You Only Get One...Slice - Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle Chocolate Tart

This is another recipe I created with my brother for his work’s Cake Club. It is a fairly simple baked chocolate custard, baked into a Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle base. We made two tarts that day, but I’ve scaled it down to make just one tart for this recipe. To make the most of this tart, I’d suggest using the best quality cocoa you can get your hands on, as well as the best milk and eggs. I’ve swapped out some of the sugar from the original recipe with coconut blossom sugar. It was actually on a whim after Mike bought some ‘to try’, but the flavour profile was so fabulous and I thought it would enhance the chocolatey-ness. I’ve then put it through some mascarpone cheese to continue the flavours. If you haven’t tried it, it has slightly floral tones, but it’s also a touch savoury and almost yeasty. I don’t think I’m describing it very well, but I don’t know how else to do it. It is fabulous in black coffee, if that helps!

 

The recipe for the baked custard is based on this recipe, but I found that their cooking time was off for me. Like, way off. I’d checked my tart a bit before the halfway mark and my tarts were already overcooked, so I’ve adjusted the times accordingly below. I’m assuming it’s because theirs made a much taller slice, rather than a pie. The texture goes rubbery if you over cook it. It’s not inedible that way, just not as good as it could’ve been. So make sure you keep an eye on the time. 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle Chocolate Tart

Makes 1x 23cm tarts

MHCS Base

1/4 batch Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (other chocolate cookies can be used, it just won’t be as delicious! – seriously though, just bake the whole batch and eat the rest)

50g Butter, melted

Chocolate Custard

50g butter

1 ¼ cups whole milk

½ cup plain flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

2 large eggs, separated

Pinch cream of tartar

½ cup icing sugar

½ cup coconut blossom sugar

1 tbsp strong brewed coffee

1 tbsp dark rum

To serve

Cocoa powder for dusting

Crushed cacao nibs

Flakey sea salt

200g mascarpone whipped with 3 tbsp coconut flower sugar

 

Cook the Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles and set aside to cool. Grease a pie plate. Taste one snickerdoodle to make sure they’re still good. Place the snickerdoodles in a food processor and pulse to crush to a chunky crumb. Add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Pour into the pie dish and press firmly into the base to create a solid foundation. Make sure there are no holes. Refrigerate until ready. Beat together mascarpone with 3 tbsp coconut flour sugar until light and fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Preheat the oven to 160C (or turn down to 160C if you’ve just made snickerdoodles).

Melt the butter and set aside. Warm the milk to blood temperature and stir in the coffee and rum. 

Blend together the flour and cocoa powder in a bowl. In a new, clean and dry bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. When foamy, add the cream of tartar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.

 In a third bowl, beat the egg yolks and two sugars until light and fluffy with a balloon whisk. Add the butter and whisk to combine. Then whisk in the flour mix. Finally, whisk in the milk mixture, stirring gently first to encourage it to blend in, then whisking to make it smooth. 

Fold the egg whites in 1/3 at a time, this will have a curdled look, rather than incorporate fully. Gently pour the mixture over the snickerdoodle base and even more gently, place it in the oven.

Lancegiving - an Australian Thanksgiving (of sorts) with Smoked Turkey with Mexican Chorizo Stuffing

Lance and I both enjoy watching the tv show Bob’s Burgers. And one of Lance’s favourite episodes is the first Thanksgiving episode. In it, Bob gets excited picking out the turkey ready for the feast and he names the turkey “Lance”. So for his birthday this year, Lance was bought a Bob’s Burgers’ themed present – complete with a Lance. Yep. A whole frozen turkey. You may also recall that Lance loves smoking meats, so we knew it was going to be part of his turkey’s future. Lance named his turkey Boblance and he was popped into the freezer until such time as we could spend a whole day smoking a turkey. Lancegiving, as it came to be known, was last weekend. And it was So. Much. Fun.

We invited a few friends and family around to hang out for the day. There was a tv set up outside playing thanksgiving episodes of some of our favourite shows, Brooklyn Nine Nine, How I Met Your Mother, and, of course, Bob’s Burgers. We played beer pong (minus the beer!), we hung out in the spa, we played board games, and we watched the turkey rotisserate in the smoking shed Lance had set up. It smoked for 6 hours, then we moved it into the oven for a further hour and a half of roasting before carving it up and serving it with roast veges and the stuffing.

