Good Food & Wine Show 2013, Coke Cola Dome JHB. Spekko Rice Demo's with my Rice Ice Cream Affogato & Thai Rice Pudding Brulee with a Coconut Sorbet

Hey all, hope things are well and that everybody enjoyed national braai day on the 24th Sept this year. Well while you all were braaing and kicking back I had the time of my life at the GF&W show. It feels like just yesterday that I was on stage with the American MasterChef Winner Whitney Miller at the GF&W show in Cape Town last year. This year I was invited to do 2 demo's at the dome for Spekko Rice. As you know me...... all I could think of was desserts..
So you can just imagine my excitement. I also had the pleasure of working with fellow MasterChef season 1 Finalist Sarel van Sabie and most of the Kokkerdoor 2013 team.

I also saw Ozzy from the second season of MASTERCHEF SA.

 

 

 

I had a great time, meeting and making new friends.

I mad two dishes for the Spekko Demo's.

 

 

TRY them! you won't regret it, PROMISE! 

 

Vanilla Rice Pudding Ice Cream with a Roasted Pecan Praline Affogato

First make the rice pudding, then the custard. Blend together the cooled pudding and custard before churning in an ice cream machine. Scoop 2 perfect scoops into a glass tea or coffee cup, pour over the coffee liqueur and the hot espresso and sprinkle with some left over praline for decoration.

For the Rice Pudding

1 Cup of Basmati Rice

2 Cups of Full cream milk

1 Vanilla bean – Split lengthways and seeds scraped out

150g White sugar

150ml Cream

For the toasted Pecan Praline

300g Pecans, peeled and cleaned

400g Castor sugar

A non-Stick Pan

For the Vanilla Custard

350ml Fresh Cream

150ml Fresh Milk

1Tsp of Corn Starch

4 x large egg yolks

2 x Whole eggs

1 x Vanilla bean – split lengthways and seeds scraped out

For the Affogato

1 x Shot Really Hot Espresso

1 x Shot Coffee Liqueur

Method:

Make the rice pudding by adding the cup of rice, milk, cream, vanilla bean and seeds and cook till the rice is tender, stirring minimally. Once the rice is cooked, add the sugar and stir till the sugar has dissolved. Spoon the pudding into a dish, cover with cling wrap and set aside to cool slightly.

To make the praline, place the pecans on an oven tray and bake for 10 -13 minutes till golden and you can start smelling the roasted pecans. Remove them and set aside to cool slightly. Melt the sugar over a medium heat in a non-stick pan. Do not stir the sugar but rather swirl the pan till the sugar is evenly melted and golden. Pour the caramel over the pecan and set aside to cool. (You can pop them into a fridge to set quicker. (Reserve some for decorating the scoops of ice cream) Once cooled and set break the praline into pieces and ground slightly in a blender or pestle & mortar to the desired consistency. Pour everything into a bowl and set aside.

Make the custard by bring the milk, cream, vanilla bean and seeds to a boil. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, corn starch and sugar to ribbon stage. Slowly start tempering the eggs with the boiling milk, adding a little at a time not to scramble the eggs. Whisk till everything is incorporated and return to the stove top over a medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon till the custard coats the back of the spoon, remove and cool completely.

Place the rice pudding about 1-2 Cups in a blender and pour the vanilla custard into the blender. Blend till almost smooth, you still want a slight chewy texture from the rice. Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine and churn to manufactures instructions.  By hand fold through the praline and spread into a freezer proof bowl and freeze till set or needed.

Scoop 2 balls of ice cream into a glass tea or coffee cup, pour over the coffee liqueur then the piping hot espresso. Sprinkle with some of the praline and serve.  



