LYCHEE CREME BRULEE

• 6 Large Egg Yolks
• 75g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
• 60ml (1/4 Cup) Lychee Puree
• 475ml (2 Cups) Thickened/Heavy Cream

 

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
2. Grease and line a 19cm (7.4″) square pan with baking paper neatly and with some overhang on all sides. So that it will be easier to remove like a sling later on.
3. Whisk together eggs yolks and caster sugar.
4. Then whisk in the puree (I blended about two cans of 550g worth pitted lychee in syrup, drained, only with about 2 tablespoons worth of syrup).
5. Heat the cream till it is steaming, remove and gradually add into the egg mix whilst whisking constantly. This is called tempering, which prevents the egg proteins from scrambling.
6. Pour into the pan, tap the tray on the counter a few times and place on a deep dish or tray.
7. Place on middle rack in oven, pulling the rack out slightly to pour in boiling water in the deep dish until it is about 1/2 way up the amount of the brulee’s height.
8. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or so, it may depend on your oven a lot. But what you are looking for is to have it just stop wobbling at the center or be a very faint wobble.
9. Remove from deep dish and let it cool to room temperature before cooling in the fridge till very cold. This will continue to firm it up and set it.
10. Keep it airtight if you do this the day before as it may dry a bit in the fridge.

 

HONEY CAKE

• 625g (5 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
• 225g (1 Cup) Caster Sugar
• 3 Large Eggs
• 113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 + 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

 

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). Grease and line one large baking tray, the square pan with loose base you’ll use for the final assemblage or two of these if you have. (18cm or 7″ square pans with depth of 7cm or 2.7″)
2. Beat together the eggs until combined.
3. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar and honey.
4. Over a pot of simmering water, whisk from time to time until melted and uniformly combined.
5. Whisk in the beaten eggs, then continue to whisk over the simmering water for 4 minutes or so until doubled in volume.
6. Add the baking soda and whisk for 1 more minute.
7. Remove from the heat, stir in the flour until a smooth dough is made.
8. Divide the dough in 2/3 and 1/3. For the 1/3, divide into two balls and cling wrap.
9. For the larger portion, simply flatten on the large tray with your palm. Once roughly level and evenly spread out flat to about 1/2cm thick, bake for 7-8 minutes until sides are lightly golden. Set aside to cool.
10. For two balls of dough, each one makes one of the sponge layers to go in the layered cake.
11. Shape the ball dough into a square, then roll with rolling pin out until it is about the size of the small square pan. Roll onto rolling pin and unroll into the pan.
12. Use firm pressure on fingers to push it out to even the dough into all corners and ensure it is level all over.
13. Use a fork to dock the pastry by pricking it loosely all over (some 1cm or so space between is more than enough)
14. Bake for 6-7 minutes just till sides are nicely golden is more than enough.
15. Cool completely, turn it out and freeze it with cling wrap over it.
16. Repeat with the other ball dough.

 

 

STRAWBERRY ROSE MOULD TRUFFLES

• 1/2 Recipe of Honey Cake, Processed
• 5 Tablespoons Rose Petals
• 500g (3 + 1/2 Cups) Frozen Strawberry
• Poppy Seed (Optional)
• Red Food Coloring (Optional)

 

METHOD:

1. Crumble the large tray of honey sponge until fine crumbs are made.
2. Cook down the rose petals and frozen strawberries in a saucepan until it becomes soft and mushy.
3. Transfer into a processor and pulse till smooth.
4. Return to the saucepan and over simmering heat, reduce the puree by about 1/2.
5. Gradually knead in the puree just until it becomes smooth and holds together as one ball of dough.
6. You can add gel food colouring and poppy seed to the puree before mixing it in if you prefer for more textural look and pop.
7. Simply take small amounts and push firmly into chosen silicone moulds to really get out any possible cracks or air pockets.
8. Use finger tips to bring in the truffle that spreads out of the mould so it is in line with the edge.
9. Freeze till solid and then simply loosen the edges by pulling on them outwards, then pop them out by pushing it.
10. Keep them frozen, airtight till ready to garnish so it is easier to handle.
11. This makes a lot of them so you can have some gifts or snacks on the side or dessert for yourself 🙂
12. You could go further and make some mirror glaze to go on top of these, or even just some chocolate ganache to pour over them.