Given that neither of us had ever cooked a turkey before, we weren’t optimistic about how it was going to turn out. There was lots of gravy on hand, just in case it was tough as old boots. But, it wasn’t really required. The turkey was incredibly succulent, with a fabulous smokey flavour. The only issue with smoking it the way Lance does is that the skin doesn’t crisp up, even with the finishing time in the oven. It tends to stay a slightly unappetising chewiness. But that is a small price to pay for such delicious meat. And as good as the meat was…it was the stuffing that really stole the show. Neither of us are the biggest fan of bread based stuffings, so I did a bit of a google for other recommended fillings. Chestnuts sounded right up my alley, but too much effort to prepare. And tinned chestnuts are hard (not to mention expensive) to come by. There were various sausage ones and mince meat ones, and rice ones. Lance had the idea of throwing some sweet potato into the mix and although he claims it was his idea, we both independently came upon the same answer to easily flavouring the stuffing – Mexican Chorizo. In the absence of some lurking in your freezer (seriously though, you should make it and have some lurking in your freezer), use a few of your favourite spicy sausages, skin removed.You will need to add a diced brown onion to the vegetables you sweat off with the sausage.

Lancegiving Smoked Turkey and Stuffing

300g Mexican chorizo

1 cup black rice

2 medium sweet potatoes, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 sweet red paprika, diced

100g cold butter, diced
1/4 cup porcini mushrooms
1/3 cup dried cranberries
4kg turkey

Cook the rice to al dente and set aside to cool. It needs to be cooked, but retain some bite as it will be cooked more in the turkey. Cook the sweet potatoes until just barely tender using your favourite method. As I was short on time, I steamed them. Set aside to cool. The rice and sweet potatoes can be cooked ahead of time if needs be.

Place the porcini and cranberries into a mug and just cover with recently boiled water. Cover loosely and set aside to cool.

Heat a frypan to medium high-heat. Add the Mexican chorizo and break up with a wooden spoon. As it starts to brown, add the celery and paprika. Cook until softened, around 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Once everything is cool, mix together in a bowl. Mix in about half of the diced butter.

Spoon as much of the stuffing into the turkey cavity as possible, then sew shut the cavity. Spoon the rest into a casserole container, cover with foil and set aside. Smoosh the remaining butter cubes between the skin and the breast meat of the turkey.

Set up your smoker (or get Lance to) on your barbecue to reach 160C, and insert the rotisserie rod. Alternatively, just set your oven to 160C. Smoke/roast the turkey for around 4 hours, or until the breast meat reaches 130F on a meat thermometer. Preheat the oven to 180C, transfer the turkey from the rotisserie to a baking tray and cook for a further hour, or until the breast meat reaches 165F.  You can keep it going on the smoker outside if time permits, but we were getting hungry! As turkey sizes and oven/BBQ temperatures can vary, keep an eye on the meat and check for doneness from around 3 hours. The times I've given here are what our turkey took.

About an hour before the turkey is ready, slide the casserole dish with the stuffing into the oven to cook the remainder of the stuffing, for the last 15 minutes take the foil off. Any additional veges can be roasted now too.

Let the turkey rest for around 15 minutes, then carve. Remove the stuffing from the turkey and mix it with the casserole stuffing. Serve.

Feels Like Summer - Mango Tamarind Prawn Cocktail Sorbet

Lance doesn’t like sorbet. In fact, when he saw me pouring this mango mix into the ice cream maker, we had a conversation a bit like this:

“Ooh, you’re making me ice cream! What flavour are you making?”

“Not ice cream, something different”

“What? Hang on, are you WASTING our mangoes making sorbet? You don’t love me!”

And yet, there I was, making sorbet for us as part of our date night dinner. Now, I see what you’re thinking  - maybe he’s right. Maybe if I know he doesn’t like sorbet but I’m still specifically making it for an important meal – then maybe I don’t love him. First, how dare you question my love! Secondly, remember the pie incident?
Yeah. And remember our Wills Domain Degustation? Lance loved the herby sorbet palate cleanser.

I would never serve Lance a sorbet for dessert. Nor would I serve him a nut milk ice cream, or coconut milk ice cream for dessert. This sorbet? Not a dessert. This sorbet is an entrée (or appetizer, for my American readers! Hi!) Riffing on the herby sorbet we both loved, I decided to make a more ‘savoury’ sorbet that would in essence be the sauce for a fun spicy and fruity prawn cocktail. Using some of our homegrown mangoes and jalapeno, I added some tamarind for a tart hit. Served with some cold prawns that are dusted with some smokey hot paprika and the traditional iceberg lettuce bed, it was quite the cute little dish. And a perfect date night/dinner party appetizer as everything can be made in advance. Just churn the sorbet right before you want to serve it.

Mango Tamarind Prawn Cocktail Sorbet

2 cups water

5 tsp tamarind puree
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp salt
2 jalapenos
3 mangoes, flesh removed

1 egg white

cooked, cooled prawns (6 or so per person)

iceberg lettuce, shredded to serve

hot smoked paprika, to serve

Finely mince the jalapenos and add the mangoes, water, tamarind puree, salt, pepper, jalapenos and egg white and blend until fully homogenised. Leave for 5 minutes to allow some of the air to leave the mixture, and then give one quick stir before pouring into your ice cream maker. Churn for 30-45 minutes, depending on your machine's instructions.

