MARSHMALLOW TART...!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tin condensed milk
• 1 tin fine pieces of pineapple
• 1/4 litre lemon juice
• 20 glazed cherries
  
• 1 pack full cream
• 35 marshmallows

PREPARATION:

1. Cut the glazed cherries, the marshmallows and the pineapple into pieces. (Resist urge to have a few pieces of marshmallow or cherries!!!)
   
2. Squeeze the pineapple to release all the "liquid"
3. Whip cream until it becomes thick. Careful not to whip it too much and have it transformed into butter. Put in fridge.
4. Whip condensed milk and lemon juice together. Leave to thicken.
5. Mix cherries, marshmallows and pineapple into condensed milk-lemon juice mix.
6. Add whipped cream gently.
   

"BASE" INGREDIENTS:

• Cookies (the pictures shows 2 packs but one is enough)
• Butter

PREPARATION:

1. Crush finely cookies (leave slightly bigger pieces to have a "crunch" feeling)
2. Melt butter
   
3. Add butter to crushed cookies (careful not to add too much butter or your base will be too hard!)

PREPARATION:

1. Put your biscuit base on a tart pan.
2. Level it with the back of a spoon.
   
3. Put the marshmallow, cherries, pineapple, condensed milk-lemon juice-cream mixture over the biscuit base.
4. Leave in fridge to set.
5. Forget how many calories there is in the marshmallow tart!
   

APPLE CAKE...!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs
• Baking powder
• 4 apples
• 14 spoons flour (soup spoons)
• 14 spoons sugar
• 10 spoons milk
• 10 spoons oil (neutral flavour)
• Orange jam (for covering)
  

PREPARATION:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180 °C
2. Peal and cut the apples into quarters
3. Mix the flour with sugar, baking powder, milk, oil and yolks of eggs.
4. Whip the white of the eggs until they become firm (meringue consistency)
5. Mix gently the whipped whites with the other preparation.
6. Pour into a tart pan.
7. Put quarters of apples on top.
8. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. Check with a toothpick if dough is cooked. The toothpick must come out clean.
9. Put 4 spoons of orange jam in a sauce pan and heat it until it becomes liquid.
10. With a baking brush, brush the jam over the warm apple cake.
11. Serve with either whipped cream or vanilla ice on the side!
    

ENJOY!

APPLE TART

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 3 spoons butter
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 pinch of salt
• Canned sliced apples
  

I could not find the canned sliced apples in Switzerland. The ones you see in the picture were brought by a friend from South Africa. I suppose you can prepare the apples in advance, cut them into slices, cook them in a sugar syrup and let them cool before using them.

Cream Sauce:

• 1 cup of cream
• 1 cup of sugar

PREPARATION:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180 °C
2. Add the flower with the baking powder, the butter, the pinch of salt, the milk, the sugar and the egg yolks.
3. Mix all these ingredients together.
4. Whisk the white of the eggs until they are firm.
5. Mix the white of the eggs with the other preparation.
6. Pour in a tart pan (I chose a round one, but you can use a square one).
7. Put the apple slices on top of preparation.
8. Bake for about 60 - 90 minutes (check cooking with with a toothpick after 60 minutes to see if cooked. The toothpick must come out clean if the tart is cooked).
9. When the tart is nearly ready, mix cream with sugar in a pan.
10. Cook cream and sugar for 10 minutes.
11. Pour cream sauce over still hot tart that you have just taken out of the oven.
12. Let it cool. (Serve it still warm it is even better!!!)

ραβανί (ravani)...

Greeks love desserts soaked in light-scented honey or sugar syrup. I can remember how much I enjoyed Ravani and today, I just could not help it and had to try to bake one. Was hesitating between all the great recipes like "Baklava", "Galaktobouriko", "Bougatsa" or a good "Yiaourtopita me Karythia kai Fystikia Aiginis" (Greek yogurt, walnut and pistachio cake with syrup)...but after roaming my fridge I settled for a Ravani.

The smell that invaded my kitchen reminded me of all the time I spent in Greece and how much I miss it. I hope you'll enjoy baking it as much as I did!

καλή όρεξη!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of fine semolina
• 1-1/2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of margarine or butter, softened
• 6 eggs, separated
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
• 2 tablespoons of water

Syrup:

• 3-1/2 cups of sugar
• 3 cups of water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Vanilla

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Sift the flour and whisk with semolina, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. In the processor mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add egg yolks, sugar, and grated lemon peel and continue to mix until light and creamy.
4. Add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with the milk, until completely blended.
5. Remove from processing bowl and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Whip the egg whites with 2 tablespoons of cold water to the stiff peak stage, and with a wooden spoon, stir carefully into the batter until thoroughly distributed.
6. Transfer the cake batter to a lightly greased baking pan (I have used a baking pan that you can throw away after as I couldn’t find the right size. This aluminium baking pans can be found at any supermarkets) and spread evenly with a spatula.
7. Bake at 180°C for approximately 45-50 minutes. Cake will pull away slightly from the sides of the baking pan when done.
8. Remove from the oven and allow cake to cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes before starting the syrup.
9. Cut cake into small squares or diamond-shaped pieces.

