We have been on a bit of a pizza kick at work. I am happy to say I have never been off my pizza kick. Always loved it, always will. I have a fantastic pizza stone that is unrivalled. It is ceramic with tunnels running from front to back and seems to produce a superior product. (Or maybe I’m just a damn fine pizza cook!) Anyhoo, I don’t have any recipes for pizza up here…a grave error, (Recipe? Bread dough, slap on a sauce, topping and cheese and we’re done, right?) and of course, when it comes to this site, the first pizza I come up with is for dessert. Not traditional, but certainly worth the effort. Enjoy!

NEED:

Starter;

1tsp sugar

1tsp granulated yeast

160g bakers flour

220g cold water

pinch sea salt

Base;

1 egg

250g buttermilk or milk

30g butter

400g bakers flour

olive oil

DO:

Place all starter ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape into non plastic bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave overnight at room temperature. (Cool is fine!)

The next day, place all of starter and remaining ingredients (except oil) into Thermomix bowl and mix together for 6 seconds on speed 6. The dough will appear sticky. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes at Interval speed.

Turn out onto oiled Silpat mat and knead into tight ball by hand. Place into oiled glass bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap so it is airtight. Allow to double, again, a slow rise in a cooler temperature will give you a nicer crumb in the finished base.

Gently tip dough out onto baking paper or Silpat mat and divide into 3 equal pieces. Push each piece into desired shape with finger tips so as to dimple the top of the dough. Do not roll out or stretch out…allow the elasticity in the dough to work for you.

Top with variety of toppings. Bake by sliding pizza straight onto preheated pizza stone and cook until golden and bubbly. (Raspberry, lime option will have a lot of caramelised sauce) Serve immediately with lashings of mascarpone cream cheese or double cream or possibly ice cream.

I did two on this occasion (see below) photographed both and in a flu induced haze, deleted them both off my SD card before saving them, thus the singular pic. Did a cheesecake cherry topping at work…and luckily took that pic at work, so all safe and sound on my desktop, so have included that in the trio. All three were delicious and did not last long.

Topping One;

Press a few raspberries into the base, add thinly sliced lime. Drizzle with grapeseed oil and sprinkle the whole thing generously with organic raw sugar. When eating the lime slices can be removed, tho I quite enjoyed the crunchy caramelised skins.

Topping Two;

Sprinkle base with cranberries and dark mini chocolate nibs. Be quite liberal. Drizzle entire pizza with organic maple syrup.

Topping Three;

Cherry Sauce NEED:
60g sugar
670g jar morello pitted cherries
30g cornflour

DO:

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Insert basket into Thermomix bowl and pour whole jar of cherries in. Remove basket (with cherries) and set aside.
Add cornflour to Thermomix bowl and cook for 4-5 minutes at 100ºC on speed 4. Set aside.

Lemon Cheesecake NEED:
80g sugar
Zest and juice 1 lemon
2 eggs
500g cream cheese

DO:
Place sugar and zest into Thermomix bowl and mill together for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Add remaining ingredients and blend together for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

ASSEMBLE:

Divide dough into two portions and roll out each separately on a piece of baking paper.

Place first pizza onto pizza stone and bake for approximately 7-8 minutes or until starting to brown slightly. The pizza may puff up as there are no toppings, but this is not a problem.

Remove from oven and generously spread half of the cheesecake mixture onto the pizza.

Drizzle with half of the cherry sauce, top with a few of the reserved cherries and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes or until lemon cheesecake topping has set. Serve immediately and make a second one….cos you’re going to need it!

Chocolate Butter Tart with Walnuts

What else is there…really? If you want a decadent dessert, they usually include those three, and of course, add a few toasted nuts and chocolate and you really have the whole dessert ‘thang’ going on! I know this is a bit of recurring theme on this site, but just as there are no new stories, there are no new recipes…its just the method and ratio’s that differ. So go for a run, and if you still feel like eating this, go ahead and make it, but only eat a small, small sliver…and at your own risk!

Caramel Nutty Tart

NEED:

Pastry;

60g sugar

pinch salt

35g walnut halves

85g blanched almonds

230g plain flour

100g unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

DO:

Place sugar and salt into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Toast nuts in 200C oven for 10 minutes or until fragrant and cool.

Add nuts to Thermomix bowl and mill for a further 3 seconds on speed 8.

