Steph and me being, well, Steph and me.

Monday in Montreal was fantastic. Steph and I woke relatively early in order to work on a project that we hope we’ll be able to submit for peer review and publication in the very near future.

Amazingly, the apartment we were staying in just so happened to have a blackboard. Clearly, the gods of math and stats wanted us to work. And we did. After some initial discussion regarding the general project outline, Steph gave me a bit of a refresher on survival analysis. You see, while Steph and I both have PhDs in Statistics, she focussed on survival analysis, while I focussed on spatial analysis. Thankfully, having worked together for so long, and having taken an interest in each other’s work, we aren’t complete n00bs when it comes to what the other is doing.

But enough about that nerdery.

Following a morning full of getting our nerd on, Steph, Jamie, Kathy, Jon and I headed out for lunch. After a short adventure on the Metro, we made our way to Limon, a most awesome Mexican restaurant.

My glass is no longer empty. Hurrah!

Given that the weather was sunny and beautiful, we had hoped to have lunch on the patio. However, being full we opted for an indoor sit down and a pitcher of sangria for which to drown our sorrows. Appetizers and mains were ordered, and we then past the time chatting and laughing, as per usual. Having a small appetite still, my appetizer was shared with Jon – calamari. Simple, but delicious. It also came with a sauce, but it looked to be full of dairy so I bypassed that. I also may have stolen a few of Steph’s corn chips and guacamole. And can we talk about the guac? Holy cripes on a cracker that stuff was AWESOME. Refreshing and light, just enough garlic, and so good it may have demanded that I steal more. Demanded I say.

At first I was torn with what to order for lunch, as everything looked so good. But then something jumped out at me and everything else faded from memory. The attention-grabbing foodstuff was, in fact, ceviche camarones; shrimp, cooked with lime juice, and served with cilantro and oh so refreshing. It was also served on avocado (which in my opinion was a brilliant way to serve it) with corn chips. I definitely squeed when I tried it. It was light, and refreshing. The citrus and cilantro complementing each other perfectly. I think it may have also had a slight sprinkling of sea salt on top, but that might have been the salt flavouring from the corn chips. Regardless, the combination of flavours was excellent. My taste buds and my belly were very happy.

Patron XO Cafe. You should buy this. DO IT.

After lunch, Jamie recommended that I try the Patron XO Cafe on ice. It’s tequila, but with coffee flavours infused within it. If you like Kahlua or Tia Maria, I guarantee you will like this. In fact, I enjoyed this so much that I immediately jumped on the LCBO website to figure out if they carry it. And they do! As for Jamie, she gets +1000000 interweb points for that recommendation.

We wandered the city following lunch so that we might walk off some of the food that we just ate. We all felt painfully full. We also headed to the market so that necessary supplies could be picked up. Supplies such as cheese and fruit.

Eventually we made our way to the Latin Quarter and ultimately to the Sainte Elisabeth pub, which has one of the best, most unique patios I’ve been on in a long while. We sat there for a few hours chatting, laughing, and drinking a few pints, all while surrounded on all sides by the high walls of the whatever-the-building-used-to-be. I think it was probably a factory or old apartment building, but I’m honestly not sure. The walls were almost overgrown with ivy, making them appear alive. Ever time a breeze came through, the walls would respond as if they were breathing. Amazing. The walls also served to keep out the noises of the city, creating a rather sheltered spot for which to enjoy the day, and the company.

This wine surprised me. At first, I wasn't a huge fan, but it went so well with my venison that I'd definitely get it again.

There was a quick return back to the apartment where we enjoyed some bad TV together, and then we were off again. This time for a late dinner at La Salle a Manger. In a word – unfreakingbelievalable. Dinner was amazing. It started with an appetizer of oysters and some sparkling wine, followed by a sweet bun stuffed with pulled duck. My main was venison steak with mixed veggies, and that was paired with a very light red wine. On its own, I wasn’t overly impressed with the wine, but served with the venison and it suddenly changed. It was light, but the perfect accent for the richness of the meat. Honestly, it was the best meal I’ve had in a long time, and I highly recommend anyone that is in Montreal to check this place out. The service was great, the environment was awesome. I’m going to make sure to return when I’m next visiting the city.

