Date Ripple Ice Cream with Fennel Seeds

Date Ripple Ice Cream with Fennel Seeds

A creamy no-churn date ice cream swirled with rich date syrup and toasted fennel – a killer combination!

DATE RIPPLE ICE CREAM WITH FENNEL SEEDS

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Make: 2 L

Date Ice Cream:
2 tbsp cornstarch
1L milk
100g Natura Sugars Light Muscovado Sugar
2 tsp ground cardamom
450g pitted dates
250ml creme fraiche

Date and Fennel Ripple:
2 tsp fennel seeds
200ml date syrup

Whisk the cornstarch into 60ml of the milk in a small bowl and set aside. Place the remaining 940ml milk and sugar in a saucepan and slowly bring it to the boil. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture while whisking and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and add the cardamom. Place the dates in a food processor, add the thickened ice cream mix and process until creamy. Stir in the creme fraiche. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
In the meantime, place the fennel seeds in a pan and toast for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Churn the mixture in an ice cream machine or alternatively, divide between two large ziplock bags and freeze on a baking tray until firm. Once frozen, break into pieces and blend in a blender or food processor until smooth. Decant into a freezer proof container. Drizzle over the date syrup and sprinkle over the toasted fennel seeds. Swirl into the soft ice cream then freeze immediately until firm. Remove the ice cream from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Chilli Baklava

Chocolate Chilli Baklava

With a filling of spices, cocoa nibs, almond and dark chocolate, this version of baklava is not too sweet and makes it even more addictive than the original!

Chocolate Chilli Baklava

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 6-8 

For the syrup:

500ml water

360g Senqu River Pistachio Blossom Honey

440g Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

125ml The Kate Tin Cocoa Nibs

2 whole cinnamon sticks

1 dried chilli

For the filling:

500g The Almond Girl Almonds, toasted 

350g The Kate Tin Dark Baking Chocolate Drops

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp chilli powder

340g ghee, melted

27 sheets phyllo pastry

To make the syrup, combine the water, honey, sugar, cocoa nibs, and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Strain; (keep the cocoa nibs aside) you should have 2 1/2 cups of syrup. Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Place the toasted almonds in a food processor and process until the texture of rough breadcrumbs. Set aside.  Process the chocolate to the same size pieces and add to the nuts along with the reserved cocoa nibs, and spices. 

Grease a 25 x 35cm baking tin with some of the ghee. Place one sheet of phyllo in the tin and brush with ghee. Repeat until you have 8 sheets of phyllo. Spread 2 cups of the filling over the phyllo then top with 4 sheets of phyllo brushed with ghee on each layer. 

Spread another 2 cups of filling over and another 4 layers of ghee-brushed phyllo. 

Spread the remaining filling on top and top with 10 sheets of phyllo for the final layer. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until the ghee sets. 

Use a ruler to cut the baklava into diamonds then bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C and bake for another 25-30 minutes until it turns golden brown. Remove from the oven and spoon over the syrup. Allow to cool completely. 

Biscoff Ice Cream Log

Biscoff Ice Cream Log

This quick and easy dessert is made with layers of crunchy caramel biscoff biscuits, and cream making it the perfect throw-together end to a meal!

Biscoff Ice Cream Log

Prep time: 20 minutes + freezing time

Cook time: 0

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

750ml single cream, plus extra for topping (optional)

30g Natura Sugars Demerara icing sugar

300g Biscoff spread (I used the crunchy one!)

2 x 250g Lotus Biscoff cookies 

Method:

  1. Line a 22 x 10cm loaf pan with plastic wrap.
  2. Place the cream and the sugar in a bowl and beat until soft peaks form (do not beat till stiff); transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge till ready to use.
  3. Add the Biscoff spread to the mixer bowl and beat till soft peaks form.
  4. Spread a very thin layer of the cream on the bottom of your prepared pan. Spread a layer of the cream on each cookie and layer them standing upright in the pan. 
  5. Cover the top with more of the cream, so the cookies are completely covered.
  6.  Cover pan with foil or plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
  7. Use the plastic wrap to lift cake out of the pan – remove wrap and place cake on a serving tray or cutting board. Top with extra whipped cream, if desired. 
Pistachio Tres Leches Cake

Pistachio Tres Leches Cake

Pistachio Tres Leches Cake

Prep time: 15 minutes (plus overnight soaking)

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves:

100g shelled Senqu River pistachios

250ml full-fat milk
4 large eggs, seperated

120g golden caster sugar
120g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

250ml condensed milk
250ml evaporated milk

250ml whipped cream
Extra pistachios, chopped, to decorate

Rose buds, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180°C, or 160°C if using a fan-forced oven. Grease a 33cm x 23cm x 5cm cake tin.  Place the pistachios in the milk and set aside to soak (preferably overnight). To make the cake, place the egg whites in a large bowl and whisk with an electric beater until they form stiff peaks, then slowly add half the caster sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar along with the vanilla extract until thick and light. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and then gently sift in the flour. Fold in with a metal spoon or spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. Use a skewer or fork to poke holes in the cake. Place the pistachio milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk in a blender and blend until smooth. At this point you can strain it if you like. Pour ¾ of the mixture over the cake (reserve the rest for serving) and refrigerate. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form then spread over the cake. Decorate with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals. Serve the cake in squares and pour the remaining pistachio milk around the base to serve. 


