 to 10 minutes before you want to use it so it thaws enough to slice. Unwrap your arctic roll, take a slice out of each end to expose the frozen insides, and serve with fresh summer fruits tossed in lemon juice and a pinch of sugar, or any edible flowers if you have them.