citrus

LEMON PISTACHIO MARSHMALLOW – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

Marshmallow

  • 210g (2/3 + 1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 140 ml (3-4 Large, 1/3 + 1/4 Cup) Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 15g (1 Tbsp) Glucose Syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons (18g) Gelatin Powder
  • 2 Large Egg Whites
  • 180g (1 + 1/2 Cups) Pistachio
  • 140g (1 Cup + 2 Tbsp) Pure Icing/Confectioners Sugar
  • Zest of 3-4 Large Lemon

METHOD:

  1. Pulse together in a processor the pistachio and pure icing sugar till fine.
  2. Stir in between pulses once or twice to ensure even mixing. Do not pulse for too long just enough to make a fine powder as the nut may leak oil if over done.
  3. Oil & line a 23cm (9″) square pan with cling wrap, sprinkle generously with the pistachio mix to prevent marshmallows from sticking.
  4. In a small dish, stir together 40ml lemon juice with the gelatin powder until combined. Set aside to bloom for 5 minutes.
  5. Add lemon zest, 100ml lemon juice to a saucepan. Add sugar & glucose.
  6. Over medium heat, heat this mixture until 121C (250F), do not stir.
  7. When mix is reaching 100C (212F), whisk egg whites on high speed so that it is stiff peaks when the mixture reaches the right temperature.
  8. Immediately stir in the gelatin mix into the sugar mix & stir until completely dissolved.
  9. Gradually pour the sugar mix in a steady stream down the side of the egg whites whilst whisking on high. Avoid hitting the whisk for splash backs.
  10. Continue to whisk on high speed until bowl feels cold to the touch.
  11. Pour it into the lined pan, gently shake in all directions and it should level out by itself.
  12. Cover generously with pistachio mix.
  13. Allow to set at room temperature for 2-3 hours until springs back to touch.
  14. Flip out the marshmallow onto cutting boards, peel away the cling wrap and slice with a sharp knife.
  15. These taste extra tangy when slightly toasted before eating, but are zingy enough as is. Keep well for up to a week if kept airtight and away from humidity as the sugar pistachio coating can get a bit damp over time.

 

MINI WHOLE STRAWBERRY CAKE – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

STRAWBERRY GELEE Ingredients:

  • 1 Teaspoon Powdered Gelatin
  • 1 Tablespoon Extra Juice
  • 100g (1/2 Cup) Fresh Strawberries
  • 60ml (1/4 Cup) Cloudy Apple Juice
  • White Chia Seeds

 

METHOD:

  1. Fold small squares of foil into shapes of half a strawberry by pinching together the sides. You’ll need a minimum of 12 and 2 large ones. Make a tray that tightly fits to hold up and stabilize the moulds so they do not wobble when you pour in the jelly and freeze them.
  2. Cook down frozen or fresh strawberries (Best use fresh as you can keep the stem parts for garnish) until soft in the juice in a pot by simmering.
  3. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over the extra juice in a small container and allow to bloom or rehydrate for 5 minutes.
  4. Blend cooked berry mix in juicer or immersion blender, processor until smooth.
  5. Return to the pot and stir in food coloring if using & the gelatin mix.
  6. Stir to combine with residue heat until granules are all dissolved. Warm on low heat if you need to help dissolve.
  7. Strain into a jug with pouring spout and fill up all the moulds. Cool & freeze for few hours until very firm.
  8. Carefully peel away the foil from the gelee and it should come away fairly easily. Any rough bits can be smoothed with your finger tips.
  9. For the leafy parts, shape and use a small amount (about three leaves, and I stick the 1st 1/3 of it into the cream when garnishing so it’s not oddly long) to act as the stem of the berries.
  10. Use white chia seeds and your finger tip or tweezer to add to the mini berries, and white sesame seeds for the large berry to look like the seeds on strawberries. They will stick without anything extra.
  11.  Do not defrost the gelee until after finishing garnishing and placed on cake, otherwise can be difficult to handle.

