Cooking Class with Janice Wong 2am : dessertbar

Tonight was a great class at Savour School with Janice Wong from 2am : dessertbar in Singapore.

I am not much of a dessert fan, but this was really an interesting exercise. There were many fascinating techniques and ingredients used to effortlessly prepare a couple of exciting desserts.

Although I was excited about the dessert dinner next week, it is even more appealing now.

The first dessert had chilli chocolate coral impregnated with truffle balls filled with peanut butter sauce.



It is a most enjoyable combination of textures and flavours with the heat of the chilli giving warmth without overdoing it and the softer aerated texture of the coral being punctuated by the crunchy truffles with their soft gooey sauce centre. The chocolate brick is served on some chocolate soil and matched with fresh honeycomb and more of the peanut sauce and some dill, for colour and flavour. The dill, though only small really marries well with the chilli chocolate.





The second dessert has more components and more techniques to stimulate the mind as well as the palate. Firstly, a basil and white chocolate ganache prepared sous vide by being cooked at 60⁰C. Phillipa Sibley infused white chocolate with rose geranium at a Masterclass at Lake House on Sunday by infusing the cream. This method using sous vide certainly enabled the basil flavour to penetrate the final product. It was a surprisingly agreeable combination.

The next component was described as a passionfruit blanket, but it was more of a gossamer sheet using pectin powder and spreading the mixture very thinly on a silpat mat before dehydrating the sheet. The fruit leather was to be draped over the basil chocolate ganache.



Passionfruit fluff was prepared from passionfruit puree, egg white powder and gelatine and involved leaving the mixture to stand for 6 hours to develop its flavour before whipping for about 30 or 40 minutes. This meringue was then spread on silpat mats and dehydrated overnight to produce a result similar to the meringue that Andrew McConnell had in his dessert from Sunday’s Lake House class. Sorry Andrew, but this was better.



To accompany the basil chocolate ganache and crispy fluff Janice made a yuzu fruit pate.

The final component was a coconut sherbert which involved making a marshmallow with sugar, glucose and invert sugar, before mixing with coconut puree and pacotizing. The resulting sherbert was so intense in flavour with wonderful mouth-feel and reminded me of a Brent Savage coconut foam on steroids.
Janice was very ably assisted by her fellow chef Derrick and is sure to win many fans during her classes and dinners at Savour School over the next week.





For those needing egg white powder for the passionfruit fluff, it can be obtained from Melbourne Food Ingredient Depot as seen in the Raymond Capaldi range. Janice said that she had her first and possibly most memorable introduction to molecular gastronomy while working at Fenix with Raymond

Thermomix Quince Paste

Quince paste is such a wonderful little accompaniment to cheese, and when somebody gives you a dozen quinces, it is just the thing to cook, especially if you have a Thermomix.

Quince paste used to be such a chore and fraught with dangers as the hot sticky mixture spits up while you stir to stop it sticking to the base of the pan.

In Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish's latest cookbook "MoVida Rustica" there is a story about Frank's father making a membrillo machine with an industrial mixer and a gas jet. Well, the Thermomix is just like Frank's father's machine, being able to mix and cook at the same time.

The recipe in "Movida Rustica" does not use the core and peel, which is how I learned to cook it from Maggie Beer's "Maggie's Farm". I have seen recipes for quince paste using whole quinces in the Thermomix, but I find them too gritty. This is a little more time consuming, but the pectin from the peel and core once strained helps set the paste, without the gritty bits.

Please make sure that your Thermomix is not going to run off the bench. I used silicon mats that I received from an Electrolux demonstration under each foot on the Thermomix. They acted likey anti-slip mats.

Good luck and hope that you enjoy the results.

THERMOMIX QUINCE PASTE

Ingredients

1500 g quinces
600 g water
about 800 g sugar

Method

Wash, peel and core quinces. Place peel and cores in TM Bowl and chop for 20 seconds on speed 5, using spatula to push the peel down.

Cut quince flesh into chunks and place in Varoma tray.

Add water to the TM bowl and position Varoma and cook for 25 minutes at Varoma Temperature on speed 1.