Once dinner ended, we sauntered back to the apartment, very full, and very happy. Steph and I stayed up chatting until the wee hours of the morning which is why my early morning wake up to fly home was less than awesome. Regardless, it was so worth getting to spend time in an awesome city, with great friends, great food, and most importantly, a chance to see both Rick and Steph in one weekend. Amazing!

Thanks Rick and Steph for an awesome visit. And thank you Kathy, Jamie and Jon for introducing me to so many great new restaurants. Hopefully next time I won’t have to leave so early.

Related articles

• Très Bien Montréal. Très Very Bien. (consumedbywanderlust.wordpress.com)
• Bonjour Montreal (consumedbywanderlust.wordpress.com)

Tonight though, we are dining in and I’m in the mood for something sweet to finish off… so:

• 2 stale brioche, ripped into smallish pieces.
• A double shot of Tia Maria (or whatever I’ll have handy when I get home).
• A small cup of strong coffee.
• A dusting of chocolate
• Vanilla ice cream (softened) or mascarpone whipped with vanilla.

Mix the coffee and liquor in a bowl and add the brioche.

Once the brioche is saturated, spoon up some of the mixture into individual ramekins.   Layer on some of the icecream or mascarpone.  continue until you’ve used up the brioche, finish with a layer of the ice cream.

dust with chocolate.   Return to freezer for 10 minutes.

Serve.

Death by cheesecake is by far the best way to go...

Correctly baked cheesecake is perhaps the most wonderful thing in the world.  This is up there with the best, though whether it takes the top spot will depend on how much you value purity against intensity: this is like being enveloped by a rum and amaretto hug whilst Tia Maria kisses you smack on the lips.  (Don’t think about the meaning of that in Spanish.  Just don’t.)

An Amaretti biscuit base works amazingly well, adding an almondly overtone that really works.  Trust me – I was an unbeliever too.  Your cheesecake will love you for it.  The second trick is the always amazing mix of coffee, alcohol and chocolate in the marbled cheescake, which is baked into an intense perfection that you will not be able to resist.

Ingredients:

Biscuit base: 275g amaretti biscuits, 75g unsalted butter/margarine

Cheesecake: 700g mascapone/cream cheese, 150g sugar, 3 eggs (separated), 25g plain flour, 3 tbsp dark rum, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 175g plain chocolate, 1tbsp coffee, 3 tbsp Tia Maria

Method:

Crush the biscuits in a bag or food processor, add melted butter and stir until mixed.  Press into a 9inch (23cm) cake tin and chill for 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.  Beat the cheese until smooth, then add the sugar and re-beat, and then again with the egg yolks. Put half the mixture in a new bowl and add the flour, rum and vanilla.  Melt the chocolate, stir in the coffee and the Tia Maria, and add to the other half of the cheese mixture.

Beat the egg whites until gentle peaks form, then add half to each mixture and mix in gently (without beating).  Then dollop each in on to the base irregularly, using a knife to make marbled swirls on top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until gently soft in the middle.

Actually, we ever so slightly overcooked ours, with the inside perfect but the outside just a little dry.  It is safer to cook “lower in the oven” (or just at a lower temperature) and to keep it covered; it should come out sticky when you poke in a knofe (but not wet, which is how it will start).

Unlike many other cheesecakes, this is actually at its best when hot straight  from the oven.  I think its because the flavours are most intense then.  When chilled, it will taste more like cheesecake and less like alcoholic heaven, which would probably be a good thing for people who don’t like such an intense coffee flavour.

Who made it: Anna, though Dan licked everything clean.

Recipe: Good Housekeeping Cakes and Bakes (probably.. this is from memory…

The Writer was in charge of the main course on this occasion and his list of ingredients for Pepperpot Stew filled me with dread. Top offender was corned beef. Now, now, I hear you saying, it could be worse, it could be Spam. And yes, you would have a point, it could be Spam but actually nothing fills me with more horror and revulsion than the red, gravel patterned, glistening lump of rectangular flesh that is corned beef, squelching from the can with a wet, mocking, flump. My aversion to corned beef has its roots in the days of school dinners when corned beef fritters were a weekly feature on our canteen blackboard. Bearing in mind I went to an army school in Germany, those were the days when there was no such thing as choice (I don’t think they even had a vegetarian option), you just got whatever they had cooked and quite often that was corned beef fritters. We also had a dictatorial table system – each child was assigned a table according to their age, two of each year group at each table. The tables were lined up in Oliver Twist style rows complete with a year 6 ‘server’ at the head of each table, dishing up the sauerkraut and flaccid grey broccoli. Their job was to see that every last mouthful was eaten by all the children on their table, and if it wasn’t, there was NO PUDDING.

