Category Archives: Berries

Nigella’s Pavlova and a different kind of holiday

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For me, the summer holidays end today. I’m back to work tomorrow. Well, not back to work, really – I’m starting a new job. And like all new job starts, it’s part exciting and part scary.

I’ve been on holiday for a few weeks now – probably the longest holiday since I was at university, (when I worked most of them at cafes and restaurants anyway). And I have to say, the days before Christmas still didn’t feel like a holiday! I enjoyed them, but there’s something about those 2-3 middle weeks of December that just breeds hectic busy-ness. Then we had a very full house over Christmas (so full my easy-going brother was sleeping across the inside of our front door, guard dog-style), and a slightly-less-full-but-still-double-the-usual-population for a week over New Year’s. It was such a blast having family and friends with us to celebrate the festive season, and it seems so quiet once you wave them off from the driveway. You turn around to an empty house and an even emptier fridge (easy-going brother helped here, too).

Then my husband went back to work, and I still had 10 days of holiday. I’m a little bit of an organisational freak, so I wanted to make sure my days had some kind of structure, but not so filled with endless jobs that I started the new year and my new job tired and behind the 8 ball.

I usually keep my blog posts to recipes, but I’ve had such a great week, I felt I had to share my secret to a great holiday. These are some of the things I’ve done over the last few days. Doesn’t it look boring??! But I really do feel relaxed, refreshed, and ready for new adventures. So during my last few days off, I…
<ul.

  • went to bed early every night
  • got up early and did fun and challenging exercise every day
  • drank gallons of water
  • ate as much central otago stone fruit as I could lay my hands on
  • enjoyed taking my time preparing simple, tasty, healthy meals
  • started a herb garden
  • took religiously good care of my skin and teeth
  • read magazines
  • had coffees, lunches, dinners with old friends
  • painted my toenails
  • got a massage
  • listened to my favourite music, old and new – including the Kylie Minogue of my childhood (put your hand on your heart and tell me you don’t love old school Kylie)
  • went for walks in parks, gardens, wildlife reserves
  • managed to avoid sunburn – with my complexion, this is probably the biggest achievement of the week

    • I don’t write this to be smug! And I am truly sorry to all parents reading this. Don’t worry, I’ll get my come-uppance one day when I have littlies of my own and I’m too exhausted to re-read this post and wish, wish, wish for another week like this. But if you get the opportunity for a few days to yourself, this is a great way to spend them :)

    This feels like a celebratory kind of post, so I thought I’d include this new pavlova recipe (which I tried before my holiday, of course). My dear husband gave me Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat for Christmas, and my nose has been stuck in the book ever since. On top of that, mum and I have been re-thinking whether our family pavlova recipe really is the best one out there, and with thoughts of improving it, I gave Nigella’s a whirl. It’s included in How to Eat as part of a dinner party menu for six titled, as only Nigella could, “Camp, but only slightly, Dinner for 6″. It’s a darker pav than our family one, but Nigella’s tip of serving the pav upside down is a keeper. I’ve included her comments below too.

    Pavlova
    From Nigella Lawson’s How To Eat

    Nigella says: This version comes, appropriately enough, from an Australian book*, Stephanie Alexander’s compendious, addictive Cook’s Companion. I was taken by her family tip of turning the cooked meringue over before smearing it with cream, so that (in her words) the marshmallow middle melds with cream and the sides and the base stay crisp.

    4 egg whites at room temperature
    250g caster sugar
    2 tsp cornflour
    1 tsp white wine vinegar
    few drops pure vanilla extract
    300ml double cream, whipped til firm
    pulp of 10 passion fruits

    Preheat oven to 180°. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Draw a 20-23cm circle on the paper if this helps you dollop the meringue into an even circle.

    Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until satiny peaks form. Beat in the sugar, a third at a time, until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and fold in lightly. Mound on to the paper on the baking tray, flatten the top and smooth the sides. Place in the oven. IMMEDIATELY reduce the heat to 150° and cook for 1¼ hours. Turn off the oven and leave the pavlova in it to cool completely.

    Invert the pavlova on to a big, flat-bottomed plate, pile on cream and spoon over passion fruits scooped – pips and all – from their shells. Don’t be tempted to add other fruit**.

    *Um, I don’t intend to start that debate on this blog, but felt it needed to be indirectly referred to.
    **I was tempted. And yielded. Because I didn’t have fresh passionfruit, ok? I put fresh kiwis on it and served it with beautiful fresh blueberries. I’m sure Nigella would understand.

    Raspberry Cloud Cake

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    Golly, I thought I was off to a good start writing my first post back on 1 January 2012, but then I haven’t been back until now! I’ve been trying some new dishes over the last week so I’ve got a few things to share with you over the next few days. I hope you’re enjoying a fabulous summer!