 

 

LYCHEE BAVAROIS MOUSSE

• 2+1/2 Teaspoons Gelatin
• 37ml (2 Tablespoons) Cold Water
• 125ml (1/2 Cup) Full Cream Milk
• 3 Large Egg Yolks
• 100g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
• 250ml (1 Cup) Lychee Puree
• Juice of 1/2 Small Lemon
• 188ml (1/2+1/4 Cup) Thickened/Heavy Cream
• 150ml Extra Thickened/Heavy Cream

 

METHOD:

1. Stir together the water and gelatin till as well mixed as possible and set aside for 5 minutes to bloom (rehydrate).
2. Whisk together in medium bowl the sugar and yolks till well combined.
3. Bring the milk till under boiling point (sides froth up in the saucepan).
4. Gradually pour it into the egg mix whilst whisking constantly to temper.
5. Return mix to the saucepan and cook on low medium heat whilst whisking constantly until it slightly thickens.
6. Look for consistency of when you use back of spoon to coat with sauce, then draw a line through it it will stay. At this stage the mix is thick enough. This is called a creme anglaise. A sauce often served with dessert, or used as a base to create things like bavarois mousse.
7. Switch off the heat and add the bloomed gelatine, whisking till smoothly combined with no granules left.
8. Allow to cool till room temperature.
9. Whisk the 188ml of cream until soft peaks. It should begin to leave trails as it whisks and just have a droopy peak.
10. Add it to the mix and gently fold it together, ensuring all mix on bottom are well folded too. Once texture is uniform and no streaks are left, the mousse is ready.

 

 

LYCHEE, FUNGUS & HONEY LEMONADE GELEE

• 500ml (2 Cups + 1 Tablespoon) Cold Water
• Zest & Juice of 1 Large Lemon
• 50g (1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
• 1 + 1/2 Tablespoons Honey
• 2 Teaspoons Gelatin Powder
• Handful of Lychee, Fresh or Canned, Sliced
• Handful of White Fungus
• Black Currant Grapes
• 1 Punnet Fresh Strawberries

 

METHOD:

1. For the gelee, stir together the water, lemon juice, and zest.
2. Add a splash of this mix to a small dish with the gelatin powder, stirring till well combined. Set aside for 5 minutes to bloom.
3. Warm it just enough without boiling (boiling kills the gelatine) and stir till it is smooth with no granules.
4. Add the sugar and honey.
5. Stir it into the remaining lemon mix until well mixed.
6. Set aside until needed at room temperature.

 

 

ASSEMBLAGE:

1. In the same loose base pan you used for the sponge baking, without any baking paper or cling wrap, lay down your first frozen sponge.
2. Line 1/2cm thick slices of strawberries to line evenly around the sides of the pan, just sitting on the sponge. Try to keep the size and height of the slices all the same – mine were average sized, about 5 slices per side.
3. Remaining parts of the punnets dice into bite sized cubes and scatter half the amount on the sponge.
4. Pour in half the mousse, spread into the corners and between berries, shake gently and tap the pan on counter to even out the mousse.
5. Carefully peel away sides of the baking paper on the brulee, then lining one edge just within the strawberry slices, quickly lay the brulee facing down and peel away the paper. You can slightly adjust position with baking paper before removing it but it should be fairly accurate.
6. Repeat steps of the strawberry bite size pieces, mousse, and then finally place the last layer of sponge on top.
7. Push it down firmly but gently to level the mousse up until it is in line with the sponge.
8. Now whip up some stiff whipped cream with the extra cream (should just form stiff peaks that don’t droop when you stir and pull out the cream with whisk).
9. Using offset spatula, spread a thin layer of cream just enough to cover the sponge. Make sure it is covering all the way to the pans edge and is as level as you can.
10. Arrange white fungus and small pieces of lychee (1 cut mine into 1/4’s) over the cake as you like.
11. Spoon in the gelee careful not to splash it on the cream violently as you may disturb the layer. Once the layer is even and only about 1/2 cm thick you can check for any air bubbles, tap pan gently on counter to pop them and chill for several hours minimum or overnight. Once it is well set, you can place the cake pan on a wide bowl or dish just smaller than the base.
12. Use a hot knife to loosen the gelee from the sides.
13. Pull down the sides of the pan like you’re pulling down your pants LOL. With a bit of luck the strawberries should help it slide clean out.
14. Garnish with your choice of fruits and the cake truffles.
15. Keep airtight and chilled.
16. If you want to travel a distance with this cake I recommend in hot weather particularly, keep it in the pan and finish it off at the place as the brulee makes the cake a bit less sturdy for harsh movements in a car and also renders this cake unsuitable for freezing as it will thaw poorly and weep.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!