You can imagine then, my hatred of corned beef fritters. As a child who adored puddings there was no other solution than to force every last gobbet of oily, fetid meat down my unwilling gullet. Corned beef fritters are a catch-22. You can either eat them straight away whilst the oil from the batter is still hot enough to burn your tongue and the meat within adheres to the roof of your mouth, or you can wait until they are cold, when the slimy, rubbery rectangle of meat has come away from the greasy wet cardboard of the batter so that if you cut off one end of the batter and tipped the casing upside down the meat would slip out and land with a belly flop on your plate. There is no in between. Now you understand why I hate corned beef.

There were other undesirable ingredients in the Pepperpot Stew, including pigeon peas, a variety of split pea which came in a tin from Atif’s (our local Asian supermarket), grey in colour and smelling like a mixture of clay and vomit, their appearance was not dissimilar to the mushy peas that sometimes accompanied corned beef fritters. Nevertheless, the stew proved to be surprisingly tasty. Once past the faint permeating taste of corned beef which had disintegrated, thereby infiltrating the entire pot, the chunks of pork belly, squash and yam were filling and tasty whilst the sauce was infused with the warmth of scotch bonnet chilli. Whilst Pepperpot can be found throughout the Caribbean the addition of spinach is apparently what makes it uniquely Antiguan.

The black bean cake starter and the pineapple and cherry trifle dessert were cooked by myself and Steve respectively and were both culinary disasters but both extremely delicious. I have included the recipes for both with the adaptations required to (hopefully) rectify the problems. Mine was a disaster because the black bean cakes refused to stick together and so ended up as half-cooked blobs that can only be described as looking like dog turds. Steve’s was a disaster because it involved eight raw eggs which at no point did the recipe require you to cook. Terrified by the thought of poisoning us all he cooked it in the oven, turning it into something resembling bread-and-butter pudding, I think this was actually a culinary triumph against all the odds. I had seconds.

After our three course dinner I discovered that the rum in the liquor cabinet had mysteriously evaporated so we were left to find the next best thing – Tia Maria, which claims to be from Jamaica, and which was bought at the NAAFI store in Germany around the same time as I was being served up corned beef fritters with mushy peas. It’s potent stuff.

Black Bean Cakes

So yer... well it tasted alright

Ingredients

2 cups cooked black beans, ½ cup finely chopped onion, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin, 1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno chilli, cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Method

Use a food processor to prepare the black beans, onion, cumin, and jalapeno, pulsing them until smooth. Then add 1 tablespoon of water to help blend. Use salt and pepper to taste. Next, shape the bean paste into small cakes using 2 tablespoons of bean mixture for each. Then, line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and dust with cornstarch to prevent the mixture from sticking.

Now, heat a small amount of oil in a large frying pan before adding the black bean cakes. Cook the cakes to a crispy brown (about 3 minutes per side), then transfer to platter and keep warm.

I suspect that my mixture failed to form into neat cakes due to too much water – this is probably because I used canned black beans. If you are also using canned I suggest leaving out the tbsp of water.

Pepperpot Stew with Fungee

The grey blobs are pigeon peas *shudder*

Ingredients for Pepperpot Stew

1 tin pigeon peas
300g corned beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
500g belly pork
2 tins water
1 large onion, chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 fresh Scotch bonnet chili, seeded and minced
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 medium aubergine, cut into 1-inch pieces
Half butternut squash (instead of calabaza) cut into 1-inch pieces
230g white yam, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
115g fresh spinach, stemmed, well washed, and coarsely chopped
black pepper to taste.

