Spiced Mango Lassi

Life's been a little lumpy in the last month and a bit. I'm talking surgery, bloody messes, hospitals, screaming babies. On the up side, I got to see the 20 week ultrasound of my latest little angel, and it's a beauty. Fat and rounded and big for it's estimated age, with a straight little nose and sweetly sucking his or her tiny thumb.
So that wasn't so lumpy. Neither was the Spiced Mango Lassi I made, that went down a treat. Smooth, creamy, cold and refreshing, you could serve this tropical Lassi as a dessert, a afternoon snack or a meal. It's super easy to make as well, and only requires a few minutes of your time, some delicious ingredients and a food blender.

SPICED MANGO LASSI (A Lick The Spoon Original)

1 large mango, peeled and seeded
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp honey
1 flat tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a food blender. Process until smooth.
Pour into glasses and serve with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top and a mint leaf garnish if desired.
Serves 2 (as a snack or meal) or 4 (as a dessert.)

Mini Boston Cream Pies

It's Lent and I'm not eating sweet things.
Promise.
Sundays are an exception though, we indulge a little and eat a little thing or two that's fancy. Something like these gorgeous little mini Boston Cream Pies. I've never had a Boston Cream Pie but I'm guessing it's sublime, because these were too. They reminded me of profiteroles--obviously the cake part was a different texture, but it's all the same mouthwatering flavours and explosions in one bite. Flavours I cannot resist!
There's the lovely, giving cake-iness of the cupcake, then that divine vanilla cream custard filling that oozes and slides down in perfect harmony with the bitter sweet fudgy chocolate ganache. They're rich, they're decadent and they're just glorious. Got to have another one.

MINI BOSTON CREAM PIES (adapted from Martha Stewart)

GANACHE:
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup thickened cream

In a medium microwave proof bowl, combine the chocolate and cream. Microwave for one minute on high, then remove and stir until well incorporated. Refrigerate for an hour or two to thicken.

CUPCAKES:
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 24 hole mini muffin tray.
In a medium, microwave proof  bowl, place the butter and milk. Microwave on high for a minute or two, until the butter has melted. Remove from microwave and add the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl. Whisk until well combined, then beat in the eggs and vanilla essence. Spoon this batter into the cupcake tins so that each is about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes. Set aside on a cooling rack to cool.

CUSTARD:
1 cup milk
2 large egg yolks
3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. cornflour
20g butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence

Place milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, combine yolks, sugar and cornflour and whisk over a low heat. When the milk has boiled, add a few tablespoons into the yolk mixture and whisk. Gradually add the remaining milk and whisk vigorously on a medium heat. Custard will thicken. Continue to whisk until boils, and remove from heat. Scrape into a small bowl and sit in a few inches of cold water or ice, to cease the cooking process. When cooler, add the butter in two installments, stirring until combined. Add essence, mix and refrigerate until cool

ASSEMBLY:
When the cupcakes are cool, take a knife and hollow out part of the centre of each (don't remove the cake too closely to the bottom of the cake, as this makes them more difficult to handle when completed.) Spoon custard into each hollow, then pair with another cupcake so that the custard sides merge. Spoon the thickened ganache over the top of each doubled up cupcake. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 12

NOTES: You could also make these in a regular 12 hole muffin tray. Instead of placing one cupcake on top of another, simply cut the top off with a serrated knife, hollow out a little of the bottom and fill with custard, then replace the "lid".
Custard stores for 2-3 days when refrigerated.

Refreshing Chilled Berry Water

What could be more refreshing and thirst quenching than water? I have a feeling that lemonade somehow tops water for me--I mean that home made, chilled and super summery liquid gold that goes down so easily on hot summer days, and not the fizzy stuff (ugh!).
But the other day I discovered something perhaps equally as satisfying with no added sugar and prettied up with natural colours and flavours.
It's an elegant option for afternoon teas with the girls out on the deck or for summer dinner parties where water is in hot demand. I'm always on the look out for a fancy non-alcoholic drink to serve to my guests, and this really brought wows to the table when I served it.
Over time, the fruit encrusted ice blocks melted and issued the most beautiful pink colour through the lightly-berry flavoured water, and looked ever so pretty, and the wows started up again.
I served this lemon infused, chilled still raspberry water at a brunch we held for a friend of mine, along with bacon and egg quiches, croissants, blueberry and apple danishes and plenty of tea. You can add any type of fruit you like to the ice tray, and even garnish the jug with slices of lemon or lime to add some contrasting colour and that really fresh zing.

