Berry Cheesecake Slice

                          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.

Baked Ricotta

 

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.

 

Daal

 

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.

Gulasch

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.

Raspberry-misu

I made this dessert for my friends last night and posted the picture on Chat10Looks3 facebook page where many chatters asked for the recipe. I didn't measure anything, so you will just have to follow my process and the amounts are my rough guesses.

1. Throw half a packet of frozen raspberries (approx 250g) into a pan with 150ml of water and 70g of sugar. Heat until bubbling and squash the fruit in the process and put it through a sieve into a shallow container with a flat bottom. 
2. Quickly coat the sponge biscuits one by one as you place them into the glass bowl. I did the sides first then some on the bottom. I used about 24 biscuits. Some are hidden in the middle. 
3. Soak 3 gelatine leaves (half size ones) Return the pulpy seeds back into the saucepan, added some hot water, mixed it up and sieved it back in with the remaining syrup. Mix the gelatine leaves in. If the syrup is not hot enogh to dissolve, heat it gently until all the gelatine is dissolved. Put the jelly into a container and refrigerate. 
4. Beat 4 egg yolks with 40g of sugar over a simmering saucepan until pale and fluffy. I added some brandy. This is optional. 
5. Make sugar syrup with 60g of sugar to make Italian meringue with 4 egg whites. 
6. Mix a tab of mascarpone in a bowl and mix with the egg yolk mixture. Then mix with the meringue. 
7. Pour the mascarpone mix into the glass bowl pushing the extra biscuits in the middle. 
8. Cut the jelly into cubes and scatter with fresh berries and chopped pistachio. 

Persian Love Cake

Persian Love Cake is probably the plainest looking cake I bake, but is a favourite of many friends and family.
This cake has a tart like base and a moist cake on top.
It is also gluten free.


3 cups Almond meal
1 cup Brown sugar
1 tbs cornflour
120g butter
2 eggs
150~200ml greek yogurt
1 tsp cardamon powder
2 tsp rosewater
slivered pistachios

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Line a 20cm cake tin.

In a large bowl, combine almond, sugar, cardamon powder and cornflour.
Put cubed butter pieces into the bowl.
With tips of your fingers, squash butter into the mix until most of the butter pieces are invisible and it looking like damp sand.  You can do this in a food processor, but I find this process therapeutic and enjoyable.

Scoop half of the above into the cake tin.
Squash the mixture down into the base with the edges slightly raised.
This part will become like a tart base.

Put eggs and rosewater into the bowl with the remaining almond mixture.
Add half the yogurt and mix in well.
You want the mixture to look wet enough, but not too runny.
Adjust the texture of the batter with the remainder of yogurt.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin.
Sprinkle some slivered pistachios over the top and bake for 20~40 minutes.

The length of baking time will depend on the oven.

It is done when the top is golden.

Vanilla Kipfel

For the last 10 years or so, I have been baking vanilla kipfel in December.  These biscuits are very buttery and almondy.  They crumble and melt in your mouth.

Plain flour 180g
Almond powder 90G
Icing sugar 50g
Salted Butter 150g

Set the oven temperature to 150 degrees celsius.

Process all the ingredients in a food processor for 30 seconds or so.
The dough is not dough like.  It resembles damp sand.

Take about a golf ball size powdery dough in your hand and hold it until the butter melts enough so you can shape the dough into a crescent.  Repeat till all the dough is used up.

Bake for 15~18 minutes.

When they come out of the oven, shift plenty of icing sugar over them.