whisks' orange coconut custard

this is my answer to making a dairy, egg and gluten free pouring custard to serve with christmas pudding, or any cake, or anything (or nothing) for that matter.

the rind an orange
60 grams sugar
10 grams maize cornflour
500 grams coconut milk
orange liqueur, optional, but nice to add for something festive

place the orange rind, sugar and cornflour into the thermomix bowl and grind on speed 10 for 10 seconds. take a good long sniff of this mixture - it smells so good.
add the coconut milk and cook for 8 minutes at 90 degrees at speed 4.
if you're adding some orange liqueur, now's the time to add it...at your discretion, and give it a stir in the thermomix on speed 4 for about 5 seconds.
pour this into a jug and serve. just a warning, this is hot, so if you want to have a taste, spoon some out to let it cool, then have a taste. very delicious. as with all custards, this one will form a skin. if you like the skin, you don't have to doo anything. if you don't want a skin to form, place a piece of baking paper on the surface of the custard and remove it before serving.

vanilla custard, just like grandma's

on saturday, i got together with a few friends who were longing for some old fashioned comfort...old fashioned comfort food. so after having a nice comforting risotto, i made vanilla custard from scratch. no custard powder, and the yellow in the custard came from the eggs. yolks to be specific.

the verdict? one of the guys sighed and proclaimed it to be just like gran's and breathed in all the vanilla-iness. and everyone nodded in agreement and continued eating their custard. lol.

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons maize cornflour
3 egg yolks
1/2 litre milk
vanilla bean paste to taste

pop it all into the thermomix bowl and set the thermomix to cook at 80 degrees for 7 minutes on speed 4. so good. so easy. no comparison could be made with the bought stuff.

strawberry mousse...thermomixed!

need i say that this is so easy? the most fiddly thing about this is sprinkling the gelatine over the water...

1 1/2 teaspoons gelatine
1/3 cup water
100 grams sugar
250 grams strawberries
300 ml cream

place the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over the water. place the bowl over hot water to allow the gelatine to swell. stir to dissolve the gelatine and set aside.

place the sugar, strawberries and cream into the thermomix bowl and blend together on speed 8 for 15 seconds. add the gelatine mixture and mix for 5 seconds at speed 5.

pour the mixture into your favourite glasses, ramekins or bowls and refrigerate until set.

fruit and nut pretend truffles

last week at jan's, we decided to go through her cupboard and use up all the scraps of dried fruit, nuts and seeds...we even used up all the honey making these.

300 grams nut and seeds (we used a combination of brazils, almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)
150 grams dried fruit (we used cranberries, apricots and pears)
100 grams honey
extra sesame seeds to roll the truffles in


pop everything into the thermomix bowl and blitz on speed 7 until the desired consistency is acheived.

form into balls, roll in the extra sesame seeds and refrigerate until firm before serving.

creamy salmon soup

whilst this isn't really soup weather, i wanted to try this soup out. it's delicious and almost a meal in itself. quick and easy, i made this in the thermomix, and as such, it would be really good for those times when i really didn't feel like cooking.

500 grams milk
200 grams cream
150 grams water (or part wine, part water)
20 grams tomato paste
1 large potato, cubed
1 tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate
200 grams fresh salmon, cut in 1 centimetre cubes
finely diced tomatoes and dill, to garnish

place the milk, cream, water, wine (if using), tomato paste, potato and stock concentrate in the thermomix bowl.
blend on speed 9 for 15 seconds.
cook for 10 minutes at 100 degrees celcius on speed 3.
add the salmon and combine for 30 seconds on reverse speed 1. there is sufficient retained heat to cook the salmon through and not over cook it.

pretend truffles

these are pretend truffles, and purists will scoff and say worse, but i think they aren't half bad considering they have pretty healthy ingredients. again, i made these with the thermomix...it was there, and when it's there, it's easy to use.

250 grams almonds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds.....whatever nut/seed you have on hand
75 grams sesame seeds
100 grams honey
40 grams cocoa

place everything in the thermomix bowl and blitz on speed 10 for 5-10 seconds, depending on the texture you like. form the mixture into balls, roll in coconut and refrigerate to firm up before serving.

on a hot day, all i think of is sorbet.

it's quite hot in sydney today and miss c's friend hik asked if i could help with the food for her birthday party. after some thought, that sorbet might be fun thing to bring to the party. people don't usually bring iced confections along, so this can be the novelty. since i only have 2 thermoserves, that would be the limiting factor; i would be able to bring close to 5 litres of sorbet and that would have to be enough.

i decided that i would make the sorbet with what i had to save myself a trip to the supermarket unnecessarily, so i went with 3 flavours - lemon, orange and apple. i made them separately so the flavours could remain pure or mixed if desired.

i used my thermomix to make them, and it didn't take much time at all.