Remove the Varoma tray and leave aside. Strain the peel and core mixture and collect the liquid in a separate bowl. Dispose of the pulp, clean the TM bowl and weigh in the liquid and pieces of quince into the TM bowl. Blend for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Add about three-quarters of the weight of pulp in sugar to the TM bowl. Mix for 15 seconds on speed 5.

Cook for 50 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 5 with the MC out and a Chux or similar over the opening and the steamer basket placed on top to reduce splatter.

NOTE that I placed silicon mats under the feet of the TMX to prevent it moving on the bench. Another alternative if you are not watching all the time is to place the whole machine into an empty kitchen sink to prevent it wandering off the bench.

Once cooked allow it to cool slightly (about 5 minutes) and pour into a tray greased with olive oil. Allow the tray to cool before covering and storing in the fridge.

Once set, it can be cut into pieces and wrapped in baking or greaseproof paper and then plastic wrap or foil.

Thermomix Strawberry Gazpacho with frozen yoghurt

This is another recipe from Jane Lawson’s book "Cocina Nueva". ( Now also in paperback).





It reminds me of a Charlie Trotter dessert with melon soup with mousse and fruit, but is much simpler to complete and the taste and appearance are superb.



It is a great combination of flavours and such a refreshing finish to a meal.



Certainly this one can be done in any food processor, but you can use yoghurt that you made in the Thermomix to further impress your guests.




Strawberry Gazpacho with frozen yoghurt

Frozen yoghurt
40 g sugar
375 g thick yoghurt (Greek or sheep’s milk)
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Strawberry purée
30 g sugar
750 g very ripe, sweet strawberries, hulled
1 tsp vinegar (preferably sherry or balsamic)
2 Tbsp olrosso sherry (optional)

Garnish
Fruit such as kiwi fruit, melons, strawberries, grapes, peaches, cut into dice
1 Tbsp mint leaves, finely shredded

Method:

Frozen yoghurt
Line a 20 cm square shallow dish (or similar) with two sheets of plastic wrap long enough that they will be able to be folded over to cover the top of the mixture once filled.

Place the sugar in the TM bowl and grind for 15 seconds on speed 9. Add the other ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 3. Pour into the lined tray, smooth out and then cover with the overhanging plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 4 hours or until set.

Strawberry purée
Place the sugar in the TM bowl and grind for 15 seconds on speed 9. Add the other ingredients and mix for 30 seconds on speed 9. Strain through a fine sieve and chill for 2 – 3 hours.

Serving
Divide the strawberry purée between 4 shallow bowls. Place fruit garnish onto purée and cut the frozen yoghurt into 1.5cm cubes or diamond shapes and place around fruit. Sprinkle mint over the top.

Thermomix Coeur à la crème – Crémet d’Angers

Once I had made junket the next simple step was to make fromage frais by gently cutting the junket into chunks and allowing it to drain through muslin.




In 1996 I was fortunate to be at a class at Sunnybrae Restaurant given by Richard Thomas on cheese. Richard put on an amazing array of cheeses to try and demonstrated making fresh curd cheeses. At that time he was at Yarra Valley Dairies and had created the now popular Persian Fetta. More recently he is down the road at De Bortoli producing butter and maturing and selling cheese.

He has held offal dinners at the grand view Hotel in Brunswick West with Alain Kerambrun over the last year and the dessert at one of those dinners was Coeur à la crème.

The idea was to make a Coeur à la crème as I had seen Gabriel Gaté do on Taste of the Tour. It is a traditional dish from his native region, but not in those cookbooks of his that I own, so a bit of searching. There was an article and recipe in Australian Gourmet Traveller, and the reference to Elizabeth David’s book, “French Provincial Cooking” led me to why I had been having troubles sourcing a recipe in my French books. The dessert is often referred to as crémet d’Angers.

I found a recipe in Jane Grigson’s “Good Things” where she buys into the pasteurised milk for cheese debate... “And it’s no good making your own in a muslin drip bag, from our pasteurised milk; the result is rubbery. If you can buy unpasteurised milk, it’s another matter.” Grigson goes on to say that the white ceramic hearts used to make the dessert can be purchased from Elizabeth David’s shop and make a good summer birthday present.



