' PEACH LEAF RUM BABA .'

Baked yeast cake soaked in Rum spiked Peach leaf syrup, Creamy Peach curd, Crystallised peach buds & leaves, Creme fraiche, Fresh Golden peaches and Almond praline crumb. 

                      This dish comes from an inspiring recipe from Linda a renown freelance chef from Connecticut in the states. Until I had read her works, I wasn't aware that peach leaf could be used in such a culinary manner and have such a powerful flavour. This recipe is seasonal at its best and requires careful timing in the harvesting of the leaves. The rum baba is a yeast cake baked and soaked in a rum syrup, it has the richness similar to brioche as it melts away in the mouth but the texture more refined like a genoise sponge. This recipe plays on its traditions and experiments with the flavour compound
Benzaldehyde, of which has a strong presence in peach leaves, also bitter almonds and the fruit, flowers
and bark of most stone fruit. Benzaldehyde is present in coffee, apple juice and bitter almond extract, which is pure benzaldehyde. Almond extract is the flavouring used to make marzipan, maraschino cherries, amaretto liqueur and amaretti biscuits. Benzaldehyde is present in high levels especially when
the leaves are young and the tree has just come out of dormancy, if the leaves are left to mature the flavour becomes weakened and more bitter on the palate. The rum babas have been made replacing the liquid with a beer brewed from peach leaves and this must be made a few days prior. The recipe also requires peach leaf tea, which is a popular tincture in the health circles and lays claims to curing many an ailment, especially good for clearing chests and airways. I kept with the peach theme for the rest of the plating and the fruit has been represented in all its stages of life.
                   To make the rum babas I first had to make a brew of peach leaf beer, this was made 3 days in advance allowing enough time for fermentation to happen.                                                                  
PEACH LEAF BEER- For the beer, a recipe similar to making ginger beer was used. I brought 500 ml of water to the boil and poured the water over 35g of fresh young peach leaves, this was covered tightly
and set aside for 4 hours. I then placed 60g of sugar, 30g of lemon juice and 4g of granulated bakers yeast into a clean plastic 1.25l soda bottle. I then strained the peach leaf tea into the bottle and filled the rest of the bottle with fresh water, one inch from the top. I then capped the bottle, gave it a little shake and stored the bottle, wrapped in a towel at around 20C for 48 hours or until the bottle no longer yields when pressed. The beer was then placed into the fridge to stop the fermentation process and used
the next day to make the babas.                                                                                                                
BABAS- To make the babas I placed 7.5g of yeast, 10g of sugar, 20g of flour and 44g of warm milk into a mixing bowl and stirred to incorporate evenly, this was then set aside for 15 minutes until the mixture is bubbly and the yeast has activated. To this I added 270g of flour, 6g of salt, 30g of sugar and
3 eggs, beating to incorporate and then I added 125g of the Peach leaf beer. This was mixed until smooth, covered loosely and set aside for an hour in a warm place. Using an electric mixer, I then added 170g of melted butter while beating on a low speed. I then added 30g of chopped peach leaves and poured the batter into a greased and lined tin. Traditionally babas are cooked as individual cakes and are cooked in speciality moulds or muffin tins. I wanted to present the cake in broken pieces so I baked the cake in a loaf tin at 190C for about 12 minutes before cooling and soaking the cake in a peach leaf infused rum syrup upon serving.                                                                                              
SOAKING SYRUP- I placed 30g of chopped fresh peach leaves into a bowl. I then brought 85g of water to the boil, pouring over the leaves. This was covered loosely and allowed to infuse. Once cooled
I strained the peach leaf tea and brought it back to the boil adding 2 thin slices of lemon and 115g of sugar, this was reduced to a simmer before removing from the heat and strained before adding 140g of dark rum. The syrup was then used while still hot to pour over the babas and allowed to soak in.                    
PEACH CURD- To make the curd, I halved, stoned and pureed a large peach. In a bowl I beat 2 egg yolks with 1 and 1/3 cups of sugar, a tsp of lemon juice and a tsp of peach leaf tea. I then added the puree to the mixture and set aside. In a double boiler I melted a 1/4 cup of unsalted butter before stirring in the peach mixture. I then stirred constantly for about 8-10 minutes until the mixture thickened. This was then poured into a jar and sealed, placed into the fridge to cool and set before serving.                    
CRYSTALLISED PEACH BUDS & LEAVES- This is simply dipping the buds and leaves in whipped egg whites, wiping the excess off before coating the buds and leaves in confectioners sugar and allowing for them to dry in a non humid environment.                                                                                
ALMOND PRALINE CRUMB- To make the crumb I simply melted sugar in a pot until amber in colour before pouring over slithered almonds on a lined flat tray. This was allowed to set solid before being milled through my spice grinder to form a crumb.

