Banana bread? Cornbread? Pumpkin bread? Muffins? Irish Soda bread? Scones? Yep, you thought it right – all quick breads. There are arguments aplenty. What defines quick breads? Well, all the quick breads I know are yeast-free, using a classic base-acid combination, aka baking soda and yogurt/ buttermilk/ acidulated dairy to produce the rise, I like to think of them as a cross between bread and cake. Take Banana bread for instance, I enjoy it on its own, with cream and blah di blah but I know people who swear by slices of it toasted, like you would do yeasted breads so…...
Agbalumo Cream Puffs
Once the cream puffs were cool, I whipped up some cream, stuffed and drizzled chocolate over the top. I had some beautiful syrup from macerating Agbalumo :), the same one that formed the base of our Agbalu’lade. I folded the agbalumo syrup into the whipped cream. By then, the choux buns were cool and ready to be halved like bread buns. And filled the puffs which were hollow and crisp shelled, Sliced in half, topped with cream and dollops of agbalumo ‘syrup’ And capped. Because chocolate is essential for profiteroles, and life, I drizzled some over the top. And thus was a feast...
The Art of The Cream Puff
Cream Puffs are one of life’s greatest gifts. Everything about the way they are composed to how they are quaffed make them worthy of odes and sonnets. I think. And believe me, I’ve had some of the finest ones so I know what I’m saying. Made of Choux pastry – cooked pastry, they are the stuff of which many bakes are made. Light, crisp and airy, I’ve had profiteroles in London, and soesjes in Holland, Choux buns and chouquettes on Paris streets. I’ve baked Churros, after enjoying friend versions on Barcelona’s tree-lined La Rambla. First, let’s understand how choux pastry bakes. Choux...
Beard Papa’s Cream Puffs – To Live For
Of the front seat of New York Taxis and the most delicious Cream Puffs. It’s not the first time we’ve gone on holiday with full intentions of tracking down a read about, heard about or watched about restaurant or place. Ref. the Churro adventures in Barcelona. Another sort of Choux pastry. And Momofuku. This time – our last visit to New York, we had Beard Papas lined up. My children had watched ‘Fast Food Gone Global‘ on Food Network and practically dragged me there in a taxi on our last day. With our last twenty dollars, we ‘feasted’ as much...
In Season: Soursop Frozen Dessert
Soursop is in season and I’ve finally made the frozen dessert I’ve longed to since forever. These days, for creamy fruit, I tend to go with condensed milk as the ‘dairy’ of choice. Why? Well, condensed milk is rich and thick and the tiniest amount seems to work wonders. In Mangoes, With Mangoes & Passion Fruit and much more. This recipe is so easy to accomplish that I suggest you bump it up to ‘must-make’ status immediately. There are a few things to do before though: Select some fine ripe fruit – The flesh should be green, and free from squashed/ blackened...
Chop, Chop, Chop
A Collection of ‘Chop’ Words, just because. Because you can chop up wood, fish, beef. Because you can chop, wack your food…aka eat with relish. Chop (Dictionary) verb ˈchäp chopped chop·ping 1 a : to cut into or sever usually by repeated blows of a sharp instrument b : to cut into pieces —often used with up <chop up an onion>c : to weed and thin out (young cotton)d : to cut as if by chopping <chop prices> <a bridge chops the lake in two> 2 : to strike (as a ball) with a short quick downward stroke 3 : ...
Asala – Egg Salad
I’ve been serving up lots of devilled eggs lately. While halving them for stuffing, many casualties result. And so it was that I resolved to make an egg salad – the perfect one. I wanted to bring some texture into the creamy, chewy mix and since I like the crunch of Asala, black walnuts when cooked, I incorporated some of that in the salad. I crushed them, like I did in the Asala-Scent leaf Soup and ‘fried’ them in some stew/ oil. And that was it mostly. I combined eggs, spring onions, cilantro, Asala, and some chunky, pepper sauce. Stirred...
How to Build a Crepe Cake
Eid Mubarak, with my first-ever Crepe cake, perfect for crowd-feasting. Talk about resounding successes. Twenty (20) (in my case imperfect but delicious) layers of crepes with alternate layers of rich chocolate mousse and a salted caramel one, finished with a semi-sweet ganache and crushed candied pecans. What a mouthful. A delicious mouthful. Also known as Mille Crepes Cake. … a decedent, classic French cake consisting of 20 layers of paper thin crepes, each separated with a brush of French pastry cream. The word mille means “a thousand”, implying the many layers of crêpe; What’s Cooking America This is an easy one...
Very Lemony Stew of Chicken With Fresh Dates
Here, fresh dates edify the palate in a chicken stew. Thankfully. So one evening, I was making a stew in my best cast iron pot from South Africa – my Bush Baby. As I often do, I looked through the fridge to see what could go in, in a kitchen-sink kind of way…and saw the dates. I suspected, chopped up in a stew, they would absorb some of the flavours, maybe lose their astringency and generally be of more use than they’d been, sitting still. I adopted the The Art of Soup way that I almost always. This time, I began...