Add remaining ingredients except the egg and mix for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add egg and mix for a few seconds on speed 7 or until a pastry forms.

Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and push together into a tight disc. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out and lining a 23cm flan tin with removable base with pastry. Prick bottom with fork and place into freezer for at least 30 minutes. Bake in preheated 170C oven for 25-30 minutes until golden. Cool.

NEED:

Filling;

1 cup mixed walnuts and pecans, toasted (as above) and roughly chopped

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup syrup (golden, maple or corn)

1/4 cup water

130g unsalted butter

50g cream

50g mascarpone cream cheese or creme fraiche

DO:

Place sugar, water and syrup into saucepan and on a low heat dissolve sugar, stirring occasionally. Brush down sides of saucepan with wet pastry brush to remove crystals as they form.

Once the mixture is a clear syrup, increase heat to induction 6-7 (steady simmer) and cook without stirring until the syrup becomes a deep yet clear amber colour. (approximately 8-10 minutes) Continue to brush sides of pan with wet pastry brush as needed. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients except nuts. Stir vigorously to incorporate. Cool.

Stir through nuts and pour mixture into pastry shell. Refrigerate until set and completely cold.

NEED:

Chocolate Glaze;

100g dark chocolate (70% or higher)

120g cream

DO:

Place chocolate into Thermomix bowl and mill for 8 seconds on speed 10.

Add cream and melt together for 2-3 minutes at 60C on speed 3.

Pour over the top of the cold tart, spreading to just the edges of the filling, leaving the top of the pastry rim bare.

Set completely in fridge before cutting to serve, in, as I said, THIN slivers!

Well this post had to happen sooner or later…and I guess it’s officially sooner! I have managed to go through all my posts and look what I found! I could start a tart and pie shop, clearly! Any potential partners out there, send me a message and I’m ready to go!

First up in my self imposed round up, and most recently added, the free form tart with fresh apricots and cherries can be found here. Tart (in the true sense of the word) sweet, a little nutty, and so EASY!

Then there was the fresh fig and honey tart, with a touch of marzipan…and just to add a dimension, toffee topping!

Of course, no Australian food blogger could have a complete site with out the good ole Meat Pie post…enjoy!

Simple, fruity, great pastry…what more could you want in a fruit pie? Well vanilla bean of course. One of my faves…(aren’t they all?)

If you come here often, you will know that Lemon is almost as good as chocolate to me…thus the Lemon Olive Oil Tart…which if you never cook anything else from this site, you must do this one…promise me now!

Got no time? Need dessert quickly? This is the one for you…no pastry, but a flan none the less…and a little international as well!

Oh that’s right…you know how I said the Lemon Olive oil tart was my fave?? Maybe not, maybe it’s this one…Buerre Noisette….Burnt Butter is my new fascination at the minute, seriously good stuff…calories worth eating!

Kind of a cross between a cheesecake and a sweet pie, this will become a family favorite…it would be in our house, if I allowed myself to make it again! Some pies should only be eaten once…for the sake of the arteries that is!

Never shie away from a fruit you don’t know…put it in a pastry shell and voila, easy dessert…(and completely delish!)

Another Lemon slash cheesecake slash pie cross worth eating…(again…aren’t they all??)

OK OK, Chocolate meets almonds head on…and they both WIN! Chocolate pastry, chocolate filling (with almond frangipane) topped with chocolate ganache…can’t really go wrong if you are a chocolate lover!

Now for a rare look at a savoury option…hang on to it whilst you can, there may never be another!

Strawberries, Luscious Lime, crispy pastry, a true summer tart…try it today!

Sorry, but there’s more and of course chocolate is involved…easy peasy, chocolate squeezy!

And here comes another traditional tart…or pie…The quintessential Lemon Meringue Pie.

I could of course keep going, and was in fact surprised (though why I don’t know!) by the sheer number of pastry delights on here…I stopped here as there are many others, but they are less recent and perhaps not as well done as I would like them to be. (Time for an upgrade or two I suppose!) Cut to the chase I hear you cry…recipe recipe recipe….OK!

So to today’s offering…you wouldn’t believe it…chocolate again, pecans are the nuts of choice and not my recipe, but stunning in every way…lactose free, unless butter bothers you. All the components of decadence required by chocolate and nuts and the best darn pastry a Thermomix can mix!

