Choc Molten Pots uncookedOozing Choc Molten Puddingsssss

Oozing Choc Molten Puddingsssss

Not kidding…these have truffles in the center…so if you are on a diet, don’t read any further. You will just be tormenting yourself. Yes, just call me the devil.

You don’t have to make the truffles, but you may want to…they add such a chocolatey hit to this already amazing dessert. You will never go back to boring old chocolate cake again…at least not on my watch! In the process of doing a desserts book (you did read that correctly) I have had many many desserts that I felt were wrong for the project, but not wrong in any other way. When I say ‘wrong’ I mean, too long, too complicated, too hard to write without the benefit of pics to explain…etc. Our new little project will be up and running soon, so stay tuned for all the versions of dessert you ever wished for, in one handy location! In the meantime, be getting on with this hey?

NEED:

1 pre made batch Crio Bru Truffles (well you only need 6 actually, so that’s the upside…you also get truffles at the end of it!)

Enough butter to grease 6 small ramekins

Enough premium cocoa to dust 6 small ramekins

150g sugar

50g butter

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

4 eggs

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

50g plain flour

350g dark chocolate, melted

DO:

Preheat oven to 200ºC and butter each ramekin very well. Dust generously with cocoa. Set ramekins aside on a baking tray.

Place sugar into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add butter and blend 10 sec/speed 4.

Add vanilla, eggs, salt and flour. Blend 10 sec/speed 5.

Add melted chocolate that has been slightly cooled. (I used microwave, but induction cooktop is excellent for melting chocolate as well. Of course it can be done in your Thermo, but it can be quite slow and you would need to do this first.)

Blend 10 sec/speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

Divide mixture between the prepared ramekins. Push a truffle (without any nuts or other coating FYI) into the centre of each and cover with pudding batter.

Bake 10-12 minutes until still springy to  touch.

Use a knife to loosen outer edges of cake and turn upside down to serve.

Serve with cream, mascarpone or ice cream to taste. Dust with additional cocoa if desired. You can refrigerate these fully assembled, but uncooked until ready to serve. It is best to eat them hot, straight from the oven. They may take a little longer if being cooked straight from the fridge.

Choc Mint Ganache Tart

This was truly awesome…thank you dearest Tweak Editing….Chris, our editor for For Foods Sake sent me this recipe and asked for a Thermo version…well here it is…absolutely amazing, and totally easy. Be amazed. Be prepared to make it again. Go to the gym so you can eat another piece with less guilt. Or not. But a second piece you will definitely have…trust me! I have seen another version of this over at the Recipe Community from Splendiferous Thermomix, using my fave choccie product of all time (do I need to mention it by name?) Crio Bru. This is the every day, garden variety, without the Crio…she beat me to it! I swear!! (We’ll talk later Karyn!)

NEED:

Crust;

60g sugar

250g flour

130g butter, cubed

2 tbsp premium cocoa powder

1 egg yolk

A little iced water

Filling;

300g white chocolate callets

150g cream

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

2 tsp peppermint oil

Ganache;

200g Lindt Dark Mint Intense chocolate, in pieces

200g cream

DO:

To make crust, place sugar into TM bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Add flour and butter and blend 6 sec/speed 6.

Add remaining crust ingredients and blend 5 sec/speed 5 or until a ball is formed.

Press into 26cm pie or flan tin with removable base and place into freezer for around 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line the crust with baking paper. Using pie weights, rice or beans, blind bake 15 minutes. Remove weights and cook further 10 minutes until fragrant and crust is well cooked.

Cool.

TO make white filling place all ingredients into TM bowl and melt 5 min/50ºC/speed 1. Scrape down if necessary and stir until all callets are melted.

Pour into cold baked pie shell. Place into fridge until well set.

Place Ganache ingredients into clean, dry TM bowl and melt 5 min/50ºC/speed 2. Pour over filling and set completely before cutting into wedges to serve.

Aztec Hot Chocolate Shots….go steady!

