Saturday, July 14, 2012

Baked Custard

I don't often make dessert unless we have people over for dinner.  Other than consideration for my waistline, this is normally for reasons of scale - it is just too hard to find recipes for two people, or recipes which don't require a considerable effort.  Usual standbys are icecream, Spanish hot chocolate, or store-bought dessert cups (tiramisu, and "Gu" ganache are favourites in the latter category).

But finally, I have a quick and easy dessert, designed for two but easy to scale for more.  And easy to dress up and modify for a change of flavour.

Baked Custard

Baked custard takes about 40 minutes including cooking time - but only 5 minutes to prep, so you can relax and enjoy a glass of wine while it cooks. Here, I've added raspberries to make this a little more interesting to share with friends - but it's equally delicious on its own, with a side of poached or fresh fruit, or with a sauce in the bottom of the cup.  It can be served warm or cold, keeping in the fridge for a couple of days.

Baked Custard

I've made this for four here (which is why you see two eggs, and four ramekins), but the beauty is that to make this for two people you need one egg (this being the part of most recipes that is near impossible to scale down!)

For two serves:
Beat one egg.
Add 3/4 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of sugar (or substitute all or part for maple syrup!), and 1 tsp vanilla essence. 
Mix until sugar has dissolved.

Double the quantities for four people (you knew that, right?), but the cooking time will be the same.

Baked Custard

Divide the mixture into small ramekins (no need to grease these), or bake in a single dish (allow for a little extra cooking time).

Baked Custard

Place the ramekins in a deep oven-proof dish, and add hot water.  The water should reach at least halfway up the sides of the ramekins (preferably the same level as the custard).

Baked Custard

Bake in a 180C oven for 35 minutes.  The custard should be set at the sides, but still slightly wobbly in the middle.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the ramekins (I use gloves).  Rest on a wire rack until you can comfortably touch the edges of the ramekins, then dive in with a spoon.  Or, if you are planning to eat cold, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate immediately.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Hello, July! (It's Truffle Season.)

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you already know I'm excited.  July is the big month for Southern Hemisphere truffles, and I think I was born in July for this exact reason.  What do I want for my birthday?  Truffles, please!  Rubies are out (I was never really convinced about them), and truffle is officially my new birth stone.
Well, they do kind of look like rocks.

Truffle pasta

We celebrated the start of the season by popping in to visit the Madame, and picked up a little 13g Tasmanian treat.  Good friends were coming for dinner, and we wanted to surprise them.

To kick off the season, we served a small entree of fresh pasta (only homemade will do in this case) with butter, and grated truffle on top while it was still hot:


Truffle pasta 

I love the way the tendrils of shaved truffle cling to the microplane - it needs a couple of sharp taps against the edge of the bowl from time to time.
The heat releases the smell from the truffle, and much time was spent savouring the smell before we remembered to eat!


Truffle pasta

Truffle pasta

Buttered bread helped us to clean our bowls and to finish off every last crumb of truffle!

Truffle pasta


We will return for more in coming weeks - and promise to share.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

REAL Maple syrup!

IMG_2547 

We flew home to NZ recently to visit family, and my beautiful sister Kerryn picked up some maple syrup on her way through Canada for me.

There is no substitute for real maple syrup.  That is, syrup that comes from a treeIn Canada. No artificial flavourings here.


Things I could use real maple syrup for:
  • pouring over crepes or pancakes
  • pouring on porridge in place of brown sugar
  • a fine coating on carrots before roasting
  • a fine coating on Brussels sprouts before coating (Kerryn insists that I'll never go back to my version)
  • glazing ham
  • drinking straight from the bottle