Forget the salads and the sushi; this summer is all about delicious desserts!
Spiced Fruit Burritos
1 ripe fresh peach
2 large green apples (Granny Smith)
1 ripe fresh nectarine
125ml orange juice
1 lemon, juiced and zested
50g Muscovado brown sugar
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch fresh cracked black pepper
1 tbspn cornstarch
50ml cold water
75g roasted pecan nuts
1 tbspn fresh chopped coriander
6-8 crepes
- Wash the fruit. De-stone the peach and the nectarine and slice both into fine slices. Set aside.
- Peel the apples and cut into fine slices and mix with the orange, lemon juice and lemon zest in a medium-size saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat slightly and cook the apple at a gentle simmer for five minutes.
- Stir in the Muscovado sugar, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper and continue cooking the filling, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for two- three minutes.
- Blend the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and pour it into the apple mixture. Bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring continuously. Let the filling cook for one minute and remove it from the heat, then fold through the sliced nectarine and peach.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool, keeping it covered on the surface with a sheet of plastic wrap. This will stop the mixture from skinning, while also allowing the other fruit to cook in the heat of the apple mix.
- Heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a small sheet pan with parchment paper. Spoon fruit down the centre of each crepe, sprinkle with pecan nuts and some coriander. Fold the ends over the filling, then fold over one of the sides to enclose. Serve with whipped cream and sugar.
Barbecue Spicy Pineapple
1 tbspn acacia honey
1 tspn lime juice
1 lime zest
pinch garam masala
60g butter, melted
1-2 dashes Tabasco hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm wedges or rings
- In a small bowl, mix together the honey, lime juice, zest, garam masala, melted butter, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper. Whisk together lightly.
- In a separate bowl, place the cleaned and sliced pineapple. Pour over the marinade. Turn the pineapple regularly so that it gets completely covered in the mixture. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Preheat the barbecue and make sure the area is cleaned of previous cooking items. When the area is hot, place each piece of pineapple on the grill for just two to three minutes per side in order to heat through and to put grill marks on the pineapple.
- Remove immediately and serve hot with additional honey and whipped cream.
Madeira Cake
180g unsalted butter
180g caster sugar
3 large eggs
175g plain (all-purpose) flour
8g baking powder
60g ground almonds (almond powder)
1 lemon, zest and juice
60ml milk
- Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar with the lemon zest until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and incorporate well between additions. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Sift together the plain flour and baking powder and mix together with the ground almonds.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter/egg mixture and, at the same time, add the milk slowly as the mixture combines.
- Lightly grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Fill the pan with the cake batter and place into the oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the highest point comes out dry.
- Cool the cake in the tin before removing it, slicing it and serving. Day old cake can be toasted and served with ice cream as an extra treat.
Summer Pudding
600g fresh raspberries
300g strawberries
300g blackberries
1 apple, skinned and grated
120g Muscovado sugar
1 tbspn orange juice
8 slices white bread, preferably a day old.
- Wash the berries and gently dry on kitchen paper.
- Grate the apple and place it into a saucepan with the sugar and the orange juice. Stir to dissolve the sugar and heat to lightly cook the apple. Remove from the heat and add the raspberries and blackberries, but not the chopped strawberries. Place back on the heat and cook for a further two-three minutes, to cook and mash the berries, stirring all the time. Remove and cool.
- Using a small basin or pudding bowl, line it nicely with plastic wrap. Place a disc of bread, cut from one of the slices using a cookie cutter, at the bottom of the pudding bowl. Use rectangular slices of bread, overlapping each other, to line the sides of the bowl.
- Fold the chopped strawberries into the cooked fruit mixture. Spoon this mixture into the centre of the bread lined bowl and press down firmly so that all the fruit mixture is used. Place a whole slice of bread over the top and cover with any remaining juice. Press down the pudding to ensure it is tightly packed and cover with plastic wrap.
- Use a small plate on top to weigh the mixture down and refrigerate overnight.
- To serve, unwrap; put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip the summer pudding over. Serve with fresh berries and cream.