150 grams raw sugar
2 lemons/oranges/apples (peeled and cored)
1 egg white
700 grams ice

pulverise the citrus rinds (if using) with the sugar on speed 9 until you hear a change in the sound of the thermomix (this takes several seconds).

add the fruit, egg white and half the ice and slowly turn the speed dial up to 10 and process until there is another change in sound. use the spatula to help any ice cubes into the mixture to grind up. add the remaining cubes gradually and again use the the spatula to help any ice cubes into the mixture so they can be ground. continueon speed 10 until all the ice cubes have been ground. serve immediately or place into the thermoserve for later.

tomato and cashew dip

this is a really easy dip which takes next to no time in the thermomix. this is one of a medley of dips i have been making; they make a really good snack without too much effort.

1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic
a good slurp of olive oil (or the oil from the sundried tomatoes
1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
50 grams sundried tomatoes
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
pepper to taste

place the onion and garlic into the thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6.
add the oil and cook for 3 minutes at varoma temperature on speed 1.
add the nuts, tomatoes and pepper and blitz for 20 seconds on speed 6.
cook for 5 minute at 80 degrees celcius on speed 4.

this thickens as it cools and spreads nicely on a nice sturdy slice of bread. this recipe makes enough to fill 2 dip bowls, so i usually pop one in the fridge or pass it onto my neighbour or the next person who comes over.

gula melaka

this has been one of the best desserts i have ever unwittingly made. following on from the sago dessert i had in kowloon, i found this to be really versatile. how do i know this? i made it to take down to tze's place in bulli, and it was hugely popular, and not only that, it was allergy people friendly. richard's a coeliac, and christopher is allergic to dairy, peanuts and eggs (could be more, but i don't remember)....so everyone could eat it. it's super easy too.


4 litres water
1 cup sago


150 grams palm sugar, chopped
150 grams coconut sugar, chopped
1/2 cup water


200 ml coconut cream, to serve


bring the water to a rapid boil. while stirring the boiling water, slowly sprinkle the cup of sago into the water. make sure none of the sago sticks to the bottom of the pan by stirring. once you have poured in all of sago continue stirring and let it boil for 1 minute. turn off the heat and put the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes. stir the sago and turn the heat back on full for 1 more minute then turn the heat off and let it sit until the pearls are translucent, about 10 minutes. don't worry if you have a few pearls that are still white in the middle. pour the sago into a sieve and rinse under runnng water until the pearls have cooled. scoop into either moulds or little ramekins. cover and set in the fridge.

to make the gula melaka, place the sugars and water in a small pot over a medium flame and stir until dissolved. bring to the boil and set aside to cool.

when ready to serve, unmould the sago, if necessary, and pour over the syrup and coconut cream to one's liking.

sago is usually best served within several hours of making.

quick apricot mousse

remember my strawberry mousse from last year? i thought that was pretty effortless. this is even more so. and three ingredients, to boot.
this is another offering from the same australian women's weekly menu planner i got the cream cheese flan from; this one's from page 54.

825 gram can apricot halves
2 teaspoons gelatine
300 grams sour cream

drain the apricots and reserve 1/2 cup syrup. sprinkle the gelatine over the syrup and allow to soften over a bowl of hot water.
puree the apricots, add the sour cream and gelatine mixture and mix until combined throughly.
pour into individual dishes and refrigerate until set.

isn't that easy? i'd suspect that it might be diabetic friendly if you used apricots in natural juice, but you should check that out with a dietician just to make sure.

cream cheese flan

every so often, i like to flip through my australian women's weekly menu planners. i don't have the whole set and would love to complete it if it is at all possible. anyway, this recipe is from the third book of the first series and was printed in 1987....page 58, if you must know. i love these little books - they hark to a different time and the recipes in them have that quaint quality to them, retro, if you like, but definitely not mainstream.
a gluten free version of this flan can be made if gluten free biscuits are used for the base.

this flan can be made up to 1 day ahead; store, covered, in the refrigerator. recipe unsuitable to freeze.

1 1/2 cups (185grams) sweet biscuit crumbs
90 grams butter, melted
250 grams cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon rind
300 grams sour cream

combine the biscuit crumbs and butter and press over the base of a 23 cm flan tin; refrigerate until firm.
beat the cream cheese and sugar until soft, add the eggs and lemon rind and mix well.
add the sour cream and beat to combine.
pour the mixture into a saucepan and whisk over heat without boiling until slightly thickened (or microwave on high 8 minutes, stopping every 2 minute to whisk mixture).
pour mixture over biscuit base, cool and refirgerate several hours or overnight.

decorate with whipped cream, drizzled chocolate and strawberries if you'd like.

peanut butter cookies...with extras...

i'm not a big peanut butter eater, but tend to buy too much of it thinking we might be out of it. enter peanut butter cookies - a hero in the "using heaps of peanut butter" world.