Store this one away for a cold evening when the wind is howling and you feel as though you need to be warmed right through. Recently featured in all classes since For Food’s Sake was launched, it has been a BIG hit with the whole country, and now here you go…all yours for the asking! Once again starring the chocolatey-est chocolate, because it is pure chocolate, Crio Bru…your friend and mine…choose the dark chocolate you use carefully, try to get a 64% or higher…for the best flavour and highest nutritional value. (And then you can tell yourself it is a health food…really!)

NEED:

1 cinnamon stick

1 dried chilli (or less to taste)

Zest 1 orange, finely grated

100g palm sugar

100g Crio Bru granules

100g dark chocolate, in pieces

500g cream

200g milk

Pinch sea salt

DO:

Place cinnamon, chilli, zest, palm sugar, Crio Bru and chocolate into TM bowl and mill 15 sec/speed 10.

Add cream, milk and salt and cook 10 min/80°C/speed 2.

Strain and drink in small shot glasses. Try adding a vanilla bean in the first step for another flavour advantage…delish!

Crio Bru Easter Eggs with Pistachio Almond Paste Filling

You knew this had to be coming didn’t you? Really…it was only a matter of timing. And wait for it…if you blink you may miss it…Easter is upon us. I know, I know, I was just posting Christmas recipes but a moment ago, but here we are, the big pink bunny is on his way, camping trips, school holidays, over indulgence in all things chocolate…so this recipe is healthy. NOT KIDDING…totally healthy, just don’t eat it all at once. You too may be bouncing all over more than any bunny I’ve ever come across. Full of natural energy, go read about Crio Bru’s amazing benefits HERE and then proceed with confidence. Any flavour of the Bru will Do! Enjoy these Eggcellent eggs…oh and Hoppy Easter! (Sorry…please eggcuse me!)

NEED:

100g Crio Bru dry granules

100g Rapadura sugar

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

65g cacao butter

Pinch Murray River pink salt

Paste Filling;

100g pistachios, shelled

40g almonds

50g Rapdura sugar

10g cacao butter

Pinch Murray River pink salt

Additional almonds and pistachios to garnish

Easter egg mould or other mould of choice

DO:

To make chocolate shells, place Crio Bru granules and sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 20 sec/speed 10.

Add vanilla bean paste, cacao butter and salt and blend 10-15 sec/speed 6 until a chocolate paste forms. Spread into moulds of choice and place into fridge.

Without cleaning bowl, make paste by placing pistachios, almonds, and sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Add cacao butter and salt and blend 20 sec/speed 8, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Fill each shell with the filling, placing a few of the additional nuts into the centres as desired. Finish off with additional nuts, making sure that you press them into the filling so that they will set into the egg.

Refrigerate.

Remove from moulds. Wrap and gift…or slice it to eat, or, well, put it on a plate and do a Seinfeld and get the knife and fork out! (But remember, it is very, very dark and rich and full of antioxidants and energy!)

Tartiflette

Whilst in Adelaide with the book tour classes…(you didnt know about them? Where have you been hiding?), I found out about a taste sensation you would have thought I would know about…not sure who it was that flagged it with me (are you out there??) but as soon as I heard about the combo, that was it…had to try it…

Could be labelled Potato Gratin on Crack I guess…totally amazing, totally easy, and totally French decadence! I would serve this as a side, or with a beautiful green salad as a fantastic lunch. All stories about Tartiflette lead to great bacon, and great cheese. If you have those, this is a breeze….don’t be tempted to go cheap on either… It is very rich and you need the bonus of the best you can afford!

I think I would do this as individual serves next time for best presentation…and easier to keep some left overs as well! Enjoy!

NEED:

600g-1kg red skinned potatoes, thickly sliced, skin on

Water for steaming

1 brown onion, cut in pieces

30g butter

40g white wine

Sea salt to taste

150g speck cut into lardons

250g Camembert  or Brie cheese, ripe

DO:

Place prepared potatoes into Varoma dish and tray and water into Thermomix bowl. Steam 25 min/Varoma/speed 3.

Remove potatoes and cool slightly. Drain water from bowl.

Place onion, butter, wine and salt into Thermomix bowl. Chop 4 sec/speed 5. Saute 8 min/Varoma/speed 1.