Place lettuce on your serving plate/bowl. Scoop a ball of sorbet on top of the lettuce, arrange the prawns artfully and dust with smoked paprika. Serve immediately.

Leftover sorbet can be tightly wrapped in the freezer for a week. Soften in fridge 30 minutes before serving like this again. Alternatively, blend up with a little tequila for a killer cocktail!

Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie

Just before I travelled to the USA with my husband (then boyfriend) and sister-in-law, we had communally watched the movie Waitress. Which, if you haven’t seen it, has a large portion of energy devoted to making and naming pies. We had also just finished watching the tv show Pushing Up Daisies, which we referred to as “Piemaker” after the main character who (amongst being able to bring people back from the dead temporarily) makes pies. It’s worth noting, in America “pie” is a dessert. Embarking on a 2 month trip around various US cities, we were primed and ready to indulge in as much pie as we could. And we found the mission impossible.

Back then, my food knowledge wasn’t as developed and my knowledge of good places to eat in the US was non-existant. So partially it could have been where we chose to eat. I think a large part of it is that our trip consisted almost entirely of big cities – not the kinda places that would have the diners and pie shops I’d seen so often in US movies. But it left us with a sense of desperation with every failed attempt to find a restaurant that would serve what us Aussies thought of as quintessential American food. In a twist of irony, literally the ONLY piece of pie we ate in the whole two month trip was in Canada, when we visited Niagara Falls. Despite being good pie, the mere fact we weren’t in America eating it somewhat lessened it as an experience.

Since then, the desire for pie still comes and goes in waves. Sweet pies and in particular fruit pies don’t seem to be as big of a thing here in Australia – meat pies obviously are ubiquitous! Certainly in my family, the custard pie was king growing up. Mum also made apple pies and lemon meringue pie (a personal favourite) but they don’t hold the same comforting sense memories for me as other baked goods. Not wanting to waste all our mulberries on cocktails, I decided to make an apple and mulberry pie. Upon tasting it, Lance’s reaction was ‘you know what, when we spent all that energy looking for pie in America – I think this is exactly what we wanted’. High praise, indeed!

If you don’t have mulberries, you can sub other berries – blackberry would be quite nice. I like the tart/fresh depth of the berries amongst the sweeter, more predictable apple. The cardamom plays particularly well with the mulberries. The pastry is the simplest of pastries, just flour, butter, salt. I like the sweetness of the filling to shine, with the crunch of the dusting of sugar before baking. Feel free to use frozen pastry if you can’t be bothered making it yourself. And finally, the best part of this pie is the thin disc of marzipan hidden in the bottom, which adds another level of flavour with the sweet almondness a lingering background flavour.

Apple and Mulberry Pie  with Hidden Marzipan

Pastry

3 cups plain flour

3/4 cup rye flour
200g butter
1 tsp salt
8-10 tbsp cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water (eggwash)
sugar to sprinkle

Filling

4 pink lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices

250g mulberries, stalk removed
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp corn flour
5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed in a mortar and pestle
1/2 tsp cinnamon
100g marzipan

For the dough – cut the cold butter into small squares and place in a standmixer. Mix the flours and salt together well, then add to the mixer. On a slow speed, mix together until it forms a sandy consistency. Add the water, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes together. Try not to mix more than is necessary. Separate into two even pieces, form into discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour to rest. (I made mine in the morning, and baked the pie that night).


Prep the apple as described above. Place pieces in a small saucepan with the corn flour, cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Mix well to coat the pieces. Add the maple syrup and stir to coat. Places over a low-medium  heat and cook for 5 minutes, just until the liquid goes sticky and apple pieces start to soften. Set aside to cool.

When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 170C.

Grease your pie dust lightly with butter. Dust your work surface lightly and gently roll out the two discs into rounds of pastry big enough to fill your pie dish. Carefully lay one piece into the bottom of the pie dish, ensuring there is no tears. Cut shapes into the second piece (alternatively, just slash steam holes when it's formed).

Between two pieces of baking paper, roll out the marzipan into a thin disc the size of the bottom of the pie dish. Lay this on top of the bottom piece of pastry. Pour over the apple pieces, then scatter the mulberries over the top.

Carefully drape the second piece of pastry over the top, crimping the edges to seal. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with white sugar and pop in the oven for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden.

Set aside to cool 10 minutes, cut and serve with ice cream, cream, custard or a combination of all of the above!