Student kitchens
Easy, delicious, healthy(ish) recipes that won’t own your budget.Cupcake nirvana, and swiss buttercream (among other toppings)
I’ve made many cakes that go like this: beat butter & sugar, beat in eggs and vanilla, fold in milk and flour alternately. Bake. Eat. Don’t get me wrong. These cakes are damn good. They make my day. They’re predictable, safe and a few hours after they’ve been cooked, pure heaven, and the reason I do home baking. BUT. The next day can be a little disappointing, to say the least. And the day after that, they get progressively worse. They get dryer. And sort of hard. And well. Then I don’t feel so great about home baking. Which is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Then stuff like this happens.
These were meant to be for my best friend Clare’s birthday dinner dessert thing. See those gorgeous red polka dot wrappers? Well, they appreciated the cupcake overflow about as much as I did. Not very much. However, my cunning as a home-baker-that-doesn’t-always-succeed resulted in me just cutting off the ooze babies and resulted in this:
Ahhh. Like engineering boys after a haircut! Still greasy, but much better looking ;)
Also, they were still good, and the ooze babies provided ample snackage.
But ok, I’m honestly not here just to share poor analogies and baking failures. I have discovered a cure for those dry cake ills. It’s using half oil, half butter (ok…lots more oil, shh). Which frankly made me feel better about piling on the buttercream for the cupcakes. Who are we kidding. Adding some cupcake to the buttercream. Anyway I think we will need a cut because I got very excited with pictures, and I ended up writing more about toppings and decoration ideas. But before I do:
*tease*!
Shiitake bliss – lentil and vege casserole
For my 21st birthday a good friend of mine gave me two classic casserole dishes. The first time I used it I made the most delicious stew/casserole thing, with shiitakes, potatoes, carrots and onions, and I ate it all up without bothering to photograph it. Well. You shall finally be enlightened, as I made this the other night (although not in my pretty casserole dishes because I may have made enough to feed four. Of course, if you’re not as lucky on the casserole dish front, there’s always the good old pot on the cooktop on low heat.
Now, this is possibly the easiest thing to make ever, but there are a few things you need to do in advance. Soak lentils and mushrooms in the morning, but other than that, it’s chop, chuck, cook and er…I’ve run out of “C” words for devour-like-a-hungry-kid-who-has-been-standing-outside-a-candy-shop-all-day. One thing you must must do though, is use shiitake mushrooms. They are the meat of this. If you want to save money and time, head down to your nearest asian supermarket and ask for the nicest shiitake mushrooms (try “dried” mushrooms) they have. They may not even be the most expensive. Will got ours from the fruit and vege shop in upper Riccarton, called full season. They’re not cheap, but they’ll last ages because they double in size once soaked, and the flavour is rather strong.
Let’s go!
Lentil Shiitake Casserole
serves 4 as a one pot dinner
1/2 c dry lentils,* soaked for at least 8 hours
handful dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked for at least 8 hours**
1-2 onions, sliced thinly along the lines
2 small carrots, cut into strips/slices 2cm thick
about 2c other veges (I used portobellos, cauliflower florets and broccoli florets)
about 2c cubed potatoes (cut into 3cm/1″ chunks)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 c light soy sauce
50g butter sliced or 1/3 c oil to veganise
handful of fresh wintery herbs like sage, rosemary and/or thyme, or 1 tsp each dried
freshly ground black pepper
*brown or french lentils that keep their shape are best)
**immerse in a glass of water (but only just – don’t use too much water), then place another cup on top of the mushrooms in the glass of water. This will keep the top mushrooms from floating on the surface of the water and not soaking properly.
Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Rinse lentils by placing under the tap in a sieve and place at the bottom of the casserole dish. Remove shiitakes from the water, and squeeze water out over the lentils. Halve shiitakes and place all other veges and herbs in the dish with the shiitakes, and mix to distribute herbs. Pour shiitake soaking water and soy sauce over the whole lot. Top with the butter (see first picture for an illustration).
Place casserole dish in the centre of your oven for about an hour, taking it out and stirring once or twice in between (when stirring the point is to get those juices at the bottom all over your veges and to move the veges that have been parboiling at the bottom to the top). Or leave on your stovetop on medium low heat for an hour, stirring three or four times in between. Then you should get something that looks like this:
Now, I know it doesn’t look appealing, so maybe skip this for the guests, but it’s the sort of thing that makes me happy without steak and lamb. And I like lamb.
This keeps quite well for leftovers, and to reheat without a microwave you just need to add a cm of water to the bottom of a saucepan, dump in leftovers and cover, heating for about 5 minutes. Perfect for the crappy summer we’ve been having! Sigh. It’s ok, my next post will be a lot more optimistic. I may have made my first batch of swiss buttercream. Can you guess what I made with them?
