Plum and coconut crumble

I love fruit, always have. And that is my mom’s fault – she had trouble feeding me when I was little, since I did not like savory food. So she would set a few “traps” for me around the house: small plates with chopped fruit. Apples, pears, grapes, watermelon – you name it. Then I would eat the fruit portions as I played near them. Mom was a smart woman - and patient as hell, I’ll say. :D

If you, like me, love fruit too, this is a great dessert to try. And even if you don’t like it as much, the sweet and crunchy coconut topping serves as a pretty good disguise.

Plum and coconut crumble
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

35g all purpose flour
75g desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, softened
4 small plums, stoned and chopped
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Place the flour, coconut and caster sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and use your fingertips to rub it into the flour mixture. Set aside.
Place the plums, apple and brown sugar in a bowl and toss to combine. Spoon into 2 x 1-cup capacity ovenproof dishes. Top with the crumble mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Serves 2

Mozzarella in carrozza

Saturday is my favorite day of the week and one thing I love doing is watching some of Nigella’s shows. They are basically reruns and I have already seen many episodes, but that’s fine – it’s a joy to see her cook, even though I’m not always crazy about the dishes she prepares. :)

One can certainly turn to Nigella when looking for delicious food that can be made in almost no time. And that’s what I did, right after watching one episode of her Christmas series – I was hungry but the couch kept calling out my name. :D

If that doesn’t inspire lazy people to cook, I don’t know what will.

Mozzarella in carrozza
from Nigella Bites

6 slices white bread, crusts removed
1 fist-sized ball mozzarella, cut into approximately ¼-inch (0.6cm) slices, then strips – I used buffalo mozzarella with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120ml) whole milk
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120ml) olive oil (not extra-virgin), for frying – I used much less

Make sandwiches out of the bread and mozzarella, leaving a little margin around the edges unfilled with cheese, and press the edges together with your fingers to help seal. (One of the advantages of soft white bread is that it easily smushed together.)
Pour the milk in to 1 soup bowl*, the flour into another, and beat the egg with salt and pepper in another.
Warm the oil in the frying pan over medium heat. Dunk the sandwiches briefly, 1 by 1, in the milk, then dredge in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg. Fry in hot oil on each side until crisp and golden and remove to a paper towel. Cut in half and serve.

* I found it easier to work with shallow plates

Serves 2

Toasted coconut shortbread with white chocolate icing

I used to go through certain “phases” during my teen years. If I liked something, I would indulge in it over and over again. I remember that during my first year in university – I was 17 – I couldn’t get enough of a sort of tart sold in the cafeteria. I would eat the damn thing every single day, non stop, to the point of making others sick – come to think of it, I don’t think I would consider that food any good nowadays. :S

I’m no longer 17 – and there are two or three white hairs on my head to prove it – but old habits die hard, I suppose. I have been on a coconut kick since the madeleines and I don’t see it coming to an end any day soon. I have made several recipes with coconut and the fabulous shortbread Peabody posted the other day became my favorite. I made the cookies as a gift, that’s why I fancied them a bit with some icing.

Toasted coconut shortbread with white chocolate icing

Cookies:
1 cup (90g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 ½ cups (340g/3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (47g) confectioners’ sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups (373g) all purpose flour

Icing:
100g sweetened shredded coconut
150g white chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Spread desiccated coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until coconut is light golden, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Cool completely.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugars in large bowl until well blended. Mix in salt and vanilla. Beat in flour in 2 additions. Stir in toasted coconut. Gather dough together; divide in half. Roll each half into a log and wrap well in baking paper. Set in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up.

Preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/3 inch (1cm) thick. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch (2.5cm) apart.
Bake cookies until light golden, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Can be made ahead. Store airtight at room temperature up to 1 week.)

