Coconut Panna Cotta with Berry Reduction

Hello once again, mes amis!

Well, school's back, and so is the rain! It's pretty cool how the weather can predict the feelings of all the schoolkids! Summer has disappeared completely, I fear. And what's more, there is terrible flash-flooding up in northern NSW. Stay strong, northern compatriates!

So, Valentine's Day is coming up... and I still have no idea what to blog about! Chocolate is the obvious choice, and so is going crazy with the red food colouring - but I don't want to do that! Meh, I'll think of something.

School is going to be pretty hectic for the next 8 months, so I think I will have to cull back my blogging - oh, it breaks my heart! But this is my last year at school, and after that, I'll be free as a bird to bake till my heart's content! 

So, these panna cottas are AH-MAZING. Like, legitmately incredible. Dad proclaimed it 'the best dessert ever', and then proceeded to inhale his jar of the stuff. Oh, I'm currently obsessed with jars. I know, once again, I'm a little behind on the whole 'food blog fad' business, but I am just coming to terms with how cute and shiny and clear they are! You can do so much sweet baking stuff with them too. Love!

So I decided to put the panna cottas in the jars. You don't have to, I guess... But don't say I didn't warn you! The jars almost enhance the delicious experience of these silky, coconutty desserts. And the berries! Oh, the berries! I simply adore jelly, and the fresh berries just make it so much juicier! You could almost eat the cooled reduction on its own - but don't! You must try these awe-inspiring jars of goodness!

Coconut Panna Cotta with a Berry Reduction

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups thickened cream

1 1/2 cups lite coconut milk

1/2 cup caster sugar

Pinch of salt

1 envelope plain gelatin powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp coconut extract

Berry Reduction:

2/3 cup water

6 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp blackberry jelly

1 cup fresh blackberries and/or blueberries



Method:

To make the panna cotta, Place 1/4 cup of the thickened cream in a small bowl, and sprinkle the gelatin over the cream. Let it set for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, whisk gently. The mixture will be extremely lumpy. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining thickened cream with the salt and sugar until simmering. Stir in the extracts and remove from the heat. Whisk in the gelatin-cream mixture, then the coconut milk. Strain the panna cotta mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, then, using a funnel or jug, pour evenly into 4x120ml sterilised jars (which look super cute!) or glasses, or if you want to get fancy, ramekins which you can pop the panna cottas out of later. Chill for a minimum 2 hours.

For the berry reduction (or let's just face it, yummy jelly topping), bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan, and cook until reduced by half. Add the jelly and stir until dissolved. Add the berries and cooks until they are soft, but still hold their shape. Pour onto the set panna cottas and chill once more, until cold.

Lamington Icecreams

Happy Almost Australia Day everybody!

Well, my life has been pretty boring of late. It's pretty much been a case of rowing and napping, repeated a billion times. Oh, and baking of course :)

As I'm writing there are angry clouds in the sky, and gusts of wind rattling the poor trees, who are sick and tired of being pushed around. They've had to endure the less-than-lovely climatic conditions for the past few days (and let's face it, most of the summer), and it looks like they will have to put up with the mean, wild weather for another week or more!

 This doesn't bode well for Australia Day, which is this Thursday for all you non-Australians out there. Australia Day is usually a time of hot, sunny, clear days, so most people would have had barbecues planned, or spending a nice, peaceful day out on the lake or at the beach...  But perhaps not this year!

Perhaps a 'Christmas in July'-type event would be more appropriate. Australia Day-in-July?

Maybe I'll create a sandy beach inside my house, and turn all the lights and heaters in the house on, and play backyard cricket indoors, with all Mum's breakable vases around. Sounds good, right?

I thought I was being really clever by making these chilled-icy-treat versions of the traditional Australian lamington. I thought they could be enjoyed on an ideally sunny, outdoorsy kind of Australia Day.

But aargh damn you unpredictable 2012 weather! It would seem that you have tried to rain on my parade again! (See what I did there? With the weather pun? Hm?)

But nay! These will taste just as yummy inside my house, on my fake beach.

But seriously, people, I am pretty proud of my little Aussie invention here. Lamingtons (for those of you who are not Australian) are traditionally a small cake made out of two layers of vanilla sponge, sandwiched together with a layer of strawberry jam in the middle, and coated with a layer of chocolate icing and dessicated coconut. So I thought, hey, this could taste super good in icecream-form!