    It was my birthday earlier this week. Hooray! I was very spoilt. We had my husband’s sister and her partner staying, so all had pancakes at our local cafe Peppermill, then my sister-in-law and I went into town for manicures and the boys cooked us a bbq dinner. Obviously our nails were too delicate to do dishes, so the boys covered that too.

    As for dessert, I told my family that I wanted to make it myself. The thing is, I have loads of dessert and cake recipes marked to try, but throughout the year, there’s only two of us, and  we’re fairly conscious of eating healthily, so I don’t always have the opportunity to try them out. So on my birthday, I allow myself to make whatever I want, regardless of how terrible it is for you, or how few people there are to eat it (ironically, this recipe isn’t actually that bad for you, and there were four of us, so we got through it over a couple of days).

    I chose this recipe from Annabel Langbein’s The Free Range Cook. It’s a lovely book and worth having for the scenic photography alone. I’ve made a bunch of recipes from the book; I love the way it lists a recipe that might turn into a marinade, salad dressing, dipping sauce, etc. for loads of different foods and dishes, so you get a lot of mileage out of the time you invest in the kitchen. I’ve had my eye on the gorgeous photo of the Strawberry Cloud Cake for ages. The time had come. I used my favourite raspberries in this version, but you can use fresh sliced strawberries, too, as per the original, or I was thinking blueberries might also make a nice variation, maybe with lemon or orange…

    I used frozen raspberries. I know they’re in season at the moment – but they are so expensive fresh! And when you’re just going to freeze them anyway… fresh seemed like a silly idea. I used Orchard Gold berries which were terrific.

    This cake looks impressive but is SO easy. My sister-in-law asked how I made it, and I told her the ingredients, and described the method as “Stir. Put. Chill. Beat. Put. Freeze.”

    Make sure you do have a springform tin before you start; I wouldn’t like to try turning this out of a plain cake tin! And I’m no nutritionist, but please also note that as it contains uncooked egg, very young ‘uns and pregnant ladies might like to steer clear.

    One more tip – if you use a dairy-free spread, this cake will be dairy-free, and I think the biscuit crumbs are the only gluten-containing ingredient, so if you use gluten free biscuits, you’ll have a gluten-free cake, too.

    Raspberry Cloud Cake
    Adapted from Annabel Langbein’s “Strawberry Cloud Cake” in The Free Range Cook
    Serves 8-10

    Base
    150g wine biscuits, crushed into crumbs (or any plain sweet biscuits)
    ½ cup dessicated coconut
    1½ tsp cinnamon
    100g butter, melted

    Filling
    2 egg whites, at room temperature
    1 cup sugar
    250g frozen raspberries (don’t thaw them, use them frozen)
    1 Tbsp lemon juice
    1 tsp vanilla extract

    To serve
    fresh or (thawed) frozen raspberries
    white chocolate

    Line the base of a 26cm springform cake tin with baking paper. I also gave the sides of the tin a light spritz with non-stick spray, just in case.

    To make the base, mix the biscuit crumbs, coconut, cinnamon and melted butter together, and press firmly into the base of the prepared tin. It will be quite a thin base. Put that in the fridge while you make the filling.

    Put the egg whites, sugar, frozen raspberries, lemon juice and vanilla in an electric mixer and beat for about 8 minutes. The mixture will be thick and fluffy, and you shouldn’t be able to feel any gritty sugar when you rub a little bit of the mixture between your fingers. Using a scraper, pile the mixture on top of the chilled base. I had serious doubts about whether all my mixture would fit, but keep flattening it down and you should be ok!

    Place a sheet of baking paper over the top of the filling, and put the cake in the freezer for at least 4 hours. Annabel says it will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month.

    To serve, top with extra raspberries and white chocolate. Note: did I bother to properly drain and pat dry the thawed raspberries? No. Did the colour start spread out across the cake as soon as I placed them on top? Yes. Did I try and disguise it by hurrying white chocolate buttons onto the cake? Yes. Did it work? Wee-eell, I suggest drying the berries next time, but keeping the chocolate anyway. 
    Cut the cake with a knife that’s been run under very hot water and dried. Prepare to gasp as you bite into the marshmallowy deliciousness.

    Ambrosia

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    Today is indeed a day for celebration in New Zealand. I’m not much of a rugby follower but I’ll admit I’ve been swept up in the World Cup. And we are once again world champions!

    I figure there will be a few celebratory barbecues happening from now on… plus Labour weekend often kicks off the summer barbecue season anyway. I always put Mr J in charge of choosing meat to take to a barbecue, and I make up either a salad or some dessert. We went to our first barbecue a few days ago, and funnily enough it had a kiwiana theme. I actually had plans for a pavlova roulade, but it turned into an epic dessert fail. So I turned to my trusty Ambrosia recipe. This dish saved my bacon – and still fit the kiwi theme. Phew.

