Sugar et al, Author at Sugar et al

Raspberry And Ginger Frangipane Tart

22|12|2014

I may need a few more Christmas-s in the southern hemisphere to reconcile with the fact that instead of sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace, I am actually filling up popsicle moulds in batches. And applying sunscreen before I hit the shops. We have barbecues and picnics planned all through the holidays Which does seem funny to me when I speak to my family at the other end of the world where my brother is going skiing instead.

The weather has been so warm this week that I haven’t enjoyed baking that much. But this tart has been worth it. I was literally waiting for berry season and now that it is here, I cannot have enough of them. A frangipane filling is my favourite filling in a tart. I added a spice component to the filling by adding including powdered and glace (crystallised) ginger. Nutty, spicy, buttery and very delicious. Combined with juicy red raspberries and pieces of finely chopped glace ginger, it provides a nice textural contrast to the tart. I used a store-bought sweet tart case as I was happy to avoid some of the heat in the kitchen. With the tart shell baking out of the way, this is a breeze to make.

Raspberry and Ginger Frangipane Tart
Serves 8

1 store bought tart case (18 cm)
100 g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 cup glace ginger
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C for fan-forced).
Place 3/4 cup of raspberries on the base of the empty tart case.
Using an electric mixer or a whisk, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until just combined. Stir in almond, flour, powdered ginger and glace ginger. Gently pour almond mixture into pastry case. Level top with a spatula. Top with remaining raspberries and flaked almonds.

Bake tart for 35 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm with ice-cream on the side.

White Chocolate And Raspberry Cake With Orange Buttercream

19|12|2014

I am pretty sure the question that is on most of our minds is “Where did this year go?’ And where is time flying now when there is so much left to do before it actually ends. Let me tell you where my year went. It went in breaking a few hundred eggs, melting a suitcase worth of chocolate (that’s right if I packed all the chocolate I melted this year in a suitcase, I wouldn’t be able to close it even if I sat on it. Err..is it only me or do you sit or half-stand on over-packed suitcases?) whisking, measuring cups of nut meals, layering, spreading, licking bowlfuls of sweet batter, sprinkling, drizzling, pouring and torching, cutting, slicing, eating and day dreaming of cakes and desserts. If I missed out on anything of pastry relevance, please feel free to add them because I have no doubt I would have done them all.

Did I do anything else? Apart from gaining those frightful calories? Yes, I brought myself a treadmill, ran a bit around the waterside near my previous house, ate salads and soups (other than cakes) and found people to eat my cakes. About 4 months in this year, I had family with me so I went on a cake baking/making spree. I could hear my cake pans weeping when they left.

Now since this was a year filled with cakes, the last one had to be a celebratory one…what do you think?

The cake is a simple moist, layer cake with an Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. It has got a lovely flavour on account on the tart raspberries alongside sweet white chocolate. The citrus notes are the best as they tie the whole cake together. You can bake them in two pans as well..you will get two broader layers and you will need to adjust the baking time a bit (it will take longer to bake). Don’t worry about being neat with the frosting. The whole idea is to play around with the cake and flowers. I adapted the recipe for the cake from Good Food. The original recipe was for a two layered cake. I adjusted the measurements for the ingredients to make a cake with 3 layers. You can get the recipe for the Orange Swiss Meringue Butter Cream here.

White Chocolate And Raspberry Cake with Orange Butter Cream

Serves 8-10

300 g butter, chopped into small cubes, plus extra for greasing
150 g white chocolate, broken into pieces
6 large eggs
300 g caster sugar
300 g self-raising flour
175 g raspberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 180 degree C (160 degree fan-forced). Grease and line the bases of 3 x 18 cm round cake tins. Put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof mixing bowl, set over a pan of barely simmering water and allow to melt slowly, stirring occasionally.

When the butter and chocolate have melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool for 1-2 mins, then beat in the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk. Fold in the flour and raspberries.

Gently pour the mixture into the tins and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack. Once cooled, place a layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread 1/3 of the frosting. Repeat with remaining layers and frosting. Spread frosting on the sides and top. Decorate with fresh flowers, berries or chocolate shavings. Frosting recipe here

Chocolate And Coconut Friands (Financiers)

17|12|2014

Friands are mini cakes made with a nut meal (almonds) and egg whites. These ones are flavored with chocolate and coconut and served with a dusting of icing sugar.

