This is an adaptation of a Gourmet Traveller Fare Exchange recipe, Chocolate, Hazelnut and Caramel Tart from the River House restaurant in Noosaville, Queensland (pastry chef Tannille Maneylaws). After the latest plagiarism accusation, I though it best to clearly identify my inspiration ;-).

This tart is divinely moorish. The nutty caramel is sweet, chewy and beautifully set off by the amazing mouth feel of the bitter dark chocolate ganache. The sweet pastry turned out firm yet nicely short, and in the rectangular tin allows one to serve the portion as a slab or triangle. An extremely decadent dessert.

Chocolate, Nut & Caramel Tart

Pastry
75g Icing Sugar
125g Cold unsalted Butter, chopped
2 Egg Yolks
250g Plain Flour

Nut Caramel
100g Dark Muscovado Sugar
0.5 Cup Double Cream
50g Unsalted Butter, chopped
150g Mixed Nuts (in this case Brazil, Pecan, Pistachio, Walnut, Almond), roasted and coarsely chopped
Dutch Cocoa for dusting

Chocolate Ganache
70% Cocoa Solid Dark Chocolate (in this case, Lindt)
200ml Double Cream

For the pastry I broke with the “hands on” nature of the original recipe and threw the chopped butter / icing sugar into a food processor. Blitz till combined and then pulse in the egg yolks. When mixed, pulse in the flour and iced water. When it came together I removed it from the processor and pressed into a rectangular shape. Into cling film and then into the fridge for an hour.

Roll out pastry on a floured surface and line a 11 x 35cm tart tin (with removable base). Cover and throw in the freezer for 20 minutes. Line with foil or baking paper, fill with rice/baking balls, and bake at 180 degrees celcius for 15 minutes. Remove paper and rice/baking balls and bake for a further 15 minutes or until dry and golden. Put in fridge/freezer to cool whilst you make the caramel.

For caramel, place sugar, cream and butter in heavy based saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Add nuts to caramel and then poor into cooled tart shell. Put in fridge/freezer to cool whilst you make the ganache.

For ganache, place chocolate and cream in saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth. Let cool for a few minutes and then pour the ganache over the nutty caramel.

Refrigerate tart for a couple of hours and then dust with cocoa before serving. I found creme fraiche to be the perfect accompaniment to this tart. I thought the suggested double cream might make it taste a little too rich.

After the success of my last two jam attempts, I was inspired to give it another crack by a trip to the fruit store today. Brimming with confidence, I have decided to stride forth on my own and create my own recipes, using common jam theory practices and a bit of complimentary taste knowledge.

Strawberry, Balsamic & Black Pepper Jam
1kg Strawberries washed/hulled
3.5 cups Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Tartaric Acid
The Rind of half a Lemon
4 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper

Spicy Peach Jam
1.1kg Peaches
1.1kg Granulated Sugar
The Rind of half a Lemon
Juice of 1 Lemon
0.5 cup of Water
2 Cinnamon Quills
8 Cloves
12 Whole Allspice Pimento

After washing/hulling the strawberries, chop the larger ones in half and place in a non-reactive pan along with the sugar, lemon rind, balsamic vinegar and cracked black pepper. Bring to the boil and cook for eight minutes. Mash up half the strawberries with a potato masher (leaving some of them whole if you like) and then put in the tartaric acid. Cook for a further 5 minutes at a high simmer and perform the cold plate test. If it gels, remove pot from heat and skim any foam immediately. Bottle into sterilised jars.

Wash peaches and cut in half, removing the stone and any marks. I chose to leave the skin on - one recipe I researched said it added to the colour (which is the excuse I’m sticking to!). I blitzed about three quarters of the peaches in a food processor, and cut the remaining into bite-sized pieces. Place fruit in a non-reactive pan along with the rest of the ingredients, stir very well and bring to the boil. Cook on high for 20-25 minutes. Cold plate test and remove if gelling. Skim any foam and bottle into sterilised jars.

Tasting Notes
Both jams set really well, although the peach took a long time to reach gelling point and is slightly more liquid than my previous batches.

The Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper jam is amazingly good. The vinegar adds a lovely tartness that seems to tame the sweetness, and the cracked black pepper goes quite unnoticed until you get a little granule in your mouth. Then the result is a nice little kick of heat, which so compliments the entire experience.

The Spicy Peach jam is yumilly peachy, the allspice and cloves quite noticeable and complimentary. The cinnamon tends to fall by the wayside a bit. Next time I would throw in a bit of cardamom - just because I love the fresh taste it can impart. Whilst the jam is great, it suffers from a lack of fresh zing. Perhaps more lemon/lime would also be in order.

But both of these were VERY good on my toast the next morning.

filed in: recipes, recipes-condiments

My father lives in FNQ (Far North Queensland), and on a visit two years ago I found a great little biodynamic dairy called Mungalli Creek in Millaa Millaa. Situated in a fantastic position with magnificent views of hills, Mungalli makes cream, milk, cheeses, dips, and yoghurt. Whenever I’m up in FNQ I go sick on the fresh fruit and Mungalli Crreek yoghurt. But today I found it in Melbourne at Macro Wholefoods in The Glen. I’m a happy girl.