Method

In a casserole dish, bring the corned beef, pork, and water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Drain the meat, reserving both the meat and the cooking liquid. Heat the oil in the dish over medium heat. Add the onion, spring onions, garlic, and chilli pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, chives, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the aubergine, squash, and white yam and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and the meat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the cooked pigeon peas and the spinach, and cook for about 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Season with the pepper to taste depending on the hotness of the chilli.

The Writer just ignored all of the directions and made a big stew, cooking for 2 hours and then reducing slightly before serving.

Ingredients for Fungee

4 cups water
2 cups corn meal
1 tsp salt to taste
6 okra, cut into small pieces

Method

Place water, okra and salt in a pan. Bring to the boil until the okra are cooked. Remove half the liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add enough cold water to the corn meal to form a pasty batter when mixed. Add the wet corn meal to the okra. Reduce the heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes fairly stiff. When the mixture breaks away cleanly from the pan (i.e it does not stick), the fungee is ready. Butter a bowl, turn the mixture into the bowl, shaking it into the shape of the bowl, then turn it out into a serving dish.

Pineapple and Cherry Trifle/Bread-and-Butter Pudding

Ingredients

Better known as bread-and-butter pudding

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
1 Pan levi (Angolan cake)
2 medium can of crushed pineapple
1 small jar of cherry

8 eggs
Rum
Vanilla essence

Method

Beat the butter until creamy before adding the sugar a little at a time. Drain the pineapple and cherries and separate the eggs. Reserve the pineapple and cherry juice for later use. Add the pineapple, sliced cherries and egg yolks to the butter and sugar and incorporate. Beat the egg whites well until they thicken and add this to the mixture as well.

Make a syrup with the pineapple and cherry juice, some vanilla and rum. Slices the pan levi into three layers and moisten with the syrup. Spread some of the creamy fruit mixture onto the first layer of the pan levi and sprinkle some syrup over the top. Close with the second layer and repeat. On the top of the cake spread the rest of the cream and syrup. Garnish with pineapple and cherry.

If, like Steve, you are concerned about the quantity of raw eggs in this, pop it into the oven for 20 minutes at 200C and you’ll create something not unlike bread-and-butter pudding.

There was no such thing as an alcopop: you either drank snakebite and black, Diamond White or K cider. If you’d just got paid from your Saturday job or if you fancied something different,spirits, a test tube cocktail or that peach wine clubs seemed to universally stock.  If you were seriously flush, ie. more than a £20 budget for the night, much fun could be had from working your way across the best of the then more limited optic range. Smirnoff,  Archers, Malibu, Pernod, Baileys, Southern Comfort, Taboo, Mirage and Tia Maria for the girls.

You would think after that vomit inducing mix, you wouldn’t be able to dance let alone remember the music, but here is the playlist to those innocent(ish) night in the early 90s, for those now in their mid 30s who groan every time a 90s club classic is butchered by Ludacris or Pitbull.

Archers and Lemonade, please

We just bought “Tia Maria” for the first time. It is coffee liqueur. You may not be able to imagine it, but it’s really good with cranberry juice. I was surprised! It’s also perfect with coffee, as you might guess. It was a great discovery. Good for a relaxing weekend!
Try it out! It packs a little bit of happiness.

Please click these flags to improve my blog’s ranking :)
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Observations:

• Southern Copper, part of Grupo Mexico, is one of the world’s largest copper miners, but is largely unknown by many people in the industry. The company has operations in Mexico and Peru and exploration projects in Chile.
• The 120 thousand ton/year Tia Maria project should have increased expected 630 thousand ton production in 2011 to 700 thousand ton/year in 2012. Approx. 3/4 of the company revenue comes from copper.

Implications:

• Southern Copper will need to submit a new environmental study to prove the mine will not contaminate groundwater. Public opinion in Southern Peru has turned against the company and led to large protests.
• The intervention by Peru’s government might have impact on other development projects in the country. Furthermore, a potential increase of mining taxes is one of the key debates in the presidential election. Miners in Peru will have to be more aware of the social and political operating environment in the coming years.

