Recipes - Mango and Lime Syrup Cakes

This recipe as been stolen straight from taste.com.au.  I first made these about 18 months ago and was so happy with the result I made them three times in one week!  Since then, I have made different variations: blueberry with lemon syrup, raspberry with orange syrup, strawberry with lime syrup.  Other fruits that can be used include peach, nectrine, apricot, plum, pear, pineapple and orange, to name a few.  Even after all of my experimenting, mango is still my favourite.

Ingredients - makes 6

2 large mango, sliced thinly

135g unsalted butter, softened

245g caster sugar

3 eggs

90g plain flour

3 tbs desiccated coconut

1 lime, rind and juice

3 tbs coconut milk

1/2 cup water

double cream, to serve

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 190°C.  Grease a 6 hole Texas muffin tray.

Step 2 - Lay mango slices over the base of each hole. Set aside.

Step 3 - Cream butter and 180g sugar until pale, then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Fold flour into mixture then stir in coconut and lime rind.  Add coconut milk and stir until combined.  Spoon mixture over mango and bake for 25 minutes.

Step 4 - Combine lime juice, sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to high and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Step 5 - Drizzle syrup over cakes while they're in the pan and leave for 10 minutes.  Turn out onto a wire rack over a tray, to catch the syrup.  Serve warm with double cream.

Recipes - Watermelon Granita

So granita has become my new favourite thing, it is like eating fruit flavoured snow, and I've already considered about 50 different flavour combinations!  It's easy to make, just requires a couple of hours at home as it needs your attention for about 1 minute an hour for 6 hours.  The great thing is that it can be made the day before and left in the freezer until required.

Ingredients

1/4 watermelon, about 2kg, cubed

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

Step 1 - Place a baking dish in the freezer.
Step 2 - Place sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to high and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until syrup thickens.
Step 3 - Place watermelon and sugar syrup into food processor and process until smooth.  Pass through a fine sieve and pour into baking dish.  Return to freezer.
Step 4 - After two hours, remove dish from freezer and run a fork over the surface. Granita should be half frozen so push the edges to the centre, smooth over and return to freezer.  Leave for 1 hour then remove and run and fork over the surface.  Repeat 2-3 times until granita is frozen into small crystals and there are no lumps.  Leave in freezer until required.

Recipes - Watermelon and Fetta Salad

This is an interesting combination of flavours that takes a bit of getting used to.  A friend asked me to make her a watermelon and fetta salad and after some brainstorming and research this is what I came up with.

Ingredients

1/4 watermelon, cubed

50g fetta

a few sprigs of mint, leaves torn

15g pistachio nuts, shelled and roughly chopped

1/2 lime, juiced

extra virgin olive oil

Step 1 - Place watermelon in a large bowl with pistachio nuts and mint leaves.
Step 2 - Crumble fetta over the top, squeeze lime juice and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.

Recipes - Four Fruits Salad

I love a good fruit salad and summer is the perfect time to make one.  Berries, stone fruit, melons and many tropical and exotic fruits are in season, offering more variety than other times of the year.  I once made a fruit salad with over 20 different fruits, and it was great, but it's also nice to make a fruit salad that uses a few complementing flavours rather than throwing in every fruit at hand.  This is a combination I put together to encourage my daughter to eat watermelon.  She loved it and so did I!

Ingredients

1/4 watermelon, skin removed and cubed

1/2 pineapple, skin removed and diced

4 oranges, peeled and segmented

2 kiwifruit, peeled and cut

Step 1 - Combine all ingredients in a bowl and gently toss together.

Step 2 - Distribute among serving dishes and enjoy! 

Recipes - Pineapple, Coconut and Lime Cookies

I had an idea for summer in a cookie. The idea is good, the flavour combination is great, but it's not quite what I had in mind.   This is the recipe I used on my first attempt.  The cookie itself is soft and chewy, but a little stodgy in the middle, kind like a subway cookie.  They are yummy but I want to improve them.  Stay tuned for attempt two, coming soon.

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 cup pineapple, chopped

1 lime, zested

1 cup desiccated coconut, toasted

3 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tbs baking powder

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 190°C.  Line a flat tray with baking paper.

Step 2 - Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until pale then add sugar  bit by bit until incorporated.  Add egg and beat until combined.

Step 3 - Add vanilla, pineapple and coconut to bowl and mix well then fold through sifted flour and baking powder.  

Step 4 - Drop heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto prepared tray leaving ample room for spreading. Bake for 18 minutes then cool on tray.  Repeat with remaining mixture.

Recipes - Pear, Walnut and Parmesan Salad

This is a salad I was making a lot about 6 or 7 years ago and I just got to thinking about it the other day.  An amazing combination of flavours; the peppery rocket, the sweet pears, the salty parmesan and the crunchy, creamy walnuts.  And then this is all countered with a sweet and sour balsamic vinegar.  I'm glad to be bringing this salad back.