' POPCORN FILLED CORN YEAST DOUGHNUT .'

Corn yeast risen doughnut, piped with Creamed Popcorn filling, topped with Salted Caramel icing and Crumbled popcorn. 

                      This dessert came from the result of two dishes on the same day colliding. I had set out to make corn yeast doughnuts on the day but with a simple sweetened cream corn custard filling. I also while on the corn as the subject made a clam and corn chowder and set out to attempt the great Grant Achatz dessert from the Alinea restaurant, 'liquid popcorn with caramel froth'. Although while making the liquid popcorn I had scaled back the recipe to a third, in doing this the ratio of liquid was wrong and with the starch in the corn the mix became a thick custard consistency instead of a drinkable one. The mixture had turned to a perfect piping bakers custard consistency only tasted of buttered popcorn from the movies. This prompted me to ditch making the Achatz recipe for the time being and use the creamed popcorn for the filling in the corn yeast doughnuts, so it went from there and I managed to finish the chowder also.          
                    So to make this dessert I first prepared the dough for the doughnuts and then while the dough was rising I prepared the filling by accident, followed by the salted caramel icing. Below is a list of the preparations, the ingredients and detailed methodology.

CORN YEAST DOUGHNUT- I first cut the kernels off a half cob of corn and mashed them in a small saucepan with a half cup of milk, this was then brought to the simmer and then removed from the heat, allowed to steep and infuse for 5 minutes before being strained, reserving 1/3 cup of corn infused milk. To this warm milk infusion I added 5g of granular yeast and 1 tbsp of caster sugar, mixing to combine, this was then set aside for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. In a mixing bowl I then whisked 1 egg until pale and thick, to this I added 50g of caster sugar, a pinch of salt, 15g of melted butter and the yeast corn milk mixture. This was then mixed to combine before adding 250g of 00 flour gradually, a half cup (62.5g) at a time to form a dough that came away from the side of the bowl but quite sticky to the touch. This was then covered and placed in warm place for an hour until doubled in size. I then flipped the dough over and recovered, allowing another half an hour. At this stage I heated some canola oil to 170C in a pot on the stove, rolled pieces of the dough into balls and flattening them to 1cm thick, using floured hands. These were then fried in the oil until golden in colour and cooked through the middle, once cooked the doughnuts were drained on paper towel and coated in caster sugar before being filled with creamed popcorn, iced with salted caramel icing and topped with crumbled popcorn.
CREAMED POPCORN FILLING- This was made by placing 60g of prepared popcorn, 3g of salt, 45g of butter, 30g of caster sugar and 375g of water into a medium saucepan and simmering on a medium heat for 5 minutes. This was then strained and then blended to form a paste, this was then placed in the fridge to chill before being spooned into a piping bag and piped into the centre of the doughnuts.
SALTED CARAMEL ICING- In a saucepan over a medium heat I melted 2 tbsp of butter, I then mixed in 3 tbsp of milk and 1/2 cup of brown sugar, his was boiled vigorously for a minute. I then removed the pot from the heat and beat in 1/2 a cup of confectioners sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and a 1/2  tsp of sea salt.
CRUMBLED POPCORN- This is a mixture of ground popcorn which was made using the coffee grinder, a little salt, icing sugar and powdered butter. The powered butter is a simple mix of melted clarified butter with N-zorbit which is a modified tapioca starch used in cooking to turn fats and oils into powders, in this case butter.