Adapted from Willies famous recipe, it is a chocolate pecan tart. Now before you shriek at the sheer number of sugar grams, remember I was using pure cacao and I have to say, it was a chocolate hit like no other. (Being Easter weekend, I know what I’m on about here folks!)

NEED:

Pastry:

100g raw sugar

200g plain flour

100g unsalted butter frozen and cubed

2 egg yolks

1tsp vanilla essence

Filling:

180g pure cacao (Or reduce sugar and use 70% dark chocolate)

50g unsalted butter

75g caster sugar

160g pure maple syrup

3 eggs

100-120g pecan halves

DO:

Pastry:

Preheat oven to 190oC and butter a 23cm loose bottomed flan tin. Set aside.

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Add flour and butter and mix together for 6-7 seconds on speed 8.

Add vanilla essence and yolks and mix for a further 6-7 seconds on speed 6 or until pastry forms soft balls.

Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and bring together with hands into large disc shape. Roll out using floured rolling pin and line prepared flan tin. Place in freezer for at least 15 minutes. Remove, line with baking paper and weights (rice, beans or proper pie weights) and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove weights and bake a further 5 minutes until pastry is no longer shiny. Remove and cool slightly before filling with prepared filling.

Filling:

Place cacao into Thermomix bowl and mill for approximately 10 seconds until powdered.

Add butter, sugar, and maple syrup to Thermomix bowl and melt for 6 minutes at 50oC on speed 1.

Add eggs through hole in lid and beat in for 30 seconds on speed 8. Scrape down sides of bowl if necessary and repeat. You will have a thick mousse like consistency.

Place pecans into prepared pastry case, scrape filling on top and spread with spatula. Bake a further 10-15 minutes until set in centre. Chill completely before serving with lashings of cream…kind of necessary due to the dense nature of pure cacao.

Well it IS Easter after all. Slightly healthier than some of the other chocolate options around at the moment, and based on the use of very good ingredients, this should not scare you too much! Risotto is one of the most amazing canvases to which you can add flavour after flavour…and chocolate of course is just a flavour…I have added orange as well as the combination is always fantastic!

If you want to use Cointreau or another dessert wine, simply substitute for other liquid…a spoonful of powdered espresso adds depth of flavour as well. So Hoppy Easter to all, and please, make sure you all eat too much chocolate…cos the next excuse to do so is a looong way away.

NEED:

180g dark chocolate in pieces

zest 1 orange

40g butter

350g Arborio rice

100g Amaretto

1 tsp vanilla essence

1L  milk

1 chopped segmented orange

150g sugar

cream to taste

DO:

Place chocolate and orange zest into Thermomix bowl and mill together for 10 seconds on speed 10. Set aside.

Place butter, rice and Amaretto into Thermomix bowl and saute for 3 minutes at 100oC on Reverse + speed 1.5. (Don’t ask, just find a spot between speed 1 and 2 and relax!)

Add remaining ingredients except chocolate and orange zest, and cream to Thermomix bowl and cook for between 17-19 minutes at 100oC on Reverse + speed 1.5.

Pour in insulated bowl removing any fibrous pieces from the orange, and stir chocolate and cream through. Garnish with white chocolate curls and serve whilst still hot.

OK OK, a little late for that famously Chocolated out day for lovers, but this is just a rework of an oldie on here, and it was for the Steam Oven a long time ago and in another galaxy! Named lust for obvious reasons, (which will become apparent once you have made and eaten this sinful confection!) you will NOT, I repeat NOT ever think of chocolate in quite the same light ever again. Try some of the variations, but (sigh) I just keep going back to the Jaffa Pots.

I need to revisit a lot of content on here, and in light of the fact I am off to Sydney on Sunday (stay tuned in on Twitter) to work with chef Mark Best, as well as tripping off to Singapore the week after that, I felt that a redo was a great option to keep you all coming back!! So here you have it. You can double the mixture quite easily and make sure you tweak a change or two each time you do it!

NEED:

140g dark chocolate in chunks

300g cream

20g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract (or other flavorings of choice, see Options)

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

10-12 small dishes or ramekins

DO:

Place chocolate, cream, sugar and vanilla into Thermomix bowl and heat together for 3 minutes at 50ºC on speed 1.

Insert Butterfly and with lid closed, drop eggs and yolk into hole in lid as you mix for 1 minute on speed 2. Place MC on top and increase to speed 4 after you have added the eggs and yolk.