REFRESHING CHILLED BERRY WATER

1 large ice tray (we used a tray with half sphere shaped holes)
1/3 cup frozen or fresh berries of your choice (we used raspberries)
1 lemon, juiced
Water to fill the ice tray
Water to fill the jug (preferably chilled)

Place the berries at the bottom of each of the ice tray hollows. Squirt a little lemon juice into each. Top up the tray with water until the hollows are almost full. (The berries will float) Transfer to the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours. When solid, press from the ice tray into a jug of ice cold water. Garnish with lime, lemon or mint if desired. Serve as is, or sit the full jug for 10-15 minutes for the colour from the berries and the berry flavour and refreshing lemon juice to issue through the water. Serve.

Savoiardi and Roses Engagement Cake

My weekend rocked. I got to spend the whole day with a lovely young pastry chef who showed me and some other women the art of croissant making. When she started talking about how the weather affects baking, I knew she was a cook after my own heart. Yes...someone to lament with me!
She talked about melting ingredients and things like the humidity of Queensland making it impossible to get the macaron's shine on, and how butter bursting from between the layers of croissant pastry dough while rolling was not uncommon.
Melting!
If you know about Queensland, It happens to have at least 6 months of summer weather, and it's quite a tropical climate. Think hot and sticky. It's great holiday weather, but when it comes to baking, it can definitely mean struggle street.
So when my long time friend asked me to make a cake for his soon to be wife and his engagement party, I had flashbacks of oozing rolled fondant, sticky figurines and chocolate panels that melted in on cakes, sliding layers and butter cream icing that just wouldn't hold and all such nightmares. But my mouth said yes. Every time I make a fancy cake I swear I'm never going to do it again. The time and stress that goes into it, plus the unsatisfying results, which I like to blame on the weather, are part of this swearing.
So I was determined to think up a cake that could not melt, would not melt, and was simple, elegant and fancy enough to be an engagement cake--one that was doable with little people present and swinging from my legs.
It ended up being a two tier cake, the sides lined in sugar crusted savoiardi sponge fingers and tied with ribbon, topped with a gorgeous array of salmon coloured roses and green ferns (that did all the hard decorating work for me.)

SAVOIARDI AND ROSES ENGAGEMENT CAKE DIRECTIONS

2x 20cm round cake tins
2x 15cm cm round cake tins
3 cake mixes
A good quantity of thick butter icing (I used about 1 kg of icing sugar)
3-4 packets mini savoiardi fingers or sponge fingers (I bought 4 and used 3 but they do break easily so its good to have spares)
1.5 metres ribbon
2 dozen roses
small green florist island
a small flat dish 

According to the instructions of your recipe or cake mix box, bake two 20cm cakes using two of the cake mixes. Divide the third cake mix evenly between the two smaller cake tins and bake.
When all the cakes have cooled and are ready for assembly, arrange the first of the 20cm cake on a cake board or cake stand. Lather the top with icing and proceed to place the second 20cm cake on top of this. Lather this layer with icing also. Continue with the remaining smaller cakes, ensuring that they are positioned directly in the centre of the larger cakes. Ice the top of the final layer. Ice the sides of the bottom layer of the cake, and carefully stick the savoiardi fingers neatly around the edges. Ice the second layer and repeat this process. The sponge fingers should hold together by themselves with the help of the icing, but you can tie both layers with ribbon for a pretty effect, and to ensure their stability.
On the day of serving, take the small flat dish and fill it with water. This dish should be small enough so that it is hidden by the roses once they are arranged. Cut the florist island to fit inside the dish. Allow the water to soak into the island. Cut the stems of the roses short and arrange over the top and the sides of the island. Hide any tell-tale green foam island popping through the edges with foliage from the rose stems, or some delicate ferns or gyp. Position the bouquet and dish on the top of the cake and refrigerate until serving time if your climate is a hot one. (The roses stay fresher in the refrigerator.)

