Rice pudding with cardamom, rosewater and pistachios. A faerie tale.

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Once upon a time, a Cheergerm happened upon a magical sounding exotic rice pudding recipe in a magazine. It was torn out and safely filed/misplaced/lost, never to be seen again. (It is most likely in the same wee hidey-hole as my sanity and my mind.) As human beings are want to do, we hanker after something when it is gone. This dish was concocted from my standard rice pudding recipe and sketchy memory of the one that went missing.

Taking the horse and carriage, I headed out into the dark and grim forest to procure the necessary ‘pimped up ingredients’ of almond milk, rosewater, pistachios and in my opinion, extravagant dried rose petals. To be able to afford these elements, it was first necessary to make a deal with a wicked faerie queen. In classic storybook manner, I agreed to surrender my firstborn when he turned sixteen. (Sucked in stupid faerie, if the last few days have been anything to go by, he will be even less compliant than he has been as a child. If that is even possible.)

This dessert is decadent and creamy with a deep herbal spiciness from the cardamom and highlighted by the sweet floral aroma and flavour of the rose. The Yak and I lived happily ever after for about fifteen minutes whilst we hungrily devoured bowls of this delightful pudding. Now what else can I throw those bloody expensive rose petals over? The End.

RICE PUDDING WITH CARDAMOM, ROSEWATER AND PISTACHIOS

WHAT YOU NEED
1 cup basmati rice
1 litre almond milk (it’s better to use unsweetened if you can find it)
1/3 – 1/2 cup caster sugar (I don’t like it too sweet and how much sugar you need will depend on the almond milk you use)
1/3 cup sultanas
3/4 tsp cardamom powder
Large pinch of salt
1 tsp rosewater
1/4 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
Edible dried rose petals to sprinkle upon said dessert in a bewitching manner, you may need to take a mortgage out to purchase these

HOW YOU DO IT
Rinse the rice.
Place the rice, almond milk, 1/3 cup sugar, sultanas, cardamom and salt into a medium size saucepan. Stir and taste this mixture to see if you need to add more sugar.
Bring the mixture to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and porridge-like.
Remove from the heat and stir through the rosewater.
Serve and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and dried rose petals. Oh, so very pretty.

Note: one of these photos shows a brand name product, rest assured, no payment has been received for this post. Considering the cost, I wish! This also makes a great breakfast dish.

A Cheergerm creation

Pavlova zen and my hive

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With a trio of family birthdays to celebrate, the house was packed to the rafters. Fizzy wine bottles were popping and we all talked over each other (nothing new there). We began the evening by chowing down on a selection of Bruny Island Cheese Co cheeses and some fat, salty olives.

At one point I was in another room in the house, collecting something or other.
I managed to stop and still myself (not an easy task) and listen to the hubbub. It was a loud and happy buzz, which made me think. This is my hive, my source of happiness. It’s not always harmonious (we ain’t a cult for goodness sakes) but even when our voices are raised in gleeful disagreement, there is no better sound.

To help celebrate three birthdays there were fittingly, three desserts. The pavlova, Sister 2’s amazeballs baked cheesecake and some decadently iced chocolate cupcakes.

The Yak adores pavlova and it is a super gluten free dessert. This rather large version is as light as a unicorns tinkle and as fluffy as a fairy tutu. It has a crisp outer shell and a marshmallow interior that is synonymous with a good pavlova. (Well, that’s how we like them here, feel free to disagree.) My very favourite fruit to accompany this dessert is that somewhat saucy, acidic passionfruit. This crazy fruit brings a wonderful acidic zing that perfectly counterbalances the sugary hit of the pav.

I pride myself on my meringue skill. (This is up there with my other useful talent of attracting the attention of random crazy strangers in the street.) You may have heard this all before but for what it’s worth, here are my top meringue tips.

1. Don’t use new eggs, older egg white works better.
2. Bring the eggs to room temperature.
3. Make sure your bowl (stainless steel or glass) is very clean and totally dry. Water is your enemy at this point.
4. No egg yolk in your whites.
5. Beat your eggs to a stiff peak before adding the sugar, always add that pinch of salt first.
6. Add your sugar slowly, then beat until the sugar is dissolved and no longer gritty. Do not rush this process. You will not regret this, this is the Zen of Pavlova. Patience is a virtue when it comes to meringue. This is not a job you can rush if you want to achieve that stiff, white glossy goop that is synonymous with this much beloved dessert.

