from Santa's kitchen
Ingredients
250 ml sugar
250 ml sunflower oil
3 eggs
275 ml cake flour
10 ml cinnamon
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
250 ml mashed banana
250 ml coarsely grated carrots
125 ml chopped walnuts
Method
Beat sugar, oil and eggs well.
Sift dry ingredients together and add to above.
Add banana, carrots and nuts. Mix lightly.
Pour into two layer cake tins.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes at 180 C.
Ice with cream cheese. Keep in fridge.
Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
110 ml margarine
375 ml icing sugar
100 ml cream cheese
5 ml vanilla essence
chopped walnuts (optional)
Method
Cream margarine and icing sugar.
Best cream cheese and vanilla essence with above.
Stir in chopped nuts.
Refrigerate before use as it will be very soft from beating.
This is a very quick and easy vegetarian supper dish for two people, especially good if you grow your own tomatoes and courgettes and have a glut to use up.
If you have the time, salt, drain and dry the sliced courgettes: layer them in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt, and place a suitably sized plate on top.
Weigh this down with a heavy object (like scale weights) and after 30 minutes quite a bit of water will have been drawn out. Dry them really thoroughly in a clean cloth and then they’re ready to cook. Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to hold the courgettes in one layer (otherwise do them in two batches), add the crushed garlic and sauté the courgette slices to a nice golden colour on each side. Next arrange layers of courgettes, cheese slices and sliced tomatoes in a heatproof gratin dish so that they overlap each other slightly like slates on a roof. You can watch how to skin tomatoes in our Cookery School Video on the right
Finally sprinkle on the grated Parmesan, basil and salt and freshly milled pepper. Then bake on a high shelf in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve this with lots of crusty bread and a green salad with a sharp lemony dressing.
1 Kg corned pastrami brisket
300 ml stock
Spice Mix
10 ml rainbow peppercorns, cruched
10 ml coriander seeds, crushed
5 ml mustard seed, crushed
5 ml each coarse salt and brown sugar
5 ml garlic flakes and dried origanum
10 ml smoked paprika
a pinch pf chili powder
Beer Onions
30 ml olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
about 125 ml of the meat’s cooking liquid
15 ml sugar
pinch of salt
3 sprigs of thyme
about 80 ml beer
45 ml balsamic vinegar
Mix all the spices and set aside. Rinse the brine from meat and pat dry. Using a sharp knife, score the fat layer without cutting into the meat. Heat a deep oven proof pan and brown the meat, fat side down. Remove the pan from the heat and turn the meat over so that the fat layer is facing upwards. Rub in the spices, add the stock so it covers the meat to just below the spices and bake in the oven for about 3 hours. Remove from the oven and let it rest while you cook the onions.
Heat the oil, onions and cooking liquid in a heavy based pan and boil the onions slowly over low heat until all the liquid has evaporated and the onions are soft and glossy. Saute the onions until they start to colour. Add the sugar, salt and thyme and fry for a few more minutes. Stir in the beer and vinegar and cook until glossy.
Using an electric or very sharp knife, slice the meat thinly. Serve with the onions mustard and creamy horseradish sauce and side dishes such as mashed potatoes nd sweet carrots, or enjoy it on a fresh roll, deli-style.
1 Onion
1 clove Garlic
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp Curry powder
1 cup Tomato ketchup
1/2 pt Meat Bouillon
Thyme
1 Bay leaf
Parsley stalks
Heat finely chopped onion & garlic in oil. Add spices and cook slowly for a few seconds. Add ketchup, bouillon, salt, thyme, bay leaf, parsley and cook for 10 minutes. Remove parsley and bay leaf.
Sauce should taste very hot!