As you can see in my banana/honey/granola/yoghurt combo above, the yoghurt is pot set with the cream floating to the top (mmm…the best bit!). If you’re feeling healthy, you can skim the cream off and have low fat yoghurt. But geesh, why bother. A little fat never hurt anyone! Eat it straight up, or mix it round.

They also make a bush honey version which is also very good.

Ok. I’m a huge Jackie Chan fan. Sue me. But despite my love of all things “Jackie Chan”, his new restaurant at Doncaster Shopping Town SUCKS. Which really does sadden me. Has “Chan the Man” sold out?

The ONLY thing I liked about Jackie’s Kitchen is that they put ice in the water and the jasmine tea tasted rather nice. Other than that, it’s sucks. The food isn’t anything special, and the service doesn’t rate that much higher.

The restaurant itself is sterile. Not much thought was given to changing the previous franchise’s decor (ahem…Smorgy’s). New tables and chairs were the extent of the renovation. The paintwork was scratchy, and the veneer was peeling off some of the furniture, and pukey apricot tablecloths should be outlawed in food venues. Period.

We were seated in a rather nonchalant offhand manner, and it took the wait staff around 15 minutes to take our order. No, they were not lacking in numbers - we could see about six of them milling around in the far reaches. Also, trying to crack a smile out of them was near impossible.

We opted for the banquet, which is usually a good (and cheap) way of sampling a variety of dishes, especially as the standard price for a main menu item ranged anywhere from $18 to $30 (not cheap by Melbourne standards). We ended up paying $24 per person for the following crappola:

• Spring Roll - yeah, must admit they didn’t taste too bad. But it wasn’t anything you couldn’t get at any cheap take-away joint.
• Dumpling Sampler - why give a two banquet party five dumplings? Do we fight over the fifth dim sim? That really wasn’t an issue here as the dumplings were as tough as golf balls. Secondly, who the heck serves dumplings without any condiments? Not so much as a soy or sweet chilli sauce. The waiter disappeared so quickly I had to get up and help myself to the soy sauce from a couple of tables away.
• Lame-arsed Peking Duck - some type of shredded poultry substance generously (and I repeat GENEROUSLY) slathered in hoisin sauce. The meat was miserly and the crepe tough.
• Crab / Sweet Corn Soup - should be renamed gluggy cornflour and no salt soup.
• Braised Prawns & Veg - The broccoli was really good. Uh huh. I really loved the broccoli.
• Lemon Chicken - Okay, this one wasn’t too bad. Where can you go wrong with battered and deepfried chicken breast? In this case, it was the sauce. It was glow in the dark bile yellow. Hmm.
• Fried rice - greasy greasy greasy.
• Fresh fruit - I take umbrage to the word “fresh”. Four slices of floury watermelon and half an orange.

I must admit I expected a lot more from this place. I had internet searched Jackie’s Kitchen USA, and it looked promising. Healthy asian salad options. Interesting claypots etc. Unfortunately I feel the following way about the Melbourne version :

It sucked.

Melbourne is practically buzzing in Commonwealth Games frenzy, offering a plethora of things to do and places to see. Festival Melbourne2006 showcases non-stop music, circus acts, street theatre, visual arts and of course, food and wine events. And the best part is that most of it is free.

Today I swung by the Victorian Producers Market held at the Melbourne Museum plaza. There was lots of goodies to taste and inspire - new season fruit and veg, sweets, chocolates, breads, cheeses, honey, oils, meats and yes, cupcakes(…i think we are under a cupcake attack!).

I started the day off with a gluten free Ginger and Almond biscuit from Michel’s in Castlemaine. I had one of her lemon and coconut squares at Hanging Rock a few weeks ago, and was so impressed with her skill, thought I would try another of her delights. The biscuit was deliciously chewy and moorish, with hunks of warming glace ginger that were pervasive yet not too overpowering. I didn’t choose the gluten free option for any altruistic reasons - heck, I’m a pastry chef. I love gluten!

Also sampled a lovely Ginger Panforte di Australia from Australian Harvest Fine Foods in Coldstream (hmm….I just noticed a theme emerging here!). Made with ginger, dark chocolate, macadamias, almonds, honey, cinnamon, cocoa and organic rice and soy flours. It was totally dense and scrumptious - and I could imagine eating a small piece of it with parmesan cheese. Unfortunately it was polished off at a friends house not long afterwards - so I didn’t get to try the cheese combination. Hmm. I’ll just have to buy some more then.

Rosewater Turkish Delight from Paddymelon. Great texture but a rather mild taste, which would probably suit the more novice turkish delight consumer. And dang that blasted cornflour that gets all over your clothes!

Honeycomb from Walkabout Apiaries in Milawa. As you can see, my finger accidentally slipped into the container on a few occassions. Mmm.

I made a batch of retro Monte Carlo’s for the Biscuit of the Day at work. They were sold out by midday and were very well received. They are super easy to make, and the biscuit base can be frozen in log form and sliced/baked/jam’d/iced as required. The biscuit really benefits from a nice tasty honey - something that has a bit of a kick like a Tasmanian leatherwood. Some other recipes call for coconut in the mix, but I didn’t want the texture in the biscuit.