PAVLOVA

WHAT YOU NEED
6 egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of salt
2 cups caster sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste or essence
1 tbl cornflour
2 tsp vinegar

HOW YOU DO IT
Heat the oven to 180C.
Place baking paper on a large tray and draw a 22 cm circle for a flatter pavlova or a 20cm circle for a taller version. (It will spread a little.) Turn the paper pencil side down on the baking tray.
Beat the egg whites and pinch of salt with an electric beater on low until they stand in firm peaks.
Keep beating the egg white on low adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time.
Once all of the sugar is added, continue beating on a medium speed until the meringue is no longer gritty to the touch. This takes about 5 minutes or so.
Fold through the vanilla, cornflour and vinegar.
Spread the mixture with a large spoon onto the prepared tray and place in the oven. Drop temperature down to 130 (120 fan forced) and bake for one hour. Rotate every 20 minutes to ensure even baking and colouring.
Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the pavlova cool down in the oven.
Expect cracks on the surface and the pavlova may collapse a little as it cools, don’t panic, this is all ok.
Topped with whipped cream and your favourite fruit. Think passionfruit, strawberries, mangoes, nectarines, peaches and kiwi fruit. Use one fruit or make it a fruity salad.

A Cheergerm adaptation based on a crazy New Zealand teatowel recipe, a Margaret Fulton recipe and an online Annabel Langbein recipe

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http://www.annabel-langbein.com/recipes/fantasy-pavlova/62/

http://www.brunyislandcheese.com.au/

This little figgy went to market

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Oh summer, summer. How do I love thee? Let me count the fruits….nectarines, peaches, mangoes, strawberries and more rarely, fresh figs.

These figs were procured from our local Growers Market. (Hard to reign yourself in whilst perusing all the fantastic produce that abounds). They sat in the fridge, shouting things like ‘eat us now’, and ‘stuff us with Gorgonzola, wrap in prosciutto and bake us!’ Little did they know, I had other plans for those plump little purple beauties.

One of my fave lazy dinner party desserts perchances to be baked figs. Peaches and nectarines are also delicious when given this same treatment.

It’s a lovely light ending to a dinner party and one that can be prepared earlier in the day. Just refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

When it comes to the liqueur, go wild. My usual choice is a liqueur muscat or tokay. In lieu of that tonight, I chose a cheeky Smoked Malt Whisky Tawny. An amazing port made in the same barrel that once housed a famous malt whiskey. If you choose to go alcohol free, you can drizzle some freshly squeezed orange juice over the figs.

No dinner party guests in the Cheergerm and Yak household tonight, just a greedy mama and papa chowing down on a Saturday night dessert that feels slightly decadent. There was a slight ‘peatyness’ from the port which went beautifully with the natural woody sweetness of the figs.

Now, if I was a food stylist or something more than a very amateur photographer, I am sure I could have made the final baked fig dish look gorgeous. All I can say is, they taste bloody beautiful. In real life they look earthy and delicious, despite the average photo below that scarily resembles something from John Wyndham’s The Triffids.

BAKED FIGGY FIGS

8 – 10 fresh figs (usually 4 – 5 figs per person)
50g butter
1-2 tsps coconut sugar or brown sugar
A dram of your fave liqueur

Place enough foil on a tray to hold and enclose the figs.
Slice a cross vertically into each fig without cutting through the whole fig.
Divide the butter into small pieces, pop a piece into the cut in each fig.
Sprinkle the sugar on top of each fig.
Pour a wee bit of liqueur over each fig, not too much, just a dribble.
Close the foil into a parcel around the figs.
Bake at 180C for 20 minutes until the figs are soft and starting to collapse.
Serve the figs, sharing out any leftover juices over the figs.
I served this with Greek breakfast yoghurt, it’s equally delish with honeyed marscarpone or double cream.

Note: don’t ever leave foil parcels on an induction cooking top when you are using it. Just saying is all…..