 

CITRUS STRAWBERRY SAUCE Ingredients:

  • 125ml (1/2 Cup) Tangy Orange Juice
  • 125g (1 Cup) Frozen Strawberries
  • 200g (1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 3 Teaspoons Corn Flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Water
  • 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter

 

METHOD:

  1. In a pot combine juice, strawberries and sugar, bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved.
  2. Blend with preferred method as gelee recipe to get a puree mix & return to the pot over heat.
  3. Combine corn flour with 2 tablespoons water gradually over a tea strainer until smoothly combined.
  4. Add the flour mix to pot and continue to cook over medium heat on rolling boil for 5 minutes or longer until mixture reduces by 1/3 or so and thickens.
  5. It should begin to come away from the sides whilst bubbles subside a little, and colour darkens.
  6. Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
  7. Allow to cool in fridge before using for assemblage of cake.

 

WHIPPED CREAM Ingredients:

  •  500ml (2 Cups) Thickened Cream

 

METHOD:

  1. Whip the chilled cream until very stiff but careful not to turn it into butter.
  2. It should cluster inside the whisk a little and leave firm trails. You’ll generally be able to tell when it is over whipped when texture turns a little lumpy and tinges yellow as the fat is beginning to separate.
  3. Keep chilled and covered if not using right away.
  4. Fill a small star tip piping bag with 1/3 of the cream.

 

SPONGE Ingredients:

  • 150g (1 Cup) Plain Flour
  • 120g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 60ml (1/4 Cup) Vegetable Oil
  • 120g (1/2 Cup) Strawberry, Pureed
  • 1/3 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Large Eggs, Separated

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 170C (340F). Grease large tray and line the base with baking paper.
  2. In a processor blend together flour, baking powder, oil, strawberry (if frozen nuke in microwave to soften), vanilla and yolks.
  3. Stop to stir halfway and scrape down base and sides.
  4. In a grease-free bowl add egg whites at room temperature & whisk on low speed until frothy and yellow liquids cannot be seen anymore.
  5. Add salt & continue to whisk on low speed for 5 minutes or so to gradually build up structure of meringue. (If you whip it up too fast texture is less delicate in sponge).
  6. By this point meringue should be airy and fluffed up, and leaves a very soft peak when whisk is lifted. About doubled in volume. Up the speed to low medium and gradually add a tablespoon or so of sugar with breaks in between to incorporate well.
  7. Once all sugar has been incorporated, up speed one setting higher and beat just until it’s silky, and mounds firmly over itself but droops softly (soft peak stage). About 2-3 minutes. The aim is to keep it soft rather than very stiff so that it folds into the batter smoothly without leaving pockets or clumps of meringue.
  8. Stir in 1/3 of meringue to batter with a whisk to lighten the batter before folding in the rest of the meringue gently, keeping it airy.
  9. Transfer batter into pan evenly as possible to avoid spreading with palette knife too much which would deflate batter.
  10. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and no longer wet. It should be just barely starting to colour near the sides.
  11. Cool completely, turn out onto another baking paper carefully, remove the original baking paper & cut six 8-10cm diameter rings out.
  12. Start to layer out final cake by placing first base layer down, brush generously with simple syrup, equal parts sugar and water boiled till dissolved, cooled before use. If you look for my ‘Pink cake gone pandan’ recipe you’ll also find a rose syrup which I had plenty left from making candied rose petals that you can use to add a floral scent to this cake.
  13. Pipe around border of cake layer to seal in strawberry filling, fill the cavity with filling just enough to spread over surface.
  14. Pipe more cream to cover the filling cavity.
  15. Repeat for last two layers, then even out the top layer of cream. Place skewer or cake pop sticks trimmed to same height as cake into middle of the cakes to support cake when freezing for 20 minutes. Makes two cakes with 3 sponge layers each.
  16. Pile generous amount of cream on top of cake, then start spreading it out with palette knife until it starts going over the edge and work your way around the sides.
  17. Once there is an even layer of cream around the cake, begin to smooth and thin down excess until you have a neat finish. The trick is to scrape with palette knife as steady as possible but cleaning the knife between each stroke to avoid dragging lines of cream.
  18. To neaten the top, carefully smooth in edges towards centre of cake.
  19. Pipe 6 teeny rosettes of cream around top of cake as like for garnish. One small one in centre.
  20. Garnish each rosette with leafy parts of berries and place a mini ‘strawberry’ on top.
  21. Follow instructions in gelee recipe section to finish garnishing strawberry gelee before chilling to defrost all elements thoroughly before serving.
  22. Make sure to warn people there is a stick in there for cake support.
  23. Keeps well when stored airtight in fridge, and can infuse the flavour overnight or for a couple of days prior to serving.

