Sweet Potato Coconut Custard + Cranberry Hazelnut Granola + Maple Syrup Reduction + Melon Pearls + Pickled Chutney + Microgreens
Sweet Potato Coconut Custard
450 grams sweet potato, baked with skin on until tender, then peeled and puréed
400mL canned coconut milk
2-4 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons agar agar
Whisk the warm sweet potato purée and milk together in a small saucepan. Whisk in the syrup and agar agar. Bring to a boil over gentle heat, stirring often. Allow to boil for a minute or two until slightly thickened. Pour into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (size depends upon how thick or thin you would like your custard to be). Chill until set, in the freezer if you would like it to set faster. Cut into desired shapes while still firm, and allow to soften and come to room temperature to serve. Can be stored refrigerated or frozen.
Black Cake Coconut Custard Trifle = leftover black cake + leftover rum-soaked fruit + leftover coconut caramel custard.
Steps
1. Tear the cake into bite-sized pieces
2. Place in bottom of a small decorative bowl.'
3. Drizzle with dark rum and sprinkle with rum-soaked fruit.
4. Top with coconut caramel custard.
5. Garnish with additional rum-soaked fruit and macadamia nuts.
6. Serve!
Caramel Coconut Custard
400mL coconut milk
2 cups dulche de leche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon water
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachios
1/4 cup shredded coconut
In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk, dulche de leche, and vanilla until lightly boiling and thickened. Whisk together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry, then add in. Heat until thickened, then remove from heat, stir in the nuts, and cool. Chill until firm.
For a really interesting presentation, pour warm custard into a large, flat tray, then freeze briefly. Once semi-solid, but not hard as a rock, cut out unique shapes using a metal cookie cutter, place on a flat tray and freeze again to firm up. use to garnish desserts, allow the custard to reach room temperature to eat.
As I have mentioned before, I do feature my cooking mistakes and flops on here, because I think it is important to embrace them, learn from them, and develop some critical, think-on-your-feet, problem-solving techniques. I also strive as much as possible to turn these mistakes into something still perfectly edible, if not less than perfect, or maybe not so pretty.
This mistake comes from the first time I tried to make a custard. I had never made it before, but thought i knew enough from reading recipes. I made the one easy, common mistake - I overcooked it. Even though I knew not to do this, it is difficult when you are actually in the process of making it because custard changes so quickly. Many chefs, even those well practiced in the field, have made this mistake. I am also a food-safety enthusiast, and I did not want to serve a custard with undercooked eggs.
What ended up happening, was I cooked the custard too much and ended up essentially with scrambled eggs, even though I had followed the directions. Obviously I cannot incorporate scrambled eggs into a dessert. But I tasted them, and thanks to the addition of sugar, milk, and vanilla, they were sweet, rich and flavorful. Delicious, but too sweet to put on an egg salad sandwich. And nothing I could really save at this point or transform to serve to guests. I did end up eating the custard myself though, because it was tasty and I hate to waste food. The texture was really the problem here, and as long as you don't mind eating scrambled eggs for dessert, no problems!
I am happy to report my second of trial custard went much more smoothly (no pun intended), and luckily I did not need a third or even fourth try. I learned to use low heat, indirect heat is even better, and not to make the milk to hot before adding the egg. Temper the eggs first with a spoonful of the warm milk, then slowly stream the egg in, stirring constantly. Cook until just thickened and glossy - don't second guess it, it is probably done!
Vanilla Custard
2 large egg yolks
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 cup milk (not fat-free)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a tiny bit of the milk. Gradually beat in the cornstarch, then sugar. Beat until thickened.
Meanwhile, heat remaining milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat, just until bubbles begin to form around the edges, do not allow to boil. Add two spoonfuls of milk to the egg mixture, and whisk to temper. Then slowly stream in egg to the milk, whisking continuously. Continue cooking just until thickened, do not overcook. Transfer to a bowl to cool, then refrigerate until cool.
My first custard ended up overcooked and didn't turn out very well. It still tasted delicious, but the texture was awful. That isn't to say I didn't still eat it, as I hate to waste anything. It was my very first time ever making custard. So I tweaked my recipe, and came up with this one, which ended up smooth and creamy, almost like vanilla pudding. This is the filling I used for my pavlova.
The trick to this custard - I used homemade vanilla extract. The real vanilla flavor came from real vanilla bean made into vanilla extract. It is a gift I received for Christmas, and it really does lend a great vanilla flavor to this dessert. Real vanilla is a must here, so do not use artificial!