Coeur à la crème

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
90 g caster sugar
300 ml whipping cream
200g fromage frais
200g strawberries
1 Tbsp kirsch

Method:
Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a very clean TM bowl fitted with the butterfly. Beat for 3 minutes at 50°C on speed 4 until stiff. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Remove the butterfly.

Place the sugar into the TM bowl and grind for 30 seconds on speed 9. Scrape down the sides after 10 seconds. Replace the butterfly and add the cream. Whip for 40 seconds on speed 3.

Add the fromage frais and mix for 10 seconds on speed 3. Finally add the whipped egg whites and mix again for 20 seconds on speed 3.

Line the moulds with muslin or similar (new pieces of Chux) and fill with the cheese mixture, smoothing out the top. Leave on a tray overnight in the fridge to drain.

To make the sauce, place the strawberries and kirsch into the TM bowl and blend for 30 seconds on speed 9.

To serve, unmould the cheeses onto plates and surround with the strawberry sauce and offer more cream and sugar.

Thermomix Junket and Blueberries

OK, so it is not mind shattering and it is not really a berry recipe as such but I was looking through recipes and saw a Tivoli aux fraises recipe. It has Kirsch jelly, Bavarian cream, strawberry purée, strawberries, kirsch, maraschino and Chantilly cream. A ring mould is lined with the kirsch jelly and filled with Bavarian cream with strawberry purée before being allowed to set and served with strawberries soaked in kirsch and maraschino and some Chantilly cream. Sounded interesting, but then I saw Junket directly below.

Strange, here is a book written by one of the greatest chefs that the world has known, with a recipe for junket.

Then I looked in the Introduction and was reminded that “Ma Cuisine is not just an aide-mémoire for the experienced cook but a kitchen book of recipes which are put as clearly as possible, so as to make them practical. Although the book is intended for everyday cooking, it is none the less valuable to the restaurateur, the head waiter and the chef. The ordinary housewife will find here delicious recipes within the limits of her purse. One must not forget that good sound cooking, even the very simplest, makes a contented home”

So wrote Auguste Escoffier. Sound advice. So I decide to make junket. I still had some tablets from experiments with making cheese and thought that I would see if they were still OK. Junket powder is available in Australia through Simply Junket and can be purchased in many delis and grocers throughout the land. If you contact them here, then they will happily respond.

The Thermomix has the ability to heat the milk to 37°C without having to worry about it overheating and denaturing the rennet. It really is very simple.

The milk may be flavoured with various essences or flavourings after warming the milk and before adding the junket powder. You can top the junket with fruits or muesli or whatever takes your fancy.














Remember, you can use junket powder to make cottage cheese, which is what I intend to do for another recipe.



Thermomix Junket

Ingredients

1/8 teaspoon of Simply Junket powder
1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
500mls Milk

Method

Place sugar into TM bowl and grind for 10 seconds on speed 9
Add milk and heat for 3 minutes at 37°C on speed 2.
Dissolve Simply Junket powder in a teaspoon of water and add to TM bowl.
Mix for 5 seconds on speed 4 and then pour into serving bowls or glasses.
Allow the junket to set at room temperature for 10 – 15 mins and then place in the fridge
to chill until ready to serve.

Toppings may be added just prior to serving.

Thermomix Strawberry Tiramisu

This recipe comes from the book “A Passion for Fruit” by Lorzenza de’Medici. Similar to Lynne Mullins’ book “produce”, it has chapters on each fruit with an introduction and then some recipes.

There are many recipes for various berries, but one that caught my eye was Strawberry Tiramisu.

The book has suggestions for making the tiramisu as one large dish or individual dishes using trifle sponges cut into circles. I decided to make individual tiramisu with the usual savoiardi biscuits.

The flavour was obviously good enough as they all went very quickly.