Cafe perfection
As you will have noticed, I don’t really do very many reviews of cafes on this blog. To date, this is usually because most things at cafes do not impress me much, and what’s to say about an overpriced dry muffin that must be consumed in a pretentious yet somehow also tacky surroundings? Uni cafes, I am looking at you (although 101 does do *some* good food admittedly). Thus it was with some trepidation that Ro and I visited a cafe called Beauvais today, in Avonhead (we tried to go to a tea house which it turns out has been closed since 2008. Woops), as a second choice. As soon as I entered and took a glance at the cabinet though, I was impressed. Everything was well presented and looked home made, but what was this?! Affordable pricing?! At a cafe?! (Scroll to bottom to see these, although my memory is a little fuzzy as the blood rushes downward to digest the insane amount of food I ate). This is why I must share this place with anyone who loves good food but doesn’t have the benefit of Daddy’s plastic (not that there is anything wrong with getting lunch shouted by your parents at this place. No doubt they will be impressed with your impeccable taste and have to invite you many more times to thank you for introducing them to the place).
This is one of the few cafes that has an excellent balance of cafe and restaurant. The cabinet has exciting sweet temptations at affordable prices (50c for hazelnut biscotti meringues, drizzled with espresso…I thought I was dreaming! $2 for a small but heavenly slice of the kind of chocolate tart you normally get charged $12 a plate for), and you can see that the bread is home made. Even the muffins looked moist and the flavour combination (lemon and white chocolate) was unique without sounding weird and over-adventurous. And oh. My. God. The breakfast and lunch menu?! Why, it featured such delectable options such as brioche and orange butter pancakes for breakfast, and prawn and lemon risotto for lunch. So. Ro and I started with those delectable meringues (the espresso was a lovely touch and I don’t know how, but it didn’t make the meringue soggy. These people are magic!), and a piece of chocolate tart each. Holy heaven, the crust was so thin I could almost see the chocolate through it! And the filling! Airy and light yet decadently moist and rich, and best of all, still mouthwateringly chocolatey! Plus somehow there was a little bit of crunch from the edges, a good touch. The meringue was splendidly crisp and airy and the hint of hazelnut and espresso a match made in heaven, and I’m not even a fan of meringue – I was drawn to the hazelnut! Then our massive iced coffees arrived, and they were amazing too! I was worried the mains would be where the excellence stopped – surely you can’t get everything right?
Out came the prawn and lemon risotto and the mushroom and parmesan gnocchi (in good time), on very large plates considering we were lunching, and both first bites were accompanied by the sort of eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-head that is normally reserved for excessively priced French desserts. The lemon and prawns were a perfect combination that cut back on the excess of a risotto. The perfectly cooked mushrooms in the gnocchi and generous amount of creamy sauce and parmesan, plus the pillowy and perfectly cooked gnocchi (yes, I am using “perfect” a lot, and I normally don’t, so listen up!), almost made me want to cry like an orphan that had just been offered their first piece of chocolate. This is what all cafes should be. Passionate about their food. Smiley, attentive people who clearly care about the food too. Gorgeous, polished setting. Clean. Well styled. With a vege garden (and that made me want to cry like…like…with pure joy). The outdoor area was nicely enclosed so you couldn’t see any traffic, and there were wooden and gorgeous wrought iron tables with clean tiles and options for those who liked sun and those who loved sun before sunburn. The indoors has comfy, modern chairs with tasteful artwork and nice dark wooden tables. The people were just lovely and you could see they were excited about the food and working at such a fabulous establishment. One of the ladies even noticed we had the wrong cutlery for our gnocchi and risotto, and immediately rectified this before our mains arrived. We also paid after our meals, which is always nice and reassuring. There’s nothing worse than arguing with waitresses once you’ve already paid, not that that would be a concern here. The professional genius, as it turns out, partly comes from the head chef who used to work at Rotherhams on Riccarton, and Beauvais is an attempt at affordably priced foodie food. I’ve been to Rotherhams before and I can say quite frankly that this place takes the cake, easily.
Oh me! Oh my! I came out a different person! Quite literally considering I changed into looser pants as soon as I got home.
You have yourself some regulars, Beauvais.
Beauvais (espresso, breakfast, lunch)
186 Yaldhurst Rd, Christchurch, New Zealand
Ph 03 342 4283
Prices:
Hazelnut biscotti espresso meringues, 50c each (say what?!)
