1. Pumpkin Crème Caramel

Pumpkin Crème Caramel

I think these are quite an elegant dessert, but are reasonably simple to make. These are just a baked custard with some pumpkin purée stirred through the mixture, giving it a bright colour and lovely flavour. I also added a cloud of whipped cream on top, and candied pumpkin seeds for a fantastic contrasting crunch. I kept this one restrained and didn't put any pumpkin spice in the custard itself, but couldn't help myself and added just a hint of spices to the candied pumpkin seeds. The recipe makes four crème caramels and they do need to be made at least a few hours in advance (or overnight), so I think they'd make a good dessert if you were having, say, a small Thanksgiving dinner party around the big day, and wanted to serve something that's seasonally appropriate, but not OTT pumpkin spice.

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

Raspberries, white chocolate chips, melted butter, egg

As I'm sure you're aware, overmixing the batter results in a tough muffin, so I always stir my add-ins through the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients, so that they can combine evenly without overmixing.

The "add-ins" mixed through the dry ingredients

I've got a massive stash of random cute muffin papers that I bought on my last trip to Japan, and on this day I was in the mood to use these pink and white "Happy Sweet" ones!

Muffin cases!

I did overfill them a little though, which resulted in some (deliciously crunchy) overflow.

Baked

As I said above, they looked a bit plain on top, but once the paper was peeled off...

...you could see the massive stash of chocolate and raspberries within. JACKPOT!

MUFFIN INSIDES

I loved the lightly lemony flavour, the sweet white choc chips, the sour raspberries, the tender crumb and the crusty top. My perfect muffin!

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins
Recipe based on Nigella's Lemon-Raspberry Muffins from How to be a Domestic Goddess

Ingredients
60 grams unsalted butter
200 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
150 grams caster sugar
zest and juice of half a lemon
1 cup white chocolate chips
150 grams fresh raspberries (or 1 cup frozen)
120 millilitres milk
1 egg

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C and line a muffin tray with paper cases.
Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the salt, sugar and lemon zest, and whisk gently to combine. Add the white chocolate chips and raspberries and stir gently to coat them with flour and to distribute them evenly through the dry ingredients.
Squeeze the lemon juice into a measuring jug, and pour in enough milk to make 200 millilitres. Whisk in the egg and melted butter.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine (a lumpy mixture is good!)
Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through when tested with a skewer.
Allow to cool slightly before eating.
Makes 9-12 depending on the size of your muffins (ooer!)

It's been a while since my last muffin-baking bonanza, two years in fact!

These fabulous muffins were inspired by the fact that I had four kilos of Chobani yogurt, as well as some apples and random half-bags of nuts that needed using up, and that I, well, wanted muffins! Remembering that my last batch of apple muffins weren't the greatest, I decided to look for a new recipe. The Donna Hay apple muffin recipe I used last time came out tough, as I couldn't get the thick sour cream to combine evenly with the remaining ingredients without overworking the dough. Boo!

This time, after much Googling, I used this recipe for the batter, omitting the dried fruit, and adding apples and chopped nuts.  (Just like Nigella's apple and cinnamon muffins from Kitchen.)  The recipe was created by the Stork margarine company (!), and I made some serious adaptations to their batter too - replacing their margarine with butter, obviously, and switching up the method to suit me. I also added much more detailed instructions.

Although most muffin recipes say to stir through your chunks and add-ins at the end, I like to add them to the dry ingredients at the start.  I've found that this helps them mix them through evenly whilst minimising the amount of stirring you'll need.  (And as we all know, overstirring makes tough muffins!)

Apple chunks, SR flour, baking powder, cinnamon, chopped nuts

Melted BUTTER, brown sugar

Yoghurt, milk &eggs being added to the dry ingredients

Lumpy mixture

I topped these muffins with chopped nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar.  You'll see that I only had enough mixture to top nine of my muffins - I increased the amount of nuts in my recipe below, so you should be right.

Top: Raw Bottom: Baked

And here they are!