CITRUS & PLUM TEACAKE – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

FRENCH EARL GREY SYRUP Ingredients:

  • Juice of Tangelo or Orange
  • Equal Part Caster Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons French Earl Grey Loose Leaf Tea

 

METHOD:

  1. Zest the tangelo or preferred citrus before using the juice for this syrup recipe.
  2. Combine juice, equal weight in sugar, and 2 teaspoons of French earl grey loose leaf tea or regular earl grey tea in a pot.
  3. Over medium heat on a stove bring to a rolling boil.
  4. Drop the heat down to simmer and simmer the mix for 10 minutes.
  5. Set aside to cool until it thickens up.

 

CITRUS & PLUM TEACAKE Ingredients:

  • 250g (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 250g ( 1 + 1/4 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 200g ( 1 + 1/3 Cup) Plain flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 80g (2/3 Cup) Hazelnut Meal
  • Zest of a Tangelo or Orange
  • Pinch of salt
  • Sprinkle of Demerara Sugar
  • Can of whole Plums (15 Plums)

 

METHOD:

  1. Drain out the plums from the can well.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line a round 8″ tray with baking paper. If your pan is shallow like mine, it would be best to line extra length up the sides to prevent spillage when baking.
  3. Beat the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating very well after each addition so that mixture doesn’t separate.
  5. Whisk together the flour, zest, baking powder, hazelnut meal and salt in bowl.
  6. Now on low speed add the flour mix and beat just until almost incorporated.
  7. Use spatula to fold in the few pockets of flour by hand.
  8. Transfer batter to the pan and smooth out evenly.
  9. Arrange the 15 plums onto the cake, but just place them atop of the mix, do not press it in as the batter will end up rising and covering all the plums.
  10. Sprinkle lightly with demerara sugar all over.
  11. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  12. Strain the syrup and brush all over the hot cake until used up.
  13. Allow to cool completely before flipping out and inverting the cake back onto serving board or plate.
  14. The cake keeps for a couple days at room temperature, but for long term storage keep it airtight and chilled as the cake is very moist and full of fruits.

 

 

SCRUMMY BAKERS BAR – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

MANGO MATCHA BAR Ingredients:

  • 200g Rolled Oats
  • 2 Ripe Banana / 1 Cup 256g Plain Greek Yogurt
  • 1/4 85g Cup Honey
  • Zest & Juice of 1/2 lemon/lime
  • 4-5 Tablespoons Flax Seeds / dried mangoes
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Matcha Powder (to dust) Or…
  • White sesame, toasted
  • Desiccated Coconut, unsweetened (to roll in)

 

METHOD:

  1. Toast sesame in a pan over medium heat, stirring frequently until brown and fragrant.
  2. In a bowl, combine oats, sesame, salt, chopped dried mangoes (bite size) and flax seeds.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice and honey.
  4. Mix together with the dried ingredients until well combined.
  5. In a cling wrap or baking paper-lined pan, place the mixture in and press to compress into a bar of desired thickness and size.
  6. Freeze until firm enough to slice, remove from pan and slice into small bars of choice. Store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge till needed.
  7. Dust with matcha powder before serving for best presentation.

 

 

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BITES Ingredients:

  • 40g 1/4 cup Cashew Nuts, toasted
  • 30g 1/4 cup oats
  • 100g cup natural Peanut butter
  • 20g honey
  • 2 Tablespoons Flax Seed
  • 35g Dried mulberries
  • Dark Chocolate, bittersweet 80%
  • Sea Salt

 

METHOD:

  1. Toast cashew nuts in a pan over medium heat until brown and fragrant.
  2. Add all ingredients except chocolate and salt into a processor.
  3. Blitz until a fine paste.
  4. Press into small bite sized molds, pressing firmly to ensure the mold is properly filled.
  5. Freeze until solid and pop out of the molds onto a lined tray. Allow to come to room temperature.
  6. Melt the chocolate in short 10 second intervals until smooth.
  7. Place some melted chocolate on top of each cube, and sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt over each one.
  8. NOTE: If you do it whilst the cubes are too cold, chocolate will set faster. I would recommend doing a few then adding the salt, and repeating with the rest.