Monte Carlo Biscuits
250g softened butter
1.5 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoons honey
Pinch of salt
4 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup raspberry jam, warmed
2 cups icing sugar
15g softened butter, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2-3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and line a biscuit tray with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in egg, honey and a pinch of salt. Fold through sifted flour.

Roll mixture into a log - more oval in shape than round. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Uncover and slice into 1/2 cm slices. Place on tray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

While still warm brush half the biscuits with the jam. Set aside to cool.

Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add butter and vanilla essence. Mix in enough milk to form a thick icing (don’t thin it down too much, else when you bite into the biscuit you’ll have icing ooze). Spread the other half of the biscuits with the icing and sandwich together.

Lightly sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Makes about 20 biscuits.

These biscuits are an adult flavoured cookie with fresh coffee grounds, cinnamon and dark chocolate. Cookies can be chocolate dipped, but I thought a good crust of cinnamon caster sugar prior to baking would add a satisfying crunch - similar to a Nice biscuit.

Mocha Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 tablespoon milk
1 egg
60g dark chocolate, melted
2.5 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons coffee grounds
0.25 teaspoon baking powder
0.25 teaspoon salt
Castor sugar / ground cinnamon (mixed) for coating prior to baking

Cream butter and sugar on high in a mixer bowl for approx 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add milk and egg and beat for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the melted chocolate and beat till combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour, cinnamon, coffee grounds, baking powder and salt. Mix till combined.

Line three small loaf tins (about 10cm x 22cm) with wax paper and press mixture evenly in to each tin. Harden the mixture in the fridge/freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Unmold the biscuit block from the tins and slice into 0.75mm slices. Press the slice into the caster sugar/cinnamon mix and place on a lined baking tray. I found that double crusting the biscuit gave a better crackle effect - ie. crust biscuit, wait five minutes then crust again.

Bake for 12-15 minutes in a preheated 190 degree celcius oven till firm and crackled.

This recipe makes approximately 30 biscuits.

My Biscuit of the Day was an adapted Donna Hay recipe. The original recipe called for cranberries, but with none in the stock room, glace cherries made a suitable substitution. The glace cherries are extremely sweet, and next time I would reduce the quantity by a third if I made them again. Otherwise they are a very nice looking tasty little biscuit, especially good with a cup of English Breakfast Tea.

Cherry & Pistachio Biscuit Slice
350g soft butter
2 cups icing sugar
4.5 cups plain flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange rind
0.25 cup milk
1 egg yolk
1 cup diced glace cherries
1.5 cups chopped pistachio nuts

Place the butter and icing sugar into the mixer and beat/whisk on high until very pale and creamy (about 5-10 minutes). Add the flour, vanilla, orange rind, milk, yolk and mix till combined. Divide the mixture in half and add the cranberries and pistachios to one half, mixing well to combine.

Line three small loaf tins (about 10cm x 22cm) with wax paper. Divide each mixture into six portions, and firmly press a layer of the cranberry/pistachio into the bottom of each tin. If you have the time, put this in the fridge/freezer to harden. If not, continue on (as I did). Next, put a layer of the plain biscuit mixture, followed by cranberry/pistachio, and lastly, with plain again.

Harden the mixture in the fridge/freezer for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Unmold the biscuit block from the tins, and slice into 0.75mm slices (or thereabouts!). Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 10 or so minutes until slightly golden.

This recipe makes approximately 60 biscuits. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

One of my tasks today was to make Choux Puffs / Profiteroles. My first attempt was a spectacular failure (see exhibit A), which only proves that one should know the theory and never trust blindly in a recipe. I won’t write the recipe here as I work in large quantities. But a scaled down version can be found here.

The method is to bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil. The butter should be completely melted before boiling the water. The flour is added and stirred like crazy till the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan. My poor aching arms!

You transfer the mixture to a mixer and beat with a paddle attachment till cool. Then you slowly add the eggs, one by one.

My recipe called for 1.7lts of eggs (which for your information is around 30 eggs). So I just added the entire quantity as per the recipe, and of course, the mixture turned out way too wet. I cooked a tray of the choux anyway. You can see the result in Exhibit A, otherwise known as the “Flying Saucer Choux””.

With my second attempt I followed the method as above, but stopped at 1.4lts of eggs. With the Head Pastry Chef looking over my shoulder, I continued to add an egg at a time till the proper consistency was reached (about 1.5lts of eggs). The mixture should be liquid yet still able to hold its form.

Once proper consistency is reached, the choux is placed in a piping bag and extruded into little balls about the size of a golf ball. They are misted with water, put into the oven, given a blast of steam, and cooked at 170 degrees for 25-30 minutes. They should be lovely and golden, and feel light when held in the hand.

My second attempt was a LOT more successful, as can be seen in Exhibit B. These choux are destined to be pumped full of cream pat / custard, and chocolate dipped. I don’t know what the heck we’re going to do with the flying saucers though!