Decadent chocolate tart, $2 a slice
Iced coffee, $4.90
Lemon, prawn and parmesan risotto, $17.50
Mushroom parmesan gnocchi in a creamy sauce, $17.50
Pots and plots: garden guide part 2
So have I convinced anyone to throw some dirt in an old yogurt container, steal a stick of rosemary from the concrete islands on Blenheim road, and have perfectly roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes come winter time (we in the South are enjoying a very mild summer if that gives any northies some comfort)? Oh what, you missed that bit? Hmmm.
Pot planting (the legal variety)
Now I know that’s not rosemary, people, but since it’s summer in the South, I thought I’d get you kick started on chives, which can be grown easily on the windowsill in large 1L yogurt containers that have had holes poked in the bottom. Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s what you’ll need to start you off
1x 1L Yogurt container or something similar (or, golly gosh, a pot, if you want to buy one)
Enough potting mix to fill it
Some sort of bowl, or a takeaway container, to shove under the container (to act as a drip catcher)
a packet of chives or garlic chives seeds, or seedlings
Poke about 5 holes in the bottom of your yogurt container with a small sharp knife. If planting seedlings, fill halfway with potting mix and shove your seedlings in, then fill it up as much as you can without pressing down on the soil. Otherwise, fill with potting mix almost to the very top, sprinkle two pinches of seed in the centre of the dirt, and sprinkle over some potting mix to just cover the seeds. Place the container on your plate. Sprinkle a little water over the soil, and then fill the bowl or takeaway container with water, and leave in the warmest part of the house that receives ample amounts of sun (usually a windowsill). Replenish the drip catcher whenever it gets empty. Should germinate (which means the seed sprouts out of the soil) in under 2 weeks. Let grow at least 6 inches long before snipping.
Chives are fantastic because once you’ve snipped them, they will keen regrowing for ages. This is why they’re great for the beginner gardener. After a while they’ll start to grow stalky flowers, and these are edible too (not really after they’ve been pollinated though), and gorgeous as a decoration for salads and stuff. Chives have a mild oniony flavour that makes them perfect for pretty much anything savoury, especially in potato salads, scrambled eggs or stir fries. Their roots don’t grow long so are fine for containers all year around, so long as night temperatures don’t get below 5 degrees. They like warmth which make them best for growing in summer or spring, and some sun and regular watering. Garlic chives are the same but have flat leaves and taste mildly garlicky. They are better cooked a little rather than used raw like normal chives.
Most other herbs will suit the same method of planting. Flat parsley, basil, sage, oregano, mint, lemon balm and thyme all do at least. Once they sort of take over the pot/container though they are best transplanted directly into the soil or into a larger container if you want them to keep growing.
Planting from cuttings
So you’re not a fan of chives huh? Or were you simply hooked by the idea of fresh rosemary? You should be, as rosemary is frost hardy (won’t die in a frost), tolerates relatively dry, poor soil, and does not really need much taking care of (it doesn’t tend to get attacked by many insects. Its lovely smell confuses pests and the eventual flowers attract bees. So if you ever find a rosemary bush, snip a twig off at a 45 degree angle, put into water immediately, and then stick in a pot of moist soil. Or let sit in a container of water (just the last inch or so immersed in water) until it establishes roots, then plant into soil. You want to keep up the watering while it’s establishing its roots, but once it starts growing off shoots, take it easy on the watering front. Eventually you want to transplant it into a bigger pot if you’re going to actually use it in things.
See how I’ve covered the soil a little with grass clippings? That will keep the soil protected from sun damage and keep it moist for longer, and provide some nutrients for the plant as the stuff breaks down. It also limits the amount of soil available for weeds to plant themselves. This covering of the soil is called mulching, and it is one of the keys to lazy gardening! If you’re doing this in a little plot, it will also encourage earthworms to aerate your soil, which is great for further root development for all your plants.
Vegetables in pots
Generally vegetables are best grown into the ground. Sure they can be started in pots, but they’ll want to move outside to really flourish. However, if you have no garden space, here are my favourite 4 things to grow in pots:
Lettuces and salad leaves
Pretty much any lettuces can be grown in pots, as they have very shallow roots. Keep well watered and out of full sun as they will wilt otherwise. Plant a maximum of 2-4 per 20cm wide pot.
Radishes (in pots longer than 20cm)
They’re super easy to grow and sprout really quickly. Plant at least 10cm apart.
Spinach
They have slightly longer roots than lettuces but still work okay in pots. Follow the same guidelines as for lettuces.
Spring onions
Soo much better than buying spring onions, which are difficult to fit in the fridge and always go off before you use them all. These are a great way to add oniony flavour with splashes of green. If grown inside keep in a sunny area.
Also, the following can be grown in large containers with good potting mix: beetroot, capsicum (indoors), courgettes, cucumbers, beans, leeks, shallots, silverbeet (Swiss chard), snow peas, strawberries and tomatoes (miniature ones like cherry tomatoes).