Strawberry Tiramisu

Ingredients:

50 g sugar
300 g whipping cream
200 g mascarpone cheese
180 g sponge fingers
200 ml sweet white wine (or 1 cup water with ½ teaspoon of rosewater)
300 g strawberries, hulled
Icing sugar to dust.

Method:

Place the sugar in the TM bowl and grind for 10 seconds on speed 9. Place the butterfly over the blades and add the cream and beat for 1 minute on speed 3.

Remove the butterfly, scrape down the cream, add the mascarpone and beat for 20 seconds on speed 5.

Place quarter of this mixture onto the base of a serving bowl. Dip the sponge fingers briefly into the wine (or water mixture) and arrange them over the mascarpone. Place another quarter of the mascarpone mixture on the biscuits and then top with half of the strawberries. Cover this with another quarter of the mascarpone mix and then repeat the procedure with the sponge fingers and remaining mascarpone mixture.

Leave this covered in the fridge for 2 hours before placing remaining strawberries on top and sprinkling with icing sugar.

Thermomix Sabayon with Blueberries.

So, with berries as the theme and blueberries in the fridge, I turned to Lynne Mullins’ book “produce” to see what ideas she had for blueberries.

The book is a fantastic source of ideas with wonderful photos of fruit and vegetables at various markets and places around the world. There are photographs contributed by about 40 people and they just make you want to either go to the local market or get on a plane. When you see the market at Campo dei Fiori in Rome, or the markets of Paris and Seville, it is hard not to start planning a trip. My local green grocer has a copy in his store to help customers with their purchases and cooking.

I have met Lynne Mullins on a few occasions and we have one thing in common. Her husband and I share the same occupation. Other than that, she is attractive, has a wonderful knowledge of food, writes well and makes money out of her writings, so there are large differences. You will have seen some of her contributions in various papers and magazines including The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue and Australian Gourmet Traveller. You may recall “Three things with ...” in the Sunday Life magazine?

The section on berries has a photo with blueberries, strawberries and melons at Positano on the Amalfi coast and a recipe opposite for blueberries with sabayon sauce.

Now sabayon was the dish that George Calombaris made in the Thermomix during the Masterchef series last year. What he failed to do was explain just how much harder it is to make without the Thermomix. The other thing that was interesting was that nobody had told him to put the butterfly in the TMX, so many people trying to replicate his dish may be a little disappointed.

The following is similar in some respects to a dish with champagne and berries topped with sabayon sauce. The recipe from Lynne Mullins had marsala, along the lines of zabaglione, but I used crème de cassis and white wine.

Fresh Blueberries with sabayon sauce.

Ingredients:

110 g sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tbsp crème de cassis
1/2 cup white wine
2 punnets blueberries

Method:

Place the sugar in the TM bowl and grind for 20 seconds on speed 9. Place the butterfly over the blades and add the egg yolks beat for 4 minutes at 50°C on speed 3.

Add the other ingredients and beat for 5 minutes at 80°C on speed 3. Check the consistency of the sabayon and cook for a little longer if necessary.

Divide the blueberries evenly between 4 serving dishes and then pour over the sabayon sauce.

Thermomix Blueberry Sorbet

Well with berries as the theme for the week I decided to check out the dessert section of the bookshelf and spotted a book that came with marriage. I cannot recall seeing it before and it is called Donvier Ice Cream by Irena Chalmers. It came with a hand- churned ice cream machine from the 1980s and had the subtitle “Homemade Ice Cream in 20 Minutes !” Well the Thermomix can do it in a couple of minutes.

The book has a surprisingly interesting collection of flavour combinations and ideas, including a macadamia nut ice cream à la Simca (an adaptation of a recipe from Simone Beck, who co-wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking with Julia Child). There’s a gin and juniper berry sorbet, a pear & red wine sorbet, lychee sherbet and orange & campari sherbet. There are also frozen drinks suggested such as frozen margaritas and bellinis, and for the health conscious, there are lots of Lite suggestions.

So, this is a quick simple recipe more for those who do not use the Thermomix to see how easy making sorbets can be and for those with a Thermomix just to remind them that making sorbets helps keep the blades sharp.