Meanwhile preheat your oven to as hot as you can get it. Around 220ºC if possible. (Not a grill, an oven function.)

Butter a large pie dish, casserole dish or several individual ramekin dishes.

Now, for the hard part….

Lay potatoes, lardons, sauteed onions, in prepared dish. Cut the cheese into pieces and dot the surface of everything else. Bake until golden and fragrant…about 20-25 minutes.

If you had a whole rinded cheese (Reblochon is authentic) and your dish was the right size, you could just put the whole cheese on top and bake it as is…can you imagine?? (I can…and so I restricted myself to less cheese…and the dot method…to preserve my hips for another day!)

Hey La La Vanilla Ice Cream (egg free)

Heilala Hamper….be in it to win it!

Well, well, well….the BOOK is out! (Have you been under a rock?) And if you don’t have a copy yet (why not?) you will notice there are quite a few Heilala vanilla recipes in there. My Hey La La of choice is usually the Vanilla Bean Paste because of its flavour richness….but, should you venture further in the Heilala vanilla range, you will notice there are a lot more products than just that Vanilla Rock Star! SO….in partnership with Heilala, I am giving away a fantastic hamper of Heilala vanilla products valued at $250…to accompany this great recipe.

To win, you must tell me which recipe from For Foods Sake you would like to make using Heilala Vanilla and add it as a comment to this story. A random winner will be drawn one week from today and announced on my Facebook page, (so if you haven’t toddled on over there, you better do so and hit the like button!)

COMPETITION IS CLOSED

NEED:

250g whole milk

500g pure cream

Pinch Murray River pink salt

150g rapadura sugar

2 tbsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

1 tsp Heilala vanilla extract

DO:

Place milk, half the cream, salt, sugar and vanilla bean paste into the Thermomix bowl and warm 6 min/80ºC/speed 3.

Cool in the bowl for at least 15 minutes. Add remaining cream and vanilla extract and blend 10 sec/speed 3.

Pour into flat container and freeze several hours until solid.

Break into chunks and place into Thermomix bowl. Blend 2 min/speed 10 with the aid of the spatula. Insert Butterfly and whip 1 min/speed 4. Serve immediately with toasted nuts of choice, Ice Magic or Vanilla Dessert Syrup.

Vanilla Dessert Syrup

NEED:

2 tbsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

200g sugar

100g water

2 tbsp white rum

DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and cook 5 min/100ºC/speed 2 with MC off. Cool before using. This will keep in the fridge in a glass jar indefinitely.

Cheesey Polenta Pie

You know I’m a West Australian Dairy Judge right? (And yes cheese companies, I can be bought with cheese!) So mention Gorgonzola and I’m there…go to Taleggio and I’m there with bells on. I of course love all cheeses, but the smelly soft ones seem to get me the most! So this recipe is a result of visiting my favorite Continental store and coming home with several wedges of cheese that I should not eat by myself…I was sharing the smelliness…hope you are glad about that. I served this with Saltimbocca lamb parcels from a gorgeous butcher in the same complex. I do not go there often. I also brought home chocolate and pistachio cannoli from the Italian bakery, also in the complex, which is why I do  not go there often. End of story.

NEED:

700g water

1 good pinch sea salt

180g coarse polenta

80g Taleggio cheese

80g butter

150g gorgonzola cheese

DO:

Place water and salt into Thermomix bowl and boil 8 min/100ºC/speed 3.

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

Add polenta and cook 10 min/100ºC/speed 4. Add taleggio and butter through hole in lid and blend 30 sec/speed 4.

Pour or spread mixture into a buttered shallow pie dish. Crumble the gorgonzola over the top and bake 25 minutes until golden and bubbling. If you have a grill in your oven (cue the Kleenmaid oven) fire it up and brown the top for around 5-7 minutes at 250ºC.

I served it with roasted red pepper strips, (homemade of course).

Serve hot or cold as a side dish. (But best hot and sizzling!)