General guidelines for planting in pots
Water from the bottom by filling up your drip catcher regularly, to avoid water spilling over the sides in case you overwater. Also this encourages the roots to grow as they reach towards the moist parts of the soil at the bottom.
Keep pots warm. Most plants like warmth.
If you’ve done everything else well (watering etc) and the plant is bigger than its pot and it starts to look unhappy, chances are it needs a bigger pot.
Use potting mix, unless the seed packet says the plant tolerates poor soil. Langtons compost also works but you will need to use some liquid fertiliser to encourage growth once the plants have sprouted.
Once the plants are somewhat established, add some grass clippings or dead leaves to the surface of the soil to protect soil nutrients and to keep moisture locked in for longer.
Next up: starting a plot!
New places, new spaces
And garden goodies!
We have two new flatmates who have recently moved in, and I’ve noticed there are more and more trailers unloading their loot. It’s moving time of year, and I just thought I’d post a wee guide about starting your own little patch. Having my own little plot (now plural) has been so rewarding. This post will hopefully address your doubts and encourage you to at least consider the idea!
Here are my top reasons for starting a garden at your new flat:
1. Free food, obviously! It is ridiculously cheaper to plant your own veges. Even if only one of your seeds actually gives you something, you’ll likely make back the money you spent on the whole packet.
fresh basil on the windowsill
2. Unrivalled freshness. Fresh herbs especially will save you heaps of money and they will taste so much better than store bought, plus they won’t die in the corner of the fridge. If you have too many you can easily dry your herbs too (looks like I’m going to have to do this for my oregano which has gone NUTS)
flat parsley in cream cheese pottles on the living room windowsill
3. A reason to get outside. Ok, so I’m not the most outdoorsy person in the world. I like sunny days, but usually this means observing from behind windows. Sad, huh? Well, gardening will make sure you get outside at least once a week and you can gradually build up a tan without boring yourself stupid.
4. Relaxation. If you’re a student, chances are you may need zen time every now and then, and there is always something you can do to give yourself a break if you have a garden (or even a pot garden if you have no plot).
5. Sustainability. Apart from the obvious (cutting down food miles), if you decide to try and feed yourself organically (which, depending on how you go about it, will be cheaper too), you’ll be using less fossil fuel based fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Especially if you plant a variety of plants that work well together to improve the soil.
I was also going to put excitement as a reason, but I realise that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Personally the germination of new seedlings gives me such a feeling of accomplishment – I make life happen, people.
So, are you convinced yet? No? Ok, what if I address the top excuses for not having a bit of a garden:
1. I’m too poor. Hello?! Did you not read reason to garden #1?! Ok, so you may think it’s expensive to set one up. So start small with a pot and some seeds. The cheapest pots are buckets you can get for about $1 each (or try trademe) and you can get seeds very cheaply from supermarkets or hardware stores. With buckets you just need to poke some holes in the bottom with a small sharp knife and put a plate or another bucket under it to catch water. It’s easiest to monitor how much you need to water the plants if you only fill the water catcher (also you won’t get overspill, unless you’re un-co). You don’t even need potting mix (shh, don’t tell anyone), just get some decent compost (my favourite is the stuff they sell at Bunnings Warehouse, which sells at about $5 a 40L bag). Be careful though, some composts are awful (Ahem, looking at you, “Just compost” – you suck, seed killer!).
2. I can’t be arsed. Start small with one pot (read above) and some seeds, and I guarantee the first sprouts you get will make you want to keep going!
3. I don’t have enough space in our garden. So start with pots. Read excuse #1.
4. I’m a plant killer. Ask your flatmates if they’d be keen to help out with watering and getting seeds and pots (see #1 for watering advice for pots). This will mean that your plants will have the love of multiple people! Again, start small, and share your bounty if others are helping you out.
5. I don’t know where to begin! Don’t worry, I will eeaase you into it. Gardening can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be, and I mean that quite honestly. Watch out for my next post (in the next week or so) which will let you know how to set up a very simple pot garden (or just some pots) or a little patch. I ain’t no expert, but I have done a lot of harvesting! Also, I will use terms the average student will understand, or I will explain them every time, promise. If I don’t, you can stalk me down until I explain.
Ok, before I start with my next post, I highly recommend New Zealand Garnder magazine’s 2010 garden diary. It’ll help keep you on track and give you a paper record of your efforts. Mine was $14.90, which is pretty good as it’s packed with gorgeous garden eye candy too and many recipes. It even distinguishes between climates in the North and South Islands, which is very handy. If you follow me throughout the year though I’ll be dishing out highlighted advice from the diary. So the choice is yours. I just got mine at a supermarket, but any good bookstore will probably have them too.
Okay…now follow me!