Divide between small dishes (Dariole moulds work well) and place them into the Varoma dish and tray.

Lightly rinse Thermomix bowl and fill with 1 litre of water. Set Varoma into position and cook for 20 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2.

Place choc pots into fridge until cooled before serving warm or cold dusted with cocoa and with berry/mint leaf garnish and additional whipped cream if desired.

OPTIONS:

Jaffa Choc Pots: Add zest 1 orange and a dash of optional Cointreau

Coconut Crème Pots: Replace dark chocolate with white chocolate and cream with coconut cream. Add a dash of almond essence.

Baileys Crème Pots: Replace dark chocolate with milk chocolate, omit sugar and add a dash of Bailey’s liqueur.

Espresso Pots: Add a shot of espresso to chocolate whilst melting. Or add 1tsp espresso powder at the same time as vanilla extract.

Well it was tough, but someone had to eat it! Luckily I made this one at work and the office staff were happy to oblige…otherwise my ever increasing girth would be even girthier! My sister Kerri provided me with some of her lovely fresh figs and of course I had to blog about them! I took on the fig challenge, just as I took on the chocolate challenge, thinking of so many options that my hips ached! ANYHOO, this is the end result, and it smelt so amazing as it was cooking that I had frequent visitors into the demo kitchen to see what was for morning tea…those spoilt children!

Toffee Crusted Fig  and Marzipan Tart

Pastry NEED:

100g toasted almonds

50g sugar

130g unsalted butter, cubed and frozen

1tsp vanilla essence

½tsp cinnamon

Pinch salt

210g plain flour

1 egg yolk

1-2tbsp ice cold water

Pastry DO:

Place toasted and cooled almonds with sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add butter, essence, cinnamon, and salt and mix for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add remaining ingredients and with dial set to closed lid position mix for 10 seconds on Interval speed.

Turn out onto lightly floured Silicone mat and knead into a tight disc.

Place disc into flan tin with removable base and with floured hands press out and up edges to fully line tin. Place in freezer while you prepare the filling.

Vanilla Scented Marzipan NEED:

130g sugar

1 whole vanilla bean

130g blanched almonds

1tbsp cornflour

1 small egg white

DO:

Place sugar and vanilla bean into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add almonds and mill a further 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add cornflour and egg white and mix together for approximately 30-40 seconds on speed 5, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary.

When marzipan has formed a reasonable dough, turn out onto corn floured silicone mat and roll out using rolling pin. Lay on top of lined flan tin and cut excess away. (Reserve excess.)

Fig Tart NEED:

Enough fresh figs to line flan dish of choice when quartered

250g mascarpone cheese

1 egg

15g raw honey

Reserved Marzipan

Fig Tart DO:

Place figs carefully on top of marzipan, arranged cut side up centrically.

Place remaining ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix for 8 seconds on speed 7. Spread over figs.

Bake in preheated 180ºC oven for 30-35 minutes until just wobbly in centre. Leave in oven to cool. Chill before topping with toffee.
Toffee Crust NEED:

150g caster sugar

50g honey

Enough water to dampen sugar

Toffee Crust DO:

Place all ingredients into heavy based pan and heat to a medium temperature stirring only occasionally.

When all sugar has dissolved, increase heat to high and bring to the boil without stirring.

Remove toffee from stove when it has reached the hard ball stage and is caramel in colour. Drizzle over completely cold tart and allow to set.

I know, I know, a little lengthy, even fiddly, but oh so worth it in the end…yes the rear end!

Maple Banana Coconut Fritters

Well it would seem that you are all on holiday, while I remain slaving away in the kitchen…come on kids, comments make me zing! We are half way through January, almost the week of my birthday…(yes I have been counting backwards from 40 which will see me reach my very early 30′s!) It has been an exciting week for me professionally with job offers flying left right and centre, plus the goal for my fiftieth year (woops did I really admit that??) is to produce my own cookbook and I have been assessing what is needed to begin that process. (Clearly not the least of which is a professional behind the camera! The point and shoot school of photography will hardly satisfy!) It will be on sale this time next year as I turn the actual FIVE OH…no!

SO to the task at hand. I have my family joining me for Sunday dinner as usual and I also have some bananas that need eating, as well as some to die for homemade Vanilla bean ice cream churning happily away. (Does anyone else recycle their vanilla beans??) What better to accompany Vanilla bean Ice cream than a light banana and coconut tempura fritter? Nothing I can think of!

