Recent favourites
For those of you who like cooking as much as I do, a couple of our recent favourites.
Paska
Serves 6-8
You'll need a pudding basin and a clean cloth (muslin if you have it, chux if you don't).
1/2 cup chopped crystallised ginger
1/4 cup mixed peel
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup chopped dried figs
1/4 cup chopped dried pear or apricot
2 tablespoons Amaretto
100 grams butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons lemon juice
750 grams fresh ricotta
1/2 cup sour cream
Line pudding bowl with a damp cloth.
Mix dried fruit with Amaretto and infuse for a couple of hours.
Cream butter and sugar until light, then mix in egg yolks one at a time. Add zest and ricotta and mix well. Transfer to a bowl (assuming you've been using a food processor until now) and stir in soaked fruit, lemon juice and toasted almonds. Fold in sour cream. Transfer to the lined pudding bowl and cover the mixture with the extra cloth. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
Turn out to serve with dried fruit, especially ginger, and Amaretto.
Chocolate cake
5 tablespoons caster sugar
275 grams plain dark chocolate, chopped
175 grams unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
5 eggs, separated
40 grams plain flour, sifted
pinch salt
icing sugar for dusting
course white sugar and butter for lining the tin
Preheat oven to 160 C. Butter a 24 cm cake tin and sprinkle with sugar.
Melt butter, chocolate and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla essence. Leave to cool slightly then whisk in egg yolks, one at a time, followed by the flour.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add remaining sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Whisk around 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest.
Transfer mixture to the tin, tapping gently to remove air bubbles. Bake for around 40 minutes, or until the centre is slightly springy. Transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle with icing sugar once the cake is cool.
The cake is essentially chocolate flavoured butter, so it will keep for a while, but I've never known it to last the day. It's lovely with berries.
Paska
Serves 6-8
You'll need a pudding basin and a clean cloth (muslin if you have it, chux if you don't).
1/2 cup chopped crystallised ginger
1/4 cup mixed peel
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup chopped dried figs
1/4 cup chopped dried pear or apricot
2 tablespoons Amaretto
100 grams butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons lemon juice
750 grams fresh ricotta
1/2 cup sour cream
Line pudding bowl with a damp cloth.
Mix dried fruit with Amaretto and infuse for a couple of hours.
Cream butter and sugar until light, then mix in egg yolks one at a time. Add zest and ricotta and mix well. Transfer to a bowl (assuming you've been using a food processor until now) and stir in soaked fruit, lemon juice and toasted almonds. Fold in sour cream. Transfer to the lined pudding bowl and cover the mixture with the extra cloth. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
Turn out to serve with dried fruit, especially ginger, and Amaretto.
Chocolate cake
5 tablespoons caster sugar
275 grams plain dark chocolate, chopped
175 grams unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
5 eggs, separated
40 grams plain flour, sifted
pinch salt
icing sugar for dusting
course white sugar and butter for lining the tin
Preheat oven to 160 C. Butter a 24 cm cake tin and sprinkle with sugar.
Melt butter, chocolate and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla essence. Leave to cool slightly then whisk in egg yolks, one at a time, followed by the flour.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add remaining sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Whisk around 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest.
Transfer mixture to the tin, tapping gently to remove air bubbles. Bake for around 40 minutes, or until the centre is slightly springy. Transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle with icing sugar once the cake is cool.
The cake is essentially chocolate flavoured butter, so it will keep for a while, but I've never known it to last the day. It's lovely with berries.
Labels: chocolate cake, food, paska
posted by Margie at 12:54 pm
2 Comments:
They sound yummy! I have a similar chocolate cake recipe, but it has no flour in it, it's pure evil (chocolate, cream, sugar and eggs). Something tells me that Matt won't cook the one with nuts in it for me. So fussy that boy.
I've seen the nuts replaced with cachous before, which gives the crunchiness you get from the nuts. But maybe you'd need to change the proportions of ricotta : sour cream to balance the sweetness? Luckily not a restriction I have to deal with :)
Post a Comment
<< Home