Base
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of sugar
140g butter
Blitz the ingredients in a food processor. You will get slightly damp sand like texture.
Pat it down onto a baking sheet over a slice pan.
Bake (180 degrees celsius) for 10-15 minutes.
Filling
Cream 60g
Butter 50g
Sugar 60g
Honey 60g
Boil the above together for a couple of minutes and add 125g of sliced almonds.
Pour over the baked base and put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes till golden brown.
Gluten free Chiffon cake
Yolk mixture
3 egg yolks
65ml water
50ml olive oil (not ex v)
Gluten free flour 75g
Meringue
3 egg whites
65g sugar
a pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade.
Combine all the ingredients of the yolk mixture in a bowl.
In another bowl, beat egg whites, sugar and salt till stiff peak forms.
Put one third of the meringue into the yolk mixture to loosen.
Then add the remainder of the meringue and combine taking care not to flatten the meringue.
Pour into the chiffon cake pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the surface is light brown in colour and the mixture does not wobble.
Chiffon cake pan comes in two parts.
You do not need grease or use baking paper for the mould.
Cool completely in the tin upside down.
Use a thin plastic spatula or a thin bladed knife and run it around the pan and lift the cake out by grabbing the middle part. Then run the blade under the cake and the middle part to release the cake.
You can decorate the cake just with icing sugar, drizzle melted chocolate or cover with whipped cream.
You can use the same recipe to bake a chiffon roll cake.
It would only take about 15 minutes in the oven.
Dark chocolate 200g
Butter 120g
Tahini 170g
Brown sugar 100g
Eggs 4
Cocoa 2tbs
Melt chocolate and butter together. Add tahini and combine.
Add all the other ingredients and combine.
Pour into a prepared bakeware (I use a 20cm round cake tin) and bake (180 degrees celsius) for about 30 minutes or till the cake has puffed up a little. It does not matter if the cake is still moist inside as it will settle as the cake cools down.
This version in the photo has rhubarb instead of berries
I got the base recipe from a friend in Canada. What she made was a blueberry slice and the topping had no cream cheese in it. I thought it would be even better if the top half was a cheesecake.
Base
1.1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
200g butter (I always use salted butter)
Blitz in a food processor and tip it onto the prepared bakeware. I use a lamington tin.
Press the sandy mixture down with a back of a spoon or similar and bake for about 20 minutes (180 degrees celsius) or until golden on top.
Cheesecake
250g Cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1tbs corn flour
2 eggs
lemon juice / vanilla
berries of your choice
Blend everything except for berries together.
Place the berries on top of the baked base and pour the cheesecake mixture over the fruit.
Bake till the top of the cheese cake is golden.
1kg ricotta
150g parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves
4 eggs
2tbs cornflour
black pepper
a big handful of baby spinach
Mix all the ingredients together. Add spinach last.
Decorate with some red tomatoes on top.
Bake in any bakeware of your choice until golden on top. 180 degrees celsius.
The Indian lady who showed me how to make Daal didn't use onions and garlic as it was against her religion, but I use quite a lot of them.
Vegetables I always use:
Onion, garlic, coriander and tomato (fresh or tinned).
Other things I sometimes use if I have them in the fridge:
Celery, carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, cauliflower, etc.
Cumin seeds and turmeric or premixed mild curry powder (approx 1tbs per 1 litre of daal)
The beans I use are Red lentils and Mung Dhall. Mung Dhall is what makes my Daal its unique texture. For 2 cups of lentils, 1 cup of mung dhall.
I cook the beans separately in plenty of water skimming foams off throughout the cooking process.
If using cumin seeds, heat the oil till quite hot. Drop a few cumin seeds and if they instantly froth, the oil is hot enough. Fry for a few seconds before adding the vegetables.
Add cooked beans to the vegetables including the cooking water.
Simmer until everything is nice and tender.
My German mother in law gave me this recipe. I have modified it over the years.
2 onions chopped
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery chopped
3-6 garlic cloves
1kg beef (chuck or gravy)
1-2 red capsicum
1tsp thyme
4tbs smoked paprika (or more if you like)
1tsp cumin
2 tomatoes chopped (or a tin)
2tbs tomato paste
1tbs marmalade (for sweetness and zest)
salt to taste
2tbs balsamic vinegar (or more if it needs more acidity)
enough water to cover the ingredients
I brown the meat first, set aside and cook onion, carrots and celery for good 10 minutes in olive oil.
I add rest of the ingredients in one go and simmer for 2 hours or however long it takes in a pressure cooker.