Tempura is best made with sparkling spring water, of which I am fresh out, so I used icy cold still water, but nonetheless, excellent results. Tempura is a batter with a ratio of 1:1 and best left lumpy as opposed to having a smooth consistency. The right temperature oil when frying is also important as this will eliminate a greasy end result. Approximately 180oC or 350oF is perfect.

TEMPURA  Batter; the Thermomix way!

NEED:
150g white rice
2 egg whites
1 tbsp icing sugar
200g ice cold sparkling water

DO:
Place rice into Thermomix bowl and mill for 60 seconds on speed 10.
Add remaining ingredients and gently combine by setting dial to closed lid position. Mix together for approximately 10 seconds on Interval speed. If there are still lumps that is fine.
Set aside as you prepare the rest of the dish.

To make Coconut Banana Fritters;
Heat enough Extra Virgin Coconut oil in deep pan to temperature. If you drop a little of the batter into the pan, it should brown up in around 40 seconds. Any hotter or faster and you will get a burnt taste.

Slice bananas diagonally, about 1/2 banana per serving, roll in shredded coconut and then dip quickly in the prepared batter. Put straight into the hot oil and allow to cook until golden. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on a double layer of paper towels.
To serve, place 2 or 3 fritters onto large plate, dust with icing sugar, dollop ice cream in centre, drizzle with real Maple Syrup, add a few shreds of coconut if desired and devour immediately.

Christmas Ice Cream Torte

I know that sounds crazy to my northern readers, but as the temperature starts to head into the 30′s (Celcius that is), our thoughts down under turn to Christmas, and ways to keep the feasting cool and casual, around the pool or water somewhere, somehow…what better conglomeration than Ice Cream and Christmas Pudding? Great in the centre of your Christmas table or really charming as individual serves, this recipe is a beauty, if I say so myself. More of a torte than a Christmas pudding, a piece d’resistance after a stunning meal, and a must to start off my Christmas ramblings for 2009. Hard to believe how fast the year has gone, but lets stay away from that topic shall we? SO with no further ado, let the cooking begin…2009 Christmas here we come!

Christmas Ice Cream Torte

NEED:
1 recipe Raspberry Coulis from Everyday Cooking for Every Family (Thermomix book)

230g butter shortbread biscuits (I recommend Walkers for the butter content.)

55g toasted blanched almonds

55g sugar

2 eggs

300g chilled cream

½ tsp rosewater (optional)

50g craisins

50g shelled pistachios

150g each pink and green Turkish delight, cubed (available at specialty stores)

DO:

Make Raspberry Coulis and cool.

Pre heat oven to 180ºC. Line the base of a 13cm spring form pan or for individual tortes, butter a muffin or friand tin and set aside.

Place shortbread biscuits and almonds into clean Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Push into pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Place sugar into clean and dry Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10. Insert Butterfly.

Add eggs and cook for 6 minutes at 60ºC on speed 3.

Pour into separate bowl and chill.

Pour cream and rosewater into Thermoimix bowl and whip for 10-20 seconds on speed 4 until soft peaks form. Fold by spatula into chilled custard and then fold through remaining ingredients except Coulis.

Pour into base and then pour Coulis on top. Stir through with a skewer to create a marbled effect.

Freeze for 4 hours or more before serving.  Garnish unmoulded torte with fresh berries, mint leaves and additional pistachios or Turkish delight pieces as desired, and dust with icing sugar.

General Tips

To assist with serving, place in fridge 20 minutes before unmoulding and slicing.

Rhubarb Strawberry Pie

Blink and its gone!

(Don’t care what the vanilla has ‘bean’…what is it now??) I am on my first day of leave and the fragrance of a Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie with Vanilla Bean Pastry is wafting through the air as I write. It is almost done and smells absolutely divine…supposedly serving it tomorrow…but that smell is mouth watering, so we shall see! The strawbs are well and truly in at the farm near me and we love it! We probably spend an inordinate amount on strawberries, but no one is complaining, least of all me! The rhubarb was so stunning at the markets that I could not help myself, what beautiful colors!
I had planned to post my raw chocolate truffles, (yes Helen, just for you!) but that rhubarb seduced me! As we power up towards Christmas…going to need to pull out all the stops…also re doing my website, so stay tuned for some big beautiful changes soon! Oh ~ and by the way, I won the judging competition, my answers were as close to the professionals as possible, (whatever that means!!) I have yet to pick up my hamper of goodies…will keep you posted! SO: to the very delicious pie.