PS. From now on if you want to hone into this garden series I’ve created a tag for it called “garden series.” So if you miss one you can easily find it and all the rest in date order. Happy thinking!
Wholemeal cashew topped cookies
Usually wholemeal flour has a very sectioned off place in my heart. For bread? Yes (if it’s fresh). For pastry? Surprisingly, yes. For cake? Sometimes. For cookies? Nooo. Nononono. However, I really did have that niggly feeling you get when you decide to bake and eat cookies before you go to bed that you should at least try to make them a little healthier. So I did.
The verdict consisted of a muffled hrmwow as cookie was stuffed in mouth. Not only was the texture still soft while being slightly crisp at the edges, but the nutty wholemeal flour complemented the flavour of the cashew nuts perfectly. Sure, if you hate nuts, maybe keep looking for cookie utopia, but for a nut, er, lover, the wholemeal flour actually worked wonders. To be honest I’ve used it in oatmeal cookies and that has been fine, but without the distraction of whole grain oatiness, this had me worried.
It helps that this recipe is incredibly easy and quick to knock together (thus making it entirely appropriate to start at 8.30pm…I can finally stop telling myself never to start baking past 8 on weekdays). Plus the wholemeal flour and cashews almost makes it a whole meal :D Well, it’ll keep you filled up for longer anyway. Why not try it with different nuts? Add some oats? Raisins even. Did I just lose half of you? Probably. Enjoy anyway!
Wholemeal cashew cookies, adapted from The laughing gastronome.
makes 12-13
100g butter, softened*
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed) – caster sugar or dark brown sugar is the next best alternative
1 egg at room temp**
1 tsp vanilla extract (skip the fake stuff, it’ll ruin the subtle flavours in this cookie)
1 c wholemeal flour (or plain if that’s all you’ve got)
1/2 tsp baking powder
about 1/4 cup cashews, crushed or chopped
*I place slices of butter in a glass or metal mixing bowl and bung in the oven at 50C for about 5-10 minutes to soften butter quickly
**Place egg in warm water for 5 mins if it has been in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 180C (350F), and lightly grease a large baking tray.
Cream butter and sugar together until paler and smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla, then stir in flour and baking powder until you get a thick batter. Scoop Tablespoons of the dough onto your baking tray, leaving an inch in between. Sprinkle with chopped cashew, pressing down a little.
Bake in oven for 10-13 mins, until the edges are darker than the centres, or a few minutes longer if you want a solid cookie rather than softer ones. Cool on racks and devour.
Summer pasta salad
You’d think summer would bring plenty of berries, courgettes (zucchinis), fresh tomatoes, basil and basically all that is good in the world. Well, that story is partly true – a plentiful variety of vegetables is more affordable, but meanwhile, my garden is almost behaving like it’s still spring. All those seedlings are meekly popping out, hesitating as if another unexpected frost will come and pinch their lives away. Honestly, it has been a lukewarm summer so far, and while today looks like it will be gloriously sunny, the predicted high is 18C. No short shorts today.
Past all the griping though, there is a ray of summeryness to be had. Next time you have an hour to spare, pop down towards your closest market-style greengrocers – I picked up the most beautiful tomatoes and the freshest dwarf beans I’d ever laid my hand on, as well as some deep red peppers. You don’t need to get the exact same thing really, any veges will do, as long as they shrilly cry summer to you.
Summer pasta salad
serves 4 for lunch or 3 for a generous dinner
pasta for 4 (about 350g-400g)
1 large onion or 2 small, sliced along the lines
2 small/medium red peppers, halved to cut across the seed bit, and deseeded
about 100g dwarf beans, halved
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
200g feta, cubed
a handful of fresh summer herbs (basil, oregano or flat parsley are all g)
1-2 fresh tomatoes, diced, juices retained, or equivalent in halved cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil
optional:
about 1/2 tsp lemon pepper or squeeze of lemon juice
sundried tomato or basil pesto to taste or hummus to taste
a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil to finish
Put pasta on to cook and turn oven grill to 200C (400F), arranging an oven rack at the top point. Place halved peppers on a lightly greased oven tray or dish skin side up, and place under the grill. Remove once the skins have blackened somewhat (about 10-15 mins, 15 from a cold oven)
Oil a medium sized frypan on medium heat and fry onions in a generous amount of oil, stirring occasionally, until golden (while this is happening you can be prepping your other ingredients), about 15 minutes. Add half of the chopped garlic, cook another minute.
By this time your pasta will have cooked and the peppers done. Remove peppers from oven and let cool. Drain pasta, place in a large bowl. Add onions and garlic and stir through (get as much oil out as you can from the pan).
Oil the frypan again, heat on medium high. Chuck in the beans once oil is hot and a Tablespoon of water, then cover immediately. Let cook for a minute.