 

 

 

 

 

Thai inspired Rice Brulee served with a Coconut Sorbet and some Toasted Coconut

For the Rice Pudding Brulee

180g Fragrant Spekko Rice

1 Cup Cream of Coconut

1 Cup Coconut Milk

1 x Vanilla Bean – split lengthways and seeds added

300ml Fresh Cream

Zest of one Lime + extra for decoration

2 x Star Anise

1 Sprig of Fresh lemon Grass – Bruised with the back of a knife

180ml White Sugar

200g Castor Sugar for Brulee

For the Coconut Sorbet

2 x Cans of Cream of Coconut

250ml Coconut Milk

250g Shredded Coconut (flakes will work too)

250ml Simple Syrup (Made with 2 cups water, 1 cup white sugar)

For the Toasted Coconut

250g Shredded Coconut

Non-stick Pan

Method:

Bring the 180g of rice to a boil in 350ml water, simmer for 5 minutes then drain off the rice. Return the rice to the pot; add the vanilla bean, seeds, lime zest, star anise, lemon grass, coconut milk and coconut cream. Bring to a boil and turn the heat to a low simmer till the rice is cooked and tender. Remove the pan from the heat and take out the vanilla bean, star anise and lemon grass. Now fold in the sugar and the cream. Ensure the sugar has completely dissolved before going on to the next step. Spoon into ramekins almost to the top and flatten with the back of the spoon for an even surface. Leave to cool slightly in the fridge for a few minutes. Sprinkle each ramekin liberally with castor sugar and using a kitchen torch Brulee the top of each dessert.

For the Sorbet

Bring the coconut cream, milk and shredded coconut to a rapid boil in a small pot on the stove. Once boiled let it cook for 3 -5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and with a blender stick whiz the coconut mix till smooth.  Strain the coconut mixture through a super fine sieve or chinois so the coconut mixture will be perfectly silky smooth. Whisk the cup of simple syrup into the coconut mixture and churn in an ice cream machine according to manufactures instructions.  Spoon the sorbet into a freezer proof container and leave to freeze or set till needed.

For the toasted Coconut

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat before adding the shredded coconut; slightly toast the coconut till golden and you can start to smell the coconut’s oils release.

 SORRY BUT WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON, I DIDNT HAVE TIME TO TAKE PIC'S OF THE FOOD. WILL POST THEM ONCE I GET THEM FROM SPEKKO.

 

 

 

 

I also was fortunate enough to meet the UBER famous MR Hayden Quinn from MasterChef Australia.

 

 

 

Mini Ganache Tartlets

Mini Ganache Tartlets

These will be made in a muffin tin as small individual one’s and this will also help them set in time. I’ll add a couple of cheats on cooling the Ganache quickly along with hastening the setting process.

You’ll need:

1 x Punnet of Fresh Raspberries – optional as it’s purely for decoration

300ml Fresh Cream

350g Good Quality Milk or Dark Chocolate

50g Good Quality Cacao

1 x Packet of Tennis Biscuits

130ml Melted Unsalted Butter

A small Muffin Tin 6 -12 cups – placed in the deep freeze to cool completely

Method:

Take a plastic bag and fill it with the cookies, now take a rolling pin and crush them evenly into small fine breadcrumbs. Melt the butter in the Microwave or in a small pot. In a large mixing bowl combine the cookie crumbs along with the melted butter and mix well. Take out the muffin tin and place about 1 - 1½Tbsp of the mixture in each cup, firmly press the crumbs down with your hand and make sure the sides are even and covered completely. Return to the deep freeze to cool and set completely. In a small sauce pan heat the cream and cacao to simmering point. Grate or finely chop the chocolate and set aside in a mixing bowl. Once the cream is simmering pour it over the finely grated chocolate and mix with a rubber spatula till all the chocolate is melted and the mixture becomes thick, smooth and glossy. Prepare an ice bath for the mixture (Take a larger bowl and place some ice and cold water in it) then place the Ganache bowl over the ice bath. This will help cool the mixture down immediately. Keep stirring with the spatula as this will also help to cool the mixture. Take out the muffin tin and fill each cup.  Return to the deep freeze for 20 -30min then transfer the tin to the refrigerator till needed. Use a sharp knife and slide it alongside each of the little tartlets to loosen them carefully. Remove and decorate with Raspberries or serve as is.

