Home Gastronomy

Home cooking at its best

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Granadilla and Banana Toffee Custard
Ingredients:
4 ripe granadillas
2 large bananas peeled and sliced
1 x 500g carton ready-made custard
2 x 175ml tubs toffee flavoured yoghurt
4 butterscotch sweets, crushed

Preparation
Halve the granadillas and scoop the pulp and seeds into a bowl.toss in bananas and stir to combine gently.
Layer the custard, yoghurt and banana mixture in 4 tall glasses.
Serve sprinkled with a little butterscotch.

Variation: Make this dessert with 250g cottage cheese combined with 1 x 397g can condensed milk instead of the custard.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Chocolate Snow Balls
Ingredients:
2 packets of Tennis buiscuits (or any coconut biscuits)
2 tablespoons of margarine or butter
1 packet of marshmallows or small chocolates
1 cup of dessicated shredded coconut
1 tin of condensed milk
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder dissolved in 1/4 cup of warm water

Preparation
In a pot, place the condensed milk, dissolved cocoa and butter. Crush the biscuits finely. Once the mixture in the pot has reached boiling point, remove from the heat and add the crushed biscuits, mixing well to form a paste mixture. Set aside to cool completely.

Place a bowl with cold water next to you. Wet your hands so the mixture won't stick to them, place a little mixture in the palm of your hand, spread slightly and place a marshmallow or chocolate in the middle, cover with the mixture to form a ball, then coat with the shredded coconut. Place in a dish and continue until you have used all the mixture.

Place in the freezer overnight and remove from the freezer only when you are about ready to serve.

Sunday, October 15, 2006


Orange Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
7 large eggs separated
1/2 cup of cooking oil
1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 3/4 cups of flour
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
zest of an orange
2 teaspoons of baking powder

Method
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until creamy, then add the oil, orange juice and vanilla essence.
Fold in the flour with baking powder and orange zest and lastly the beaten egg whites.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for 45m to an hour.

Sunday, October 08, 2006


Creme Caramel

This is a traditional portuguese flan, also known as baked custard or creme brulee.

Ingredients:
6 whole eggs
1 tin of condensed milk
same measure of fresh milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 cup of sugar and 4 tablespoons of water for the caramel

Method
In a pudding metal mould, place sugar and water and boil until the sugar caramelises, then spread it through the bottom and sides of the mould. Set aside.

Place a pot with water up to half the height of the pudding mould when placed inside it for a bain-marie, on the stove.

In a bowl lightly mix the eggs, condensed milk, fresh milk and vanilla essence. Don't beat it, just mix lightly with an egg whisk until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Place this mixture in the mould that was initially prepared with the caramelised sugar, cover it with its lid and then place the mould in the large pot with simmering water. Let it cook in bain-marie for about 50 minutes or until the pudding feels firm when touched.

After it is cooked and allowed to cool, place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or until cold and before serving, remove from the mould onto a serving plate.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Chocolate Salami
Ingredients:
200g chocolate powder
250g Marie biscuits
150g Icing sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons of liquid margarine or 1 cup of fresh cream

Method:
Break the Marie biscuits roughly into small pieces. Mix all the other ingredients until you obtain a creamy consistency. Add the broken biscuits and mix until the biscuits are incorporated with the cream.
Tear a large piece of heavy-duty foil paper and place the mixture on it, rolling it into a large sausage shape.
Place in the freezer section of your fridge and leave overnight.
Before serving, remove the salami from the foil, place on a tray and dust with icing sugar, then cut into thin slices and serve with vanilla ice cream.