While the beans are cooking, peel the skins off your peppers, and slice thinly. Add to the pasta pot.
Uncover beans and mix the beans around a little, add the rest of the garlic and let cook for another minute uncovered. De-skin the rest of the red peppers if you didn’t finish already.
Taste a bean! If cooked but slightly raw, they are perfect, turn off the heat (they will keep cooking yet!). Add beans and garlic to pasta.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the pasta bowl, mix it all up, and taste, adjusting for seasonings if needed. Serve with a slight drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and garnished with a few fresh herbs.
If keeping leftovers, refrigerate in an airtight container.
Guide to gloriously smooth ganache
Who knew that getting something smooth could make such a mess?!
I don’t know if I’m the only one insane enough to care about how smooth the ganache on my cake is, but I care, ok?! Well. I started caring once I had to make a Birthday cake recently. I blame Ro for this obsession. I’ve been working with ganache (chocolate melted together with cream to make an incredibly smooth, rich, but not overly sweet, icing..although you can also make it into square truffles) a bit lately. For my dear friend Ro’s Birthday, I made a double layer Tia Maria cake (made with Lindt), coated it in ganache with a chocolate mousse center and truffles decorating the whole thing (Ro made these thankfully!). See:
We added butter to the ganache as we were out of cream but had more chocolate (there was a lot more cake to cover than I had envisioned!). This led to a ganache that was much more solid (it didn’t help that it was quite cold that night), which spread more like frosting or icing than a liquidy ganache.
Compare to:
Ok, so I could have done a better job (do not try and pour a second layer of ganache on when the first hasn’t completely set yet! You’ll ruin the perfectiondom previously created by your mad skillz pouring). But you get the idea. So. If you want perfectly smooth ganache, keep reading.
1. Adequate ingredients
Make sure you have more than enough chocolate and cream. The easiest ratio to remember is 1ml:1g, so for example 250ml cream requires 250g chocolate. Do not meddle with this ratio massively, or you will need to run down to the dairy to buy exorbitantly priced Whittakers chocolate like I did. More chocolate than cream is fine if you want a harder frosting (you will need to work much faster to get it smooth though), but do not try and use less chocolate.
For an 8″ single layer cake: for a single layer of ganache, start with 150g chocolate.
For a 10″ single layer cake: for a single layer of ganache, start with 300g chocolate.
What sort of cream? If you don’t live in Australia or New Zealand, you want heavy cream. Otherwise just plain cream (don’t try the low fat stuff, PLEASE) will do.
What sort of chocolate? If you really like dark, use 70 or 60%. Otherwise go for a mixture of 70% and milk chocolate (never, ever Cadbury’s…EVER!) or plain 40% dark. Remember, the cream makes it go less cocoa-intense, but not by a lot.
2. Bring your cake layer to temperature
Let your cake come to room temperature. Let. Your. Cake. Come. To. Room. Temperature. If it’s a little warm that’s ok, but no using cold/frozen cake layers, or you won’t have enough time to make adjustments or add decorations before the ganache sets. Although if you are doing two layers of ganache you could possibly use frozen cake layers. Let me know how it goes.
3. Prepare your set up
Take the cake out of the tin if it isn’t already. Place on a cooling rack large enough to hold it. Then place a plate that is 2-3″ wider than the diameter of the cake under the cooling rack. Preferably the plate should have slightly raised edges so they catch the dribbles.
4. Make the ganache
All the fussiness over putting bowls in simmering water makes this girl roll her eyes. If you have gas, sure, fill a saucepan with water and put a heatproof bowl over it, and make your ganache in this. But if your cooktops do very low heat, that’ll be fine, just pour the cream straight into a saucepan and put it on top of that heat. Now add your chocolate. And stir. You can let it melt for a few minutes then stir, or if you’re mildly neurotic, stir constantly. The first time I made ganache I panicked, because the only chemical reaction that appeared to be occurring was coagulation, but don’t worry. Melt slowly, don’t turn that heat up, and stir until you get a smooth, glossy chocolatey mixture. Taste, and add more chocolate if you want (milk chocolate if it’s not sweet enough, dark if you want it darker). Keep in mind that it will taste more intense cold.
5. Pour some ganache on meeeeee
That’s the cake speaking. Pour a bit of ganache straight onto the centre point of the cake until ganache runs over a side. Stop pouring, and pick up the rack (not the plate) and tilt carefully and slightly to get the ganacheto spread out over the surface of the cake. Don’t let the tilting take more than 20 seconds. Now put it down, pour some more ganache straight into the middle, and tilt again. Put it down, and hopefully the top of your cake is covered. Now the edges might not be fully done, so from the edge of the cake, pour slowly to get the edges covered (you make need to use a spatula or straight knife to spread it a little). If spreading with a knife or spatula, pour over a bit of the edge, then spread. Don’t pour around the edge of the whole cake and then try and spread, or some parts will be more set when you try and spread it, and you’ll get varying levels of smoothness. Now. Whatever you do, don’t try and go back and pour into the centre again, it’ll be too late once you’ve done the sides. Unless you have an unlimited supply of ganache, stop pouring here.