 

Herb crusted rack of lamb, Grilled Baby Asparagus and Butternut Mash

Herb crusted rack of lamb, Grilled Baby Asparagus and Butternut Mash

I think the combination of the three dishes complement each other very well. I like my lamb quite rare so if you prefer it cooked a bit more, just turn the oven down slightly and cook the meat for another 10 -15 min.

 You’ll need:

For the Rack of Lamb -

1 x rack of lamb – French trim, clean bones and a thin layer of fat

3 x cloves of garlic

Hand full flat leaf parsley – chopped roughly

3 x sprigs of fresh thyme

1 x sprig rosemary

Half a ciabatta roll – best a day old stale bread

Olive oil

Dijon mustard – 4 Tbsp

For the Grilled Asparagus –

1 x Punnet of Baby Asparagus Spears

Olive Oil

Zest of a Lemon and the juice of Half a Lemon

Freshly Ground salt & Pepper

For the Butternut Mash –

 

2 – 3 Medium Butternuts – peeled, seeded and cubed

100ml Fresh Cream

Salted Butter

1Tbsp of Brown Sugar

1Tbsp Ground Turmeric

Freshly Ground Salt & Pepper

Method:

In a blender, add the stale bread, garlic cloves, thyme, parsley, rosemary and blend till all is fine breadcrumbs. Spread the bread crumbs on a baking tray to air out while busy with the lamb. Pre heat a sauce pan to a very high heat, add a splash of olive oil, and then season the lamb well. Sear the lamb fat side down first for a few minutes till golden and crisp, use a tong to make sure the meat is browned off all over. Remove and cool slightly. Pre heat the oven to 200c. Spread rack of lamb evenly with the Dijon mustard, press some of the breadcrumbs then leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set. This will help the crust to stick better to the lamb when cooked and for cutting afterwards.  Then bake for 15 -19min for rare, but you can go for 25min just keep an eye on the crumbs so it will not burn.

Steam the Butternut till just tender, strain and return to the pot, add the turmeric and butter before blitzing with a stick blender till pureed. While blending over a low heat add the butter and a little cream at a time, till you are happy with the colour and consistency. Season to taste and cook for 5 -10min over a very low heat.

Heat a grill pan on high. In a mixing bowl mix half the lemon zest, olive oil and baby asparagus spears, make sure all the asparagus are covered with oil. Turn the heat to medium and grill the asparagus for 5 -10min depending on the size. Try to get nice and even char marks on the spears. Once cooked shock with the lemon juice the rest of the zest a splash of olive oil and season.

Pair this meal with a good Shiraz red wine.

 

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches

These are a big hit and just way too easy to make. Believe me they are not just for kids, my wife loves these and the best is you make them together.  Prep the ice cream beforehand and make just before eating them.

You’ll Need:

1 x Packet of Ginger Cookies

500ml Good Quality Vanilla Ice Cream – softened slightly

3 – 4Tbsp Smooth Peanut Butter

5ml Vanilla Paste

Method:

Prep the ice cream first so it can have time to set again, nice thing is that the ice cream should not be frozen solid as you want it rather pliable. In a mixing bowl add the softened ice cream, vanilla and peanut butter. Beat well with a wooden spoon till everything is well combined.  Place the ice cream back into a sealable container into the deep freeze. An hour is best. Gives you time to finish dinner or watch a movie. Take an ice cream scooper with a glass of boiling water, this allows for the scooper to heat up slightly and make more perfect scoops. Take two cookies per person and place a medium sized scoop on one cookie then flatten the scoop with a knife or just squish the second cookie on top. Eat them immediately. These can be made ahead of time, make each sandwich and place them on a wax paper sheet covered tray in the deep freeze. Just take them out 5 min before you want serve them. For an extra lush sandwich drizzle over some melted chocolate.

Raspberry Granita

Raspberry Granita

You’ll Need:

1 x Quantity Sugar syrup  - about 250ml

1 x Punnet of Fresh Raspberries – frozen will work just as well.