NEED:
600-700g rhubarb washed and chopped
100g sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 punnet strawberries hulled and halved
Pastry;
50g sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
200g cold butter cubed
380g plain flour
a little ice cold water as needed

DO:
Place rhubarb, sugar and vanilla bean into Thermomix bowl and add a little water to Thermomix bowl. Cook for 12 minutes at 100oC on Reverse + speed soft. Remove vanilla bean, dry and reserve for another use. Allow to cool completely.
Make pastry by placing sugar and 1/2 vanilla bean into Thermomix bowl and milling together for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Add butter and flour and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6 until resembles bread crumbs and is starting to come together.
Add water through hole in lid while you continue to mix on Interval speed. As soon as the dough starts to form a ball, stop and remove pastry from bowl onto lightly floured baking mat.
Divide into two, a bigger portion for the base and roll out to line a deep pie dish. (20-23cm diameter)
Place in freezer for 20 minutes.
Fill with cooked rhubarb and stud with strawberries. Roll out top and crimp edges. Cut a small cross in the center of the pie to allow steam to escape and cook in pre heated 190oC oven for 30 minutes until golden. Your pastry will have a peppered look, which is a result of the vanilla bean. If you prefer not to have that look, use vanilla extract instead.
It is a deliciously short pastry, and yes, we made it to Sunday before eating the pie, and eaten cold, the pastry was simply like eating a shortbread with a sweet but tangy filling…food superlatives escape me!

As you can see, there was not a lot left as soon as the first cut was made…would have fancied a piece of that tomorrow, but my fellow resort goers will thank me as I lay around the pool next week…yes just rubbing it in! I’M ON LEAVE!

Slice-O-Choc!

Just as I get nominated (and voted for many times…thank you!) I run into so much work that I have no time to create, let alone blog about creating! So in a feeble attempt to keep the banner high, this is a blog about more than just a recipe…its my current claim to fame. This morning I had the opportunity of getting up VERY early and making the trek to the Royal Showgrounds as one of the selected few on radio 6PR’s competition to be a cheese and ice cream judge at the Perth Royal Show. Imagine starting your day chomping down on 10 cheeses of excellence and 4 ice creams! All winners in their own right and all delicious to me…John Watson, the chief Dairy judge each year was there to take us through our paces…and make no mistake, it was harder than just wolfing down lactose laden delights!
We had to consider Body, Texture, Aroma, Content, obviously Taste was in the mix. I have to say that the cheese I selected as my winning choice (a Raclette) was outstanding amongst the outstanding-ness! Now I just have to wait and see if I picked the same winner as the judges…and as for ice cream, NOTHING beats my Panforte ice cream of recent testing (if I say so myself)…watch for that in the 2010 Calendar.

And speaking of 2010, they invited me back…so watch out…I’m destined to become the Dairy Queen…hmmn that has a certain ring to it!
Now to the recipe of today…Gluten Free, and guilt free if you consider the amount of antioxidants in dark chocolate and then look at the numbers below…who said chocolate cake (and berries) isn’t healthy? Protein rich…(I know I’m clutching at straws here…), you gotta love it! Its like a big slice of chocolate truffle. Whats not to love?

Dark Chocolate Torte with Berry Glaze.

NEED:
200g couverture or dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
15g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder or coffee substitute
5 large eggs
110g caster sugar

DO:
Line the base of a small springform pan.
Place chocolate and butter into Thermomix bowl and mill for 8 seconds on speed 6.
Melt together for 5 minutes at 50oC on speed 1. Add cocoa and espresso and beat together for 4 seconds on speed 6.
Cool slightly.
Add eggs and sugar and beat for 20 seconds on speed 5-6.
Pour into prepared pan.
Process in steam oven 1 hour.
Cool completely on wire rack.
If you have no steam oven, try steaming in Varoma for 1 hour and then finish off in fan forced oven for 20 minutes at 180oC.

SERVE:
Make glaze with 150g chocolate or couverture, 100g berries of choice and a dash of brandy (optional).

Place all into Thermomix and melt together for 4 minutes at 37oC on speed 1.
Pour over cake, serve with extra fresh berries and cream.

If you can manage to just have one piece, please tell me your secret!
Enjoy!