6. Decorate
If you want, you can add some extra decorations before the ganache is set. Examples: crushed nuts (see an example photo here), pre made truffles or nice boxed chocolates. Chocolate piped shapes, grated or shaved chocolate should be added after the ganache is set.
Sometimes the center of the cake will have a dent from where you skewered it to check if it was done (well…mine do). The way to ease that little imperfection is to place some sort of decoration where that dent is.
7. Let set completely
Cover your iced beauty, and let set for several hours until the surface of the ganache is no longer glossy. If you have adequate space in your fridge you can let it set in the fridge, covered, or uncovered in a clean fridge on the top shelf. Now, if you want to avoid moisture spots forming on the cake, do not put it in the fridge, just let it sit on the bench, but keep in mind ganache is made with cream, so you better eat that cake damn soon!
8. Admire
Doesn’t it look pro and impressive?! If you’ve mucked up a little don’t worry, practice makes perfect, and no one is going to hate you for making more cake (and ganache). Also it will still taste stunning anyway, so remember to keep it all in perspective!
9. Devour your ganached plate
Not the plate, the ganache on the plate :P See? Home made dessert has so many rewards.
Oh, and remember to save a little ganache for the test cake if you made one!
Singledom soup for garlic lovers
The first time I heard about potato soup, all I could think of was watered down mashed potato. This clearly fitted in with things like potato pies, potato pizzas, and potato chip sandwiches. Depending on your own inclinations, this either sounds like a brilliant idea or a culinary no-no that deserves a sharp slap on the wrist. Fortunately for me, I had potato and leek soup forced upon my tastebuds much a time ago, and I have never looked back. Potato soup is so good with pretty much any vegetable, and thus perfectly remedies those problematic looking veges you discovered that had been shoved to the back of the fridge. Thus, when faced with a bag of kale that I had picked days ago and sort of left on the counter, I knew exactly how to rid myself of the green leafy mass before me. Potato and kale soup it was.
Well. It may as well have been garlic soup to be honest, hence the reference to singledom – needless to say, there was very little snuggling and much apologetic giggling that night. Of course, if you’re single, why not fill the rest of the house with the smell of glorious garlic and slowly caramelised onions for your dearest flatmates to enjoy? I did say this was a good idea, didn’t I? It is. It’s crap weather over here at the moment, so er…make the most of it to consume soup!
Potato and green leafy vegetable soup (with plenty of garlic)
serves 2-3
You want some sort of blending device for this – an immersion blender, normal blender or food processor is fine.
40g(ish) butter (use oil for vegans)
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed (not chopped)
4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced into 1cm cubes
4-5 cups vege stock or water with 1 tsp salt
2 large handfuls of green leafy vegetable (I used kale), sliced very thin (about 2 packed cups raw)
optional:
small handful fresh thyme, tied in a little bundle, or 1tsp dried thyme
1 large bay leaf, broken in half
splash cream
1/2 cup cooked lentils
Melt butter in a super large frypan or wok or medium saucepan, on medium low heat. Add onions, garlic, and bay leaf, and let cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until the onions are getting golden. Add potatoes, and let cook, stirring every few minutes, until the potatoes get golden bits (about 20 minutes). I know, it seems like a long process, but trust me, it gives this soup seriously mindblowing flavour. Now add the stock (or water + stock cube or salt) and thyme, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add leafy veges (and lentils if using), simmer another 15 minutes (or 5 minutes for delicate leaves like spinach). Remove and discard thyme bundle and bay leaf bits. Scoop soup into food processor and blend until pureed, but still has texture, or use immersion blender. Reheat in the pan on low heat until the mixture simmers (add cream now if using, stirring through), then scoop into bowls and serve topped with fresh thyme if you have some (or a dried bay leaf).
Make dip with leftover soup
Leftover soup
Equivalent amount of cream cheese
Blend together, refrigerate, and use on crackers, bread, or spoons…hehehe.
Quesadillas
…It’s…like a Mexican pizza, but with another base on top? Basically, quesadillas (pronounced “kay-se-dee-yas) involve getting a tortilla, and sprinkling it with cheese, beans, and other vegetables (I used corn off the cob and some leftover home made tomato and onion and garlic sauce). Top it with another tortilla, and bake for 5-10 mins until the cheese is melty. Then you cut it up like a pizza and serve it in wedges. Like vegetarian nachos in pizza form maybe.