Crumbed Parmesan Zucchini Fries

I don't follow fads. I pride myself on not following them. For example, when adding bacon to every dessert became popular in the cooking blogosphere, I did not go there.
When everyone had their cake-pop faze, I refused to go there too. Regardless of how pretty some people made them. I think people can get totally carried away on the waves of what's popular without thinking.
But I have been meaning for a long time to make zucchini fries. That's one craze I cant resist, and when I saw them featured on Chelsy's blog, Magnia, I knew I was about to taste those lovely, crumbed vegetable sticks. I know that doesn't particularly sound appetizing, but they make great vegetarian appetizers, or a delicious, meatless side to your Lenten dinner plate.
And we're sneaking veggies in here.
In a very delicious way.
I was delighted to discover through my designated Secret Recipe Club reveal blog, that magnia means eat in Italian. I'm a total sucker for Italian food, and Chelsy's blog is packed with yummy recipes that show off that gorgeous culture.
Seriously, if I were ever to travel the world, I'd go directly to Italy and do a culinary tour and put on at least 20kg just from taste testing. It would be heaven.
There has been a request or two in the past few months for some Italian foods to be featured here--so, you have your wish in these crunchy on the outside, soft in the inside Crumbed Parmesan Zucchini Fries. Actually, they're not even fries, because they're baked, so I suppose that title is a little misleading.
Chelsy's recipe had pecan meal instead of bread crumbs, but I found myself nut-less, and hence I omitted the nut for bread.
I also made my own Italian Seasoning, because I'm not Italian enough to have it kept in my pantry. Shame on me! Luckily the home made Italian Seasoning has been a hit since I made it, and will certainly become a staple in this house. Home made is always better--but feel free to simplify this recipe by buying your own Italian Seasoning all bottled up from the store if you're pressed for time.

CRUMBED PARMESAN ZUCCHINI FRIES (Adapted from Magnia)

1 large zucchini
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. Italian Seasoning
salt to taste

Preheat the oven at 220C. Line a tray with non stick baking paper and set aside.
Cut the zucchini down the centre lengthways, then halve both pieces again and again until you have long, thin strips of zucchini. (the thinner the tastier!)
Combine the egg and egg white in a small bowl, whisking until well combined.
In a shallow dish or plate, combine the Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, seasoning and salt to taste.
Dip each zucchini strip into the egg mixture and shake off the excess. then coat it in the dry crumb mixture and place it on the prepared tray. Repeat until all the zucchini strips are coated. Then place the tray in the oven for 10 minutes before flipping the zucchini fries and cooking for a further 10 minutes. Serve immediately with a dipping sauce or salsa.


 HOME MADE ITALIAN SEASONING (Adapted from Food.com)

3 tablespoons dried basil
3 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
a pinch of black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a mortar and crush with a pestle until well ground. 

Place in an airtight jar for up until 6 months.

Baked Mini Red Velvet Cheesecakes

Anyone who has known me for more than a year knows that St.Valentine's Day and I have a love hate relationship. I'm a hopeless romantic. Yet The Man Up Stairs has a great sense of humor and has sent me disappointments on that day just about every year since I have been in love. Yes, I'm talking about you, ex-boyfriends. Just kidding. They never lasted till St.Valentine's Day.
I've only ever been wined and dined by my darling husband for St.Valentine's Day, seeing as we both met at 19. He's the sweetest man and always spoils me, and St.Valentine's Day is no exception. But what do you do when fate wants to put a damper on your romantic evening? Every year?
Like what if the waterfront restaurant you booked happens to float away down the river?
Or the dozens of Chinese lanterns you decked the veranda out with decide to only light up for half an hour?
The bouquet of chocolates you sent to his work didn't arrive at his work before he left?
These are just a few of the things that could go wrong on St.Valentine's Day, and for me they did. Yes, that restaurant literally drifted away down the river a few days before our booking. Ironically, the restaurant was called "Drift".
Anyway, from past experience I now know that I can't rely on anyone else to make St.Valentine's Day special--with the exception of my husband, he has planned the dinner and is cooking it himself, and I can't wait to see what he serves. As you might have guessed, I'm to create the dessert. So I've been trialing a few different recipes that would make lovely romantic St. Valentine's Day desserts. Here's one of them--baked mini red velvet cheesecakes with a chocolate crust bottom, topped with a swirl of whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa. Needless to say, I'm in love with these deliciously creamy morsels.