1 cup (260 grams) peanut butter (use your favourite - smooth or crunchy)
1 cup sugar (220 grams) sugar
1 egg

extras
m and ms
chocolate chips (again use your favourite - white, milk or dark)
dried fruit (your favourites, again - pears, apricots, cranberries)
nuts (cashews, walnuts, macadamias)

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
combine the peanut butter, sugar and egg in a mixing bowl. add your desired extras, just keeping in mind that if you like putting lots of stuff in, you will have to have enough cookie dough to hold it all together. all the bits you put in can be chopped as finely as you like or left as rustic as you like.
form the dough into balls and place the on the baking sheet. pressthem down a little to flatten and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.

strawberry mousse

for one reason or another, i have always avoided making mousse. i don't know whether it was the gelatine aspect, the cream whipping aspect, having to use the blender then having to wash it up, or in this case, the use of fresh, luscious berries in a dessert, when i often wonder why people don't just eat the berries just as they are, rather than fiddle with something so perfect. however, now i know why one would make a strawberry mousse - because it is soooo delicious, and oh so easy, especially the way i do it. and what made me take the plunge? it's strawberry season now and perhaps i couldn't justify not making a mousse anymore.

1 punnet (250 grams) strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup sugar
300 mls cream
2 teaspoons gelatine
1/3 cup boiling water

place the gelatine in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over and stir until the gelatine has completely dissolved. set aside while the straberry mixture is being prepared.

place the strawberries, cream and sugar in the beaker of a 1 litre capacity coffee plunger and use a bamix (or other kitchen wand) to blend the contents together. once smooth, pour in the gelatine liquid and blend again.

pour the resulting mousse mixture into 150ml capacity serving glasses or ramekins. the size of your glasses will determine the number of servings you get; i usually get about 5-6 servings and find that this is ideal - any bigger, and one could experience mousse overload, and any less may not be quite satisfying enough.

refrigerate for a couple of hours, or overnight, if time permits. we tend to go through these mousses very quickly (read they are eaten as soon as they set, if not before), however, i did find one behind some other containers in the fridge which was a couple of days old and still very delicious, so i can say they do keep a couple of days quite happily.

sago with mango and grapefruit

this is inspired by a delicious dessert i had when i was in kowloon a few years ago. it was served chilled and was very unusual with the grapefuit scattered through the liquid. chinese sago desserts have tended to have coconut milk as their liquid normally (which i am also very fond of), however, replacing it with orange juice makes the conclusion to the meal much lighter and very refreshing.

sago
4 litres water
1 cup sago

sugar syrup
1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
400 ml water
400 ml orange juice

fruit
1 red grapefruit
1 firm mango

sago
bring the water to a rapid boil. while stirring the boiling water, slowly sprinkle the cup of sago into the water. make sure none of the sago sticks to the bottom of the pan by stirring. once you have poured in all of sago continue stirring and let it boil for 1 minute. turn off the heat and put the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes. stir the sago and turn the heat back on full for 1 more minute then turn the heat off and let it sit until the pearls are translucent, about 10 minutes. don't worry if you have a few pearls that are still white in the middle. pour the sago into a sieve and rinse under runnng water until the pearls have cooled.

sugar syrup
disslove the sugar in the extra water, then cool the sugar syrup in a fridge.

fruit
peel the grapefruit, remove the pith and then break the segments into small chunks. peel and cut the mango into small cubes.

combine the sago, sugar syrup, orange juice, mango and grapefruit and chill in the fridge before serving.

coconut mint crunch kisses by whisks

sounds like a real mouthful, doesn't it? well, i really tried to shorten it down from "chocolate coconut peppermint crunch kisses"!
i made these for miss k to take to her coeliac friend's place this morning. i was actually trying to think of what gluten free treat to make last night, but only came up with this recipe this morning. yesterday, we went to sticky where we got a huge bag of pepermint candy and i was determined to think of some thing gluten free to make with them. initial thoughts were to make a slice with the crushed candies and rice cookies, but the combination just didn't appeal to me, so this is what i came up with. if everything is at hand, and the candies crushed, this really only takes a moment to make - the rest is chilling time - it took me less than 10 minutes (felt like 5) to put together and while it was in the fridge, i had my shower and breakfast. it was then chilled sufficiently to cut and bring to lizzie's place!

375 grams dark chocolate
150 grams butter
300 grams peppermint candies, crushed
1 1/2-2 cups shredded coconut

melt the butter and chocolate on defrost in the microwave. once the mixture starts feeling quite warm, stir until smooth. add the candies and coconut gradually, stirring to coat. pour into a lined 15cm x 26cm tin. smooth the surface and sprinkle with extra shredded coconut. cool, then refrigerate. once firm, use a round 3cm cookies cutter to cut out the kisses to serve.

brazilian cheese puffs

i love these cheese puffs, in fact, i don't know anyone who doen't like them. even miss k, who doesn't like cheese, loves them! they are also great because you can serve them to those who don't eat wheat for whatever reason.

1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
2 eggs
preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
bring the milk, salt, and butter to a boil.
remove from heat.
add tapioca starch, stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed.
add the eggs, and then the cheese.
mix until combined. i actually find it easier to mix the dough/batter with a knife or chopsticks.
form into walnut sized balls and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
bake until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.
eat while hot.
these puffs can be frozen and reheated successfully in a hot oven for about 5 minutes; thaw them beforehand to make sure they heat through.
alternatively, the dough can be made up a day or two in advance, refrigerated, then baked before serving.