White Chocolate, Cherry and Cabernet Tart

White Chocolate, Cherry and Cabernet Tart

White Chocolate and Red Wine? Introducing the tart that breaks ALL the rules.

When La Motte sent me a bottle of their 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, dark chocolate was the obvious pairing. BUT the wine’s elegance, velvety smooth tannins, and notes of cherry, oak, and blackcurrant make white chocolate the perfect pairing! ⁠

The tart case is filled with a cabernet and cherry compote infused with cinnamon and orange zest then topped with a white chocolate mousse. It’s a pairing worthy of any special occasion.⁠

White Chocolate, Cherry and Cabernet Tart

Makes 1 x 30cm tart

Serves 10-12

Cherry Cabernet Compote

1 x 400g tinned cherries

Zest of 1 orange

60ml La Motte 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp cornflour

For the cranberry compote, place the cherries,  orange zest, La Motte 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, cinnamon and cornflour in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until thickened and glossy – about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. 

Pastry

145 g salted butter, at room temperature

80 g icing sugar, sifted

1 large egg yolk

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

225 g cake flour, sifted

For the pastry, place the butter and icing sugar, yolk and vanilla into a food processor and process until smooth. Add the flour and pulse until the pastry just starts coming together. Shape this into a disc,, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

White Chocolate Mousse

250g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate Drops

30g salted butter

310 ml milk

3 large egg yolks

3 tbsp granulated white sugar

2 tbsp cornflour

3 tsp unflavoured gelatin powder, softened in 3 tbsp water

50g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate Drops, melted

250ml whipping cream

For the white chocolate mousse, place the white chocolate and butter into a large bowl, and place, fine mesh sieve over top, then set aside. Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a simmer. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together. Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture gradually, whisking constantly. Return the liquid to the saucepan and continue to whisk over medium heat until a glossy and thickened custard is created, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the softened gelatin. Pour the custard mixture into the fine mesh sieve and strain over the white chocolate and butter. Whisk together until the chocolate and butter have melted completely into the custard. Cool to room temperature.

Remove the chilled pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured work surface, until 2-3mm thick. Grease a 30cm perforated tart ring with butter. Line the tart case with the pastry; start by pressing the ring into the rolled out pastry to make the base. Cut 2-3 long strips of pastry to wrap around the outside. Place the lined tart onto a perforated silicone mat and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius and bake the tart shell for about 15 minutes or until golden. Once baked, set aside to cool. Brush the tart case with the melted chocolate. 

Whip the cream to stiff peak stage then gently fold into the cooled white chocolate mixture. Spoon the cooled cherry cabernet compote into the tart case then top with half of the mousse. Place the rest of the mousse into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe rosettes onto the top of the tart. Refrigerate to set. Decorate with white chocolate curls and gold leaf, if desired. Serve with 2018 La Motte Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Baked Stone Fruit with Amaretti Crumble

Baked Stone Fruit with Amaretti Crumble

Juicy baked peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries topped with a crunchy amaretti topping. A super easy and quick dessert that lets the seasonal fruit do all the work.

You could easily adapt this recipe to use apples, pears, mixed berries, pineapple or any other fruit. All that’s standing in the way of perfection, is topping it with homemade vanilla bean ice cream – get my recipe here.

Baked Stone Fruit with Amaretti Crumble

Prep time:  20 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

1kg mixed seasonal stone fruit (peaches, plums and cherries)

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g (60ml) soft brown sugar 

Crumble:

100g cake flour  

100g amaretti biscuits

75g ground almonds

30g soft brown sugar

50g salted butter

Vanilla bean ice cream, to serve (click here to make your own)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Stone the fruit and cut into halves. Place in a 20x30cm baking dish. Add the vanilla and sprinkle the sugar over. Toss to combine.
  3. Roast in the oven for approx. 20 minutes or until softened.
  4. Meanwhile, place flour, almonds and crushed amaretti in a medium bowl. Melt the butter and combine with the dry ingredients along with the honey to form a crumble.
  5. Scatter the crumble topping over the roasted fruit and pop back in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.