To make the icing: preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF; spread shredded coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until coconut is light golden, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.
Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler or the microwave oven. Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate, covering them halfway, and immediately roll the wet part into the coconut. Place on a sheet of baking paper and set aside to firm up, about 1 hour, or speed up the process by placing the cookies in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Makes 45-50

Chocolate, pistachio and cranberry panettone

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thank you for your comments and emails – I took some time off and haven’t posted here or visited my favorite blogs. I intend to correct that as soon as possible and I start this panettone. I adapted this recipe, replacing the raisins and hazelnuts for dried cranberries and pistachios.

I wish you all a great year, full of joy, love and hope. May all our dreams come true!

Chocolate, pistachio and cranberry panettone
from Delicious magazine

125g unsalted butter, softened, divided
350g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting – I used 380g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
7g sachet (2 ¼ teaspoons) fast-action dried yeast
50g caster sugar
50g dried cranberries
50g shelled, unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
finely grated zest of 1 orange
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons warm milk, plus extra, if needed
50g semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
icing sugar, to dust

Grease and line a fluted savarin or kugelhopf pan (or a 18cm round x 9cm deep pan)*.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast, sugar, cranberries, nuts and zest.
Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, 100g of the butter and the milk. Mix. Knead in the bowl for 5 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic (add a little extra milk, if it’s dry). Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a further 5 minutes or until smooth - – I used my Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment for the whole kneading process.
Put in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough in the bowl to ‘knock back’, then knead for another 5 minutes on a floured surface. Gradually knead in the chocolate as quickly as possible to avoid the chunks melting. Place the dough into the pan. Cover and leave for another 30 minutes or until risen again.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Melt the remaining 25g butter and brush over the top of the loaf. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and cooked through. Wrap in a thick tea towel and set aside to cool.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* I used a regular 20cm ring pan.

Makes 1 large loaf

Cinnamon scented challah

I was watching music videos on TV other day when I saw the ugliest creature ever. Really – at the moment he took off his shirt and opened his mouth I felt like running, running like there was no tomorrow.
A quick visit to a certain profile on imdb was essential to avoid being scarred for life. :D

Making something pretty also helps. I decide for this challah, inspired by the gorgeous one Jaden made a while ago. The recipe is from Zoe’s wonderful book.

Cinnamon scented challah
from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Master Challah dough*:
1 ¾ cups (420ml) lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons instant yeast
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup honey
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
7 cups (980g) unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling and topping:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a small handful sliced almonds

egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey and butter with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment) or a heavy duty stand mixer, with dough hook. If you are not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

For the filling, mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1 pound (450g) portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using. Then allow the usual rest and rise time.

On baking day, line a baking sheet with non stick baking paper or buttered regular baking paper.
Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound/450g (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Let’s shape the challah: use the palm of your hands and roll the dough into a thick, even log. Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces with knife or dough scraper. (It’s easier to cut even pieces when the dough is not round). Roll each piece with your hands to stretch into a long 1 ½ in (approx. 3.75 cm) thick rope. Try not to just stretch it out by pulling, the dough will break. Easiest way is to place dough on counter and roll back and forth with palms of hands, starting in the middle and hands move out which stretching the dough a bit. Don’t worry about getting it to look pretty, just try to get each piece even sized.

Take one piece of dough. Use side of your hand to press and create an indent in the middle of the strand. Spread 1/3 of the filling in this indent.

Bring up the sides of the dough, encasing the filling, and pinch dough closed. Repeat with other strands.
Now, time to braid the bread: start in the middle and braid. Pinch ends, tuck under. Now braid the other side, pinch and tuck. Start braid from the middle (instead of top) so that it tapers evenly at both ends. Place on prepared sheet, over paper.
Cover with towel and let rest for 1 ½ hours; 20 minutes prior to baking, preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
When dough is ready, brush top with egg wash and sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

* this amount of dough is enough to make four 1-pound (450g) challahs – you may keep the remaining dough in the fridge or freeze it (as explained in the recipe) and use as desired

Makes 1 challah