BAKED MINI RED VELVET CHEESECAKES

Base:
10 chocolate chip biscuits
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp butter, melted

Filling:
250g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp red food colouring
1 egg
1/2 cup whipped cream to decorate
chocolate shavings to decorate if desired

 Preheat the oven to 180C.
Lightly great 20 mini muffin holes (I used a silicone mini muffin tray.)
In a food blender, place the broken biscuits and chop until they resemble fine bread crumbs. Transfer to a small bowl and add the cocoa powder and melted butter. Combine thoroughly, then divide the mixture between the 20 mini muffin holes. Press the mixture firmly into each hole using your fingers or the back of a spoon. Place in the refrigerator while preparing the cheesecake filling.
To make the filling, beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the sugar and cocoa and beat until fluffy. Add the vanilla and red food colouring and beat until well combined. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Divide the cheesecake mixture evenly among the muffin holes  so that the cups are almost full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until centres are firm, and leave for 15 minutes to cool in the tray. The cheesecakes may sink a little.
Cover and refrigerate for an hour at least, before garnishing with whipped cream and chocolate, if desired.

Makes 20 mini cheesecakes

Raspberry Mango Yogurt Slide

Some have claimed to have put on pounds looking at this blog.
It's hazardous.
It's wicked.
It's to be had in moderation. For sure.
There's no harm in looking, in dreaming and drooling.
I say don't touch what you can't afford, but it's hard sometimes, especially when somethings dripping with chocolatey goodness and it's been one of those days!
Trust me. I know what it's like. I get to that stage several times during the day, where a quick sugar fix is super tempting, just to pick my energy up, even if only momentarily.
But considering I'm about to gain about 15-20kg in the next five months, I don't really need any help with extra delights adding to the grand total. (Just so you know, I'm expecting a wee one, and my last two pregnancies have resulted in whopping, healthy babies).
So where do I now turn? In the discovery of this chilled yogurt and fruit blend, that both satisfies my sweet tooth, while remaining nutritious and delicious. It's also a super refreshing snack to have on these hot summer days...I personally don't know anything quite as refreshing.
I make my own yogurt with an easi-yo flask. Just so you know, it's totally amazing with no added sugar, unless you want it--so you know what's going into it. Yogurt is really healthy for you and contains lots of live bacteria cultures, calcium, aids in nutrient absorption, aids in weight loss, helps prevent infections, and is said to reduce the severity of PMS. Worth a try, right?
Combined with my one of my favourite berries, the raspberry, and my favourite tropical fruit, the mango, this is a to-die for blend that you laze back and scoop from the glass. It's not quite a smoothie, it's not quite frozen yogurt, but it's a gorgeous in between.

For the mango version (which is equally as divine) visit here.