©2011 | Wilfred Visser | thebusinessofmining.com

2 oz Cointreau® orange liqueur
2 oz Tia Maria® coffee liqueur
2 oz half-and-half

I´m sitting in an internet Cafe in Chile, and although now I´m in the expedition phase of my trip with Quest, meaning beautiful hikes and adventures, this blog post is about something more humanly meaningful. While we were in Arequipa a city in Southern Peru after our first trek (a four day hike through the stunning Colca Canyons, don´t worry pictures to come) Tom, Joel (two of the other guys on Quest) and I got caught up in a huge political rally.

At first we saw a congregation of people the Plaza de Armas, which is the central Plaza of Arequipa, we assumed it was for a candidate as the elections were to be held in three days (today incidentally), so Jess, Tom, Beth, Joel and I went to check it out we walked over to the sign that said Estudiantes and in broken spanish I talked to a few students who are studying in Arequipa to figure out what the protest was about. In a region of Arequipa, Peru called Valle De Tambo, which is currently a tranquil farming community, Southern Copper, a Trans National Mining Corporation wanted to build a mine which would mean the destruction of agriculture and contamination of water for the people living in the valley. The students told me about how already three protesters had been killed by the police and one of the students had a bandaged hand and a shattered megaphone from the protest that morning.

After the speeches ended about a thousand protesters started marching through the streets of Arequipa chanting. We didn´t want to miss out so Tom, Joel and I went with them. After about 15 minutes we realized we didn´t know where we were, after 30 we were totally lost. Eventually it was 8:00 Pm and Pete (our quest leader) called saying they were about to go out to dinner. He couldn´t here us as the protest raged in the background and we were lost in Arequipa. Eventually the protest turned violent as some of the younger campesinos smashed windows on a couple of governmental buildings and then destroyed a political candidates headquarters. From my past experiences with protests I have quite mixed feelings on violence being utilized for good, but I´ll leave that for another discussion.

Incredibly, because of the protest we were involved in and others around Arequipa, the government has actually suspended the mining project. The reason I say incredibly is because I´ve been in enough anti- war, pro gay marriage and a few anti Arizona rallies this summer with Courtney to become jaded enough to believe that while protests can be personally empowering and give someone a sense of being part of something bigger, usually they don´t necessarily have enormous efficacy. This protest was something different and more powerful though. It was something that directly affected the lives of people who decided to stand up for their lives and livelihoods. It was a group of people with their backs against the wall, who had no other choice to stand up against an injustice, and it was unbelievable to be a part of.

Interestingly, a huge part of the protest was against Gringos and all of the negatives that they bring to Peru so we were at first nervous that the Peruvians wouldn´t appreciate us being a part of their rally, but we were met with overwhelming smiles and handshakes and urges of “Grita!” (yell!).

BBC news story about the protests

Here´s a video clip that I put together from the protest

Tiramisu

So they say to use catchy titles in order to attract attention to your blog. We’ll see if this works! A few weeks ago I researched the history of tiramisu when I published a recipe for a tiramisu cookie.  We made this tiramisu on our 2010 Italiaoutdoors Chefs on Bikes tours, and it was a big hit. I’m leading another cooking class this coming Monday, and we’ll make it there as well. So I make this quite a lot, and I am always quite fascinated by the tales and history behind what I cook. One of the more prevalent, and by far the most colorful legend behind the origin of tiramisu was that is was created as a ‘pick me up’ for weary patrons of a brothel, but I’ve already covered those stories in my cookie post. So what to add here? There are a lot of tiramisu recipes that use a simple combination of eggs, mascarpone and/or whipped cream, rather than take the time to make a zabaglione. I decided to look into why we go to the bother of making the zabaglione.

Zabaglione

For me, THE key component to a great tiramisu is the zabaglione. This is the egg custard that you make over the water bath in the recipe below. It is a classic custard that appears in various forms, referred to as zabaglione in Italian, and sabayon in French. In Italy, it usually includes sugar and is served as or with desserts. In France, it is often made without sugar as an accompaniment to savory dishes. Various liquors are used; often you will see sparkling wines like prosecco or spumante. In the Veneto, their zabaglione (referred to in dialect as zabaio) is made from egg yolks, sugar, and marsala. I prefer the lighter texture this provides over the simpler non-custard version, and I also miss the marsala. And a zabaglione is really is not hard to do.