It’s been an emotional week for us, waking up to tragic news from home and around the world almost every day. Watching the horrific incident unfold on television, not very far away at Martin’s place (a place that is dear to every Sydneysider, a street on which, possibly every visitor to Sydney might have walked) made me think several times how much we take life for granted. I can only get a sense of the grief and pain, the families of the hostages might be feeling at this time for the loved ones who they won’t see or hear again. I was constantly praying and thinking about the three young children who might not even be able to assess why their Mum wouldn’t return home like any other day to put them to bed and kiss them goodnight. As if this was not disturbing enough, the barbaric killing of school children in Peshawar came in the News. Children? Young lives who have not even seen the world. Can so much hatred exist in an human heart? As a mother, I couldn’t stop the tears flowing from my eyes. I held my children close to me and shuddered.

This was otherwise meant to be a happy time for everyone. Sharing, caring, giving..receiving..spreading joy and gratitude. I made these friands during the weekend as a gift to a dear friend. They were delicious and simple to put together. I am a friand-oholic as you might already know by the number of recipes I have dedicated to them. If you walked in to my home, at different times in a month, you would probably find a different flavour each time. I was a muffin lover until I discovered ‘the friand’. Now if I come across a new flavour or recipe of muffin, I will instantly have this urge to make a friand with those flavours. They are so easy to incorporate new ingredients in to. I had not made chocolate friands before so I wanted to test out by adding cocoa and coconut to the batter. As I suspected they turned out great. They make a delicious gift too as they can remain in room temperature for 2-3 days (unless you are adding fresh fruit to it).

Friands are very Australian. There would barely be a cafe or a bakery in Australia where you would not find them. Sharing these today makes me feel one with my fellow countrymen at this time when we could all do with some festive cheer.

Chocolate And Coconut Friands (Financiers)
Makes 10

1 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
5 egg whites
125 g butter, melted
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
Icing sugar/extra dessicated coconut, to dust.
Fresh red currants/berries, to serve

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease a 12- capacity muffin pan or mini bundt cake pan. Place the almond meal, icing sugar, flour, baking powder, eggwhites, butter, cocoa powder and coconut in a bowl and whisk until combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 20–25 minutes or until the friands are golden and cooked through.
Remove from oven and release friands after 2 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.

Lentil Salad With Golden Beets and Green Peas

15|12|2014

A filling, delicious and healthy warm lentil salad with golden beets, green peas, feta, basil and a orange mustard dressing.

There are a few places in Sydney that make my weekends delightful. I look forward to them all week. One among them are the farmer’s markets. In the few years that I have lived here I have attempted to visit a different one each time and found myself drawn more and more to them. How inspiring is it to cook with fresh local produce directly from the people who grow them and hear their amazing stories! I find it difficult to go on weekdays (though given a choice that is where I would like to do all my fresh produce shopping from) but Saturdays are market days for me. I like to eat breakfast at the markets. My meal planning for the week is kind of sorted out too with all the delicious things I bring back. One such place that I am totally in love with is the Everleigh market located in the city centre on Saturdays. It takes me a little while to get there but it is so worth it. I return with bagfuls of colourful fruits and vegetables, cheese, delicious brownies/slices, micro-herbs, fresh flowers, tea…basically as much as a girl can hold with two hands.

Last Saturday I bought heirloom, tomatoes, golden beetoot, green and purple basil and the juiciest strawberries I have tasted. When the vegetables are themselves so delicious, there isn’t much that needs to be done. With the beetroot, I made this lentil salad which makes a healthy and filling side or even a light lunch. I roasted the beetroot in the oven and used canned lentils and frozen peas to go with it so it came together quickly. The dressing is a orange mustard dressing that really complements the flavours of the sweet beetroot and earthy lentils. Feta is a must-have in my house and so is garlic infused extra-virgin olive oil. I tend to use them a lot in my cooking which you might have guessed by now. You can make this with regular beetroot as well. You can add nuts, substitute feta with ricotta or buffalo mozzarella.

Warm Lentil Salad with Golden Beets and Green Peas
Serves 4

4 nos. golden beetroot, trimmed
1 can (400 g) brown lentils, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup frozen (or fresh) peas, thawed (If using fresh, cook to your liking first)
15 g feta, crumbled
1/2 cup fresh basil, to garnish

For the dressing
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I use garlic infused oil. You could also chop 2 cloves of garlic and add to the dressing if using regular extra-virgin oilve oil)
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. (180 degreec C fan-forced ). Wrap each beetroot in foil. Place on a baking tray. Bake for 1 hour or until tender. Set aside to cool. Remove and discard foil. Peel the skin off. Cut into wedges.
Place the beetroot, lentils and peas in a large bowl.

On low heat, bring the orange juice, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper to a slight boil. Remove from heat and pour over the bowl of beetroot. Toss to combine. Add the feta and fresh basil and toss gently. Serve warm.