'GUAVA CHEESECAKE with JABOTICABA GELEE.'

Guava Cotten-soft Cheesecake with Jaboticaba gelee, served with a Tamarillo, red wine & honey sauce, Passionfruit tuile, Lemon balm and Edible violet pansy.

                      This dessert uses four fruits from the south american region that we have been harvesting since the start of last month. We have a guava cheesecake, a jaboticaba gelee, a tamarillo sauce and a passionfruit tuile. For a few months now I've been collecting the ripened fruit from these four varieties and freezing the pulp, as the fruit ripens at various times, sometimes it may mean picking the odd berry here and there to beat the birds and have enough at the end of season to use them for something, only while our fruit trees are still in their early years and not bearing much fruit. This dish I guess is one of those end of season uses I was talking about, this is the rewards of our south american fruit harvests. The odd passionfruit is still falling from their vine and people have ice on their car windows in the morning, I don't understand. The peach and fig tree have gone into winer dormancy but I've got a rogue bitter melon cucumber plant flowering in the veggie patch. My coffee plants are holding the worst season of cherries by yield in the 6 years they been fruiting and the local strawberry farmers here are bracing themselves for a record high season, so try and plan for that.                                                          
                     Below is a scaled recipe and detailed method for each prep, you can have fun with this one and change up the fruits, like have a strawberry cheesecake with a sour cherry gelee or something. This is a cotten-soft cheesecake meaning the texture is soft and melts in your mouth. The recipe uses a combination of the traditional cheesecake with the fluffy texture of the sponge chiffon cake, with the flavour coming from added fruit puree.                                                                                                          
COTTEN-SOFT GUAVA CHEESECAKE- To make this cake I first preheated a 160C oven and greased and lined a 6" square and 1" high cake tin. I then halved and scooped out the pulp of 6 guavas into a blender and blended to a puree, making 1 cup of strained puree. Over a saucepan of gently simmer water I placed a heat proof bowl, adding to the bowl 125g of chopped cream cheese, 25g of chopped butter and 50ml of milk. I then mixed with a whisk until melted and smooth, removing the bowl from the heat and allowing to cool. I then added 35g of plain flour, 20g of cornflour, 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 egg yolks and a pinch of salt, stirring to incorporate. Using an electric beater, in a separate bowl I whipped 3 egg whites and a 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar until foamy, continuing to whip I added 70g of caster sugar in 3 batches to form a soft peak stage. I then folded the guava puree through the cream cheese mixture and then folded in the egg whites, this was then poured into the lined tin and baked for 40 minutes. The oven was then switched off and the cheesecake was left to cool completely in the oven before being removed from the tin and sliced into portion sizes.                                                                                                        
JABOTICABA GELEE- To make the gelee which is the purplish jelly film you see on top of the cheesecake, I washed and deseeded 12-14 small jaboticaba, placing them into a small saucepan with enough water to cover ( about 1 1/2 cups ) and a 1/4 cup of caster sugar. This was brought to a simmer for about 20 minutes, reducing the liquid to 1 cup of purplish coloured thin syrup. The syrup was then strained and the fruit pulp and skins discarded, the liquid was returned to the the saucepan and brought back to a gentle simmer. I then added 1 tsp of agar agar to the syrup, while whisking to dissolve the agar agar. This was then removed from the stove and poured out over a flat oven tray and allowed to set on the bench top. When the gelee had cooled and set I cut out appropriate sized rectangles to fit on top of the cheesecake portions.                                                                                                                              
TAMARILLO, RED WINE & HONEY SAUCE- This sauce actually came from the poaching liquids in the baked tamarillo dish and was reserved to eat with custard or ice cream or something. The sauce was made by simply baking tamarillo fruit in 1 cup of red wine, star anise and 2tbsp of honey. The remaining poaching liquid was further reduced and reserved for later preparations.                                      
PASSIONFRUIT TUILE- To make the tuile I gently heated 50g of glucose in a saucepan on low, once the glucose was running freely I added 60g of passionfruit puree without seeds and mixed the two together to form a syrup. This was then removed from the heat and poured into a mixing bowl, to which I added 75g of icing sugar and 60g of flour, mixing together to form a stiff batter. I then added 30g of melted butter and mixed through completely, I then placed the mix in the fridge to firm up a little. To make the tuile shape I spread the tuile mixture 1mm thick, between two strips of masking tape 5mm apart on a flat baking tray. Once I was happy the mixture was spread evenly and thinly from end to end, I removed the strips of tape to reveal a perfect straight 20cm long, 5mm wide and 1 mm high strip of uncooked tuile batter. This was then baked in a 190C oven for about 4-5 minutes until the edges began to colour and working very quickly and carefully while the baked tuile is still warm I was able to manipulate it around a pole to form a spiral, within twenty seconds of being out of the oven the tuile is crisp and vulnerable to humidity and moisture.

