It doesn't get much more basic than this, guys.
About half a cup of water. A tablespoon of castor sugar. And 50g of good dark chocolate.
Melt the sugar in the water. Add the chocolate, and stir till melted. Take off the heat and serve immediately over icecream or chocolate sponge cake.
It's not as thick as I like my chocolate sauce usually, but it does the trick.
Talk about basic.
Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts
Monday, 26 March 2012
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Peach Tart
This was one of simplest recipes I think I have ever encountered. And I still had to change it!
It boiled down to the following:
Roll out some puff pastry and place it on a greased baking tray, pinching up the edges to form a shallow base. Cover with peach halves. (Peaches are not in season, so we used apricots.) Bake for about 25mins or until the pastry starts going golden. Take out the oven and baste in melted apricot jam. Bake for another ten mins. Eat with fresh whipped cream.
Easy, and really very delicious.
OK, disclaimer: I adore apricots. I love the tart sweetness. I eat them in handfuls. So I was predisposed to enjoy this one.
However, people agreed!
I used this to experiment on guests, and they agreed it was yummy. Even the teen liked it! Success all round.
Ratings:
Me: Thumbs up!
Husband: Thumbs up!
Teen: Thumbs up! (Though I feel honour bound to reveal that he ate it with nutella.
Experimented upon guest: Thumbs up!
It boiled down to the following:
Roll out some puff pastry and place it on a greased baking tray, pinching up the edges to form a shallow base. Cover with peach halves. (Peaches are not in season, so we used apricots.) Bake for about 25mins or until the pastry starts going golden. Take out the oven and baste in melted apricot jam. Bake for another ten mins. Eat with fresh whipped cream.
Easy, and really very delicious.
OK, disclaimer: I adore apricots. I love the tart sweetness. I eat them in handfuls. So I was predisposed to enjoy this one.
However, people agreed!
I used this to experiment on guests, and they agreed it was yummy. Even the teen liked it! Success all round.
Ratings:
Me: Thumbs up!
Husband: Thumbs up!
Teen: Thumbs up! (Though I feel honour bound to reveal that he ate it with nutella.
Experimented upon guest: Thumbs up!
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Home Made Ice Cream
Having just dissed the home-made curry powder, I am going to say totally the opposite about ice cream. Home-made is hard work, and takes a long time, but it is TOTALLY worth it.
This was a basic vanilla recipe, with coffee, strawberry and chocolate variants, so I made a double batch and divided it into four so I could do all four flavours. I'd be hard-pressed to tell you which one I liked most.
Not GI/dairy/anything friendly, really, though. My double batch involved 2 pints of milk, 2 pints of cream and a dozen egg yolks. You basically brew up a custard with the milk and eggs and some sugar. Don't let it boil, but stir it up. Throw it in a cooled container (or four in my case) after adding whatever flavour you're adding, and freeze for two hours. Stir in the cream (whipped) and freeze again for two hours. Take it out and mash it up a second time before freezing it again a final time.
It is REALLY good. Notably better than the average store bought stuff. The teen even admitted that the chocolate variant was the best he'd had all year. (!!)
REALLY GOOD.
Ratings:
Me: Enthusiastic thumbs up
Husband: Enthusiastic thumbs up
Teen: Enthusiastic thumbs up
Student: Enthusiastic thumbs up.
This was a basic vanilla recipe, with coffee, strawberry and chocolate variants, so I made a double batch and divided it into four so I could do all four flavours. I'd be hard-pressed to tell you which one I liked most.
Not GI/dairy/anything friendly, really, though. My double batch involved 2 pints of milk, 2 pints of cream and a dozen egg yolks. You basically brew up a custard with the milk and eggs and some sugar. Don't let it boil, but stir it up. Throw it in a cooled container (or four in my case) after adding whatever flavour you're adding, and freeze for two hours. Stir in the cream (whipped) and freeze again for two hours. Take it out and mash it up a second time before freezing it again a final time.
It is REALLY good. Notably better than the average store bought stuff. The teen even admitted that the chocolate variant was the best he'd had all year. (!!)
REALLY GOOD.
Ratings:
Me: Enthusiastic thumbs up
Husband: Enthusiastic thumbs up
Teen: Enthusiastic thumbs up
Student: Enthusiastic thumbs up.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Summer berry trifle
This was pretty fantastic, but it does take quite a bit of faffing about in the kitchen.
