chocolate heaven

The first Sunday of September is Father's Day here in Australia, which means the restaurant becomes crazy hectic during the week leading up to it. Which means all I want to do when I get home is put my feet up and do nothing... so that means no to making dinner and no to any new blog entries. To make matters worse we've decided to renovate our bathroom and kitchen, so every spare minute we have we are planning, looking at tiles, toilets, sinks, taps, bench tops... etc etc. Before the project has even started I get the feeling its going to be a nightmare...

So anyway, Father's Day ritual at our place is my brother and I do the cooking, it seems to work better than buying dad a pair of socks. I didn't want to make anything complicated but knew the perfect recipe for a dessert that was going to blow everyone's mind and it involved dad's favorite, chocolate. Like father like daughter, I get my sweet tooth from my daddy~

Jeff Campbell rightly calls this dessert 'chocolate heaven', just a word of warning though, this dessert is definitely something only a chocolate lover should try and it's so easy to make!! It's a cross between a fondant and a souffle. I prefer to serve mine in a souffle mould (don't worry you will notice the dessert will sink, that's because the center not quite set hence it has a similarities to a fondant). Top it off with vanilla bean ice cream, the real stuff- none of that 99.9% fat free 'healthy' alternative... PLEASE! And if strawberries are in season even better, the super sweetness will bring out the fruity tang and compliment this dessert very very nicely.

Oh lastly you will have to excuse the quality of the photos, after too many wines and my parents ultra white and the even brighter (nonadjustable) lighting doesn't do this dessert justice... and the fact that my mom didn't have any vanilla ice-cream in her freezer is the only reason it's missing in the photo!!!

Chocolate Heaven
Adapted from Jeff Campbell, Chef at Sydney's Mint Bar & Dining

350g cooking chocolate (66% cocoa or more)
125g unsalted butter
6 eggs, separated
150g caster sugar
200g caster sugar
100g almond meal
100g rice flour

First weigh out all the ingredients and preheat the oven to 200°C .

Melt the butter and chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water (or you can cheap by putting in the microwave for a minute). Beat egg yolk with the 150g caster sugar until pale in color and almost double in size, then add the melted chocolate mixture to the yolk.

Whisk the egg whites and the 200g caster sugar together. Whisk till light and fluffy or silky peaks form (probably a good idea to use an electric mixer) then gently fold into egg yolk mixture.

Fold in the remaining dry mixture to the chocolate and egg mixture. Grease 10 souffle moulds (approx 8cm x 8cm). If 10 is too many you can freeze the un-cooked mix, make sure to wrap it with glad wrap to stop freezer burn and it will last a couple of weeks. Place in the oven for 12mins, and the center should still be soft.

corned beef

Last night I was lost for inspiration. It's not a regular occurrence but my uninspired mode rears its ugly head once every blue moon. Did I feel like steak? fish? chicken?? Something vegetarian?? I didn't really feel like anything... then John suggested corned beef. Huh- its not something I eat often but when I do I rather enjoy it (especially in a sandwich stacked sooooooooooo high you can barely get your mouth around it!). So corned beef for dinner it was! I didn't really have a recipe as such but there were general instructions on the back of the pack and I followed my instincts and off I went in the kitchen.

Now for some facts on corned beef- it is basically the brisket part of a cow that has been cured in salt. Our friends in North America traditionally eat them in a sandwich while here in Australia we too eat them in our sandwich but we also poach them at home and serve it with white sauce. Anywho enough trivia, back to the recipe... what I love about corned beef is the saltiness, I'm the kind of person who has a bad habit of adding salt to almost any meal without eating it first. I know what you're thinking... and I know salt isn't good for me and I am trying to cut back! But don't worry you are able to purchase a low salt variation at your butchers or supermarket. Usually I would serve this up with a side of carrots and onions (that has been cooking with the meat) and a generous serving of mash potato. But I wasn't in the mood for mash and decided to go with a side of mixed salad leaves. It's not that I was particularly trying to be healthy (clearly as I chose to serve it up with a traditional white sauce), its just that after eating almost all protein, especially red meat, I feel the need to eat greens.