RASPBERRY MANGO YOGURT SLIDE (A Lick the Spoon Original)

1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup frozen mango
3/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

Combine the fruit and yogurt in a food blender. Blend until all the fruit has been pureed and well incorporated into the yogurt. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

Chocolate Cointreau Ganache Crepe Cake

My father in law had his fifty somethingth birthday on the weekend. Most people don't like to think about how "old" they are past thirty it seems, but I think that there's little need to worry unless you're cheese--and chances are you aren't. If you were, we could probably smell you.
So anyway the birthday forced me out of my non-cooking rut (all I can think of these days is salads!) and I put together this extraordinary cake made of crepes. It was so like me to choose the hottest day to make this cake, with its twenty or more layers wedged together with chocolate cream and cointreau chocolate ganache. As you can imagine it was like a muddy landslide as I built it up higher. The cream began to melt and I had to transfer it to the freezer with multiple props supporting it upright, just to finish the cake off. Hence, it was a little messy to put together and I highly recommend making this on a cooler day or in an air conditioned house, if it's a warm one.
All is well that ends well however, and after 20 minutes in the freezer, the cake was nicely set and ready to ice with more cream, lavish drizzlings of ganache and cointreau laced truffles rolled in cocoa powder.
The car trip is always eventful, and it did begin to look a little melty on the way. When we arrived it looked as if a few sheep had passed over the cake and left their droppings on the top--I kid you not! The ganache truffles had suffered in the summer heat and melted into oval pebble shapes, the cocoa having dissipated somewhat.
But despite what difficulties may have arrived due to that hot summer's day, the cake was delightful and quirky, surprising everyone with its brown and white layered effect on being cut. It was scrumptious too, the perfect balance of textures and flavours without being overly sweet, and held a subtle hint of orange liqueur. You can flavour it with any liqueur or essence as desired. Chocolate mint sounds mighty tempting to me.

 CHOCOLATE COINTREAU GANACHE CREPE CAKE (adapted from Sprinkle Bakes)

CHOCOLATE COINTREAU GANACHE:

1 cup heavy cream
250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tbsp cointreau or triple sec

Place the cream in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. When it just begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until well combined and incorporated. Add the liqueur. Stir until smooth. Refrigerate. This ganache will thicken the longer it is cooled. If it is too thick when it comes to putting it in the cake, microwave briefly to thin out the mixture. The remainder of the ganache that is not used on or in the cake will be used to form the truffles. To get the ganache thick enough to roll into balls, you will need to refrigerate this for at least a day or overnight. I took 1/2 cup of the mixture and set it aside for truffles before putting any in the cake, just to make sure I had enough for the truffles.

CREPES:

12 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup cream
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup icing sugar

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl. Beat on high with your electric beaters until the mixture comes together in a batter as thick as heavy cream.
Place a 9 or 10 inch fry-pan on the stove, put at high and grease with a little butter. (I like to have a brush and a pot of melted butter by my side to speed this whole part up significantly). When the pan is hot and smoking, ladle a scant 1/4 cup into the fry pan and swirl a little if need be to cover the whole base of the pan. The crepe will rapidly lose its glossy sheen, then it's ready to slide out onto a plate (no flipping required). Brush the fry pan with a little melted butter and repeat the process until you have approximately 22 crepes. (To help speed the cooling process, you can set the crepes out on cooling racks for a few minutes. The crepes tend to get a bit sweaty sitting on top of each other when they come out of the pan)

CHOCOLATE COINTREAU CREME FILLING:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 tbsp. granulated sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
3 tbsp cointreau or triple sec

Whip the cream on high in a large bowl. When the cream begins to thicken, gradually add the granulated sugar. Then add the cocoa. Gradually add the liqueur. Whip into stiff peaks.

ASSEMBLY:

To assemble, place one crepe in the centre of your serving platter. Spread it scantly with ganache, then spread it will a spoonful of the cream filling. Place another crepe on top of this and repeat until all the crepes are used up. Refrigerate the crepe stack to add some stability. If it is a warm day and begins to slide, prop up with some kitchen bits and bobs in the freezer for half and hour to stabilize.
You may wish to trim some edges if the cake is not as even as you would prefer.
Using the remaining cream filling, coat the sides and top using a butter knife.
Take the remaining ganache and set a little aside for truffles if you have not already done so. Refrigerate until thick and able to be rolled into balls and coated in cocoa powder.
Heat the last of the ganache slightly until fluid enough to spread on the top of the cake (make sure it is not warm enough to melt the cream!) Let a little drizzle down the sides of the cake.
Decorate with truffles if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Enjoy!