 

SPICED COCOA BALLS Ingredients:

  • 100g Unsweetened Tahini
  • 70g Rolled Oats
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened
  • 4-5 Tablespoons Uncrystallised Ginger, Chopped
  • 20g Honey
  • Extra Cocoa Powder for rolling

 

METHOD:

  1. Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined.
  2. Roll into bite sized balls and keep airtight and chilled until needed.
  3. Roll in cocoa powder, toasted sesame seeds or coconut.

Strawberry Mint, Blood Orange Gourmet Muffins

Posted on by misterbowtie

RECIPE STATUS: HYPOTHETICAL / NOT YET TESTED

Makes 8-10 Large Gourmet Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 540g Plain/Cake Flour
  • 3 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 3 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 x Large Handful Chopped Fresh Mint
  • 12-14 medium sized, Chopped Bite size Strawberries
  • 120ml water
  • Zest of a Blood Orange/Citrus
  • 120ml Blood orange/Citrus Juice, freshly squeezed
  • 470g sour cream
  • 230g Caster Sugar
  • 250ml Vegetable Oil/ Canola/Butter/Coconut Oil
  • 2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1:2 Ratio Cracked Pepper to Icing Sugar Mix for dipping
  • 1/2 Cm thick sliced blood orange for garnish
  • Strawberry greek yoghurt
  • Whole strawberries for garnish
  • Mint for garnish

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius, place on bottom of the oven a large pan of water to create a softer crust for the muffin. Lightly coat 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or line with Large commercial muffin liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder salt and chopped fresh mint.
  3. In a liquid measuring cup or separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, caster sugar, oil and eggs.
  4. Now divide the dry mixture in half, and likewise with the liquid mixture. Each pair of dry and liquid mixture will form one flavor of your batter.
  5. Take one of the dry mixture, add zest of one blood orange zest and mix.
  6. Add juice of blood orange to one of the liquid mix and whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry mix and add the liquid. Fold with rubber spatula 3-4 strokes or so just to moisten all the ingredients, it should retain some clumps, not entirely smooth. Overmixing causes dense and dry muffins. Set aside.
  7. Now with the remaining pair of mix, in the dry add the chopped strawberries and toss to combine.
  8. In the remaining pairs liquid mix, add the water and whisk to combine. Make well in dry ingredients and add the liquid mix. Repeat folding procedure as other half.
  9. Fill the muffin tins evenly with the blood orange batter, then the strawberry batter over the top of the orange batter. Place into the oven and drop temperature down to 180 degrees Celsius immediately.
  10. Bake until the top lightly springs back to the touch. Cool on wire rack.
  11. To garnish combine 1:2 ratio cracked pepper to icing sugar, sifted. Dust over the muffins generously.
  12. Place a teaspoon of the strawberry yoghurt on top and place the orange slice on a slight angle on top.
  13. Place a more generous dollop of yoghurt on the orange slice, and place a whole strawberry and mint on top as desired. Lightly dust with the icing sugar mix.
  14. You can wrap the muffins as desired, a good look is cutting muffin liners diagonally across so that you can see the layering of the muffins.

Citrus Cheesecake = Original Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie


INGREDIENTS:

  • 150g Arnotts Dark Chocolate Tim Tam Biscuits (Dark choc cream biscuit)
  • 50g Unsalted Butter
  • 100g Unsweetened greek plain/vanilla yoghurt (Firm not runny)
  • Zest & Juice of 1 Lime
  • 250g White Chocolate
  • 300g Philadelphia Original *
  • 150ml Thickened cream
  • 250g Grape, orange, lime Marmalade / Citrus based Marmalade (Jam that sets firm
  • 100g Mixed Dried Citrus Peels (Lemon & Oranges)

METHOD:

1: Lightly grease and line the base of your 20cm round tin, set to one side until needed.

2: Roughly break the Tim Tams into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs.