30 -50g Icing Sugar

Method:

Make the sugar syrup and cool completely. In a blender puree the raspberries, then sieve the mixture. Test the pureed fruit and add a touch of icing sugar if it’s too tart for your liking. Whisk together the sugar syrup and the fruit puree then pour the mixture into a large plastic sealable container so the mixture’s depth isn’t more than 2.5cm. Freeze for two hours till the granita is mushy on the sides. Whisk with a fork and break up as much of the ice crystals as possible. Return to the freezer for another two hours whisking with a fork every 30min to keep the ice crystals from becoming too large. The perfect granita always has ice crystals the size of granulated sugar. If making the granita a day in advance, follow the same instructions, but take the container out of the freezer about 7min before serving and just rustle it with a fork non-stop. Serve as is or as a topping for another dish or fruit platter.

NOTE: To make basic sugar syrup, add equal amounts of sugar and water in a small pot. Bring the mixture to the boil and stir a few times to ensure all the sugar is dissolved. Cool completely before use.

 

French Macarons. Heaven on earth all in 1 Bite!

Today we will be attempting to perfect the humble art of making Macarons. This might sound a tad dramatic but believe me if you haven’t made one before, proceed with caution!  This predominantly French dessert has revolutionised the way we “mankind” looks at the simple cookie. Its simplicity only provokes the thought of its complexity. Smooth, silky and melting in your mouth is just a few words that describe this truly magnificent treat. Made with meringue, ground almonds, icing sugar, love, essence and attention to detail, contrary to what you might think a slightly aged egg white will work best. Eggs aged three days will give you the perfect meringue and for the best result always use room temperature egg whites. The  Macarons origins are not perfectly clear and under a lot of debate, some say it is clearly a French masterpiece others say that the dessert was brought to France with Catherine de' Medici’s pastry chefs, from Italy back in 1533 after she married King Henry II. But one thing is clear my friends and that is that the French has mastered the art of Macarons, from your everyday vanilla and chocolate to the very new and bold flavor's like black olive and foie gras. Fillings usually consist of three major players namely: Buttercreams, Jams and Ganache but as with all recipes the only thing stopping you is your imagination. I’ve even heard of curds being used, so all is fair in love and war. Once you are confident in your own knowledge and palate you will be able to design and construct your own masterpiece.  I will be sharing with you two recipes today, one for a decadent chocolate Macaron and one for a smooth French chocolate buttercream that melts on your tongue. Do take caution of the following tips: 1. Never make Macarons on a cloudy day! 2. Read the recipe thoroughly before you start. 

For the Chocolate Macarons, You’ll Need:

3 x Egg Whites – preferably aged 3 days and at room temperature

25g Cocoa Powder – sifted twice

200g Icing Sugar – sifted twice

90g Ground Almonds – I buy fresh almonds and ground them in a food processor to a fine meal

55g Castor Sugar

 

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 110c. Line a large baking tray with a silicone sheet or baking paper. If using baking paper secure it to the tray by smudging small amounts of butter in each corner of the paper.  In a large mixing bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peak stage, add the castor sugar bit-by-bit till its incorporated and the sugar is dissolved. In a separate mixing bowl combine the cocoa, icing sugar and ground almonds and stir with a slotted spoon till everything is well combined and mixed up. Now slowly fold the almond and icing mixture into the egg whites, not everything at once! Work on a large spoon full at a time till all is combined and gently folded into the mixture. Now spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm plain nozzle. Take the line baking tray and pipe about 3cm wide rounds onto the paper spaced roughly 4cm apart from each other. Once done, lift the tray ever so gently and tap it on the work bench so the Macarons will spread evenly and this will also let the air bubble out. Leave the tray on the bench for 20 min before baking. This will help the Macaron form the essential crust that will give it, its smooth and glossy finish after baking. Now bake the Macarons for no longer than 17 -18 min, before removing them from the oven. Leave to cool on the tray!