    I think of ambrosia as a staple at kiwi summer barbecues – although it may be one of those dishes where everyone has a different idea of what constitutes “proper” ambrosia. Any thoughts?

    This recipe was from a friend of my mum – it must be the easiest dessert in the world to make. It’s definitely one of my brother’s favourites, and mum often made it when we were teenagers. It has such a creamy, dreamy texture, and a beautiful boysenberry flavour. I can eat it by the gallon.

    Ambrosia
    Serves 4-6

    300ml cream
    2 tsp icing sugar
    1 packet pink and white marshmallows
    200g natural unsweetened yoghurt (or you could use berry-flavoured)
    1x 400g can boysenberries, drained

    Whip the cream with the icing sugar, and stir in the marshmallows and yoghurt. Carefully fold in the drained boysenberries so you get a nice swirly colour. That’s it. Seriously.

    You could also use fresh berries; I threw in a few chopped strawberries this time (they had been destined for the aforementioned doomed pavlova roulade, but worked nicely here).

    Choice!

    Spiced Meringues with Strawberry & Raspberry Cream

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    Hi again! I’ve been away for a week and had my Spanish recipe posts scheduled to publish – but I feel like I’ve been off the radar a bit! So no Friday’s Favourite Five last week – but I’ll make it a favourite ten list for next week, once I’ve caught up on all my favourite blogs.

    Just before I left, I found my first punnets of New Zealand strawberries and raspberries at my local market. I don’t usually buy fresh raspberries – too expensive, and frozen are so easy to use - but these fresh beauties were $3 a punnet so I couldn’t resist. And the strawberries were lovely and sweet. I used the berries to make a strawberry & raspberry cream which we had for dessert with these spiced meringues.

    It’s been so nice having warmer weather… I can’t wait to get some asparagus this week! But nevermind spring… this dessert is a taste of the summer to look forward to!

    These meringues are actually a pretty healthy dessert. I don’t often use cream but made an exception here – strawberries and cream are pretty special. If you want a healthier option, you could use a low fat vanilla yoghurt, or the frûche product that Yoplait sells would be a good substitute. You can use different berries or other fruit too; some lightly stewed or poached rhubarb  would be delicious!

    I made just two large-ish meringues out of this mixture. We were feeling greedy. But if you wanted cute little desserts, you could easily make this into four slightly smaller discs.

    Spiced Meringues with Strawberry & Raspberry Cream
    Serves 2-4

    Meringue:
    1 egg white
    50g caster sugar
    ¼ tsp mixed spice

    Cream Topping:
    150ml cream
    1-2 tsp icing sugar
    ½ tsp vanilla essence (or use extract or paste)
    2-3 Tbsp plain yoghurt
    about 100g strawberries or raspberries, or a mixture of both

    Preheat the oven to 150°(c). Line a baking tray with baking paper.

    To make the meringue, whisk the egg white until soft peaks form, and then whisk in the caster sugar, one teaspoon at a time. Once all the sugar has been whisked in, you should have a beautiful stiff, glossy meringue mixture. Whisk in the mixed spice.

    Spoon the meringue mixture into however many piles you want to make on the baking tray. Use the back of a spoon to smooth the piles into discs about 2-3cm high. Place the tray in the oven and turn the heat down to 120°.  Bake the meringues for about 50 minutes, then turn the oven off. Leave the meringues to cool in the oven. You can do this step in advance – the meringues should keep in an airtight container for at least a day or two.

    To make the cream topping, choose a few of the best looking berries to use as a garnish later and set those aside. Hull the rest. Place the hulled berries in a food processor and whiz to a purée. I don’t mind the seeds being in there, but if you want you could pass the purée through a sieve.

    In a large bowl or jug, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla (use more icing sugar for tarter fruit). Fold the fruit and yoghurt into the cream, and spoon on top of the cooled meringues. Garnish with the reserved berries and sprigs of mint.

    Enjoy!

    Cranberry, Orange and Almond Biscuits

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    I’m not very experienced at concocting my own recipes, but I seem to have stumbled on something special here. I wanted to make some cranberry and white chocolate cookies. Kind of because I wanted to open the packet of white chocolate buttons and eat some. But I rummaged through the pantry and we were out of white chocolate buttons. Probably because last time I made something with white chocolate, I ate the rest of the packet. Sigh.

    I was still determined to use cranberries. I wanted to make an oaty cookie of some sort, and this was the result.

    I’m not sure whether it was the cranberries, orange, almonds or vanilla, or by their powers combined, but these may be the best smelling biscuits I have ever come across. The whole kitchen filled up with a sweet smell, and you could even smell them through the container the next day at work. Recommended!