I also finally got to use these fabulous little muffin papers!  I bought them at a 100-Yen shop in Japan four years ago, and only just remembered to whip them out today!  They were pretty stiff (heh), as was the batter, so they were able to hold their shape whilst baking.  (Unlike the last, messy, time I used a paper baking case, oops!)

I also liked that these Japanese muffin papers have a little seam on them so that you can rip them open neatly...

...ooh!  A nude muffin!  Pretty!

Naked muffin

These muffins are super-light and tender thanks to the acidity from the yoghurt, with an addictive crunch from the sugary-nutty topping.  I used a combo of hazelnuts and pecans, as they were what I had in my pantry, but any nut that can provide a crunchy contrast would work well: almonds or walnuts would be particularly good.

Apple Cinnamon Nut Muffins
Very loosely based on this recipe and Nigella's Apple and Cinnamon Muffins (Kitchen)

Ingredients
350g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
85g soft brown sugar, plus 4 teaspoons extra
85g butter
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 eggs
150ml Greek-style yogurt (I used Chobani 2%)
150ml milk
100g nuts, roughly chopped (I used pecans and hazelnuts)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C, and line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers.
Melt the butter and let cool a little.  Stir in the 85g brown sugar and set aside.
Measure the yogurt and milk into a measuring jug, add the eggs and whisk to combine.  Set aside.
Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder and 1 tsp cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.  Add the apples and half the nuts, and stir so the chunks are distributed evenly through the flour.  Make a well in the centre and pour in the melted butter/sugar mixture, followed by the yoghurt/milk/egg mixture.  Stir gently until just combined, remembering that little lumps and flour pockets are desirable and will result in a light muffin.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin.  Mix the remaining chopped nuts with the remaining 1 tsp cinnamon and 4 teaspoons brown sugar.  Sprinkle this mixture over the waiting muffins.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown on top and cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Makes 12

Last month I was given some yogurt from the good people at Chobani.  And when I say "some yogurt", I actually mean a LOT of yogurt!


When I accepted the sample, I thought I'd get a couple of tubs, but what I actually got was a massive carton of their fruit yogurts.  (These arrived on the same day that those BelVita breakfast biscuits did - it was a big day of parcels!)  They included some recipes in the package, so I asked if they'd send me some of their plain yogurt so that I could try cooking with it - and here's where things got interesting. A few days later, almost four kilos of yogurt arrived at my door.  There was a lot of cooking to be done!

I liked the fact that the yogurt is both low fat and creamy without containing any gelatin.  However, I found that the thick, almost savoury, strained yogurt didn't meld too well with the fruit layer.  I don't think I'd buy the fruit flavours myself, but would be much more likely to buy a big tub of the plain yogurt, and add fresh fruits, nuts and / or honey.

Today I want to share all the different things I made with the yogurt.  The below photos are all Instagrammed, hence the grainy, retro square pics!  My handle is sarahcooksblog if you wanna follow me!

First up was garlicky pelmeni with brown butter, herbs and yogurt, from Snowflakes and Schnapps.  (I love that book!)
These are little meat-filled dumplings, much like wontons or tortellini.  There's yogurt in the dough (which I made from scratch, wahey!) and in the filling, and it's served with a little yogurt on the side too.  I followed the recipe's suggestion of serving the pelmeni with burnt butter, finely chopped radish, chives and dill, with a bowl of clear chicken broth on the side.  Super tasty!

I made this lemon yogurt cake to bring to a party.
I got the recipe from Neil Perry's Good Food, but it's originally a Claudia Roden recipe - a very lemony, light, moussy cake.

I also made some apple-nut-yogurt muffins, which turned out really tender from the acid in the yogurt. I'm gonna blog these in more detail soon (with the recipe too!).

These herby mashed potatoes actually turned out to be the only thing I made from the recipes Chobani gave me, and it was awesome!

To make these, you mash up some potatoes with a little vegetable stock, some yogurt, butter, chives and dill.  I didn't have any vegetable stock lying around, so when I boiled the potatoes, I added some powdered vegetable stock to the boiling water, which worked well.