For the Chocolate Buttercream, You’ll Need:

500g Unsalted Baking Butter – room temperature

1½C Castor Sugar

½C Water

8 x Large Egg Yolks

400g Good Quality Milk or Dark Chocolate – melted slowly in a double boiler     

20ml Vanilla Paste

Method:

In a thick based saucepan bring the water and sugar to a boil. Use a candy thermometer to make sure the sugar syrup get heated to soft ball stage. In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks for 2 -3 min on medium speed. Once the sugar syrup reached soft ball stage slowly pour the hot syrup into the whisked egg yolks, whisking on high the whole time. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar syrup together for at least 10 – 12 min, till the egg mixture are pale and glossy and the bowl is cool to the touch. Now add a 100g of butter whisking for 3min until all is combined before add another 100g, do this till all the butter is incorporated. Now add the melted chocolate and vanilla paste, whisk on high for a further 5 min. Spoon the buttercream into an airtight container and refrigerate till needed.

Now for the assembly, pair the cooled Macarons in sizes. Fill a piping bag with the chocolate buttercream and pipe a good amount on one Macaron. Then sandwich the Macarons together. Be careful as if too much buttercream is piped it will ooze out on the sides, you have to pipe just enough to make the perfect sandwich.

 

And remember that flavour combinations, colours and the creativity all lies with you. So keep in mind that there are endless possibilities.

 

Pasta made from scratch.. really easy and quick to make

Fresh home-made Pasta takes about 3 min to cook, more than half the time it would take you just to cook a packet of dried shop bought pasta. A pasta machine is not a costly commodity and is widely available in town, you can budget anywhere from R200.00 – R300.00 and it is well worth it. It usually comes with two different pasta cutters (Tagliatelle & Spaghetti) which can be easily attached to the machine itself. Semolina flour is best, but not a necessity. Pasta can be made with your everyday cake flour and comes out just as delicious.  You can colour your home-made pasta by replacing the water with a light puree, beetroot for purple, basil for green and even saffron for a nice orange tinge. The possibilities are endless.

 

You’ll Need:

1½C Flour – Semolina or Normal Cake Flour

2Tbsp Olive Oil

2Tbsp Water

½Tsp Salt

2 x Eggs

Method:

On a clean work surface, place the flour in a heap and make a well in the centre. Add the salt, olive oil, eggs and water, and then with a fork bring the flour from the outer circle into the centre. Cutting and mixing at the same time. Repeat till you have a well-combined dough forming. Press the dough together with your hands and knead slightly for 5 – 10 min till you have elastic dough. Form a ball, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 20 min. Cut the ball into required sizes about 2 -3cm thickness onto a well-floured work surface (not too much flour as you don’t want your pasta dough to become tough), roll out lightly and set the pasta machine on its largest setting which is usually setting 1. It usually has 7 settings ranging from large (1) to very thin (7) the pasta dough must go through setting 1 at least 4 times and twice through each of the remaining settings. The first time the pasta goes through the machine, fold it in halve and feed it through again. This feeding and folding is very important on each of the settings except at 7 where you will not need to fold but to feed it straight through.

 

 Lightly flour the thin sheet of rolled pasta and cover with a wet tea-towel.  Add the pasta cutter to the machine, choose the thickness you want either tagliatelle or spaghetti. Slowly feed the thinly rolled pasta through the cutters, so you can get nice and even pasta. Leave to air dry for 5 -10 min before cooking them in boiling salted water, remember to add a tablespoon of olive oil so the pasta will not stick to each other. Do not over salt the water as you don’t need as much salt as with shop bought pasta (and you just added salt to the fresh dough). The pasta should cook only 3 min, sometimes a minute less or more all depending on when the pasta is Al Dente.

All you have to do is add your sauce, serve with freshly grated Parmesan, freshly ground black pepper and some freshly torn basil leaves.  “Belizimo”

Once you are confident in making the everyday run of the mill pasta start experimenting with different colours and flavours. Beetroot puree is the perfect thing to tint the pasta dark red. Try Basil or Pesto for a green colour.