There is no single agreed-upon consensus on the origins of zabaglione. “The Peguin Companion to Food” claims that it was first produced in Florence in the Medici kitchens around 1500. The most probable story, but boring.

A more interesting tale gives the credit to Giovanni Baglioni, a military commander in the early 1500s. He and his troops were camped near Reggio Emilia, in Emiglia Romagna, and the locals referred to him in their dialect as “Zvan Bjoun”. Scrounging what they could from the locals for food, this concoction was invented, and the troops loved it so much they named the treat after him.

This latter story, unlikely but nevertheless well-known in Italy, in which zabaglione is used to provide sustenance to soldiers gave rise to a fairly common practice over past centuries of serving it to newlyweds, either on their wedding night, or on their first morning together. If it can fortify a well-conditioned fighting force, what better food to fuel more peaceful sustained activity?

A well-known Italian food expert, Giuseppe Maffioli, claims that the origins of zabaglione hail from Zabaja, a sweet dessert from Illiria, once a Venetian territory across the Adriatic. Maffioli writes, in his book “Il Ghiottone Veneto”, “The groom’s bachelor friends at the end of the long wedding banquet, maliciously teasing, gave to him before the couple retired a big bottle of zabajon, to guarantee a successful and prolonged honeymoon.”

So, it appears that if tiramisu is to achieve its’ claimed objective, zabaglione is a ‘must’ ingredient! And I thought it was for purely culinary reasons…

My chocolate prep cook

Tiramisu

Makes 16 servings (13×9 pan)

2 ½  cups freshly brewed espresso
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
3/4 cup Tia Maria or other coffee liqueur
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup dry marsala
1 pound mascarpone (2 ½ cups)
1 cup chilled heavy cream
36 savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers)
7 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, grated
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Chocolate, sugar, cream, two kinds of liquor, coffee... all the food groups

In a shallow bowl, combine the espresso, 1 tablespoon sugar, and Tia Maria. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then cool.

Using a whisk, beat the egg yolks, marsala, and remaining ½ cup sugar in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water until it has tripled in volume, about 5 to 8 minutes.  Remove the bowl from the heat, and fold in the mascarpone until just combined.

A note on folding: The zabaglione will be nice and light. The mascarpone could be quite a bit heavier, especially if it is cold. Folding a heavy ingredient into a light one can be tricky. The best way to do this is to first put the mascarpone into a medium bowl. Stir in a large spoonful or two of the zabaglione. This will lighten the mascarpone, making it easier to then fold it into the remaining marsala.

In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff. Gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream.

Soaked savoiardi in pan

Quickly dip both sides of each ladyfinger into the coffee mixture, and line the bottom of a 13- by 9- by 3-inch baking pan with ladyfingers in 2 rows, trimming edges to fit if necessary. Sprinkle half of the grated chocolate over the ladyfingers. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture on top. Repeat a second layer of dipped ladyfingers, then top with the remaining grated chocolate and then mascarpone. Dust with cocoa.

Mascarpone zabaglione layer

Chill, covered, at least an hour. If it has chilled longer, allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Creme brulee is my favorite dessert. This was my first attempt at making it, and unfortunately it didn’t exactly work out as planned. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really tasty, but here’s the problem: my newly purchased kitchen blow torch doesn’t work – that or I can’t figure out the child-proof lock. It might be the latter, but let’s just say it’s broken – ok? No perfect sugary crust for me. I ended up using my oven broiler, but it’s not the same. Next time I’ll be sure to use a blow torch. Here’s the recipe, which I adapted from Ina Garten i.e. the Barefoot Contessa (I just love her).

Ingredients:
1 extra-large egg
4 extra-large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for each serving
3 cups heavy cream1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Tia Maria liqueur (Ina used Grand Marnier)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.Whisk together the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of the sugar together until just combined. Meanwhile, scald the cream in a smallsaucepan until it’s very hot to the touch but not boiled. Slowly whisk in the cream with the eggs. Add the vanilla and Tia Maria liqueur and pour into 6 to 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.

Place the ramekins in a baking pan and carefully pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custards are set when gently shaken. Remove the custards from the water bath, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until firm.

