RASPBERRY & CHOCOLATE FRANGIPANE TART

I love going to the markets and picking through the fresh produce. Every now and then, I come across surprisingly wonderful and unusual fruits and vegetables. I've found a man who sells potatoes of all shapes, sizes and colours. I've found a couple who sell hearty beefsteak and heirloom tomatoes as big as my head, in all their different colours and forms. And then I found these, yellow raspberries. I had seen yellow raspberries in magazines, but they seemed somewhat mythical. The yellow variety is simply an albino raspberry, and they have such a subtle flavour in comparison to their red cousin. A chocolate frangipane tart, studded with these glistening gems, made for the perfect afternoon treat. 

BLACKBERRY COCONUT SLICE

I've seen this jammy coconut slice at many a bring-a-plate-to-share parties but, despite loving it, I'd never actually made the slice myself. It seems like one of those treats that you must always use an old country-style family recipe for, but I decided that my family mustn't have jumped on the coconut slice bandwagon. And that's ok - we made it happily onto the fudge, biscuits and brownies train. Anyway, I went to an old baking book and found myself a recipe before deciding to use the beautiful fresh blackberries that were sitting in my fridge. The blackberry jam that those little gems make is fresh and sweet, and it is the best of friends with that crunchy coconut meringue topping. 

FINGER LICKIN' FRIDAY

Eaton Mess with strawberries and rhubarb cream

This is such a lovely Springy dish to enjoy as the weather warms up. In Brisbane, we haven't seen rain for 30 days and, let me tell you, I am feeling it! I love the rain although I have enjoyed being able to hit the strawberry farms quite often and make things like this!

A recent trip to the farm actually left me with a bundle of strawberries that needed to be used. I had 4 ageing egg whites in the fridge and a little bunch of rhubarb to try… for the first time ever! This only meant one thing; Eaton Mess for dessert.

I didn't know much about rhubarb, but I chopped off any trace of the poisonous leaves and threw it into the oven to cook away any bitterness. After half an hour, I was surprised at how soft and smooth this stringy fruit had become. I was even more surprised at the bright, berry-like taste. This stalky fruit was perfect mixed into cream and served with crunchy meringue and fresh berries.

What you'll need:
1 bunch of rhubarb (minus the leaves), chopped into 1cm lengths
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

4 egg whites, room temperature
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour

500g strawberries, hulled and halved
1 tablespoon caster sugar

300ml thickened cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar

What to do:
Preheat the oven to 150C and line two baking trays with non-stick paper. Line another baking tray with aluminium foil.

Combine the rhubarb pieces with the caster sugar and vanilla bean paste. Tip onto the baking tray lined with foil and bake for half an hour. When cooked, the pieces should squish when touched. Once cooked, move the rhubarb from the tray and into a bowl and mash it up. Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold in the icing sugar and rhubarb.


Beat the egg whites on high until soft peaks form. (See note for more information.) Gradually sprinkle in the sugar and cornflour. Continue to beat for 5-7 minutes or until the meringue is super white and glossy. It should be firm and hold it's shape.
Place large spoonfuls onto prepared trays and bake for 60 minutes. After the hour, turn the oven off and leave the meringues in to cool.

Combine the strawberries and a tablespoon of caster sugar. Set aside.

When the meringues are cooled, break them apart and divide between 4-6 bowls. Divide the strawberries and cream equally too and enjoy!

NOTE: When the egg whites are at soft peaks it will resemble foam. When it becomes tiny, frothy bubbles turn off the beater and grab a spoonful. Turn the spoon upside down; if the egg white clings on, it is at soft peaks. If not, keep beating until it does so.

FINGER LICKIN' FRIDAY

Banana Pancakes with Blueberry Jam

MOST mornings I wake up feeling like "a really big, yummy breakfast" but I just never get around to making anything. Well, this morning I defeated the cold and got up early to make Josh and I a delicious pancake stack.

The price of bananas has finally overcome the devastation of Queensland's floods and cyclones so I decided to grab a couple to have a freshly boiled blueberry jam. Unfortunately, fresh blueberries (actually, all berries) are unreasonably expensive in supermarkets at the moment but I figured I was only making jam so frozen ones will do just fine.

As Josh and I shared our pancake stack outside on a wonderfully cloudless winter day, I realised that we definitely do not eat banana pancakes enough! They are sponge-like and flavoursome and when paired with that sweet, aromatic blueberry jam, breakfast doesn't get much better!

What you'll need:
Pancakes:
2 bananas
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
Butter

Blueberry jam:
250g frozen blueberries
200g caster sugar
70ml water
10g jam setta (available in the baking aisle of the supermarket)

What to do:
Place the blueberries, sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir consistently until it comes to the boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer away until reduced by at least one third. Increase the heat and bring the syrup to the boil, add the jam setta and stir well for 3-5 minutes.

Peel the bananas and place in a small bowl. Use a fork to mash them up really well. In another bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Make a well in the middle and add the lemon juice, eggs and milk. Whisk together until smooth. Stir in the bananas.

Heat a tab of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. When it sizzles, add a ladle full of batter to the pan and swirl the pan to make a nice pancake. Let it cook until the bubbles start bursting and then flip. Cook until golden. This batter will make about 6 pancakes so you may like to heat the oven to 100C so you can keep the cooked pancakes warm. Once all the pancakes have cooked, serve them with blueberry syrup and a scoop (or two) of vanilla ice-cream for some extra indulgence.