These squares turned out fairly nicely - light, refreshing, and plenty of strawberry. Actually, you could have easily added a few more strawberries if you like a lot of fruit filling. I halved this recipe, which came from another one of my funny cooking novels, to make an 8x8 inch pan of squares. I do not recommend halving the crust, as I did not have nearly enough for even a very thin layer on the bottom of the pan, and I had to whip up another batch of crust to cover. After I did, it turned out perfectly. I am not sure what the purpose of the extra layer of flour and sugar over the crust is, I am wondering if it would be better on top of the strawberries to sweeten up the strawberries a bit. The strawberry layer tastes just like strawberry jam, and I would suggest adding at least a little sugar to the strawberries before using them, this will make them juicier too. Then there is a nice baked layer of cream and eggs, sort of like a custard. Once cooled, I also topped the squares with an additional layer of whipped cream, lightened up with a little unflavored yogurt. This added a nice other layer to the bars, and a lightness and creaminess to the squares.
Strawberry Custard Squares
CRUST
1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small cubes
2 Tablespoons whipping cream
FILLING
1/2 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
3 cups sliced strawberries (or other sliced fruit)
TOPPING
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 Tablespoon all-purpose (plain) flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or strawberry extract if you have it)
Preheat oven to 375◦F. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.
CRUST: In am medium-sized bowl, mix the flour and the salt. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender (or a fork or two knives, or even a potato masher) until mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in the cream. Pat mixture into prepared pan.
FILLING: Combine the flour and sugar together and sprinkle over crust. Arrange strawberries on top.
TOPPING: In a medium-sized bowl, mix the sugar and the flour. Stir in the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Pour mixture over fruit in prepared pan.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until top is light brown.
Fluke, Joanne. "Strawberry Custard Squares." Recipe. Peach Cobbler Murder, New York: Kensington, 2005. 245-246.
Créme Brûlée is a fancy, restaurant-style dessert that can easily be prepared at home with a little practice and a few special tools. Is is basically a rich baked custard which is chilled, then covered with a layer of sugar. The sugar is then lit on fire - which causes it to caramelize. A mini kitchen blow torch is the right tool for this job, they are easy and safe to use, and relatively inexpensive - definitely a worthwhile investment! (See my post from December 2nd) Of course, you may just place the créme brûlées on the top shelf in your oven and broil them on high for a few minutes, but that is not nearly as fun. This also has the disadvantage of the entire dish becoming warm, when really the highlight of créme brûlée is the warm, crisp top over the cool, creamy bottom.
You can make créme brûlée pretty much any flavor you want; chocolate, orange, caramel, vanilla, cappuccino, etc. I have done chocolate before, which is really good. This time I decided to do vanilla. Some chefs will insist you must use a real vanilla bean to achieve a good vanilla flavor, but I got very good results using vanilla extract. Just don't go for the artificial stuff, or you will definitely be disappointed. This is a basic recipe for vanilla créme brûlée. It can be altered to suit your tastes and the amount you need. Many cookbooks publish this same basic recipe, with a few slight changes such as oven temperatures and ingredient amounts. Some say to heat the milk and cream first, but I didn't find that necessary. Some also say to use a water bath while others don't. In my experience, I have found that a water bath helps the custards to cook more evenly.
Créme Brûlée
6 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk, evaporated milk, or half-and-half cream
1 vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 325◦F. Grease six to eight ovenproof ramekins, and place them in a baking pan large enough to accommodate all of them. Prepare a kettle of water to boil.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick. Sugar should be dissolved and mixture will be frothy.
If using a vanilla bean, steep the contents in a saucepan with the milk and the cream for about 20 minutes. Strain, then temper the egg yolks with a bit of this mixture. Whisk the rest into the egg yolks until smooth. If using vanilla extract, skip the steeping process and simply add the milk, cream, and vanilla to the egg yolks. Whisk until smooth.
Divide mixture among ramekins. Pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins, being careful not to spill any water into the ramekins. Carefully place in preheated oven. Bake for about 50 minutes until almost set. Filling may still jiggle a little in the center, but will set upon cooling. Remove ramekins from hot water bath, cool completely. Chill for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days.
Sprinkle each ramekin with more granulated sugar. Ignite using a kitchen blow torch, or place under a preheated broiler on top rack in oven. Heat until sugar is browned and bubbling. Serve immediately.
I accompanied my créme brûlées with some homemade meringue cookies. A light garnish to balance out with the rich texture of the custards.