 
   

' BAKED TAMARILLO in RED WINE & HONEY .'

Red wine & Honey baked Tamarillo served with Popcorn infused creamed rice and ground Native ginger seed.

                      So many people are reaping the rewards of their citrus harvests around this time, everyone except me. As there is something about the citrus tree and me and the countless times I've tried to grow any of the citrus varieties. The pest infestation, root rot, you name it I've experienced it, the frustrating thing is people have trees neglected dropping fruit in the corners of their backyards. So over the years of attempts now I've found the fruit trees from South America have been the best performers in our backyard that is located in a sub-tropical region but quite shaded. We now have several species growing and some having just finished their fruiting seasons and some that give off rogue fruits at any time of the year. We have tamarillo, guava, cherry guava, chilean guava, jaboticaba, brazilian cherry, vanilla vines, yam bean plants, soursop, custard apple, feijoa, pepino, abiu, passionfruit and coffee. Although coffee is not native to the region it is widely grown there for quite some time now. Tamarillo grow really well here and are a fast growing tree that can bear fruit at a year and a half old and mature on to become prolific bearers. This is a simple little dessert pairing the tang of the tamarillo with a creamed rice flavoured with butter popcorn. The seasoning used on top of the creamed rice is ground native ginger seeds imparting  flavours of pepper and ginger to add a little zing. The native ginger seed once chewed by our indigenous people and spat out along the paths to mark the trails that lead to food sources. The taste similar to the spice Grains of paradise of which also comes from the berry of another ginger plant.                                                                                                                          
                      To make the creamed rice I placed 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of prepared popcorn and 2 tbsp of melted butter in a saucepan and brought to the simmer before being removed and allowed to steep for 20 minutes or so. This was the strained and the popcorn infused milk was set aside. In a saucepan a 1/2 cup of rice and a 1/2 cup of water was brought to the boil. To this I gradually added the popcorn milk with another 2 cups of plain milk and a 1/4 cup of sugar, this was reduced to a simmer for around 30- 35 minutes until thick and creamy. For the baked tamarillo I simply preheated the oven to 160C, wit a sharp knife I made a small cross in the skin of the pointed end of the tamarillo. The fruit was then left to soak in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before being refreshed under cold water. I then cut the fruit in quarters starting from the pointed end cutting three quarters of the way through to the stem end. I then peeled back the skin of each section a placed the fruit in an oven proof dish with 1 cup of red wine, star anise and 2 tbsp of honey, covering loosely and baking in the oven for 15 minutes. I then removed the cover, basting the tamarillo 2-3 times while baking the fruit for a further 10 minutes uncovered until soft and tender but still holding structure. This was then cooled before being served with creamed rice.

' CHESTNUT & MAPLE CREME BRULEE .'