I made two types of ice cream - vanilla, and strawberry jam, and they taste just like the traditional cake, except smooth and creamy and cold! I put them on paddlepop sticks and coated them in the chocolate and coconut, and then WOW THEY LOOK REALLY SIMILAR TO

LAMINGTONS!

I was extremely happy with the way they turned out. They look so similar to the real thing on the outside, and then you bite into the middle and get the surprise layered hit of vanilla and strawberry jam and it's so delicious and fun to eat and gah I love them so much!

Yay for foods that look like other foods!

I hope you make them and enjoy them, whatever the weather.

{Vanilla Icecream and Strawberry Jam Icecream recipes adapted from David Lebovitz' Vanilla Icecream}

Lamington Icecreams

Makes about 12

Ingredients:

 2 cups full cream milk

A pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

4 cups thickened cream

8 large egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup strawberry jam

About 12 paddlepop sticks

350g dark chocolate

150g unsalted butter

3 tbsp milk

1 cup dessicated coconut

Method:

Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan.When the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture is starting the bubble at the edges, add the vanilla bean paste and stir. Take off the heat.

Let's make a little ice bath! Place a big (2-litre capacity) bowl inside an even bigger bowl that is partially filled with iced water. Pour the cream into the top bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Pour a little of the warm milk mixture into the yolks, and whisk to combine. Then add the egg mixture back into the original milk mixture in the saucepan, and combine again.

Cook over low heat, stirring  and scraping the bottom of the saucepan constantly, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.

Through a seive placed over the top of the bowl on top of the ice bath , strain through the custard mixture. Stir over the ice bath until cool, add the vanilla extract, and then divide into two smaller bowls 3/4 of one mixture in one, and 1/4 in another. Cover the larger portion of the two with cling wrap, and chill in the fridge for minimum 2 hours.

In the smaller portion bowl, mix in the strawberry jam until evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Cover and chill, minimum 2 hours.

After 2 hours, remove the vanilla mixture from the fridge and churn in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once frozen, but still soft, pour half of the icecream into a lined (cling or baking paper) rectangular or square slice pan, of about 25x20cm dimensions. Even out with a spatula, and freeze until hard. Freeze the remaining vanilla portion in a bowl or airtight container until ready for use.

Remove the strawberry jam icecream from the fridge, and churn in the icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. (You will need either a second, fully frozen freeze bowl to do this immediately, or you will have to fully refreeze the first one.) Spread a thin layer of the strawberry jam icecream over the frozen vanilla layer in the tray, and freeze again.

About 10 minutes before bringing out the layered icecream, allow the remaining vanilla portion to soften. Then, spread evenly over the strawberry layer and refreeze, minimum 1 hour.

Once frozen, take the icecream layers out of the tray, and, using a sharp knife, divide into 4x4cm squares. Work quickly! Stick a paddlepop stick into the middle of each one (as below), place back on lined trays or containers, and refreeze.

In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water on the stove, melt the chocolate and butter until shiny. Let cool for a bit, stir in the milk until combined and thinned out, and transfer to a tall and wide glass or jug. Line a baking tray, and shae out the coconut into a thin layer.

Again working quickly, remove the pops from the freezer, dip in the melted chocolate mixture, and then in the coconut, coating all sides. Place back onto the tray, and then quickly back into the freezer.

Two Almondy and Oaty Breakfasts

Greetings my lovelies!

Well, January is almost halfway done, and the clock is a-ticking ever closer to the start of the school year. Gah! I'm trying to remain calm though - enjoy the holidays while they last, I say! Rowing has also restarted for the year, which is good and bad. I think I may have gotten too used to sleeping in! Whenever I have a break from rowing, I always take my extra sleep for granted, and then I get angry at myself when I no longer have the freedom. Such is the nature of the human psyche, I suppose!

My sister's birthday was a success - she got her L's and has started driving! My Dad tells me she's a good driver, but I think I'll have to be the judge of that! (Because, I, as a superior P-Plater, know absolutely everything there is to know about the rules of the road.)

Also I have been stressing about taking down the Christmas tree. I think I'm doing it tomorrow. I've put it off for ages, because I get depressed when I have to box away all the cheeriness for another year. But never fear, because supermarkets have already started selling Easter Eggs! Oh dear.