After Dinner Mints

It goes without saying, if you have a Thermomix, you want to make EVERYTHING! (Am I right??) There is some sort of thing in the back of my mind when I shop for food, read a menu, see something new online, that I say to myself; ‘Huh, I can do that!’ And then I go home and I do…this is one of those recipes. I wouldnt say they were easy, the dipping is a little fiddly, but over all, not bad, and certainly worth all the drama. Whip out a tray of these after your next dinner party, casually mention you made them yourself and see everyone’s jaw drop…unless of course they have a Thermomix too. Then they will just smile a little and think to themselves, ‘Huh, I can do that!’

NEED:

260g icing sugar

25g unsalted butter

25g evaporated milk

½ tsp peppermint oil (not extract)

½ tsp lemon oil (not extract)

250g chocolate, broken into pieces

1 tbsp coconut oil

DO:

Place icing sugar, butter, milk and oils into Thermomix bowl and blend 30 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and knead 30 sec/Interval. Remove from bowl and roll into a smooth disc. Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Break disc into small pieces and roll into balls about the size of a large macadamia. Place in freezer while you prepare the chocolate.

Place chocolate and coconut oil into clean, dry Thermomix bowl and heat 10 min/37ºC/speed 1. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary until you have a nice liquid chocolate.

Press mint balls flat with the bottom of a glass, using a small piece of baking paper to prevent glass from sticking.

Dip each disc in chocolate and lay on lined metal tray. Refrigerate until use.

Fontina Asparagus Tart

Quick lunch? Late Breakfast? Lazy Sunday Brunch? This is a winner on all scores….so whip it up, and you may find you will be doing similar things again and again. (Deeply impressive to the eaters….as expressed to me this weekend!) I had it cooked, and on the table in less time than it takes to write a blog post! What is your favorite whipper upper that impresses??

NEED:

70g Fontina cheese, cubed

70g gruyere cheese, cubed

40g unsalted butter

30g corn flour

2 eggs plus 1 egg for egg wash

240g milk

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

3 commercial butter puff pastry sheets, thawed (or use the very fantastic Careme roll…or if you have For Foods Sake, pre-make the Flaky Butter Pastry, page 54)

1-2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut to size as needed

DO:

Preheat oven to bread baking setting 220ºC and line 2 trays with baking paper.

Place cheeses into Thermomix bowl and chop 8 sec/speed 10. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place all remaining ingredients except pastry and asparagus into Thermomix bowl and cook 6 min/100ºC/speed 4.

Add grated cheeses to the bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 6.

While the bechemel is cooking, prepare pastry bases by placing one sheet of pastry onto each lined tray. Form an edge to your tart by cutting the remaining sheet into strips and laying along all four edges of each square. Brush edges with egg wash.

Divide bechemel between the two tart bases and spread to the inside edges of pastry strips. Arrange asparagus spears over.

Bake 10-15 minutes until edges are golden and pastry base is well cooked. Serve hot with salad or steamed veggies of choice.

Vice Cream with Crio Beans

I saw this idea over on one of my fave blogs to read when I have a little time to relax, Not Quite Nigella. I changed it up a little because it was so totally perfect for your fave kitchen appliance and mine! I even made it as a Thermomix demo at my book launch, which incidentally WENT OFF! I hope if you were lucky enough to join me for that, you are still buzzing AND enjoying the spoils in For Foods Sake! I had a ball….If you would like a piece of the action, please go and purchase the book at the STORE.

If you would like a little Vice in your life, best make it this Vice, as it is all good for you! You could add all sorts of crunchy elements, as opposed to the macadamias, but add a little salt if you don’t use salty nuts. The salt will just elevate the flavor a little. Try Choc coated Crio beans, other nuts, chocolate chips or cacao nibs…or add orange zest and enjoy Jaffa Vice Cream…oh the possibilities.

NEED:

400g bananas, peeled and sliced, frozen

1 avocado

90g maple syrup

2 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

40g Margaret River Chocolate cocoa powder (or other premium cocoa)

Handful roasted, salted macadamias

DO:

Place bananas into Thermomix bowl and chop 5 sec/speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients except nuts and blend 10-15 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and add nuts and blend a further 10 sec/speed 6.

Serve immediately.