Start off by making a sponge cake. I don't remember the exact recipe, but I had to make about a quarter of the size, because I was only cooking for me and husband, not for 10-12 people like the recipe suggested.
While that's baking, jelly and syrup the fruit. Basically, a little bit of water and sugar boiled up in a saucepan. Add some gelatine, then toss the fruit about in it. I used strawberries and raspberries.
REMEMBER TO PUT THE FROZEN RASPBERRIES BACK IN THE FREEZER. I put them in the fridge for some obscure reason, and will now be hunting for raspberry recipes so I can use them up.
Ahem.
ANYWAY.
Cut the sponge cake into cubes. Pop them in the bottom of two large wine glasses. Well, if you're trying to be fancy, like I was. Else, I suppose a bowl would do. ;)
Sprinkle with sherry. Nom.
Let it soak in for a bit. Then put half the fruit on top of that. Pour a layer of custard over the fruit. (I made it homemade, but I guess you could use a premade one, if you were so inclined.) Another layer of fruit, another layer of custard, then top with whipped cream.
Remember that sweetening whipped cream is a TRAVESTY. Don't do it. I'm not kidding.
Eat. Enjoy. NOM.
It was really awesome. I was expecting it to be really rich, but it turned out gorgeous. Probably because I didn't sweeten the cream! Or the custard, for that matter. So the only real sweetness was the fruit and the sherry.
Gorgeous. If fiddly.
Ratings:
Me: NOM yes thumbs up.
Husband: Thumbs up.
Start off by making a sponge cake. I don't remember the exact recipe, but I had to make about a quarter of the size, because I was only cooking for me and husband, not for 10-12 people like the recipe suggested.
While that's baking, jelly and syrup the fruit. Basically, a little bit of water and sugar boiled up in a saucepan. Add some gelatine, then toss the fruit about in it. I used strawberries and raspberries.
REMEMBER TO PUT THE FROZEN RASPBERRIES BACK IN THE FREEZER. I put them in the fridge for some obscure reason, and will now be hunting for raspberry recipes so I can use them up.
Ahem.
ANYWAY.
Cut the sponge cake into cubes. Pop them in the bottom of two large wine glasses. Well, if you're trying to be fancy, like I was. Else, I suppose a bowl would do. ;)
Sprinkle with sherry. Nom.
Let it soak in for a bit. Then put half the fruit on top of that. Pour a layer of custard over the fruit. (I made it homemade, but I guess you could use a premade one, if you were so inclined.) Another layer of fruit, another layer of custard, then top with whipped cream.
Remember that sweetening whipped cream is a TRAVESTY. Don't do it. I'm not kidding.
Eat. Enjoy. NOM.
It was really awesome. I was expecting it to be really rich, but it turned out gorgeous. Probably because I didn't sweeten the cream! Or the custard, for that matter. So the only real sweetness was the fruit and the sherry.
Gorgeous. If fiddly.
Ratings:
Me: NOM yes thumbs up.
Husband: Thumbs up.
Friday, 2 December 2011
Sauted Apple with Syrup and Mascarpone
This might be one of the more decadent desserts I have made in a long while.
Basically, you make a syrup with butter, castor sugar, Marsala (I used sherry), cream and honey. It's like a sugar and fat party in a saucepan. Then you saute apples (cored, peeled and quartered) in olive oil till they're golden brown. Pour the sauce over them, dollop on some Mascarpone (cause obviously there wasn't enough fat in that syrup), and sprinkle with walnuts.
It is completely bloody beautiful to eat. But I could physically feel the bad-for-me afterwards. But oh, the decadence!!
The syrup is amazing. The first taste just explodes in your mouth. It threatens to be too sweet (and the recipe definitely made too much), but the mascarpone undercuts it, and neutralises some of the sweet. The apples are perfect. The walnuts a mastershot.
If you're looking for something quick and simple that looks really complex and fancy, this is a good option.
Ratings:
Me: Thumbs up, though my pancreas disagrees.
Husband: Thumbs up
Student: Thumbs up
Fussy Teen: Thumbs down. (I guess dessert shouldn't have fruit in it. I dunno.)