To serve, spread 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly on the top of each ramekin and heat with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar carmelizes evenly. Allow to sit at room temperature for a minute until the caramelized sugar hardens. Enjoy!

Serves at least 10 people

• 350g prunes, scissored or chopped
• 250g raisins
• 175g currants
• 175g soft butter
• 175g dark muscovado sugar
• 175ml honey
• 125ml Tia Maria or other coffee liqueur
• juice and finely grated zest of 2 oranges
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 150g plain flour
• 75g ground almonds
• half tsp baking powder
• half tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 150C/GM2 and prepare a 20cm x 9cm deep round, loose bottomed cake tin by lining the bottom and sides with a double layer of baking parchment.

Put the fruits, butter, sugar, honey, Tia Maria, orange juice and zest, spice and cocoa powder into a large saucepan and gently bring to the boil, stirring as the butter melts.

Simmer for 10 mins then take off the heat and leave to stand for 30 mins.

When it has cooled, add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Place in the oven and bake for 1 and three quarter hours until the top of the cake is firm but still has a shiny, sticky look.  If you insert a skewer into it, the cake will still be a little gooey on the inside.

Put the cake, still in its tin onto a wire cooling rack.  It will take a while to cool.  Once cold take it out of the tin.  (You can store it at this stage for up to 2 weeks wrapped in baking parchment and foil inside an airtight tin.)

To decorate, place chocolate covered coffee beans in the centre and decorate the edge with edible gold stars. Then sprinkle some mini gold balls and edible glitter over the top. Cake Craft World have some great decorations and their service is good too.

http://www.cakecraftworld.co.uk/index.asp

Here are a few of my favourite speedy desserts. I have made all of them at one time or another so I can vouch for their ‘yummyness’ (and yes some of them use up leftovers but I won’t tell if you won’t!) 

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Lemon Amaretti Cream Pots (from Sainsburys Magazine June 2001)

Serves 8

You can either make one big dish or I like to put into individual ramekins or teacups

• 275g lemon curd
• 110g crisp amaretti or ratafia biscuits
• 1 x 284ml carton double cream
• 250g thick natural yogurt

Pour the double cream into a cold bowl and whisk it gently until it starts to thicken.  Don’t overwhip though, you want soft, billowing folds rather than pointy peaks!

Now fold in the yogurt and lemon curd with a large metal spoon.

Put the amaretti or ratafia biscuits in a large plastic bag and crush carefully with a heavy object like a rolling pin.  You want large crumbs and small lumps rather than fine breadcrumbs.

Fold the biscuit bits into the cream.

Spoon into the dish or ramekins and cover with clingfilm.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hrs.

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Instant Strawberry Meringues (Not sure where I got this one from I think it may have been Woman & Home Magazine)

This is so quick that it’s not really a recipe more of an ‘assembly’ but they look impressive and are very moreish!

• A box of ready made mini meringues
• Either a tub of Greek Yogurt, Thick Spooning Cream, Clotted Cream or Creme Fraiche
• Punnet of Strawberries or Raspberries if the quality is good or just some chopped up good chocolate (I like Seeds of Change Orange & Fig)

Simply top the meringues with whatever cream you choose and top with the fruit or chocolate.  Mini one bite morsels of yummyness!!

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Affogato (from Jamie Magazine December 2009) http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pastry-cake/leftovers-affogato

Serves – however many you want it to!

• Any leftover dessert (!) Christmas Pudding, chocolate mousse, mince pies etc
• Good quality vanilla ice cream
• Good quality hot espresso
• Amaretti biscuits, crushed

You can use cups, glasses or little bowls for this.

Spoon or crumble a good portion of your leftover puddin in the bottom.

Top with a scoop of ice cream and pour over a shot of espresso (I added some Tia Maria last year as well – YUM!)

Scatter over the crushed Amaretti biscuits and Enjoy!

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Christmas Cassenades (from Delicious Magazine December 2007)

It’s a kind of trifle with a difference!

