Is there such a thing as too many strawberries?

Wow! I am loving it! I am loving all the berries around me! Is there such a thing as too many strawberries? I have heard that sentence before - but for chocolate. I read somewhere that when recruiting workers in a chocolate factory, people are encouraged to eat as much chocolate as they can!! Wouldn't that be like heavenly! The idea is that after eating so much chocolate, they would be put off the idea of eating it when they are working with it.

After reading it, I was like, can that ever happen?

Anyways - let us combine two of these bounties - strawberries with chocolate. These days it is one of my favourite after lunch snack. Fresh seasonal strawberries that are not too tart dipped in either whipped cream or chocolate is easily not only one of best looking but also easy to present dishes. Try these, before they disappear!

Share

Almond Tuile..or is it a Taco!

I had discovered the 'tuiles aux amandes' while on a visit to Paris 2 years ago. I shall blog about it in another post, but since that day, I am in love with this yet another French treat! But a wonderful twist to this biscuit came in the form of a dessert at a restaurant here in Zurich. It was a giant tuile - probably better to call it a taco, filled with fresh fruits, served with some chocolate sauce! It was wonderful! And the tuile was very light! The entire dessert made for such a wonderful end to an excellent meal.
I looked up the net, and found just the perfect dessert for the odd day when I have a lot of fresh fruit that I want to deck up and serve. Here is the quick and easy (of course!) recipe

- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 3 tablespoons sugar(of course you could double or triple(quadruple?) the sugar!)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
- Fresh fruit
- Chocolate sauce - either a ready made one - or melt your favourite chocolate!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, add in the almond meal (you could use almonds as well, and grind them to a powder), sugar, water and blitz for a few seconds. You should get a paste that is not too runny, but not stiff either - some sort of a goopy consistency means you are good to go. Line the baking sheet with wax/parchment paper. Drop the batter (batter?) onto the sheet, and spread it out into a thin circle - make the biscuit as thin as you can - the oven will do the rest.
Bake it for about 10 minutes. As soon as it is out of the oven, take the wax paper with the biscuit and make it into a U shape. Let it rest like that - you could place the sheet between 2 glasses or something. This is what will give you the taco shape.
Once cooled, place it on a plate with some chocolate sauce, fill in the taco with fruit, throw in a mint leaf for colour. There you have it. A light and refreshing dessert with all the goodness of almonds and chocolate. Share

Cake, fruits and chocolate for dessert

The other day when I wanted to have a quick dessert after my dinner of chicken tikka and naan bread, this is what I came up with. This isn't really a recipe, rather just an idea of assembling a couple of my favourite things for dessert and eating them all together..haha!
This dessert requires you to only have a cake, or a pancake if you prefer, ready, some fruits, and the rest is just assembling them all together. I am assuming there is a stash of chocolate always lying in your fridge!
I made a thin layer of the sheet cake I had made for my jelly roll, and cut out rounds using a cookie cutter. I started by placing 2 pieces of the cake at the bottom of the glass. Then followed it with a layer of berry preserve. You could use any fruit preserve of your choice - this preserve goes really well with any cake that is not overly sweet, and also with chocolate. Place another few pieces of the cake. Layer on some dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and some nuts. Follow with another 2 or 3 pieces of cake. I then added whipped cream with some crushed blueberries. Another layer of cake, and finally some more whipped cream topping. Serve with some fresh strawberries.
It did not turn out to be as clean in presentation as I thought it would, but I'll get better next time around. I think I will try making a jelly inside the glass instead of using fruit preserve so that it does not drip along the sides.

So there you have it. While making it, I actually thought of IHOP and their amazing pancakes - especially their chocolate chip pancakes with whipped topping. I'd probably ask for some strawberries as well! And maybe that double blueberry pancake *mouth waters*. Knock knock - time to wake up! Alas, I am a few thousand miles away from an IHOP! Boo hoo..Miss you IHOP! Share

Nectarine Pie

After all my posts with berries, I thought of posting something with other summer fruits as well - no I am not done yet with berries - not until they completely disappear from the fresh fruit section of my grocery store! Just using more fruits in my recipes. This time it is nectarines - a nectarine pie. Usually when I think pie, I think pumpkin pie and of course, I think Thanksgiving. (yes, the name is awfully close to this very blog - http://snacksgiving.blogspot.com/)
Pies for me are usually a winter thing. But it's been a while since I made one, and nectarines and peaches are wonderful in pies. So that is what I made.
Of course I never go to the extent of making the pie crust myself - that is just too tedious and time consuming. Buying from the store is what I always do, and recommend as well!
So with the pie crust sorted - it's as easy as 1,2,3! Here is what you need



- 6 nectarines
- 1/2 cup sugar (I don't like my desserts too sweet, so I usually add a little less than that)
- 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- A ready rolled chilled pie crust

Pre-heat your oven to 375 F. Wash and slice your nectarines thinly. In a bowl mix together the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Toss in the nectarines and mix gently for half a minute or so. Roll out your pie crust and place it into your pie pan. Mine was ready rolled in an over proof pan, so it was a breeze.
With a rubber spatuala, scrape the nectarines on to the pie, leave a few to be the top garnish. I placed the top ones as neatly as could, so they look good. Bake the pie 375F for 30-40 minutes. Once cooled, sprinkle some powdered sugar so it looks prettier!
This post goes to the Summer Holidays With Vacation Food event. Share

Tiramisu

Tiramisu - translated it means 'pick me up'. Just one look at it, and it will beckon you to sink your teeth into it! It is one of those very simple - no bake desserts and all you need to prepare it is assemble a few ingredients. And then wait. Wait patiently until it is ready to be 'picked up'. This is an Italian dessert and found in trattorias all over Italy, and of course much loved the world over. Here is how you make it. Of course there is no one way to make it, it is so versatile that you can alter it any way you like it. Here is how I make it, and it is quite close to the traditional way to prepare it. You need

250 gm Mascarpone cheese
3 eggs - seperated
5 tablespoons of sugar
1 and 1/2 cup coffee - freshly brewed, and cooled to room temperature
ladyfingers - 1 package containing 24 pieces
grated dark chocolate and/or unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons rum. Dark rum is usually used, but since I had run out of it, I used white rum.



Alcohol is optional, and also the amount added varies from person to person ;)
For variation, you could try Kahlua (coffee liqueur)or good quality marsala wine. For a slighltly fruit-flavoured tiramisu, you could use orange liqueur, cherry liqueur..the options are really all upto you I'd say.
Here is how to assemble it all together. Put some coffee to brew - make it a strong brew. Leave it to cool. Now beat the egg yolks and sugar. Slowly add the mascarpone and continue beating. Add 1 tablespoon of the espresso, and mix it as well.
In a seperate bowl, whip the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks. Now fold the egg whites into the yolk-cheese mixture.
Pour the coffee in a dish big enough so you can dip the lady fingers in them. Add the rum in the cooled coffee. Dip the ladyfingers in the coffee-rum mix and layer them in a 9x12 dish. Do not be tempted to dip the ladyfingers for too long. Just place it for no more than 3 seconds else it will break apart. After the first layer is done, spread the mascarpone, egg mixture evenly. Layer more coffee dipped ladyfingers, and then another layer of the mascarpone.
Cover it and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving. Sprinkle generously with cocoa powder and grated chocolate. Bon appetit! Share