Post by kickingfrog on Jan 28, 2011 15:07:34 GMT
River Cafe Easy Italian Puddings
River Cafe Easy Italian
The Guardian
New recipes part two:
Saturday May 21, 2005
Blackberries, mascarpone
Blackberries 1kg
Vanilla pods 2
Mascarpone 500g
Egg yolks, organic 3
Icing sugar 30g
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6. Wash and pick over the blackberries. Srubbishe the seeds from the vanilla pods. Separate the eggs. Mix together the mascarpone, egg yolks, vanilla seeds and sugar. Put the blackberries in a small baking dish. Spoon over the mascarpone and bake until the mascarpone begins to brown, about five minutes. Mascarpone is a very rich, triple cream cheese from Lombardy in northern Italy. It is used for savoury dishes as well as desserts. When heated, mascarpone melts into a creamy sauce. It keeps for at least a week in the fridge.
Apricot, molasses, ginger
Apricots 675g
Unsalted butter 50g
Fresh root ginger 50g
Lemon 1
Molasses 100g
Crème fraîche 150g
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ gas mark 4. Use some of the butter to grease a flat, ovenproof dish. Cut the apricots in half, and remove the stones. Peel and finely slice the ginger. Squeeze the lemon. Lay the apricots out in the dish, cut-side up. Place a piece of ginger on each apricot, with a small knob of butter and a teaspoon of molasses. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with the crème fraîche. Since Roman times, ginger has been used as a spice in southern Italian cooking, where it is often added to sauces, ice creams and cakes. This combination of tangy ginger slices with sweet, ripe apricots and dark molasses sugar is unusual, but works well.
Lemon, vodka-martini granita
Lemons 8
Ice cubes 8
Vodka 400ml
For the sugar syrup Caster sugar 140g Water 100ml To make the sugar syrup, heat the sugar gently with the water until dissolved, then boil briefly until you have a light syrup. Cool. Wash the lemons and grate the zest of six of them. Squeeze the juice of all eight. You should have about 500ml. Mix together the lemon juice with the zest, and leave for 30 minutes. Roughly smash the ice. Mix the vodka with 100ml of sugar syrup and the lemon mixture, add the ice and freeze in a tray until solid. To serve, use a fork to srubbishe up the granita into Martini glasses. This is a less alcoholic way of downing a Martini. Serve it at the end of a special meal instead of brandy or grappa.
Chocolate, almond cake
Chocolate 70% 180g
Unsalted butter 180g
Blanched almonds 200g
Eggs, organic 8
Vanilla pod 1
Caster sugar 215g
Cocoa powder 60g
Salt a pinch
Preheat the oven to 150/300F/gas mark 2. Line a 23cm cake tin with greaseproof paper, and grease with extra butter. Break the chocolate into pieces. Cut up the butter into pieces. Grind the almonds fine in a food processor. Keep two eggs whole, and separate the other six. Chop the vanilla pod. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool. Beat together the two whole eggs with the six egg yolks and 200g of sugar. Fold in the cocoa powder and ground almonds. Mix together with the melted chocolate, then stir in the chopped vanilla. Beat four of the egg whites to stiff peaks with the salt. Fold in the remaining 15g sugar. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate mix. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn out when cool, and serve dusted with extra cocoa powder. We use unsweetened cocoa powder from Valrhona to dust this cake. Put the cocoa into a fine sieve and dust directly on to the surface of the cake. Do this just before serving.
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/may/21/foodanddrink.shopping5
River Cafe Easy Italian
The Guardian
New recipes part two:
Saturday May 21, 2005
Blackberries, mascarpone
Blackberries 1kg
Vanilla pods 2
Mascarpone 500g
Egg yolks, organic 3
Icing sugar 30g
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6. Wash and pick over the blackberries. Srubbishe the seeds from the vanilla pods. Separate the eggs. Mix together the mascarpone, egg yolks, vanilla seeds and sugar. Put the blackberries in a small baking dish. Spoon over the mascarpone and bake until the mascarpone begins to brown, about five minutes. Mascarpone is a very rich, triple cream cheese from Lombardy in northern Italy. It is used for savoury dishes as well as desserts. When heated, mascarpone melts into a creamy sauce. It keeps for at least a week in the fridge.
Apricot, molasses, ginger
Apricots 675g
Unsalted butter 50g
Fresh root ginger 50g
Lemon 1
Molasses 100g
Crème fraîche 150g
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ gas mark 4. Use some of the butter to grease a flat, ovenproof dish. Cut the apricots in half, and remove the stones. Peel and finely slice the ginger. Squeeze the lemon. Lay the apricots out in the dish, cut-side up. Place a piece of ginger on each apricot, with a small knob of butter and a teaspoon of molasses. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with the crème fraîche. Since Roman times, ginger has been used as a spice in southern Italian cooking, where it is often added to sauces, ice creams and cakes. This combination of tangy ginger slices with sweet, ripe apricots and dark molasses sugar is unusual, but works well.
Lemon, vodka-martini granita
Lemons 8
Ice cubes 8
Vodka 400ml
For the sugar syrup Caster sugar 140g Water 100ml To make the sugar syrup, heat the sugar gently with the water until dissolved, then boil briefly until you have a light syrup. Cool. Wash the lemons and grate the zest of six of them. Squeeze the juice of all eight. You should have about 500ml. Mix together the lemon juice with the zest, and leave for 30 minutes. Roughly smash the ice. Mix the vodka with 100ml of sugar syrup and the lemon mixture, add the ice and freeze in a tray until solid. To serve, use a fork to srubbishe up the granita into Martini glasses. This is a less alcoholic way of downing a Martini. Serve it at the end of a special meal instead of brandy or grappa.
Chocolate, almond cake
Chocolate 70% 180g
Unsalted butter 180g
Blanched almonds 200g
Eggs, organic 8
Vanilla pod 1
Caster sugar 215g
Cocoa powder 60g
Salt a pinch
Preheat the oven to 150/300F/gas mark 2. Line a 23cm cake tin with greaseproof paper, and grease with extra butter. Break the chocolate into pieces. Cut up the butter into pieces. Grind the almonds fine in a food processor. Keep two eggs whole, and separate the other six. Chop the vanilla pod. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool. Beat together the two whole eggs with the six egg yolks and 200g of sugar. Fold in the cocoa powder and ground almonds. Mix together with the melted chocolate, then stir in the chopped vanilla. Beat four of the egg whites to stiff peaks with the salt. Fold in the remaining 15g sugar. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate mix. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn out when cool, and serve dusted with extra cocoa powder. We use unsweetened cocoa powder from Valrhona to dust this cake. Put the cocoa into a fine sieve and dust directly on to the surface of the cake. Do this just before serving.
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/may/21/foodanddrink.shopping5