Prepare the syrup:

1. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. Add vanilla.
3. Boil for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in lemon juice, remove vanilla and pour the hot syrup over the lukewarm cake, evenly and very carefully to avoid collapsing the cake, starting at the outside edges.
5. Allow to cool completely.
   

YSTERVARKIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 350g Bruismeel (Flour)
• 7ml bakpoeier (baking powder)
• 1ml sout (salt)
• 125g botter of margarien (butter of margerin)
• 250g suiker (sugar)
• 4 eiers (eggs)

1. Sif bruismeel, bakpoeier en sout saam (Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together).
2. Klop botter en suiker tot romerig (mix the butter and the sugar until creamy).
3. Klop eiers een vir een by bottermensel en meng goed na elke byvoeging (add the eggs one by one to the butter mixture and blend well).
4. Voeg gesifde bestanddele bietjiesgewys by en roer tot alles net gemeng is (add the egg, butter and suger mixture to the rest of the ingredients and mix well).
5. Skep in panne, maak gelyk en bak 15 - 20 minute (Pour in baking pan and cook for 15 - 20 minutes).
6. Keer uit op draadrak en laat afkoel (put the dough on a rack and allow to cool).
7. Sny in blokkies van sowat 3cm x 3cm (cut in squares of 3cm x 3cm).

The picture above is here for one sole purpose, a private joke
between me, A. and T. (Bigger sieve!)

STROOP (Syrup):

• 375ml kookwater (water)
• 600g suiker (sugar)
• 1ml sout (salt)
• 15g kakao (cocoa)
• 15g botter (butter)
• 5ml vanieljegeursel (vanilla essence)

DECORATION:

• 400g klapper (coconut)

1. Meng kookwater, suiker, sout, kakao, botter en vanieljegeursel in n' dubeel kastrol. (Mix water, sugar, salt, cocoa, butter and vanilla essence together in a cooking pan - let it get syrupy).
2. Doop koekblokkies vinning in stroop en sorg dat al sy vier sye bedek is (dip cookies in the syrup and make sure that all sides are coated with it).
3. Rol in klapper en plaas op draadrak (roll the cookies in the coconut and place on rack).

Dit is heerlike! GENIET!!!!!

Peanut Butter Cookies...

INGREDIENTS:

• 250g butter
• 500ml sugar
• 2 eggs (whisked)
• 125ml smooth peanut butter
• 10ml bicarbonate of soda
• 25ml milk
• 5ml vanilla essence
• 500ml flour (sifted)
• 500ml Oats
• 500ml coconut
• 500ml cornflakes

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add whisked eggs.
4. Add peanut butter and mix well.
5. Dissolve bicarbonate in milk. Add essence. Add to butter mixture and blend well.
6. Mix the rest of the ingredients (flour, coconut, oats, and cornflakes). Add to the peanut butter mixture. Mix.
7. Form walnut-sized balls. Place on greased baking tray (or covered with baking paper) and flatten slightly with a fork.
8. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and done.
   

Makes approximately 8 dozen cookies!

KOEKSISTERS...

Koeksisters are sweets from South Africa and it is dough made in the shape of a plait, that is deep fried in oil and then dipped in a cold syrup.

If you keep your oil hot and the syrup very cold you get the perfect koeksister - crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft, moist and syrupy on the inside.

Making koeksisters is time-consuming and labour-intensive, so plan ahead to set a night and day aside for making this delicious treat. You can also do like me, plan ahead and invite friends for the afternoon to have fun cooking the koeksisters...from experience, I can guarantee some good laughs!

The syrup is made the night before to chill in the refrigerator. If the syrup isn't cold the dough won't soak up the syrup and you will end up with a dry koeksister.

DAY 1

INGREDIENTS (SYRUP):

• 15ml lemon juice
• 12 cups sugar (250ml)
• 5ml cream of tartar
• 3 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
• 2ml ginger powder
• 1.625ml water

1. Mix the ingredients in a pot
2. Bring into a boil while stirring - sllow the sugar to dissolve
3. Turn the heat to medium and allow to boil for 10 minutes
4. Cool down.
5. Leave in a fridge over night (It has to be very cold when used. A little trick, have lots of ice ready to keep your bowl of syrup very cold at all times!)

DAY 2

INGREDIENTS (DOUGH):

• 4 X 250ml flour
  
• 20ml Baking Powder
• 1ml salt
• 60ml butter
• 3 large eggs
• 150ml water
• 750ml cooking oil
• Invite friends over!

1. Sieve the first 3 ingredients
2. Rub the butter into it with your fingers
3. Mix eggs and water until foamy
4. Add egg mixture slowly and mix with hands
5. Prepare dough (knie) for 5 minutes
6. Roll out the dough about 6mm thick - cut and plait
7. Heat the oil
   
8. Keep the syrup close by (bowl of syrup within another larger bowl full of ice)
9. Fry koeksisters until golden (not too many at a time)
10. Dip into syrup immediately. Hold in syrup for a few minutes (reason why it is better - and funnier - to be 2 to do this, one persons fries and the other one holds the koeksister in the syrup).
    

I would like to thank my "funny" visitors of this afternoon for the laughs and the fun we had baking the koeksisters!