Indulge

honey parfait and berries

This is a favorite way to indulge at the moment. Honey parfait with berries, honey parfait with crunchy caramel and pecan nuts, honey parfait with nectarines, honey parfait with cream, honey parfait with just about anything I can think of!


Before I made it the first time, I thought about it for a few days. I felt like a delicious creaming ice cream. But not having a ice cream machine makes, making ice cream a bit of a drag. So I usually opt for semifreddos, when I make ice creams at home. But my taste buds felt for something lighter and possibly creamier. After contemplating a few days and working it out in my head. I decided to make a kind of a parfait- a creamy custard that has a high sugar content, so it freezes slowly and doesn't form crystals.... so no churning is needed ( = no ice cream machine)
Then finally I braved it and tried out my invention. And it worked perfectly! It was exactly what I felt for and may I say so myself it darn delicious. To be honest sometimes I think I like it so much because it worked out so well on the first try.

Well here is the recipe:

• Honey Parfait

• 300g honey
• 6 egg yolks
• 500ml cream

Bring the honey the boil and simmer for about 4min. Take off the stove.
Whisk egg yolks on highest setting of the whisk, very slowly drizzle in the hot honey while whisking the eggs. Keep whisking until the egg mixture is doubled in volume. - set aside to cool down.
Whisk the cream and fold into the cooled egg mix.
Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours.

et voila.
Honey Parfait.

What will you have it with?

I heart Cup Cakes

Then again- who doesn't?

They are sweet, come in every imaginable flavour,look cute, are easy to make and best of all don't need to be cut.
I hate cutting cakes! Especially if I spent a long while making them. I tend to somehow mess them up- so my solution: make mini-cakes that need NO cutting. Well that and the fact that I like small gorgeous looking bites that are simply delicious - and on top of that they are easy to make

the weekend is looming and I feel like Chocolate Cup Cakes:
How about you?

Chocolate Cup Cakes with Chocolate Ganache Mousse

Ingredients

for Cup cakes:
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
80g self-raising flour
20g Coco powder
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180C
Whisk the butter and sugar until the butter is pale and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved. Add one egg at the time while whisking gently. sift the flour, coco powder and baking powder together and add to the mixture a small portion at the time until the batter is mixed.
Fill 3/4 of greased or lined cup cake forms and bake for about 20min or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean. The baking times do varies according to the size of the cup cakes...
Take out and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack
( I find my cakes are much light if all ingredients are at room temperature so I take them out of the fridge a few hours before baking )

for the Icing:
50g dark chocolate ( I use 80%)
1/2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp castor sugar- i replace this sometimes with vanilla syrup
50ml cream

Brake chocolate into small pieces, put into a glass/metal bowl and place this on a pot with simmering water. Stir chocolate occasionally until all is melted- be careful not to get it too hot because it will go all grainy, i.e curdle- at the butter,sugar and 1 Tbsp of cream (at room temp) and stir it well. Set the mixture aside to cool a little. Stirring it every now and then. It should be glossy and smooth
Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. While whisking add the cooled melted chocolate slowly until all is well mixed. It should be light and fluffy but firm.
Pipe onto the cup cakes ...

et voila! a great weekend treat!
I am off to do these things
oh, did I mention they are easy to make?!

Enjoy your weekend
xo

Sharing

My cooking mojo is on a high at the moment. Quite a few people have been asking me for recipes lately...so I thought I should start sharing some of them.
Its a long weekend and I am hoping for braai (bbq) weather, hence the recipe is for

Grilled Paprika Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 whole chicken legs
  
• 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Paprika
• Juice of half a lemon

Butterfly the chicken legs but leave the leg bone on. (Ask your butcher to do this- it makes life super easy!)
Mix spices, oil and juice in a bowl. Rub all over the chicken legs and marinate for at least 2hours, best overnight.
Add salt just before cooking. Then braai...
Easy peasy! But trust me it's really delicious! My favorite at the moment.

oh and if the weather is not playing along, simply cut the bone off and fry it in a griddle pan.
Bon appetite!

enjoy your weekend
xo