I served the mash with peas and some crispy spicy chicken wings.  It was a really easy dinner that felt surprisingly special!

A few nights later I made some yogurt flatbreads with mushroom ragout, a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty.  (Recipe here).

And, of course, I had to make a good old banana smoothie.  I make mine with a banana, yogurt, milk, and a teaspoon of milo, for extra chocolatey goodness.  (And I can kid myself that the Milo provides essential... I dunno... riboflavin?)

Our second day in the Yarra Valley saw us with a free morning, and in much need of caffeine, so we decided to pop into Essenza for breakfast.  Essenza is a teensy-tiny hole-in-the-wall espresso bar, cafe and retail space, from the same team who run the fabulous B&B where we stayed.  Even though it wasn't on the original itinerary, given how much we loved the accommodation, I knew it would be a good choice.


Essenza
191B Maroondah Highway
Healesville, VIC 3777
Ph: 0433 414 252
Website



All their pastries are baked in-house by Chef Gianpaolo (yes, he of the amazing cheddar mashed potatoes), and include croissants, danishes, muffins, cakes, friands and tarts.



Coffees were very good, as expected: rich and strong, without any excess bitterness, and made with luscious full cream organic milk.

Cappuccino - $3.90 Cafe Latte - $3.90

It took a little while for us to decide on breakfast, but in the end we went for simple classics: a danish and a muffin - both well made and lovely.

Apricot and Pistachio Danish - $4.00

Berry and White Chocolate Muffin - $6.00

$6 for a muffin seems quite expensive, but Essenza's muffins are massive, and absolutely full of berries and chocolate pieces - you may remember me complaining ages ago that commercially made muffins are often a dry disappointment.  This, however, were delicious, and I was happy to pay $6 for it!

This is the fifth post from my Yarra Valley 2012 Trip series.

Sweet potato galette

Mmm... here's a delicious sweet potato galette, from my new favourite cookbook: the Ottolenghi Cookbook.  You may remember my friend Clarice introduced me to this fabulous book in Paris, and after cooking some fantastic recipes together, I just had to buy it for myself.

N.B. This is a photo we took of the book cover itself

Ottolenghi, for those of you who don't know, is a famous cafe / restaurant / bistro with four locations in London (plus a restaurant, Nopi).  The book is written by business partners Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi, who both hail from Jerusalem, and their passion for fresh, delicious food is evident on the pages.

Before I even got stuck into cooking the recipes, I knew it was my type of book.  Firstly, they use the soaked-bread-in-water trick that I love for meatballs; they acknowledge that their macarons are imperfect-looking-yet-tasty, and even recommend Ladurée for perfect ones; and finally, their cupcakes are the serious kind - lusciously thick ganaches and mascarpone based icings, none of that nasty crusty hard pink buttercream stuff!  Love!

Clarice described the book as having a similar style to Bill Granger, in that there's a balance between fresh, vibrant healthy savouries, and very decadent desserts.  Of course, they're also both based on well-renowned cafes!  However, I would say Ottolenghi definitely has the edge on Bill.  Even though I'm a fan of Bill, with Ottolenghi there is a level of technical skill and knowledge on the page that just doesn't come through with Bill's books.  Not to imply that Bill himself lacks technical skill, far from it, but just that his recipes seem too simplified to sustain my prolonged interest.

A clear theme I've noticed through the book is unexpected but well thought out flavour combinations and techniques - a sweet potato galette is perked up with raw garlic and chilli; blanched brocolli is given extra smoky depth by being cooked on a char grill, and so on.

I've been cooking heaps from the book, and I haven't come across a single dud recipe yet.  If I were ever to do another Sarah Discovers How to Eat-type project, it would be with this book.  In fact, I'm putting off buying the Yotam's next book (Plenty), because I'm afraid I won't ever leave the kitchen!  Let's have a look at what I've been cooking so far...