It is a quick impressive dessert that can be whipped up in a few minutes when unexpected guests arrive. You can use various fruits and can substitute fruit juice or water for the liqueur.

Thermomix Blueberry Sorbet

Ingredients:

60 g sugar
500 g frozen blueberries
200 g ice cubes
1/2 lemon, skin, pith and seeds removed
2 Tbsp crème de cassis
1 egg white

Method:

Place sugar in TM bowl and grind for 10 seconds on speed 10

Add berries, ice cubes, lemon and liqueur and blend at for 30 seconds on speed 9, using the spatula through the lid to help mix.

Add egg white and blend for another 30 seconds on speed 9.

Angels' Farts

This is a recipe from Antonio Carluccio’s book “An Invitation to Italian Cooking” (1991) Pavillion Books Ltd. The recipe came from a restaurant near Treviso in Italy.

The fritole are similar to bunuelos with a dough similar to choux pastry being fried in oil.

Carluccio said that he had decided that due to their heavenly lightness the only way to describe them was “angel’s farts”

One extra ingredient that possibly helps with the lightness is the baking powder added to the mix. It is not essential to have the baking powder with vanilla, but it is available in Australia and so should be easy enough to source. You can, of course, replace it with ordinary baking powder and some vanilla essence.

This was to be in the “soft” week, but as I am so far behind – it is in with the “sweet”.






Angels’ Farts (Fritole di Lino)

Ingredients:

100 g milk
100 g water
50 g sugar
15 g butter
200 g flour
2 tsp baking powder with vanilla (eg Lievito paneangeli)
4 eggs
Olive oil for frying

Filling:
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
150 g sugar
500 g milk
50 g corn flour

Method:

Place milk, water, sugar and butter into TM bowl and heat for 7 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1.

Add the flour and blend for 15 seconds on Speed 6.

Allow to cool to 60°C and then add the eggs one at a time through the opening in the lid with the tm set for 3 minutes at speed 5, add baking powder and mix 15 seconds on Speed 3 to incorporate.

Remove to a bowl and allow to cool for half an hour.

Place olive oil in a pan to a level of 2 cm and heat to 180°C.

Drop teaspoons of dough into the oil. It should immediately swell and usually turn itself over. The balls should be browned on all sides. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. The balls should have a crisp outer coat and hollow centre. Keep warm while preparing the filling.

Roughly clean the TM bowl and add all the ingredients for the filling. Cook for 8 minutes at 90°C on Speed 3. Leave aside to cool before placing into a piping bag.

Make a small hole in the base of each puff and fill with the cream filling.

Schiacciata con l'uva - Tuscan grape bread

Well there were still grapes in the fridge and so what to do. Many years ago I recall watching a cooking program that I was sure was The de Medici Kitchen and there was a description of a flat-bread being made at harvest time stuffed and topped with grapes. OK, a sweet foccacia !!

So I looked through my books by Lorenza de Medici and could not find the recipe. So, then looked through other Italian books and finally found it in Claudia Roden's book "The Food of Italy" on page 137. Although my older edition has a different cover.

There is a link to search the book here and Judith Sweet (this week's theme !) wrote up the recipe in the Hobart Mercury here.

It is a very simple dish and a good way to use up grapes while making bread. You can just use all grapes or for a boozy taste use the dessert wine- soaked raisins. You can just use your favourite bread dough or pizza dough as the base with some sugar added.

It is a rustic dish and designed to be eaten by the grape pickers.

Florentine flat bread with grapes
(Schiacciata con l’uva)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp fresh yeast or 1 tbsp dried yeast
150ml milk, lukewarm
300g bakers' flour
130g sugar
pinch salt
500g black grapes, pitted, skin on
200g raisins soaked in Vin Santo or other
sweet dessert wine.

Method:

If using fresh yeast, place it in the TM bowl with the milk and mix for 10 seconds at 37°C on speed 4. Add flour, 100g of sugar and the salt and mix for 15 seconds at 37°C on speed 4.

If using dried yeast, add it to the flour, 100g of sugar and the salt and mix for 10 seconds at 37°C on speed 4. Then add the milk and mix for 15 seconds at 37°C on speed 4.