Chestnut & Maple Creme brulee, Spiced Pumpkin tuile, Callebaut Chocolate decor and Roasted chestnuts.

                    When I think of chestnuts, for me its very much a winter thing. With fond memories of the big chestnut trees in Melbourne and the aroma of roasting chestnuts from the street vendors, wafting through the main streets and side alleys of the inner city hub or the sunday markets. Its a very comforting aroma that instantly makes you feel warm inside, despite the weather. For me the aroma from roasting chestnuts is such an association trigger for the city streets of Melbourne, as popcorn is for the movies. When I moved up to Queensland, where the sub-tropical climate and low chill in winter doesn't allow chestnuts to grow I noticed that the nut of choice for street vendors was the macadamia nut. The macadamia nut was virtually unaffordable for people of Melbourne and the thought of it being sold by street vendors, is that similar to Queenslanders and chestnuts, it just doesn't happen. So when I saw these chestnuts on the shelf I just had to purchase them for the nostalgia. This is a very simple recipe and you could be sitting down to eat your rewards in just over an hour, so below I've added A scaled recipe and detailed method for those that would fancy trying the recipe. Both the chestnuts and the maple syrup give the custard a real lift to an otherwise plain vanilla flavour.                                      
                    Into a blender I added 75g of chestnuts peeled and chopped together with 120g of milk, 15g vanilla extract, 15g of maple syrup an a pinch of salt. This was blended to a puree and set aside. In a bowl I whisked together 105g of egg yolks and 105g of caster sugar vigorously but without aerating the mix. To this I added 270g of heavy cream and the puree, these were mixed to incorporate and then poured into ramekins, this recipe makes 6 serves. I then placed the ramekins on a tray filled with water and baked them at 160 degree C. for about 55 minutes or until the brulee no longer trembles when gently shaken. The brulee's were then removed from the water bath and in a small saucepan I melted some sugar until syrupy and amber in colour. This was poured thinly over each creme brulee and allowed to set, giving the custard a thin caramel crust as apposed to the traditional technique to brulee sugar with a blow torch.                                                                                                                            
                    To accompany the dessert I made a spiced pumpkin tuile by melting 50g of glucose in a small saucepan over a low heat. To this I added 60g of pumpkin puree and this was then poured into a mixing bowl with 75g of icing sugar, 60g of flour, 1tsp of mixed spice. This was mixed to form a stiff batter and spread organically over a lined baking tray, these were then baked for 5-6 minutes in a 190 degree oven until the edges of the tuile's start to brown. While they were still warm I was able to shape them and then allow them to cool. To make the callebaut decors I simply melted the good quality Belgium couverture chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second stints, checking each time. This was then poured into a decorative mould and placed in the fridge to set before being sliced into decors. Below I've shown a few variations of plating up, using different shaped ramekins, tuile's and decors.

' Adaptation of THE TIRAMISU .'

Dessert of Tiramisu cream custard on Coffee Genoise sponge, Chocolate & Coffee Macarons, Coffee marscapone cream, Cocoa, Hazelnut chocolate shavings and Coffee syrup.