Ingredients

120g rocket, washed and dried

2 pears, cored, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

60g parmesan cheese, shaved

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper, to season

Step 1 - Place rocket, pear slices, walnuts and parmesan cheese in a salad bowl. Toss gently with your fingers.
Step 2 - Drizzle with oil and vinegar and season lightly with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.  


Notes:


I used Nashi pears as they offer a slightly more crunchy texture and tend to hold their shape better than other varieties. 

Recipes - Mum's Mini Boiled Fruit Cakes

Boiled fruit cakes are super festive and taste delicious! Long gone are the times of heavy, stodgy, stale, glace-cherry filled fruit cake, these babies are light, fluffy and rich, even better when you use your own homemade fruit mince. The recipe is similar to that of a sticky date pudding, but instead of dates you use fruit mince! They are sure to impress your guests.

Ingredients

3 cups fruit mince

180g butter, chopped

1 tsp all spice

1/2 mixed spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp bi-carb soda

2 eggs, lightly beaten 

1 cup plain flour

1 cup SR flour
whole roasted almonds, to decorate

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 x 12 hole cupcake tins with patty pans.
Step 2 - Place fruit mince, butter, spices and bi carb soda in a large saucepan and stir over medium heat until butter melts.  Bring to boil over high heat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Step 3 - When cool, mix in eggs then fold through flours until just combined.  Spoon mixture into patty pans so they are 3/4 full.  Decorate with almonds.
Step 4 - Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack.  Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Recipes - Fruit Mince Pinwheels

Pinwheels have turned into my quick to whip up, throw anything in, entertaining solution.  So when I was left with a abundance of fruit mine, I decided to chuck on a few batches of fruit mince pinwheels to see if it would work.  And yes, yes it does.

Ingredients

3/4 cup fruit mince

3 tbs jam (I used raspberry, but use whatever you like or have)

3 sheets frozen puff pastry
icing sugar, to dust

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 230°C.  Line a large, shallow baking tray with baking paper

Step 2- Set puff pastry on a flat surface to thaw.  Pastry should thaw to the point that it is malleable but not much further as the pastry is difficult to work with as it begins to warm.

Step 3 - Remembering to remove plastic backing from pastry, spread 1 tbs jam evenly over each pastry sheet, leaving a 1cm border at top.  Distribute fruit mince over jam.

Step 4 - Roll each pastry sheet into a firm sausage shape and cut about 10 rounds from each sheet.  

Step 5 - Place each round, cut side down, on baking tray leaving some space between each and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden.
Step 6 - Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Notes:

Pinwheels can be made to the end of step 5 and frozen for up to one month.  Continue from step 6 when needed, without thawing rolls.

Recipes - Fruit Mince Tarts

Fruit Mince Tarts scream Christmas though not many people I know actually like them.  The secret is to use your own fruit mince and make them super small.  If you do go to all the trouble to make them (and it is a somewhat time consuming process) I hope you really enjoy them.

Ingredients - makes about 32

1 quantity sweet shortcrust pastry

2 cups fruit mince

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200.  Grease a 24 hole mini-muffin pan and a 12 hole mini-muffin pan.
Step 2 - Roll out pastry to about 3mm thick.  Using a 6-7cm round cookie cutter, cut out 32 circles.  Using a 5cm star cut out 32 stars.  If possible, cut out more of each.  
Step 3 - Gently push rounds into holes and bake for 10-12 minutes, until pastry just turns golden. Remove from oven and spoon 1 tsp of fruit mince into each pastry case.  Top with a star and return to oven for a further 10-12 minutes.  Stars may be a little soft when removed from the oven, but they will harden while cooling.
Step 4 - To serve, dust with icing sugar and edible glitter if desired.

Recipes - Custard and Fruit Mince Muffins

When I made 10 odd kilos of fruit mince I started thinking of different ways I could use it.  As I am known for my muffins I thought a custard fruit mince muffin would be a winner! 

Ingredients

1 quantity sweet muffin mix

1 1/2 cups fruit mince

1 cup custard

2 tsp all spice

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

Following the sweet muffin mix recipe;

At step 2 - Mix the spices through with the dry ingredients.
At step 3 - Add 1/2 cup custard and fruit mince with wet ingredients and stir until combined.
At step 4 - 1/2 fill muffin trays with mixture, then distribute remaining custard evenly, about 1/2 tbs each.  Top with a little more muffin mixture.

Top 5 - Fruit Mince Recipes

I'm going to be honest, I did not like fruit mince, or anything fruit mince related, until one year ago.  Last year, my best friend offered me the opportunity to make fruit mince and steamed Christmas puddings with him, something he has perfected over the past eight years or so.  I am now in love with fruit mince and its many uses!!  Here are my top 5 fruit mince recipes.

• Steamed Christmas Puddings
• Fruit Mince Tarts
• Mum's Mini Boiled Fruit Cakes
• Fruit Mince Pinwheels
• Custard and Fruit Mince Muffins

How to - Segment an Orange

Oranges. We all love them right?  They're available all year round and in hundreds of varieties, all with their individual flavour and uses.  Great for juicing, desserts and both sweet and savoury salads, among many other things.

