Category: Dessert

Brownie with “Visinata” cherries

Old school, chocolately, sticky and moist – and did I tell you that you only need one bowl to make it in? Chocolate love it is.  Add handfuls of your favourite things like tipsy cherries, nuts or bits of biscuit to create your “signature brownie” – this has has sozzled cherries in it which are left from the making of “Visinata” the traditional Romanian cherry licqueur.

Gizmos

1 deepish tin – work out the volume math thing – lined with baking paper and brushed with melted butter

1 heavy base very large saucepan – a Le Creuset is absoluetly perfect – preferably with curved edges

Ingredients for a 14×9 x 1.5 inch tin

200g dark chocolate 70% cocoa min

250g butter

5 eggs (4 very large ones)

2 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour (or gluten free mix – Brownies are very good made with GF flour)

30g cocoa

400g sugar

1tsp salt (I never put salt in my baking but here I do)

How To

If your cake batters usually turn out like glue then Brownies are your thing because “glue” is what is needed here

Melt the butter and chocolate in your saucepan very gently and now remove that saucepan from the heat

Quickly add the eggs and whisk them in with a fork

Add all the dry ingredients until everything is incorporated and the mixture is like glue

Arrange any ingredients you want to add in the tray eg sozzled cherries and pour over the batter. Let it settle.  You can help it by spreading it with a knife dipped in hot water (so it does not stick as you spread it).

Bake at 170C (160C if you have a fierce fan assisted oven) until a toothpick comes out clean – approx 25-30 minutes

Best eaten 1 day later if you can resist.

Very Visinata Tiramisu

A classic tiramisu with a cheeky cherry twist

Ingredients for four very tipsy tiramisu

  • 250g mascarpone
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • dry biscuits such as the traditional “savoiardi” or “boudoir” biscuits or in this version as I forgot to buy them, some leftover dry biscuits – chocolate ones would have worked well
  • a wine glass of “visinata” – home made Romanian cherry liqueur – powerful stuff
  • 2 good cups of leftover cherries which the visinata was made from – stoned (no pun intended)

Good quality cocoa for dusting

Gadgets & Gizmos

2 bowls

An electric whisk or very strong biceps

A sieve or a tea strainer

How To

There are two parts to a Tiramisu: the soggy biscuit part where traditionally expresso is used to moisten the biscuits ( I like to use liqueurs and fruit as here) and the creamy vanilla layer which is eggs and mascarpone and never whipped cream.

Assemble your glasses first. If making “posh” ones then use wine glasses, otherwise plain glass tumblers.  Break the biscuits and intersperse with your fruit. Dribble over the liquer/ syrup so that the biscuits are moistened.

Press the now moist biscuits down. This is important.  You do not want air pockets in the biscuit layer. Add more biscuits , more fruit, more liqueur…  it usually takes two or three rounds. Let them settle down while you make the mascarpone layer.

Whisk the egg whites and 1 tbsp sugar until soft peak stage

In the second bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 1tbsp sugar until white and creamy. Add the vanilla essence. Slowly add the mascarpone and mix thoroughly.

Add one tablespoon of the egg whites to the mascarpone mixture to begin to thin it. Now gently add the mascarpone mixture to the egg whites and fold taking care not to lose air. The idea is to fold in creating a mousse. If your mascarpone mixture is too thick add 1 tbsp of milk before folding in.  Better this and to not lose air than a stodgy dense mascarpone layer that is impossible to “drop” off a spoon into a glass.

The level of “gloopiness” is key – the mix needs to be sturdy enough to hold it as a mousse yet soft and liquid enough to plop down gently into the glasses and envelope the moist biscuit layer.

Gently spoon over the biscuit layer the mascarpone mousse.  You may need to just shake it a little to flatten the surface but try not to bang the glasses as this will destroy air bubbles.

Either dust with cocoa powder through a sieve or cover completely as you prefer.   If you cover completely, the Tiramisu keep for up to 3 days in the fridge as the cocoa forms a protective layer.

Pear & Goat Cheese Tart

An alternative dessert

goats-cheese-pear-and-goat-cheese-tart

 

If you have some very overripe pears and a bit of leftover strong cheese in your fridge that you don’t know what to do with then this tart makes them standout stars.  The combination of very ripe pears and cheese is one of the most magical tastes of Autumn be it a pungent Roquefort or some really good goat’s cheese – which i was lucky enough to have in my fridge. In fact I first made a version of this tart with Roquefort but I might prefer it made with the impeccable clean tasting goat’s cheese from Mihai Preotescu as in this version. The recipe uses my easy peasy walnut and olive oil pastry which is just pressed by hand into the tin – no rolling pin necessary and no cleaning of a flour dusted work surface – labour saving and saving the planet all at the same time …  We drizzled it with some strong wonderful Romanian honey and serevd more roasted walnuts alongside. I am ashamed to say (was it the wine?) I cant remember which type it was..perhaps “stejar” (oak). 

This is a perfect dessert for those who do not like or cannot eat  “sweets” but it is also a lovely light lunch served with a good remoulade of autumn veggies: celeriac, carrot,apple. 

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