3: Melt the butter in a microwave or a small saucepan over a low/medium heat.

4: Pour the butter into the biscuit crumbs and mix well, then press firmly into the base of the prepared tin. Place into the fridge whilst filling is being made.

5: In a large bowl, beat the Philadelphia cream cheese until soft & smooth.

6: Add the lime zest & juice, yoghurt and beat till smoothly combined.

7: Gently melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.

6: In another bowl, lightly whip the thickened cream until soft peaks form.

7: Carefully beat in the melted white chocolate and the whipped cream until it’s all blended together.

10: Whisk in the mixed peels just until combined, then pour HALF the mixture over the biscuit base. Spread with palette knife to the sides of the pan to have a neat cheesecake.

11: Roughly smooth the surface of the cake, spoon a layer of warmed marmalade mixture onto the cheesecake.

12: Gently place the remaining cheesecake mix over the marmalade, and gently spread or pat the mixture out towards the sides of the pan so that you leave no gaps. Smooth off the top surface to get a smooth, neat cheesecake.

13: Set in fridge for a minimum of 3 hours, preferably overnight before removing from pan to serve.

14: Serve with a knife dipped in hot water or warmed over the stove to cut the cake.

EBT FUDGE CAKE *Non-Gluten – Original Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

IMG_2172

= ALMOND & TEA NON-GLUTEN CAKE = Ingredients

  • 8 EGGS, SEPARATED
  • 2 TSP VINEGAR
  • 2 X 100g CASTER SUGAR
  • LARGE PINCH OF CINNAMON
  • 4 TBSP OF STRONG BREWED EBT or EARL GREY.
  • 340g ALMOND/HAZELNUT MEAL
  • PINCH OF SALT
  • 2 TSP BAKING POWDER

METHOD:

  1. Preheat an oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line 2 x 20cm removable base cake pan with baking paper on BOTH base and sides.
  2. Beat the egg yolks and 100g of sugar together with the strong brewed tea and the cinnamon to dissolve it.
  3. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they start to thicken.
  4. Add the pinch of salt and vinegar to the egg whites and then spoon in the remaining 100g of sugar, and baking powder, as you continue whisking until firm but not stiff peaks reached.
  5. Fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold through the hazelnut meal, keeping in as much air as possible.
  6. Pour gently into the lined cake pans and bake for 15 minutes or so until risen and golden with a firm spring.
  7. Allow to cool to luke warm before beginning the fudge recipe. Line sides with baking paper.

FUDGE: Ingredients

  • 200g can Condensed Milk
  • 75ml milk
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 55g butter, cubed into smaller pieces
  • 80g ENGLISH BREAKFAST MARMALADE or Citrus type marmalade

METHOD:

  1. Place the ingredients into a large non-stick saucepan and melt over a low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring continuously and scraping the base of the pan. Take care while the mixture boils and during stirring as the fudge will be VERY hot! To test its ready drop a little of the mixture into a jug of ice-cold water. A soft, smooth ball of fudge should form. Or check with a sugar thermometer if you have one (approx 118°C).
  3. Remove from the heat and beat the fudge until very thick and starting to set (about 10 minutes). I would suggest tilting the bowl at points to make sure it’s still spreadable.
  4. Pour over one of the cooled cake and gently even out with a palette knife. Place the second layer of sponge on top of the fudge.
  5. Once the fudge has slightly cooled and is relatively set now, warm some EB marmalade in the microwave until it is liquid consistency but not boiling.
  6. Brush over fudge layer immediately with pastry brush until the top layer of sponge is well glazed. Spread citrus peels as needed with spoon or palette knife.
  7. Warm knife and cut between baking paper and glaze before removing the paper. Sit the cake over a smaller can or bowl to lift the cake out from the pan. Transfer to serving plate and enjoy.

*Slice with a knife dipped in hot water and wipe off with a cloth in between cuts.

* If you do not have EB marmalade you can also replace with other citrus based flavors of marmalade for similar tea and citrus combinations. Alternatively, you can brew some strong tea and drizzle it over the cake after poking the sponge in areas with a knife to infuse more flavor. This will make up for the EB marmalade when you substitute with citrus marmalade.