Strawberry Curd

500g. strawberries – washed, hulled, & halved

100g of white sugar
80g. salted butter, softened or chopped

4 large eggs – beaten

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean extract 

1 teaspoon of gelatin powder
Method 

Place strawberries plus two teaspoons of water in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cover and bring to the boiling point. Simmer for five minutes or until the strawberries are really soft.

Transfer strawberries to mesh sieve. Place sieve over a clean, heatproof bowl and use the back of a spoon to push strawberries through the mesh sieve. Keep pressing the pull through. Add the pulp into the strained strawberry liquid. Discard the seeds. 

Place the heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water on medium heat. Make sure the bowl fits snugly, and that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Add the sugar, beaten eggs and butter to the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter melts. Continue to stir constantly for about 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice and gelatin. 

Turn the heat up and continue to stir for another 10 minutes. It’s important to keep stirring, otherwise the mixture could curdle.

Stir for another few minutes or until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat and stir again. Carefully pour mixture into hot sterilized jars and seal.

Store in the refrigerator for up to two months.

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Caramel pear almond upside down cake

There were some pears left over after I made the pattern at the bottom of the tin. I diced them and mixed them through the batter before transferring it in to the cake tin. 

180g brown sugar

270g unsalted butter, softened

4 ripe pears, peeled, cored, cut into 2cm-thick slices

300g caster sugar

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

80g almond meal

1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
METHOD

Step 1

Preheat oven to 160°C  fan-forced

Step 2

Grease and line base of a 26cm cake pan with baking paper. Sprinkle brown sugar over base. Melt 100g butter and pour over brown sugar. Top with overlapping pear slices. Place remaining butter and caster sugar in bowl of electric mixer, beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Step 3

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder and spices, fold into egg mixture with almond meal. Stir in buttermilk, then mix to form a smooth batter. Carefully spread over pears.

Step 4

Place pan on a baking tray, cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Step 5

Cover loosely with foil if cake begins to brown too quickly. Remove and cool for 30 minutes. Run a knife around sides of pan and carefully invert onto a plate.

Lemon buttermilk cake

1 cup self raising flour

2 tablespoons corn flour 

1/4 cup butter at room temperature

Zest of 1 lemon

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

Lemon curd for drizzle 
Method:

Preheat oven to 180c fan forced 

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until the mixture turns much lighter in color and very fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl to bring the mixture together again and beat in the egg and vanilla until thoroughly combined, at least 30 seconds. 
Add half of the buttermilk and stir to combine. Add half the flour and stir to combine. Repeat with the remaining buttermilk and flour  and corn flour and lemon zest until everything is in the bowl making a lovely smooth, if quite thick, batter.

Scrape the batter into an 8- by 8-inch baking pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with a bit of sugar for a prettier crust. Drizzle lemon curd in blobs around the top of the cake (avoiding the sides). Bake until golden and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

Let cool on a cooling rack until the cake pulls away from the edges of the pan, 10 to 15 minutes. Cut pieces or slices and serve warm or at room temperature.

*Alternatively, use plain, unsweetened yogurt for a yummy yogurt cake. It will be a tad heavier, but just as delicious.

Quick and easy beef stroganoff

1 onion – diced 

2 x 1tbsp rice bran oil

500g beef – diced

200g brown mushrooms – diced or sliced

200g shiitake mushrooms – diced or sliced 

1tsp of garlic – minced

2tsp corn flour

1tsp Dijon mustard 

1 heaped tbsp sweet or smoked paprika

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1/2 beef stock cube / 1/2 tsp of beef stock powder

1 cup boiling water 

1/3 cup sour cream
Method

In a pan heat 1tbsp oil, sautée the onions. When soft and golden, add the beef and sear. 

Remove from the heat and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with corn flour and paprika. 

In the same pan, heat the remaining oil (1tbsp), sautée the mushrooms and garlic until cooked, return the beef/onion mixture to the pan. 

Combine all the remaining ingredients except the sour cream. 

Simmer on the lowest heat for at least 30mins and the beef is soft.  

Stir through the sour cream, bring to a simmer. 

Serve with rice or pasta, and a garnish of parsley and chives. 

Light and fluffy ricotta cheesecake

This is my adaptation of the Monday Morning Cooking Club recipe for Shavuot. 

http://mondaymorningcookingclub.com.au/recipe/festival-shavuot-cheesecake-time/

The first time I made it, I forgot the cornflour – this made it much lighter and like a soufflé 

Serves 6

Ingredients:

95g caster sugar

4 large eggs

500g fresh ricotta 

125g sour cream

1tsp vanilla extract 

2tbsp custard powder

1/2tsp baking powder

10g melted salted butter

Zest of 1 lemon 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 16cm springform cake tin or a 12cm square cake tin.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cheese and beat until smooth, then add the remaining ingredients and beat until well combined.

Pour into the prepared tin. Place in the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 160C and bake for 1 hour, or until golden and puffy. The cake will rise during baking, then fall once cooled.

Aqua Fava Hummus

Trying to cut the calories and keep the protein up – the answer is aqua fava!

The liquid the beans and chickpeas come in their tin with. 

It made way more than I needed, so you might want to halve the recipe. Or not!

This makes around 1.5L of hummus. So when I say “it’s a big batch” I really mean it!

Do not Drain! Reserve the aqua fava (I used around 1/2 to 3/4 cup) 

420g tin of chick peas

400g tin of fagioli or butter or cannolini beans
Add to a food processor
with:

4 heaped dessert spoons of pure tahini

1 cup of strained fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of paprika

2 tablespoons of freshly minced garlic

1 tablespoon of salt
Turn on the food processor. 

Slowly drizzle in the aqua fava. 

Add 4 teaspoons of pure olive oil (for flavour)
Blend until smooth and luxurious. I usually do this for a good 5 minutes to make sure the hummus is super smooth. 
Serve at room temperature or warm

Ideal with pita.

I like to serve it with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of dukka or zaatar. 

You can also serve it Israeli style – warm, a couple of tablespoons of whole chickpeas, a big heap of tabbouleh – and some pita or falafel too!

Mmmmm… delicious. 
Make Hummus. Not war!

Zoodle Salad

This recipe was made by our amazing ladies in the school canteen… well, this is my attempt to recreate it.

(serves 1)

1 small or 1/2 large zucchini – made in to zoodles

1/4 broccoli

1/4 cauliflower

1/4 tin of Chickpeas

1/2 cup Baby spinach leaves

1 teaspoon/drizzle Pomegranate molasses

1/2 teaspoon Ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon Ground cumin

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Olive Oil – drizzle to bake, drizzle to dress

1 teaspoon Sesame seeds

 

Roast the broccoli and cauliflower – place in a tray, sprinkle with cumin and coriander and olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes.

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together. In a smaller bowl make the dressing of pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, and olive oil. Drizzle over 10 minutes before serving.

Simple. Easy. Delicious!