They’re super easy and versatile in any case, with crunchy, soft, oozy, textured goodness. Mine were made with home made wholemeal tortillas, corn off the cob, home made tomato, onion and garlic sauce, red kidney beans, flat parsley, cumin, and grated cheese. However, you can make the process as hard or as easy as you like, as healthy or not as you want, but however you customise them, they’re a very achievable meal to put on the table. Even cooking everything from scratch, I had a meal for two done in an hour and a half (I cooked the beans in advance though).
Eg.
Tortillas – make mini sized ones yourself (and go healthy with wholegrains) (about 40 mins to make 12×6″ ones) or just buy them.
Corn – steam some fresh corn (hey, it’s cheap and in season at the moment) and run a sturdy knife down the sides to take the corn off (10 mins) or use frozen or canned corn.
Beans – simmer your favourite kind of bean (soaked overnight) for about 2 hours, or use canned beans.
Vegetables – Fry up some onions and garlic (5 mins), add a can of tomato puree and cook down on low heat in a frypan until thickened to your liking (about half an hour).
You can also use leftover filling and tortillas the next day for a fast lunch (or take leftover ready made ones to work/uni for lunch, but I prefer them hot). But if this is your first time and you really want a recipe, I’m here for you. The first time I made these I used a recipe from The Press, and I followed the recipe very exactly. This time around I just went with my instincts on quantity, because it doesn’t really matter if you have leftover filling (make a sandwich) or tortillas (make a pizza, or cut into wedges and bake for 5-10 mins until crunchy for chips).
Basic quesadillas
Makes 6×6″ filled quesadillas, enough to feed about 3.
Wholemeal tortillas from scratch (ignore if using bought tortillas) – courtesy of Shiny Cooking
2c flour
3Tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
2/3c warm water
Mix flour, salt and oil until well combined. Add water, and mix with hands until you get a soft dough. You may need to add 1/4 – 1/2 c more flour if it sticks to your hands a lot. Knead until smooth. Roll into a long snake and divide into 12 equal sized portions (or you can make bigger ones, but make an even number). Cover with a clean cloth and let sit for 20 minutes. Make your filling in this time.
Once rested, heat a pan (ungreased) on medium heat. Squish a dough portion and roll out until very thin (less than 2mm) and about 6″ in diameter. Place tortilla in the hot pan until it does this:
But not this:
^Burnage.
Flip your tortilla (should only take a minute for those bubbles to appear). It should look sort of like this:
If there are translucent brown uncooked looking bits in between the spots (which should be a pleasant, unburnt looking brown), turn your heat down a notch and let the tortillas cook for longer on each side. Let the other side cook for about a minute (you can check the underside if you want), remove from the pan, plate, and cover with a clean tea towel. While the tortillas cook, you can roll out the rest of the dough rounds. Repeat until you’re out of dough. There. Wasn’t difficult at all.
Filling
2 cobs of corn or a can of corn (not creamed) or equivalent amount frozen and defrosted
1 can of your favourite beans (around 400g) or equivalent pre-cooked on low heat for about 2 hours with a pinch of salt
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbs oil
about 2c grated cheese (omit for vegans)
optional:
1 can pureed tomatoes (see instructions for how this enters the equation)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
some chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
pinch paprika and cayenne or chilli powder
diced button mushrooms
For corn off the cob: Remove green husks from corn. Snap each cob in half, place in a bowl. Fill a saucepan large enough to fit this bowl with about 2cm of water, place the bowl of corn in the saucepan, cover. Place on high heat. Once boiling and the lid starts rattling or releasing steam, lower heat to medium and set a timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn off heat, remove lid, and let sit until warm enough to touch. Then for each cob run a sturdy knife down the cob to remove the corn.
For onions and garlic: Heat oil on medium heat in a frypan, add onions, cook until flecks of gold appear. Add garlic, cook another minute, remove from heat.
For tomato, onion and garlic sauce: In the above, do not remove from heat. Add a can of pureed tomatoes to the frypan and lower the heat. Let the sauce barely simmer until thickened to a sauce that sort of keeps its shape once prodded.
Once all the bits and bobs are assembled, mix them all up.
Assembling (the funnestest bit!)
Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Place 4 tortillas on a baking tray. Sprinkle with cheese, spread filling evenly (about 1.5cm thick), leaving a border. Sprinkle with cheese again. Top each with another tortilla, pressing down to compact all the filling. Place on the top rack in your oven for about 5-10 mins, or until cheese is melted throughout. Remove from oven, cut into quarters, and serve. OMnomNOM. Let me know your favourite fillings too!