Ingredients
(25 buns)
35 g (1¼ oz) yeast
100 g (3½ oz) sugar
300 ml (1½ cup) milk
1 egg
120 g (4 oz) butter
1 tsp salt
1 tbs ground cardemom
750 g (26 oz) flour
Filling:
100 g (4 oz) butter
50 g (2 oz) sugar
2 tbs cinammon
Glaze:
1 egg
2 tbs water
pearl sugar
Preparation
Crumble the yeast in a bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of milk. Melt the butter and pour the milk on it. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough in a dough mixer for 10–15 minutes. Let the dough rise while covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough so it is about 3 mm (1/8 in) thick and 30 cm (12 in) wide. Spread the room-temperature butter on top. Make a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the dough. Roll the dough the long way and cut the roll into about 25 slices. Place them with the cut edge upward in paper molds. Place on a baking sheet and let rise under a towel for about 60 minutes or until the buns have doubled in size.
Beat together the egg and water, brush the mixture carefully on the buns and sprinkle pearl sugar on top. Bake in the oven (220°C/425°F) for 5–6 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack.
INGREDIENTS
2 long English cucumbers
1 medium onion
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp sugar , (or coconut sugar or sweetener of choice)
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Slice the cucumber in half and then in slices. Slice the onion in thin stripes. Mix cucumber and onions in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix white wine vinegar, water, sugar in a small bowl. Pour over the cucumbers and onions, and stir well.
Sprinkle some fresh chopped dill and stir.
NOTES
If you are not planning to eat the salad right away, or if you are planning to refrigerate it overnight, make sure you follow this step:
Before making the recipe above, season the sliced cucumbers with salt and place them in a colander sitting in a bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Allow the salt to draw out the excess moisture. Once the cucumbers have drained, discard the liquid and continue with the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
250 ml boiling water
125 ml butter or margarine
250 ml cake flour
4 eggs
INSTRUCTIONS
Boil the water in a heavy-based saucepan.
Add the butter and stir until melted.
Add the cake flour, all together at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball in the middle of the pan and no longer sticks to the sides.
Remove from heat and add the eggs one by one. Beat well before adding the next. The mixture should be very stiff.
Drop blobs of dough with a spoon onto a greased baking sheet. Approximately the size of a large walnut. Alternatively, use a piping bag.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 °C, and then a further 20 minutes at 160 °C.
Allow to cool on a wire rack. Do not store, use immediately.
Makes 36.
Fill with CREME PATISSIERE
Cover with CHOCOLATE SYRUP
INGREDIENTS
480 ml milk
75 g sugar
salt
25 g cornstarch (cornflour) (3 tbsp / 30 g for a stiffer pastry cream)
3 tsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean pod
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg (please see notes)
43 g unsalted butter softened
US Customary – Metric
INSTRUCTIONS
If using vanilla bean pods, split the bean and scrape the vanilla seeds/caviar out of the beans.
Add the bean and caviar with the milk into a saucepan. Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer, almost to a boil.
While the milk is being heated, place the sugar, egg and yolks, cornstarch and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix. (If you are using vanilla bean paste or extract, add it to the egg mix too). Place the bowl with the egg mix on a towel or napkin (to prevent the bowl from slipping while whisking, in the next step), and set aside until the milk comes to a boil.
As soon as the milk starts to bubble, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour about a half of the hot milk in a thin stream, into the egg mix, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper the egg mix. When the eggs have been tempered, add the egg mix back into the hot milk in the saucepan.
Heat the custard base, over medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken – this should take about 1 – 2 minutes.
While whisking, let the custard come to a boil (the custard will release bubbles). Lower the heat and cook for a further 1-2 minutes after you see the first bubbles break the surface. Remove from the heat and add the butter. Whisk in the butter, until it’s completely mixed in.
Pour the custard into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a custard skin from forming on top.
Let the custard cool down to room temperature and then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, until it’s completely chilled.
Use as needed after the pastry cream has been chilled.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder and sugar until blended. Add the water and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and whisk over medium heat until boiling, stirring constantly.
Continue boiling until mixture thickens, about 3 – 4 minutes. The mixture will still be fairly thin (it thickens to a syrup-like consistency once cool). Taste and stir in additional salt until dissolved, up to 1/4 teaspoon, if desired. Add butter and syrup and stir.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool.
Store syrup in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator. The syrup should keep, refrigerated, for at least a month.