              For this plated dessert I've done my adaptation of the Italian dessert the tiramisu. Taking the general concept of the marscapone and coffee flavours, presenting them in a custard and sponge form, accompanied by coffee and chocolate flavoured macarons. The macarons were really the inspiration to the whole dessert as over the past few rainy cloudy days we've had here I've been trying to conquer the baking of a modern day macaron. The few batches you see here were of the best quality and I used a recipe I found on the net for these dividing the mixture after adding the almond meal and icing sugar, adding the flavourings at this stage. I can't find the original site I found this recipe to give them the credit, but I've tried a few and this seems to be the formula. The tiramisu cake was an after thought and was a combination of a coffee soaked coffee genoise sponge rather than the traditional coffee soaked sponge fingers. Topped with a traditional tiramisu cream predominantly of marscapone cream, egg yolks, cream and sugar, but set with agar to form a custard. The accompaniments are coffee marscapone cream and coffee syrup.                                                                                                          
           I began this dish one night last week by separating 4 eggs, into bowls whites in one and the yolks in the other. Covering each with paper towel wrap I placed the bowls in the fridge over night. The next morning I removed the whites from the fridge and left them on the bench at room temperature for several hours before making the macarons. This process is called ageing the whites and allows them to reach maximum volume when whipped. I greased and lined flat baking trays with baking paper. The baking paper was pre stencilled with 3cm circles all two inches apart, the paper was then turned ink side down on to the greased baking trays. I then whisked the egg whites to a soft peak in an electric mixer bowl, gradually adding a quarter cup of caster sugar while continuing to whisk until the sugar had dissolved. In a bowl I sifted together 1& 1/4 cups of almond meal, with 1 & 1/2 cups icing sugar. I then folded in half of the almond meal mixture in to the egg whites until it was just combined then adding the other half. I then halved the macaron mixture into two bowls, in one I added half a tablespoon of powered coffee and mixed to incorporate and in the other I added 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and mixed to incorporate. I then spooned each mixture into separate bags snipping the end of one and piping onto one of the baking trays. I did the same with the other flavour, piping on to the other tray. These were left to rest for 30-40 minutes before being baked at 130 degrees C. for 20 minutes or until the foot of the macaron had set hold, they were then cooled and transferred to an air tight container to settle over night. The next morning I prepared the ganache by bringing full cream to just on the boil before removing and pouring over chopped bitter sweet chocolate, stirring to mix and then I let sit for a minute before adding a little butter and stirred until smooth. I divided the ganache into two bowls and added a little instant coffee to one of the bowls . They were then placed into the fridge to set for half an hour and then piped onto their respective macaron shells.                                                                                                                              I then went on to make the genoise by whisking in a bowl 2 eggs with 160g of caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of instant coffee until thick and creamy and sugar was dissolved. To this I added 50g of self raising flour and mixed to incorporate, this was then baked on a lined shallow baking tray in a 160 degree C. oven for about 8-10 minutes until it sprung back on touch. This was then removed and set aside to cool. Next I placed 180g of heavy cream, 1 tbsp. of vanilla essence, 2 tsp. of agar agar powder and 220g of marscapone in a saucepan bringing gently to a simmer, and then removed from the heat .       In a bowl I whisked together the 4 egg yolks left over from the macaron prep and 90g of caster sugar, until thick and pale. This was then added to the cream mixture and mixed to incorporate before being returned to the heat and gently heated through whisking to keep from over cooking. This was then poured into a mould and set in the fridge before being sliced to serve. The coffee syrup was brewed coffee and sugar brought to a simmer and reduced to a thick syrupy sauce. And the cream was marscapone, coffee and icing sugar whipped and piped.                                                                        To serve the genoise was cut to a rectangle portion and soaked in some of the coffee syrup. The same size rectangle was sliced from the tiramisu custard and placed on top of the sponge, this was then piped with coffee cream and drizzled with the coffee syrup and sprinkled with shaved hazelnut chocolate.

' faux MICRO CHEESE BURGER & FRIES .'

 Caramel & Sesame seed macaron filled with Chocolate & Almond patty, Salted caramel slice, Diced Apple and Raspberry ketchup, served with Apple & Arrowroot fries. 