So I'm not sure if I've ever disclosed this on my blog before, but cereal and muesli are pretty much my favourite foods. They're AMAZING. You can eat them any time of the day, and I frequently do. They're just the complete package! Wholesome, tasty, and pretty to look at. And so versatile!

So yesterday I thought I'd whip up a couple of my favourites and share with you lovely people! The photography and recipes are quite simple after the exhaustion and extensive celebration that was the birthday cake post of last week. But I think the simplicity reflects the nature of these delicious breakfasts/anytime foods. They really aren't anything fancy, just yum!

So hopefully these recipes will turn into your staples too!

P.S. Will you just look at that lovely golden colour of the granola! Sigh... until next week, kids!

Before...

...and after!

{Bircher recipe adapted from Donna Hay's 'No Time To Cook', Granola recipe adapted from Joy the Baker}



Bircher Muesli 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sultanas

1 1/2 cups good-quality apple juice

2 cups traditional rolled oats

2 medium red apples, peeled and grated

1 cup natural or dry-roasted almonds, roughly chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 cup thick natural or vanilla yogurt

Blueberries and Milk, to serve (Optional)

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, soak the sultanas in the apple juice for 10 minutes. Then add the oats, and combine so that all the oats are able to soak in the apple juice. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Add the grated apple, almonds, cinnamon, maple syrup, and yogurt to the bowl, and stir to combine. Either serve immediately, with the blueberries on top, and milk to pour, or cover with clingwrap and refrigerate overnight (I admit it is thicker and tastier the next day, but by no means is this necessary - it's delicious straight away nonetheless!)

Toasted Almond and Hazelnut Granola

Serves 8

Ingredients:

3 cups traditional rolled oats

1 cup natural almonds

1 cup natural hazelnuts

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp maple syrup

1/3 cup brown sugar

Method:

Line a baking sheet with baking paper, and place the almonds and hazelnuts on it. In a preheated 180 degrees celsius oven, toast the nuts for 10 minutes, or until fragrant.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, cooled and roughly chopped nuts, coconut, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter, oil, maple syrup and brown sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is starting to bubble. Give one last big whisk, and pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, tossing together so as to evenly coat the oaty mixture with the melted mixture.

Spread the mixture either into a large baking dish, or two lined baking trays, and pop back into the 180 degrees celsius oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Twice during baking, remove the granola from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon.

Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Serve over chopped mixed berries and yummy yogurt, or with milk.



Coconut Cupcakes

Hello.

Yay! My friend Sian and I are now in the 'market business' - last weekend we sold our handpainted plates at the Blackbutt Rotary Markets, and made a humble profit! But more importantly, we had fun sitting around, having chats to the lovely people, old and young, that passed us.

This sets us up for markets in the near future, which is very exciting as it's Christmas coming up! Now we'll actually have some level of understanding of how the Arts and Crafts game works, so we won't be so petrified/ unnaturally happy-looking to the point where it's kind of creepy when potential customers approach our table!

Aside from that, I'm pretty busy, but happy at school. However I suspect I won't be so happy when our big and scary assessment period looms closer and closer!

But for now, I can relax and show you guys the deliciously light and fluffy coconut cupcakes I made on the weekend! {Adapted from 'Cupcakes' - Juliet Rogers}

These are what I imagine biting into a tasty, coconut-flavoured pillow would be like. Need I say more?

Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

125g unsalted butter, melted

Coconut icing:

2 1/4 cups icing sugar

1 1/2 cups dessicated cocnut

75g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp coconut essence

2 tbsp hot water

Shredded coconut, lightly toasted, to sprinkle on top!

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line 12 cupcake holes with cute little cupcake cases!

Combine flour, coconut and sugar in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, coconut essence and melted butter, using a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture into the well and mix until combined (but don't mix too much - the 'less is more' approach works best when it comes to fluffy cupcakes!)

Divide the mixture evenly among the cupcakes cases and bake for 16 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing:

Combine the sifted icing sugar and coconut in a mixing bowl.

Add the butter, coconut essence and 1 tbsp of the hot water to the dry ingredients. If, when mixed, the icing does not loosen up to become spreadable, add the other tablespoon of hot water.

Using a spoon, spread a layer of icing over each cooled cupcake, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.