French Meringue

4 August 2011

French Meringue

Egg whites          100 g

Icing sugar          170 g

Method

1. Beat egg whites with half the icing sugar until semi firm

2. Add remaining icing sugar and beat to obtain a firm shiny mixture

3. Pre-heat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius.

4. Spoon small circles about 1 cm apart on wax paper

5. Slide paper onto baking tray

6. Cook for 1 hour

7. Leave to cool on paper at room temperature

8. Peel off meringue, place onto wire rack

Chef Tips

Can bake meringues on a lower heat, traditionally done at 60 degrees Celsius over night to obtain very hard meringue.

Berry Caulis

2 August 2011

Berry Caulis

Mixed berries     400 g

Papaya               1 each

Fruit juice           300 ml

Method

1. Peel and cut papaya into small pieces

2. Add mixed berries to chopped papaya

3.  Add fruit juice

4. Put fruit mixture into a sauce pan and bring to the boil

5. Remove from heat and pour into mixing bowl

6. Puree with stick blender to form caulis

Chef Tips

Boiling the fruit brings out its natural sweetness and acts to preserve it for longer

Can use a sauce on desserts

Cream Horns and Filling, Biscuit base and Spread

1 August 2011

Cream Horns

Puff pastry          250 g

Flour                    50 g

Butter                 100 g

Equipment

Horn mould

Rolling pin

Chef’s Knife

Baking tray

Method

1. Dust working surface with flour

2. Roll out puff pastry into a very thin sheet on floured surface

3. Cut long 1 cm strips with knife

4. Grease horn mould with butter on all sides

5. Wrap each puff pastry strip around a horn mould making sure each turn overlap a little

6. Put moulds onto baking tray

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes

Chef Tips

Melt some chocolate and dip end of cream horns into chocolate

Tiramisu mixture for cream horns

Cottage Cheese             500 g

Tiramisu ready mix         500 g

Cream                           500 ml

Method

1. Add cottage cheese, cream and tiramisu powder into mixer

2. Beat with mixer until soft peak consistency

3. Put into mixing bowl and refrigerate until service

4. Pipe mixture into cream horns when serving

Chef Tips

Do not over beat with mixer to too a stiff consistency otherwise mixture will be too difficult to pipe.

Do not fill cream horns long before service otherwise they will get soggy.

Biscuit Base

Chocolate Chip cookies                     1 kg

Butter                                              250 g

Cherries                                            30 g

Mixed nuts                                         1 kg

Method

1. Put cookies into robo-coop and chop until fine

2. Chop cherries and nuts with chef’s knife unto very small pieces

3. Mix cookies, nuts and cherries in a mixing bowl

4. Add butter to mixture until it starts to stick together and is relatively firm when clutched in palm of hand

5. Press biscuits down into a bain-marie lined with wax paper

6. Cut biscuit base into long rectangle biscuits

Chef Tips

Can use any type of biscuit

Caramel Spread for biscuit base

Caramel treat                    385 g

Lemon juice                       20 ml

Instant coffee                     30 g

Method

1. Put caramel treat into mixing bowl

2. Squeeze out fresh lemon juice into mixing bowl

3. Dissolve coffee in as little water as possible

4. Add coffee to mixing bowl

5. Mix well and put into refrigerator

6. Spread mixture over biscuit base and refrigerate

Chef Tips

Can use essence extract for a variation in flavor