                  This dish is another sweets entry with a straight forward play on food or 'food play'. I've seen this dish or I've seen the macaron burger similar being served on degustation menus but I thought I'd go a step further and try recreate visually something we all are familiar with, that fast food giant. My macaron making experience from scratch was many many years ago and the macarons that I used to make were the traditional plain almond type, not the the modern day colourful types. So sucking in my pride I've used the help of Adriano Zumbo and his macaron mix, I chose the salted caramel variety to get the best resemblence of a seeded bun as I could, for the overall effect. The surprise for me that came from this dish was the apple fries, which upon eating at first I thought tasted like regular french fries. Weather my mind was tricking my taste buds or by-passing my taste buds altogether and operating purely from associated experience but I thought I was eating McDonalds fries and it wasn't until the aftertaste left on my palate that tasted of flavours similar to apple danish and with the raspberry sauce, that I realised this was part of a tasty dessert and how easily your mind can be tricked even if you know the trick.                                      
                 To make this food player I began by making the macaron shells the night before as per the recipe on the packet. As the piped mixture were resting on their trays before backing I sprinkled half of them with sesame seeds and baked them off for 16-18 minutes in a 150 deg. c oven before removing and allowing to cool. The shells were the placed in to a airtight container and stored in the fridge over night. The next day I began with the cheese burger fillings, in a bowl I mixed together melted milk chocolate, melted butter, almond meal and homestyle Orio cookie crumb. After forming the mix into a ball or dough like consistency I formed little patty rounds and placed them on the bottom half of the macaron as these were the meat patties. Next I used the caramel supplied in the kit and rolled some out thinly between two sheets of baking paper. I then cut little squares of the caramel slice to match the size of the patties and these were arranged on top of the patties to resemble melted sliced cheese. The raspberry coulis was from an older preparation but with some of this I added a little balsamic vinegar to cut the sweetness of the sauce and the entire dish and also give the coulis a more authentic ketchup look. The diced onions on the burger are made from really finely diced apple. The last preparation was the fries and all along I wanted to use apple as the potato substitute and I was just going to simply slice the apple julienne and fry them in hot oil. And it wasn't until I was cutting them I thought of the idea of frying them in a starch to give them more rigidness and structure. So I coated some in arrowroot flour and did a test batch and to my surprise they came up looking like a real french fry. I coated the rest and my stumbles through cooking rewarded me and became the final product you see.

  
                                                                           

' faux CHEESE AND GRAPES .'

faux cheese - ( Sangkhaya ) Thai coconut custard with Strawberry gelee rind , faux grapes - ( Look choop ) Kaffir lime flavoured mung bean paste desserts.

                    Its time to play with food again this time the dish is designed to trick the eye of the beholder into thinking they're about eat cheese and grapes only to discover the grapes is flavoured mung bean paste and the cheese is really a silky smooth delicate thai coconut custard, both traditional Thai desserts. Look choop was designed to impress the palace royals with all its vibrant colours of hand painted portions of mung bean paste shaped into tiny fruits and vegetables and dipped in an agar syrup to give shine and life. Is it art, with food as the medium or just cooking.
                   I started preparing this dish a week ago starting with the look choop. To make this I first soaked 125 g of yellow split mung bean in cold water for 2 hours before steaming for a further half an hour. I then mixed the mung beans with a quarter cup of caster sugar, and half a cup of kaffir lime leaf steeped and drained coconut milk into a blender to make a puree. This was then transferred to a medium pot over a low heat and cooked while stirring until the paste became thick and wouldn't stick to my hands. The paste was then removed from the heat and wrapped in plastic film before being placed in to the fridge for an hour. This recipe is for about 30 pieces, so once the paste was chilled I shaped pieces of the paste into grape shapes and using a tooth pick I skewered the grape and with the other end I placed standing in a piece of foam ready to be painted. Once I finished shaping all the grapes I mixed together some blue and red food colouring to achieve a dark purple colour to which I then painted all the grapes, I ended up applying more coats to some to try and achieve different tones. In a small saucepan I added one cup of water, two table spoons of caster sugar and one table spoon of agar, this was brought to a simmer whisking to dissolve the agar and sugar before removing from the heat. Once cooled a little I dipped the look choop in the agar glazing and allowed them to dry before repeating this process another two times giving the grape a three coat layer of shinny jelly syrup. The look choop were then allowed to fully dry before being placed between layers of silicon paper in an air tight container in the fridge until plating.
The sangkhaya or custard was made by heating coconut cream with grated palm sugar and egg yolks over a medium heat until thick and creamy to which the custard is then traditionally steamed, but for this purpose I wanted a bit more structure and less aeration so I set the custard with a little agar agar. This was added at 1% and whisked while simmering the custard until the agar had dissolved and then removed from the heat and poured into a round mould. To make the strawberry flavoured cheese rind I placed some strawberry coulis, water, red colouring and agar agar at 1% into a small saucepan and brought the mixture to a simmer while whisking to combine and dissolve the agar agar, this was then removed from the heat and poured onto a flat tray and put aside to set. Once the gelee had set I cut a strip the same thickness as the custard and secured the gelee around the circumference of the un-moulded custard round. To plate I cut a wedge of the custard from the round and accompanied the wedge of custard with the kaffir lime flavoured look choop.