The other exciting thing about this entry is that it's a double recipe!! Mostly because we had so much left overs that I had to think of another way to serve corned beef. So as I was scrolling through articles on corned beef I came across the word "Reuben Sandwich" a number of times... interesting... so my search led me to a recipe. The picture reminded me of the sandwich I had in Montreal (can't for the life of me remember what they were called) but with interesting addition: sauerkraut. So I added that onto my shopping list and was surprised that John wasn't turned off by the idea, that is until he walked into the kitchen as soon as I opened the jar and yelled "Oh! What is that smeeeeeeeeeell??!" The end result was surprisingly good- as I took my first bite I was thinking 'how is it possible our paths have never crossed'... till now that is! I have a good feeling "Reuben" and I will meet again very very soon.

Corned Beef

1.5kg corned silverside

8 whole cloves
1 tspn of black peppercorn
3 bay leaves

1 brown onion, peeled, root intact

1tbs brown sugar

4 large carrots, you can cut it into thick pieces or wait until serving

1/2 cup malt vinegar
White Sauce
50g butter
2 tsp plain flour
2 cups milk
salt & pepper

Place silverside into a deep saucepan with a lid. Add cold water until the meat is just covered. Add all of the ingredients to the saucepan and place it over low heat. Bring to the boil, uncovered. Use a spoon to skim fat from surface and discard. Once boiling, turn the heat back on low, partially cover saucepan and let it simmer. Simmer for approximately 90 minutes or until the meat it cooked well. General guideline is 40minutes for every kilogram of meat.

White Sauce
Melt the butter in a small but deep saucepan. Add the flour, using a wooden spoon mix the butter and flour (its important that you cook the flour otherwise your sauce will taste floury...). Swap your wooden spoon for a whisk and start gradually adding the milk to the saucepan mixing as you continue to whisk. You must must must continue to whisk if you want to make sure there are no clumps in your sauce. Turn the heat off once the sauce thickens, don't worry if you think it's still too runny as it will continue to thicken as it cools.

~BONUS~

Reuben Sandwich
Adapted from allrecipes.com

rye bread (or in my case sourdough worked quite well too)
corned beef
sauerkraut, drained
mayonnaise or thousand island dressing (traditionally a Russian dressing is used)
Swiss cheese
butter, for the bread

Basically you butter the outside of the bread (so it will go nice and brown when toasted) then spread the mayonnaise. Add the Swiss cheese, then corned beef, then the sauerkraut and if you like top it with another layer of cheese. You can add as much or as little of the ingredients and place in under the sandwich press until golden brown. Don't worry if you don't have a sandwich press you can put it under your oven grill or worse case a non-stick frying pan.

vanilla cupcakes

The very first thing I was going to bake after the accident involving my finger was going to be something special... I had promised a friend who lives in Chicago that I would bake her a Black Forest Cake for her birthday. I had pretty much everything I needed except cherries... you would think this was something most supermarkets kept. Cherries in a jar but apparently not! So the next best thing I could think of whilst pushing my trolley down the supermarket aisle were cupcakes!!

If you scroll down to the recipe you know why these cupcakes are going to be delicious... butter!! My recent arch-nemesis is the reason why these cupcakes are super moist, buttery which is so pleasantly offset by the lemon rind. And the icing? It's like butter~ I did have a few issues with the icing being too runny (even after I added more icing sugar). Plus I have never really used piping to decorate before, how hard can it be right??? It's waaaaaaaaaaaay harder that it looks! I told my husband the cheap piping I purchased at the supermarket was to blame, which I bought so I could practice before I was able to convince him to buy me a set from Wilton as part of my birthday gift. Which then turned into a discussion about the 'list' I had of things I wanted this year... yes there is a list but only because every other year I didn't really want anything. He thinks an apartment in NYC is at the top of my list-HA! Not that I would complain... but he has no idea that I am a lot easier to please than he thinks. Anyway I'm getting sidetracked here... so Kathy this one is for you- I promise I will still make you a Black Forest Cake!!

Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted from Greg Patent "Baking In America"

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract zest of
1 lemon (optional)
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
Buttercream Frosting
2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or light cream assorted food colors

Preheat oven to 180°C and line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time making sure you beat them well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and lemon zest and beat well.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Evenly fill the cupcake liners with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. If you want flat topped cupcakes then slice off the dome of each cupcake, with a sharp knife, before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting

In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed. Tint the frosting with desired food color.

Makes about 12 cupcakes