Pre-Christmas dinners and catch-ups of a casual nature can pose a quandary in matters of dessert. It's far too much effort required to make an all-out steamed pudding for a late lunch for four friends. And yet, you want to acknowledge that Christmas is around the corner (two days in this case) and step into festive mode.Enter: Easy Layered Semifreddo Christmas Cake with Berry Sauce & Nuts
Good quality dark chocolate flecked with tart strips of dried apricot and roasted hazelnuts tumbled together in small tins and jars, make delicious edible gifts for lovers of indulgence. The ingredients added make the act of melting, pouring and chilling chocolate appear complicated and the treat sophisticated. It really could not be easier to do. And showing off some fine Mustardseed and Moonshine platters
This Saturday (17 December 2011), at 2 30 pm a group of Cape Town cookie crafters will be gathering at the Cut&Bake studios to sample Cut&Bake's cookies, drink bubbles, snack on some savouries and swap our home-made cookies and chocolates. Details and how you can get involved here..also a recipe for unusual, tempting Spiced Cocoa Cookies with Roasted Hazelnuts & Rosemary.
Christmas in summer poses a challenge and an awkward one at that. Despite the weather, we're almost attuned to think of and crave Christmas and holiday desserts that are rich, warm, comforting. For this holiday dessert, I used stone fruit, poached in Pimms (usually enjoyed cold in tall glasses with cucumber) and aniseed and some still fresh, layered with aniseed infused fresh cream and a few broken amaretti biscuits.You could call this a deconstructed summer Christmas pudding.
Diwalis remembered and another away from my family. I replaced the ache with the quickest sweet I could make. White chocolate rose truffles with salted macadamia centres, dusted with cocoa and this Dark Chocolate & Almond Bark with Sea Salt. It's a grown up combination of flavours, the roasted almonds and beautiful salt off set the semi-sweet chocolate. Really easy to make too.
Food and the Fabulous turns 1 this month. We miss the date, but thankfully still have all our marbles in the basket- well, almost. It's been a wonderful, adventure-packed year and I reflect on it and you, the readers and my fellow bloggers. Also, I offer you this delightful Strawberry & Hazelnut Meringue Semifreddo - the easiest you will ever make.
Chocolate Brownies made with Catalan Torro (nougat), a soft, golden coloured confectionery and with the delightful nubbliness of macadamia nuts. Dedicated to F.C.Barcelona winning the Audi Cup over Bayern Munich. Ole`!
This dark chocolate creme mille feuille with raspberries and lime zest brittle, is my entry to Paper Chef, the list of ingredients given for this challenge being chocolate, berries, bread and lime. I thought you should know that I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination. I've never entered any cooking or baking challenges before, so this is pretty daunting. This is also the first time I've used my sparkly new Kitchen Aid- so it's a very proud kitchen moment for me too.
A decadent white chocolate and rose panna cotta, with a raspberry coulis infused with cardamom. Impress your guests. Did I mention easier than pie?
Woo your Valentine with this easy to make Raspberry Mascarpone tart on Heston Blumenthal's popping candy base. A bit of alchemy goes a long way! Pop!