Basically, you make a syrup with butter, castor sugar, Marsala (I used sherry), cream and honey. It's like a sugar and fat party in a saucepan. Then you saute apples (cored, peeled and quartered) in olive oil till they're golden brown. Pour the sauce over them, dollop on some Mascarpone (cause obviously there wasn't enough fat in that syrup), and sprinkle with walnuts.
It is completely bloody beautiful to eat. But I could physically feel the bad-for-me afterwards. But oh, the decadence!!
The syrup is amazing. The first taste just explodes in your mouth. It threatens to be too sweet (and the recipe definitely made too much), but the mascarpone undercuts it, and neutralises some of the sweet. The apples are perfect. The walnuts a mastershot.
If you're looking for something quick and simple that looks really complex and fancy, this is a good option.
Ratings:
Me: Thumbs up, though my pancreas disagrees.
Husband: Thumbs up
Student: Thumbs up
Fussy Teen: Thumbs down. (I guess dessert shouldn't have fruit in it. I dunno.)
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Chocolate Dipped Bacon Topped Oreos
OK, it has been forever and a day since I last posted here, but today I invented something which deserves to be written about.
You see, my friend and office mate Gene and I were talking one day about 'the ultimate food of deliciousness', and he came to the conclusion that it would be Oreos dipped in dark chocolate and wrapped in bacon. And me being me, I said, "I can make that."
So today I did.
I took a bag of Oreos. Melted some dark chocolate with just a bit of cream.
Dipped and spooned the chocolate sauce over and around the Oreos. This was messy. I ended up with chocolate EVERYWHERE.
Then I stuck them in the fridge to harden up.
Later, I fried up some bacon. Didn't have enough to WRAP the Oreos, which was the original plan, so I simply topped them with bacon, and stuck a toothpick through.
They looked quite impressive. Photos were taken, but I don't have one handy. Someone will no doubt eventually give me one, and I will add it to this.
They tasted pretty amazing actually. The saltiness of the bacon complemented the dark chocolate and the sweetness of the cookie. It worked remarkably well, for something which was essentially a novelty dish. Gene ate about eight, so I guess he approved. :)
Things I would do differently if I did it again:
Take a lot longer over the chocolate bit. The sauce kind of made the cookies soggy, and they became quite crumbly and fell apart easily. I think if I did it again, It'd let the chocolate cool a bit more, and harden naturally, out of the fridge. I also think that it may be worth doing it half and half (One side of the cookie, let it harden, then the other), cos I had sticking to the plate issues.
Use streaky bacon. I didn't cos it's not what we had, but actually wrapping them in streaky bacon would probably work a lot better, and help hold them together.
It was a pretty awesome experiment though! I recommend you try it! :D
You see, my friend and office mate Gene and I were talking one day about 'the ultimate food of deliciousness', and he came to the conclusion that it would be Oreos dipped in dark chocolate and wrapped in bacon. And me being me, I said, "I can make that."
So today I did.
I took a bag of Oreos. Melted some dark chocolate with just a bit of cream.
Dipped and spooned the chocolate sauce over and around the Oreos. This was messy. I ended up with chocolate EVERYWHERE.
Then I stuck them in the fridge to harden up.
Later, I fried up some bacon. Didn't have enough to WRAP the Oreos, which was the original plan, so I simply topped them with bacon, and stuck a toothpick through.
They looked quite impressive. Photos were taken, but I don't have one handy. Someone will no doubt eventually give me one, and I will add it to this.
They tasted pretty amazing actually. The saltiness of the bacon complemented the dark chocolate and the sweetness of the cookie. It worked remarkably well, for something which was essentially a novelty dish. Gene ate about eight, so I guess he approved. :)
Things I would do differently if I did it again:
Take a lot longer over the chocolate bit. The sauce kind of made the cookies soggy, and they became quite crumbly and fell apart easily. I think if I did it again, It'd let the chocolate cool a bit more, and harden naturally, out of the fridge. I also think that it may be worth doing it half and half (One side of the cookie, let it harden, then the other), cos I had sticking to the plate issues.
Use streaky bacon. I didn't cos it's not what we had, but actually wrapping them in streaky bacon would probably work a lot better, and help hold them together.
It was a pretty awesome experiment though! I recommend you try it! :D
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