Sweet Potato Galettes

I'll start with the sweet potato galettes, as this is my absolute favourite recipe in the book! Since we've come home from Europe, I've made it at least four  times - perfect for relaxed dinners with friends, or an easy yet treaty meal at home.  These days I don't need the recipe anymore, but can simply wing it - yay!  It's just puff pastry, layered up with sour cream, roast slices of sweet potato, goat's cheese, pepitas and chillies.  I always use Carême puff pastry, for super flaky-buttery goodness!


After baking, you brush the tart with a punchy mixture of olive oil, raw garlic and parsley, really lifting what would otherwise be a uniformly sweet-ish tart into something memorable and delicious.


Turkey and Sweetcorn Meatballs with Roasted Pepper Sauce

I must admit I wasn't convinced by the name "turkey meatballs", turkey mince always reminding me of dry, uninspiring diet-foods.  But these were really good!  See the squished bread roll in the mixture? That's what makes the finished meatballs balls (heh) soft and bouncy!  As you can see, there are heaps of herbs and other ingredients to add interest.  The corn kernels are also roasted in a pan before being added to the mixture, giving a nice smoky flavour and tortilla-like aroma.


Ta-dah!

It's a bit of a pain to fry the meatballs and then bake them, but the results are worth it!  The accompanying red pepper sauce (not pictured) is pretty intensely sour, so I like to tone down the vinegar and add a pinch of sugar.  I like these served as a starter, or as a full meal with some rice.



This healthy and substantial recipe contains rice and quinoa (obviously), brightened up with a sparkly mixture of dried apricot, spring onions, rocket, pistachios, lemon juice and orange juice.  I think it's meant to be served as a room-temperature salad, but I served it hot for dinner.  The fried egg was my addition - very Asian of me, I know.

The original recipe specifies camargue red rice and quinoa, but I couldn't find red rice, so I substituted brown basmati.  I also made the spicy tomato sauce to go with it as I was worried it might be a little dry - it certainly wasn't dry, but I did love the warming, spicy tomato sauce with the rice and egg.



Marinated Rack of Lamb with Coriander and Honey

This was a very simple recipe for lamb (I clearly used chops instead of a rack), and I thought the pungent herby marinade took the lamb above a standard grilled lamb.  Very nice!


Butternut, Carrot and Goat's Cheese Tartlet

This tart recipe is a bit more involved than the galette above - you start by making a poppyseed shortcrust pastry, and fit it into individual little tins.


There is also a jammy-type relish from grated carrots...

... as well as goat's cheese, a creamy-eggy filling and roasted cubes of butternut pumpkin.  Phew!  Interestingly, the recipe says it will fill six 2x10cm tartlets, which I used, but I had enough mixture to fill those, plus an extra 20cm tart!


I brought these sturdy little babies to a picnic, along with the cucumber and poppyseed salad (another recipe from the book!)  I've made the cucumber salad almost as often as the sweet potato galette - it's definitely a staple in my house now.

They were very tasty, but quite a bit of work - I'd definitely like to make them again, but probably not as frequently as the sweet potato galette.  Perhaps for a future dinner party!


Blueberry Crumble Muffins

These are a simple muffin recipe, topped with a generous spoonful of crumble and studded with fresh blueberries.  I added walnuts for extra crunch.  The muffins were great - very tender crumbed and moist.  However, being based purely on white flour and with the crumble topping, they were a little sweet and soft; I think of them as more of an afternoon tea treat than a breakfast item.


Chocolate Fudge Cake

And finally I present the chocolate fudge cake! It's one of those sunken flourless chocolate cakes: rich with melted chocolate and lightened with whipped egg whites.  It's slightly different though, in that you bake two thirds of the mixture first, let it cool, add the remaining mixture and bake it again. This is to give different textures in the cake (although you can bake it all at once if you want!)


When I made it, I was too impatiently greedy to let it cool in between baking and after it was completely cooked, so it was very, very dense and fudgy, almost falling apart when we ate it. Oops!  It still tasted amaaazing though. Next time I'll be more patient and let it firm up completely before digging in. Maybe.