LEMON CURD & BERRY BRIOCHES

Lemond Curd & Berry Brioches

These are the best things I could think of for a winter breakfast. They are perfect straight out of the oven and full of antioxidants and refreshing flavours. You might think the lemon and raspberry combination sounds too tart but trust me, it's not. The lemon curd cream is really sweet and the berries cut through the rich, buttery brioche. It's an absolute treat. These brioches would also be perfect served on a platter at events or taken on a cute picnic.

What you'll need:

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoon dried yeast

1/4 cup caster sugar

Pinch of salt

80g butter, softened and cubed

1/2 cup warmed milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

125g cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons icing sugar

1 lemon, zested

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/3 cup quality lemon curd

300g mixed berries

1 egg, lightly beaten

Caster sugar

3 tablespoons pistachios, chopped well (optional)

Icing sugar to dust

What to do:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the yeast, caster sugar, salt, butter and half a cup of the plain flour. Mix to combine on low for a couple of minutes. In a bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla. Add half of this to the the yeast mix and then add the remaining 2 cups of flour. Keep mixing and add the remaining milk. Cover the dough with cling wrap and set aside somewhere warm for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size and feels very spongey, bouncy and oily when poked. 

In a new bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until soft and smooth. Add the sour cream, icing sugar, lemon zest, juice and curd. Mix for a few minutes or until everything has combined to a smooth cream. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge.

Once dough has doubled, tip it onto a clean work surface. Preheat the oven to 180C and then knead the dough for about a minute or until it feels a bit elasticy. (I don't think that's a word but you know what I mean.) Use a measuring scale to divide into even halves. Then, divide the halves evenly into quarters. Now, divide each quarter in half. (You should have 8 even pieces.) Mine were about 97g each but as long as they're all even it doesn't matter how much yours weigh.

Grab a bowl or small glass and fill it with water. Use a rolling pin to roll the first ball out to a circle about 14cm wide. Dip your finger in the water and trace around the perimeter of the circle. Roll the sides in about 1cm and pinch to hold. Shape further if needed and place onto a lined baking tray. Repeat this for each ball. 

Spoon about a dessert spoon and a half of the lemon curd cream into each brioche case. They should be about half full. Then, share the berries out between each brioche. You can add as many or as few as you want... I may have used more than 300g.

Use a pastry brush to paint the spare egg over the brioche and kind of dab it onto the berries. Generously sprinkle caster sugar over each brioche. Make sure you get it on the actual brioche because that will make the crust golden and caramelised.

Bake for around 20-25minutes or until golden and crispy. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and sprinkle on the pistachios. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy!

NOTE: If serving for breakfast you may want to get the dough and lemon curd cream ready the night before. Then, in the morning, all you'll need to do is get them out of the fridge, spoon the curd into the brioche, top with berries and sugar and bake!

If serving at a special occasion, you could split each dough ball in half so you can make smaller brioches to serve more people.

FINGER LICKIN' FRIDAY

Photograph by Ell.


Creme Brûlée French Toast


This is just as lovely and as sweet as it looks. Made from brioche, the bread is creamy and rich, the crackling toffee is bittersweet and the berries are imperative to balance the dish. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day so dig in!


What you'll need:
1 loaf brioche (make your own using my recipe, here)
4 eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup cream
1/3 cup caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Mixed berries, as many as you want!


Toffee:
2/3 cup caster sugar
4 tablespoons hot water


What to do:
In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale. Add the milk, cream, salt and vanilla and whisk well.


Slice the loaf of brioche into 6 big, even slices (2cm or 3cm slices is great). I accounted for two slices per person but it depends how big your slices are and how much you want to eat. You can always refrigerate any leftover brioche and custard to keep it for another morning.


Dip one slice into the egg mixture and push it under to soak. When bubbles rise to the surface it means the custard/egg mix is getting right into the bread. Once the bubbles stop, remove the slice and put it onto a plate. Do this for all the slices.


Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and put the oven on about 130C. In a frypan, heat a little oil over a medium-low heat. Put one slice in and cook on each side for 4-5 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. The slice should be firm but still spring back when touched. Put the cooked slices on the tray and keep them in the oven to stay warm. 


Once all slices are cooked, it's time to make the toffee! Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the toffee mix begins to sizzle around the edges and boil. Once this begins, stop stirring and keep an eye on it! The toffee will begin to colour and you'll need to remove it from heat when it's a light golden shade because the heat will keep colouring it as it cools. You may find that any sugar on the side of the pan begins to colour and burn before your actual toffee does - that's fine! This toffee will probably run down the sides and into into the rest of your toffee, bringing colour and flavour. If this happens, just take your toffee off the heat as soon as the majority of it has been stained. Let it cool just a little while you remove the french toast (and turn off the oven) and get your berries ready.


Spread about two spoonfuls of toffee onto each slice and work quickly to push it right out to the edges. The amount of toffee you put on depends on your slices - you want to get a nice even layer of toffee that isn't too thick. Push any puddles of toffee over the side and once set, pop your berries on top and dig in!