Nectarine Clafoutis.... just love this

Nectarine Clafoutis

·         500g Nectarines – washed, peeled, de-stoned and cut into quarters

·         130ml Fresh Cream

·         4 x Whole Eggs

·         4Tbsp Caster Sugar

·         80g Plain Flour

·         30ml Vanilla Paste – I know this might seem a lot but it just works so well

·         Icing Sugar for dusting once done

·         Vanilla Ice Cream for serving – homemade is the best

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 200 ͨc. Spray a 1.5Lt oven dish with non-stick spray, or you can just lightly butter the dish. Place the nectarines inside the oven dish skin side down (looks great for presentations). Place the cream, eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla paste in a food processor and blitz till a smooth batter has formed. Now bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 – 30 min till the Clafoutis is puffed up and golden. Allow to cool slightly before dusting with some icing sugar. Serve slightly warm with a big scoop of Vanilla Ice cream.

Braai Braai Braai - One of SA's Favourite past times

I think this week’s topic any one of us can go on and on about. Something we as South Africans do on almost a daily basis and that has been embedded in most of our memories from childhood till now: The Braai. When Thursday comes around all you hear about at work is what everyone’s weekend plans will be and 99.9% of the time it includes having a braai with friends or family. With evolution comes knowledge and luckily we have turned the humble camp fire into a state of the art cooking utility, it doesn’t stop with a “dop & chop” anymore. We have options and opinions about what we eat and how we cook it. I’ve personally never had much strength in this department have learnt to fine tune my ‘braai’ skills over the past year, here are some of my favourites.

Red Wine Steaks & Fillets

Everyone has their own marinade recipe that they will take to their graves, but I think it’s a sin to keep good food from people. This works on any cut of meat, depending on what your braaiing will depend on the marinating times.  The minimum marinating time for any meat would be around 2 hours and overnight is best but this all comes down to your time planning and choice of meat.

½ Bottle of Red Wine – best quality you can afford

3Tblsp of Soft Brown Sugar

3 x Cloves Garlic – chopped

1cm Fresh Root Ginger – finely grated, you don’t even have to peel it

3 x Good Splashes of Tabasco Sauce

1 x Green Pepper – diced

2Tblsp Balsamic Vinegar

3Tbsp of Tomato Sauce

15g Fresh Rosemary Leaves – chopped roughly

2Tbsp of Fresh Oregano & Marjoram Leaves – chopped roughly

Salt & Pepper to taste     

Method:

Mix everything together and whisk well to combine. Whisk till all the sugar has dissolved and pour this over your meat, leave to marinade and infuse as long as possible.

TIP’S on Marinating & Basting

·         Always add vinegar or lemon juice as this will help to tenderise the meat

·         Minimum of 2 hours to soak up all that goodness and to naturally tenderise the meat

·         If using a shop bought marinade, thin it down with water or wine. To thick and it will burn easily leaving you with meat charred on the outside and under cooked on the inside  

·         Always baste the meat while cooking as the meat loses a lot of its natural juices when being grilled

·         Use a make-shift basting brush by tying together a bunch of fresh rosemary branches with cooking twine/string. The rosemary works great as it releases its own oils and flavour while basting the meat

·         Think outside the box. Replacing your kebab sticks with lemon grass stalks or hardy rosemary branches (The lemon grass works great for fish kebabs and things like prawns and other seafood)

Awesome Sweet Potato Parcels

This will make you want more and more. I do get carried away and some say this is more of a dessert than a savoury braai accompaniment but it is just so good! Make one large per person or two small and keep it in individual parcels, this can easily start a fight around the dinner table. Fresh root ginger can replace the ginger cookies for a savoury feel.