Place the Thermomix into the Closed Lid position and set to use the Interval button to Knead for 3 minutes then leave in the TM bowl to double in size.

Once doubled, punch the dough done and set the machine to knead for another 1 minute 30 seconds.

Remove dough and shape into two rounds about 22cm across.

Place one on a floured baking tray and cover it with half the grapes and half the raisins, drained.

Place the remaining dough on top, press down quite firmly and cover with the rest of
the grapes and drained raisins.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cover the dough and leave until doubled in size.

Sprinkle with the remaining 30g sugar and bake for about 45 minutes, until golden on top.

Thermomix Mango Custards in the Varoma

Well sweet was the theme and as I love making custards in the Thermomix Varoma (steaming attachment) and mangoes are very plentiful at present, steamed mango custards it was for me.

The book that inspired me was “Belle Cuisine, The international encyclopedia of New Cuisine” by Hilary Walden ( and Jean-Louis Pollet) 1986, Quatro Publishing. It is interesting to look back at what was in vogue 25 years ago. Many of the dishes would still basically be acceptable with flavour combinations and techniques, but maybe not the presentations.



However, any book that has pictures of M. Bocuse and acknowledges his contribution to cuisine is bound to attract my attention.

There are many recipes for free-standing mousses, custards and bavarois, so I decided to try a mango custard, using just mango, sugar and eggs. The custards were cooked in the Varoma and when first cooked and unmoulded they wanted to collapse (as in the picture with the glazed mango cheek), but as they cooled, and especially after refrigerating, they became firm, yet silky smooth.





Mango Custards in the Varoma

Ingredients:

50 g sugar
2 large ripe mangoes, approx 400g flesh in chunks
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Place sugar in TM bowl and grind for 30 seconds on speed 9.

Add the mango flesh and blend for 20 seconds on speed 5.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix through for 15 seconds on speed 3.

Pour the mixture into 6 greased dariole moulds and place into the Varoma tray.

Place 700 g water into the TM bowl and position lid and Varoma tray.

Cook the custards for 30 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1. Check after 25 minutes to see if the custards have set. They may need a little less or more time.

Leave for 5 minutes before gently unmoulding, or cool and place in fridge for a few hours to serve cold.

Thermomix Tiramisù Ice Cream

This sweet little number comes from Allan Campion and Michele Curtis’ book “In The Kitchen”. This cookbook has a wealth of (over 1000) very tasty recipes presented in easy to understand format, using readily available ingredients.

I have made many other recipes from their book, but this one caught Mrs T’s eye and, as we had all the ingredients (except sweetened condensed milk), I decided to make some dulce and then use some of the thickened mixture to substitute for the canned milk.



Also, simply because the triangular mould was there, I decided to vary the recipe.

The original recipe only has coffee drizzled over the last layer of sponge fingers, however, I would use more coffee and liqueur next time and drizzle over more of the biscuits. You don’t want to soak them, but some extra flavour and moisture would be good.

It has been a great success though and thanks go to Allan & Michele, and Rosemary di Benedetto who supplied them with the idea.

Tiramisù Ice-Cream

Ingredients:

125 ml strong black coffee (or more as desired)
2 Tbsp coffee liqueur
395 g can sweetened condensed milk
600 ml cream
60 ml milk
12 sponge fingers

Method:

Carefully line a medium (21cm x 9cm x 6cm) loaf tin with cling film.

Mix the coffee and liqueur together and allow to cool.

Position the butterfly over the blades in the TM bowl. Place the condensed milk, cream and milk into the TM bowl and whip for 3 minutes on speed 4, or until thick. Add half of the coffee mixture and beat for 10 seconds on speed 3.

Lay 6 sponge finger biscuits in the base of the tray (I would then spoon over some coffee mixture) and cover with the milk and cream mix. Top with the remaining sponge fingers and spoon over the remaining coffee mixture.

Freeze overnight.

Remove from the tin and cut into 1 cm slices and then cut these diagonally. Serve with a butterscotch sauce.