' BLACK TRUFFLE TARTUFO .'

Tartufo of Chocolate & Vanilla gelato incased in a White truffle oil infused Dark chocolate shell , Chocolate fudge sauce , Cookie crumble Dirt & Sand , Shaved Black summer truffle & bee pollen granules.

                This is a dessert of pure indulgence and is a perfect way to see out the last summer days as we enter our first days of autumn here in the land of oz. As the heat is still around here in Brisbane, we are destined to see a prolonged late summer and the overlap of seasonal offerings but this also means a perfect scenario for raising autumn seedlings, giving them a strong start and establishment before the temperatures drop and day light decreases hindering photosynthesis. Anyway enough in the garden and more about this little stella. This dish isn't about showcasing expensive ingredients rather a dish with a perfect flavour pairing. What I noticed the most with this sweet, earthy flavoured pairing is the truffle gives the dark chocolate flavour the ability to last on the palate for ever, kind of like a fixative in soap holds the fragrance of a soap, truffle fixes the taste of the dark chocolate to the palate.

                This plate was fairly simple to put together, having said that I cheated with the gelato and opted for a store bought split flavoured gelato. This removed the a huge amount of time from the overall planning but in hindsight, next time I do this dish I intend to make my own vanilla flavoured gelato. As I found the store bought version didn't stand up to the plating and had melted inside the shell. With making my own I can adjust the gums and thickeners to my needs and produce a more durable gelato. The preparation of this dish started with the cookie crumbles, the first being the 'sand' or shortbread crumble of which I made a simple butter, flour and sugar dough, rolling out to 3-4 mm thick and cutting into cookie shapes before being baked in a 170 deg. oven for 15 minutes until golden in colour, the tray was then removed from the oven and allowed to cool before the cookies were pulverised to a crumb consistency. For the 'dirt' crumble I did a house-made Oreo cookie dough by mixing flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, a little baking soda, salt and sugar with an egg and unsalted butter, this was then rolled out to 3-4 mm thick, cut into cookie rounds and baked at 180-190 deg.c for 10 minutes before being removed and allowed to cool. I then placed the cookies in to a plastic bag and pulverised them to a crumb consistency. The trick to a good crumble is to shape the dough into cookies before baking rather than cooking as a flat sheet of dough, the biscuit shape is what gives a hardened crumb. I made the tartufo ( truffle ) next by melting some good quality ( 70% ) dark chocolate and adding to this a little white summer truffle oil. Using a melon baller I scooped balls of the gelato and with the truffle infused chocolate I coated the gelato balls, working fast to get them onto a parchment lined tray and into the freezer to set. While the tartufo were setting a began making the fudge sauce by bringing some cream, golden syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt and dark chocolate to the boil over a medium heat in a saucepan. I then reduced the heat to a low simmer and while stirring I cooked the fudge sauce out for about 5 minutes before removing from the stove and adding unsalted butter, vanilla extract and some more dark chocolate. This was then stirred until smooth in consistency and set aside to cool. The fudge sauce was then reheated in the microwave for 30 seconds to serve. And for the finishing touches I carefully shaved slithers of black summer truffle to accompany and garnished the tartufo with some delicate bee pollen granules.