4 x Large Sweet potatoes

8Tbsp of Brown Sugar – 2tbsp each

20ml Ground Cinnamon – 5ml each

1 x Packet of Ginger Biscuits – crumbed into bread sized crumbs (Use 2.5ml freshly grated ginger)

3 – 4 Marshmallows per Sweet Potato - optional

4Tbsp Honey – 1Tbsp each

4Tbsp Unsalted Butter

20ml Vanilla Essence – 5ml each

Enough Foil – to wrap and seal each parcel

Method:

Wash & scrub each sweet potato under cold running water, till clean and there is no more grit on them. Take a fork and pierce the sweet potato from top to bottom (this will ensure that the ingredients can infuse and it will shorten the cooking time). Place each sweet potato in the centre of a large double lined square of foil. Sprinkle on the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, a quarter of the ginger cookie crumbs, 1 Tbsp of butter and honey. If using marshmallows add them now. Bring the two opposite foil corners together and fold the ends together tightly, now bring the remaining corners together and make sure the parcel is sealed, wrap up the rest. Cook the sweet potatoes over the coals for 20 – 25 min till tender to the touch. Serve as is and if it is dessert, let it cool slightly before adding a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

Feel free to visit my website for more of my recipes on www.sweetmafia-sa.com or contact me on thys@sweetmafia-sa.com

Baklava - The best dessert ever!! Make Ice cream with the leftovers, DOUBLE WIN!!

Keep in mind that these recipes quantities are for a typical Greek family style meal, so they are huge. But you are more than welcome to halve the quantities as the recipe principals stay the same.

Baklava

We used a large oven tray, when making this at home and for less people, just halve the quantities and use a smaller tray. Forget about your diet! Personally I would stay with this size as I made the most amazing ice cream with the left overs.

 

You’ll need:

For the Baklava

3 x Packets of Phyllo Pastry – defrosted over night

1.5kg Unsalted Butter - melted (Julia Child would have been very proud of us)

500g Almonds skin on – blitzed in a blender to about large breadcrumb size

300g Pecan Nuts – chopped roughly, we used a pestle and mortar

3 x Large Spoons of Muscovado Sugar (roughly 180g size)

3 x Large Spoons of Fine Breadcrumbs (they should be very fine almost like a grainy flour)

40g Ground Cinnamon

For the Syrup

4 x Cups White Sugar

5½ x Cups Water

6 – 8 Cloves

4 x Cinnamon Sticks – we used Cinnamon Bark

Method:

Start with your first pack of Phyllo, lay down the first layer and with a pastry brush each layer with melted butter, then the next layer. Keep repeating till you get to the last layer of Phyllo in the packet. Lay it down on top of the other buttered layers but do not butter the last layer. This is very important, as this is where your first layer of nuts will go. In a large mixing bowl mix together the almonds, pecans, breadcrumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Make sure that the mixture is mixed properly, now spread an even amount over the dry layer of Phyllo. Now you start with the second pack of Phyllo, gently place the first layer on top of the nuts and brush it liberally with melted butter. Again here keep layering and brush each layer with melted butter till you get to the last layer of Phyllo. Do the same as before spread an even amount of the nut & sugar mixture onto the dry Phyllo. Now onto the last packet of Phyllo, this one will get brushed with butter on each layer till you reach the last layer of Phyllo, which must get no butter; this will make it easy for you to cut the Baklava without getting butter on your hands. Take a sharp knife and start to cut diamonds into the baklava. (See pictures)

 

 

Once you’ve cut the entire pan, pour the rest of the melted butter over the entire thing and set aside. Pre- heat your oven to 160 ͦc, all the butter will be soaked up by the pastry and the breadcrumb and nut mixture.

To make the syrup, combine the water and sugar in a large pot and bring it to a boil. No need to stir as the sugar will dissolve as soon as it boils. Only after the syrup comes to the boil do you add the cloves and cinnamon. Do not add the cinnamon before as you want translucent syrup, if you put the cinnamon in to early the syrup will take on the cinnamon colour. Once the syrup is cooked, cool it completely. Pour the hot syrup in another bowl and place it over an ice bath. The syrup should be ice cold when it goes onto the hot baklava.

Bake the baklava for 40 minutes till golden and crisp. Pour off some of the excess butter and the ladle the syrup over the entire thing, set aside to cool slightly and give the dish time to soak up all that syrup.

 TIP: Rule of thumb when working with Phyllo is to cover it with a damp tea towel so it doesn’t dry out. Phyllo can dry out very quickly, and can become brittle and breaks easily. So keep this in mind when working with Phyllo especially with a recipe like this where you will be using large quantities.