dessert

Yoghurt Pannacotta Tart

Yoghurt pannacotta tart

Mama H went home this weekend. ;A;

For those not in the know, Mama H had been staying with me for the past two months, which resulted in TWO WHOLE MONTHS of me being thoroughly spoiled. Now that she’s finally gone home, I’m not quite sure I remember how to look after myself.

Needless to say, there was little (zero) cooking from me when Mama was here. Is making dessert considered cooking?

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Pressure cooker dulce de leche

Banoffee pie

Have you ever made dulce de leche, caramelised condensed milk, at home? The most common technique – simmering the cans in a saucepan of water for several hours – is easy enough, but I’ve never wanted to spend the time babysitting the pot to make sure it doesn’t boil dry.

But making dulce de leche in the pressure cooker in 30 minutes? That I can get behind.

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Fig Clafoutis

Fig clafoutis

Fresh fig season is the best season (apart from summer, but we’re not counting that).

I’m really lucky that my friend’s mum has a large fig tree, and I’ve been reaping the bounty of their harvests.

That’s right – free figs all for meeeee. Alastair doesn’t really eat them, so I’ve been scoffing them down like crazy.

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No bake coconut and mango panna cotta pie

Panna cotta pie

It feels like it’s been hot forever. Autumn, what Autumn?

I know that some (most) people are over it, but I can’t tell you how happy I am with never-ending summer. The sunshine! The warmth! It’s like being wrapped up in a constant hug (or a thousand and two woollen jumpers). Happy happy happy!

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Caramel apple sponge pudding

I like to buy apples through autumn and winter, but invariably we end up with ones in the fruit bowl that are starting to go floury. I hate floury apples. Plus if there’s one thing worse than an overexaggeration, it’s floury apples. 🙂

What to do with them? Well there’s a gazillion and one things you can do with apples but lately I’ve been very enamoured with apple sponge pudding. The kind of pudding that has a layer of baked sponge/cake on top, and soft apples sitting on the bottom. I made one recently that had an additional component – caramel sauce – which coated the apples on the bottom.

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Pandan and ginger panna cotta

Do you remember how exciting it used to be to collect stamps in your passport? It was always fun to flick through and see all the stamps from different countries. But passports these days aren’t the same – not as many stamps are used with the new style passports that contain electronic chips. Also, rather annoyingly (at least for NZ passports) they’re only valid for five years, not ten. And doesn’t five years go by incredibly fast?

Recently my passport was due to expire and I needed to sort out a renewal. I had to get a reference for my renewal application, so off we went to visit Dany. While we were visiting, I saw that she had a copy of Indochine – a recent birthday present from her workmates.

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Mango jelly and coconut panna cotta

Mango jelly and coconut panna cotta

People are funny. Melbourne was pretty hot during the first couple of days of 2012. Admittedly, 40°C is fairly warm, but… it’s Melbourne. Summers get hot. Anyone who lives here knows that several 40°C days occur each summer – it’s not a new occurrence or anything unusual. Yet when they happen, it’s all anyone can talk about. Note that I include myself in that – I’m not saying that I’m any better. See? I’m talking about it right now! Oh no, I’m part of the problem!

But back to the heat (ha): when it’s going to be that hot, you need to be prepared. For example, when the temperatures start to reach the mid-30s, I don’t turn the oven on. But what to do when I need to prepare a dessert? Easy – something chilled like this mango jelly and coconut panna cotta is perfect. Minimal cooking and effort required, ensuring that the house and I both stay cool.

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Sticky date pudding



Meal to Share: Pub Food

Our fine trio are late for this month’s Meal to Share, because one of us (ahem Penny) has been eating it up in America and Canada. Naturally, Celeste and I don’t mind that Penny was having way too much fun overseas to cook her part of the meal, though I’m not sure we have forgiven her for not taking us on her trip! 😉

But better late then never! Meal to Share is our monthly collaboration where the three of us each cook a course for a themed meal. The theme this month is pub food, and I’ve made dessert.
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