Brioche is rich and buttery with a beautiful crumb. What’s not to like? There are also so many meals that you can prepare with it, it makes sense to keep some sliced and ready in the freezer. This is another very straightforward recipe once you have mastered how to proof your bread properly. A simple rule of thumb for your final proof is if you make a small indentation with your finger the dough will come up slowly. If it happens too quickly you need to wait longer. Print Making…
Pot De Crème’s is on my list of top ten favorite desserts. I posted the following recipe on my first blog almost 8 years ago and I still love it. It seems like Pot De Crème’s have come and gone as far as food trends go. One day they were all over and now you hardly see them and they are really worth the effort when finished off properly. I can still remember when I made these particular ones in the photo. They were so good I forgot to take…
Here’s a selection of recently posted chocolate recipes for you to try out. The chocolate Chai cookies are different and tasty. The Mint Top Deck Chocolate Cake is packed with bright flavors and the chocolate mousse and chocolate pancakes are light and fluffy. Chocolate Chai Cookies Milk Chocolate Mousse Fluffy Chocolate Pancakes Mint Top Deck Chocolate Cake Chocolate Grand Marnier Pot De Crème
Like most of us, I love a good Chocolate Chip cookie. There are so many different variations out there, it can be hard to choose which one you should make. I find that a lot of these recipes are too buttery with not enough flavor to back it up. I really like the big flavors in this cookie. It’s a definitely a cookie for grown-ups. The Blackstrap Molasses and dark chocolate come through intensely. The boldness of the chocolate can be toned down by using a lower cocoa…
Everyone has that one thing they can’t wait to cool down for. Cookies, pastries, pie… Mine is Ciabatta. To be very precise, it’s the end pieces of Ciabatta hot out of the oven with a smear of salted butter. It’s food heaven for me. Ciabatta is also not something you would normally consider to make at home. I spent years making it in professional kitchens with huge stand mixers. The dough needs a good, fast beating which these machines provide with no problems. I tried making a single batch at…
Ever since I was a child I loved home-made buttermilk rusks. South African’s just love to dip one into their tea or coffee – many times with a spoon ready to scoop up the piece that will inevitably fall into the cup. If you haven’t come across them yet, consider them the more generous, Tannie Evita version of Italian Biscotti. My mother bakes them religiously to this day and even though I prefer hers, it’s really easy and fun to make a batch. It’s a relatively quick process, excluding the…
When it comes to bringing food to life I love fresh lemon. Here are my top twelve uses for fresh lemon: Instead of adding more salt to your cooking or finished dish, rather add a squirt of fresh lemon. Maximize the amount of juice you can extract from a lemon by popping it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Be careful when you squeeze – it may be hot! Alternatively, if you need to squeeze a lot of juice, put the fresh lemon in the freezer for a day and…
I must get the desire to have chocolate at breakfast from my daughter. For her anytime is chocolate time and breakfast is no exceptions. To my eternal surprise she actually ate these pancakes. Not bad for a picky four-year-old! Lately, I’ve been trying out different recipes for American Style pancakes. Not quite the same, but something like our South African Flapjacks. Earlier today while planning tomorrow’s meals I considered making pancakes. ”C” is somewhat of an aficionado which left me hesitant to reproduce her favorite recipe. Instead, I did a little bit…
Marzipan is one of my all-time favorite foods. I just can’t get enough of the stuff. It is a love affair that has gone on for many years. Followers of my previous blog may also have noticed a liking for white chocolate. This trend has not yet taken a downturn. It makes sense then that I was absolutely obsessed for years about how to make it. What was the right ratio to use? Would the recipe I chose work or would it end up an expensive flop. Today I wanted to…
For some reason, a lot of people seem to be unsure of how to cook Okra. If you follow this quick method you will have no problem to serve up a delicious helping of this tasty vegetable. Okra is a hairy little green pod with West African origins, but it grows well in many other regions. I don’t often find it in the supermarkets here, which is unfortunate as it is incredibly tasty. When prepared correctly of course. It has a bad reputation for being slimy. This is a result…