Oranges are best known for their Vitamin C content, which assists in warding of colds and boosts the immune system

No matter what variety of oranges you eat, or what their use is in your cooking, segmented oranges are far more aesthetically pleasing as well as being more textually palatable.  Segmenting your oranges also removes all of the bitter pith and the tough membrane, leaving only the delicious flesh.  

To segment oranges, you'll need: 

• Oranges
• A paring knife (small, sharp, non-serrated knife)
• A wooden chopping board

Step 1 - Top and tail your orange then place it upright so you have a stable surface to work from.

Step 2 - Run your knife between the flesh and pith, following the curve of the orange. Carefully remove all skin and pith, without taking too much of the flesh off.

Step 3 - Holding the orange in your hand, remove each segment by slice down the side of each segment, as close to the membrane as possible.  Set the segment aside, rotate the orange and continue until all segments have been removed.


Voila! It takes a little practice at first, but doesn't everything?  

Recipe - Berry Sauce

This is my go to dessert when I am time poor, money poor, energy poor or initiative poor.  It is simple, foolproof and surprisingly impressive!  For a quick dessert I serve this warm over ice cream and any leftovers are served with cakes, muffins or as a garnish for another dessert.  I hope you have as much success with this as I have.

Ingredients

500g frozen berries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

vanilla ice cream, to serve

Step 1 - Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over high heat and stir until sugar has dissolved.  

Step 2 - Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and slowly simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has reached the desired consistency. This usually takes about half an hour.  
Step 3 - Serve warm over vanilla ice cream.

Recipes - Vanilla Cream Tart w Candied Blood Orange

This recipe stemmed from me buying blood oranges then trying to decide what to do with them.  Blood oranges lend themselves to well to both sweet and savoury dishes, so really, the options were endless!  I had a lightbulb moment of brilliance and decided to do a simple, sophisticated dessert - Vanilla Cream Tart w Candied Blood Oranges.  

I had some tartlette cases in my pantry that needed to be used.  While I recommend making your own pastry (as much as it is not one of my favourite things to do) these premade cases are good when you have a lot on or need to whip something up quickly.

Ingredients

2 blood oranges, sliced thinly

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

3 cups water

200g mascarpone

100g cream cheese

50g double cream

1/4 cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

12 tartlette cases

Step 1 - Place sugar and water in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan and place over a medium-high heat.  Stir until sugar dissolves, then carefully lower orange slices into the liquid.  Simmer rapidly for 20 minutes, turning oranges once. 

Step 2 - Reduce heat to low and slowly simmer for another 20-30 minutes, until oranges are transparent and syrup has reduced.  Remove oranges from syrup and place on a tray lined with baking paper.  Allow to cool.  Reserve syrup.

Step 3 - While oranges are cooking, place mascarpone, cream cheese, double cream, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste into a bowl and mix until combined.  Spoon vanilla cream into tart cases and refrigerate until required.

Step 4 - When oranges are cool enough to handle, drizzle tarts with orange syrup and place a slice of orange on each. 

Recipes - Fruit Mince

I have never been a fan of fruit mince until last year when my friend invited me to make fruit mince with him.  He has been making steamed Christmas puddings for over eight years and over this time has developed the most delicious recipe for the fruit mince.  There was so much that not only did we make heaps of steamed puddings, of varying sizes, we also made fruit mince pies, fruit mince pinwheels, fruit mince tarts, fruit mince and custard muffins and a whole bunch of other delicious fruit mince desserts.  So, without further ado, here is the best recipe for fruit mince you will ever find ever! 

NOTE: This fruit mince needs to be started 4 weeks in advance!   There is room to alter the ingredients to suit your tastes.  If you don't like dried apricot, leave it out and add more of something else, like craisins or dried apples.  This is very much one of those old fashioned 'throw in what you have in the pantry' kind of recipe.

Ingredients

1kg sultanas

1kg raisins
300g currants

500g dried apricots

500g dried apple

500g prunes

500g dates

300g craisins
250g dried figs
100g dried blueberries (optional)

200g walnuts 
200g pecans

100g crushed peanuts

100g slivered almonds

2 x carrots, grated

2 x apples, grated
1 orange, zested

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup brandy

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1/3 cup jam

                                                                              1 cup dark brown sugar

Step 1 - Throw sultanas, raisins, craisins, currants, blueberries, slivered almonds, crushed peanuts, grated carrots, grated apple and orange zest in a large container.
Step 2 - Chop dried apricots, dried apple, prunes, dried figs, dates, walnuts and pecans, so they are all a similar size to the fruit already in the container.  Add to container and mix together until well combined.
Step 3 - Place orange juice, brandy, marmalade, jam and brown sugar in a microwave proof bowl.  Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring well every minute.
Step 4 - Pour mixture over fruit in the container and stir until well combined.  Pop lid on container and place in fridge.  
Step 5 - Turn container once a day for 4 weeks.  


Use fruit mince to make steamed puddings, fruit mince tarts and other Christmas goodies.