    Cranberry, Orange and Almond Biscuits

    1/2 cup plain flour
    1/2 cup wholemeal flour
    1/2 cup white sugar
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1 1/2 cups rolled oats
    1/4 cup cranberries, roughly chopped
    1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds, roughly chopped
    1 tsp finely grated orange rind
    100g butter
    2 Tbsp golden syrup
    2 Tbsp hot milk
    1 tsp baking soda
    1 tsp vanilla essence

    Preheat the oven to 180 (c), and line 2-3 baking trays with paper.

    Mix together the flours, sugars, oats, cranberries, almonds and orange rind, and set aside. Place the butter and golden syrup in a medium saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the butter and syrup melt together. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk, and add to the butter mixture. It will foam up a bit – stir it over the low heat until it’s well mixed, then pour it over the dry ingredients.

    Mix together to form a crumbly dough. Form heaped teaspoonfuls into small balls and place on (cold) baking trays. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden. They won’t be firm when you take them out of the oven. Leave them to sit on the trays for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool. Makes about 40.


    Plum and Blackcurrant Jam

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    I’ve been away for a few days … but now back in the land of the blogging and ready with a backlog yummy things to post over the next few days!

    Last week I came across some super cheap plums at my local market and bought up large. You might say I had plums for jam.

    This is a recipe from Alexa Johnston’s Ladies, A Plate: Traditional Home Baking (by the way, if you love baking, you NEED this book. Check out Alexa’s website and/or buy the books here). It was originally an Aunt Daisy recipe. I’ve adjusted quantities slightly – this recipe fills 3-4 standard supermarket jam jars.

    I was extra keen on this as we had a blackcurrant bush at home when I was little, but I hadn’t eaten these delicious little berries for years! Now they’re firmly back on my favourite fruit list.

    Plum & Blackcurrant Jam

    750g plums (black doris would be lovely, but I used the lighter-fleshed plums and they are still delicious)
    1 1/2 cups water
    200g blackcurrants (fresh or frozen)
    1kg caster sugar

    Before you start, get your jars and lids ready. Wash the jars in hot soapy water, rinse in hot water and put them in the oven at 150(c) on a tray. Leave them in there while you make the jam. Bring a small saucepan of water to boil on the stove, and put your lids in there. Leave them in the boiling water for a few minutes - then you can turn the heat off but it’s easiest to let the lids sit in the pot while the jam’s being made. If you don’t need your jam to keep for very long in the pantry (i.e. if you expect to eat it within a month or so), don’t worry about boiling the lids, just get them clean and dry.

    Also, put 3 or 4 saucers in the freezer. I’ll explain later.

    So for the jam, chop the plums up and get rid of the stones. I leave my plums quite chunky but if you want a smoother jam, chop them more finely. Put the plums in a large pot with the water, and bring to the boil.

    Simmer until the fruit is softening, then drop in the blackcurrants – if you’re using frozen ones, let the mix cook for a couple of minutes to thaw them. Then add the sugar and stir over a gentle heat until it has dissolved. Increase the heat and bring the jam to a fast boil. Watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t boil over, and stir it regularly to stop it catching on the bottom of the pot.

    Now, to test when the jam has cooked enough to set. This takes a bit of getting used to. I have a tendency to overcook jams ever so slightly — you just get the feel of it after a few goes (or is it go’s? or gos? Help! The linguistic degree in me is screaming in agony! ‘Go’ is not really a noun! How can it be pluralised????!!!).

    So. Get one of the chilled saucers from the freezer, and drop a small teaspoonful of jam onto it. Let it cool for 10-15 seconds, and push your finger through it gently. If it’s ready, the surface should winkle slightly in front of your finger, and the jam should stay clearly separated where you’ve divided it. If it’s not ready, it will kind of look like half set raspberry jelly.

    Keep testing it every couple of minutes, and keep in mind that the jam will still be cooking while you run your saucer test, so it can burn quickly. If you do happen to take it off the heat too early and put it in jars and finish up, and then you find the jam doesn’t set — you can actually put it all back in the pot, and boil it again until it’s ready, and then re-jar it. If you can be bothered. If not, who’s for plum and blackcurrant dessert topping?

    Once your jam is ready, take the pan off the heat immediately. Carefully take the hot jars out of the oven and put them on a board. Getting the hot jam out of a hot pot into hot jars and sealing them with hot lids is a bit annoying, but you work out your own methods eventually. I pour my jam into a glass jar with a decent spout and pour it into the jars, then put the lids on using a tea towel to stop getting burnt. As the jam cools, the little button will suck down (like when you bought the jam from the supermarket). Now you can put it in the larder!

    One further tip. This is very important. Once you’ve made your jam and gone to all that effort, don’t leave the jars sitting precariously on the edge of the bench while you fly around the kitchen unloading the dishwasher.