Unfortunately I cannot find a link to this recipe on the Delicious website  http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/ so I can’t post a picture

Serves 6

• 200g Madeira Cake, cut into 2.5cm cubes
• 2 satsumas, peeled and segmented
• 1 tbsp dried cranberries or dried cherries
• 1 tbsp chopped dates
• 1 tbsp chopped dried figs
• 1 tbsp crushed mixed nuts
• splash of good sherry
• 600ml good vanilla custard
• 300g caster sugar

Put the cake, satsumas, fruit and nuts in a large bowl and pour over the sherry.  Leave for 5 mins.

Divide between individual glasses, top with the custard and chill for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, boil the sugar with enough water to dissolve the sugar, until it’s a caramel colour.

Pour the caramel onto a greased tray lined with foil.  Chill until hard then break into shards and put a few on top of each ‘trifle’.

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Chocolate Orange Cheesecake Cups (from BBC Good Food Magazine December 2006)

Again it’s no longer on their website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ so no pic 

Serves 4

• 50g milk or dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• zest and chopped flesh of 2 oranges
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• 200g pack of light soft cheese (such as Philadelphia Light)
• 4 digestive biscuits, roughly crushed

Break the chocolate into small pieces then either melt in a small saucepan or in the microwave for 2 mins stirring halfway through.  Stir in the orange zest from 1 of the oranges and set aside.

Beat the sugar into the cheese then fold through the orange pieces.

Split the crushed biscuits between 4 ramekins, spoon over the cheese mix and serve with a drizzleof chocolate sauce.  Sprinkle over the remaining zest.

Eat straightaway or chill for a crisp chocolate topping.

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And finally a good for you pud that is wonderfully colourful and full of festive flavours.

Christmas Compote (from Good Housekeeping Magazine December 2003)

Here’s the link to the recipe: http://www.allaboutyou.com/food/Christmas-Compote-Recipe/recipe?from=search

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According to legend, the recipe for this smooth, coffee flavored liquor was saved by the maid of a Spanish noble woman who was forced from her plantation in Jamaica during the colonial wars in the 17th century. According to history, Dr Kenneth Leigh Evans, a Jamaican scientist, invented the drink in the 1950′s using coffee beans from the Blue Mountains. Whatever the truth may be, Tia Maria is always a delicious way to polish off a 3 hour lunch.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

I lived in London for 5 years, and I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that I refused to support England/the UK in any sporting events (and still do). I also refused to embrace it as home, and did not learn the national anthem. I suspect it was the shock of how different the UK’s culture is from South Africa, or the fact that I never intended to live there forever.

My friend T-bug, however, moved to London with the intention of staying for good. So when we all gathered for a night of watching South Africa vs. England in the rugby, he rocked up with an England rugby jersey on! Needless to say, Dude tried very hard not to kick him out the house and we all gave him a LOT of grief.

Now that Frank and I have settled in The Promised Land I have fully embraced the Aussie culture. I am Aussie-proud: I can sing the national anthem at sporting events, I support a rugby league team *go tigers!!* and I rather enjoy a game of Aussie Rules Football.  I think Australia just makes you love it, as my beautiful friend Mrs Swede feels exactly the same way.

When we went visited the Swedes a couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to be treated to Mrs Swede’s trifle. But not just any trifle, Aussie trifle. I don’t normally like trifle, but this one was delicious. I’ve decided to replicate it (with a minor tweek) for Frank’s family gathering this weekend, and thanks to the ingenious Mrs Swede I get to share the recipe with you!

Aussie Trifle – recipe from Mrs Swede

1 pack ready-made lamingtons, sliced
1 pack raspberry jelly – made to instructions
1 batch crème patisserie (or ready-made custard will do)
300ml thickened cream, whipped
¼ cup tia maria/sherry
100g pecan nuts
punnet fresh strawberries/raspberries
100g chocolate-covered peanuts
150g dark chocolate, cut into tiny chunks

Best made in a big glass bowl.

Line the bottom of the bowl with the sliced lamingtons.

Cover lamingtons with the alcohol.

Cut the jelly into little squares and lay on top of the lamingtons.

Add in the chocolate peanuts and three quarters of the chocolate chunks on top, and top with the custard.

Finally add a layer of berries and half the pecan nuts and top with the whipped cream. Finally, decorate with the remaining pecan nuts and chocolate chunks. Refrigerate for an hour, or overnight.

Enjoy!