Koeksisters – Doughnuts, South African style!

I was extremely fortunate to visit Cape Town in South Africa as part of the final of MasterChef Ireland 2014. It was an experience that I think Diana, Edel and I will always remember. South Africa is a truly beautiful country and the people are so warm and welcoming.

This was not the first time that I had visited South Africa. I was born in Zambia and as a child, had lived there and in Zimbabwe, sometimes taking trips down to South Africa. I have very vivid memories of my childhood spent in Africa and have always said that I would like to revisit. However, even in my wildest imagination, I don’t think that I ever thought that I would return to the African continent as part of a televised cookery competition. I still cannot believe that it happened and looking back on it all, there is definitely something surreal about the whole experience. One thing remains true; I still consider myself to be one of the luckiest people to have had the privilege to have been part of MasterChef Ireland. It sounds incredibly corny but it really made so many of my dreams come true and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the production team with special thanks going to Niamh Maher, the series producer.

Whilst in South Africa we were exposed to some of best ingredients we had ever encountered, many of which we had never used before and which were completely alien to us. The fantastic produce coupled with meeting two truly inspirational chefs – Margot Janse of Le Quartier Francais and Luke Dale Roberts of The Test Kitchen, made the whole trip to South Africa a truly memorable experience.

I have been playing around with quite a few recipe ideas inspired by the trip to South Africa and will be posting them over the coming weeks, but to kick things off, I have chosen to give a recipe for Koeksisters, which are a syrup drenched doughnut much beloved throughout the whole country but particularly around the Cape. The braided doughnuts, glistening after having they spicy syrup bath look so tempting, almost as if they are begging to be eaten.
 

I’m not going to lie… these doughnuts ARE sweet, but they are so delectable. I dread to think of the calorie count, but in my humble opinion a little of what you fancy every now and again is good for the psyche. And eating these definitely makes me feel that all’s right with the world!

 

The main tip when making these is to make sure that the syrup into which you plunge the just-fried doughnuts is well chilled. The syrup needs to be made at least a day in advance, but once made it will keep, refrigerated, for a week or more. The finished doughnuts keep relatively well, but taste at their very best if eaten within a few hours of being made.

I love the slightly peppery ginger flavour of the syrup which I think counteracts some of the overall sweetness of the doughnuts but I also think a syrup with extra lemon included would serve the same purpose. To be honest, I am normally such a lemon addict; I decided that this time I would try something a little different.
 

Ingredients:

Syrup:
500ml water
800g sugar
½tsp salt
2½ tsp cream of tartar
Juice of half a lemon
1 cinnamon stick

30ml ginger syrup (or 1tsp ground ginger)

Doughnuts:

150g self-raising flour

100g cornflour

2tsp baking powder

25g caster sugar

25g butter, melted

25ml cream

1 large egg

To finish:

Vegetable oil

Method:

Syrup:
1. Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan and place over a moderate heat. Bring gradually up to the boil and then reduce the heat, so that the syrup is gently bubbling away. Allow to bubble for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight so that the syrup is well chilled.
Doughnuts:
2. Sift the self-raising flour, cornflour and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar mix it in. Make a well in the centre and add the butter, cream and egg. Using a wooden spoon, mix everything together to form a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball, wrap in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To finish:
3. Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out strips of the dough about 12-15cms long and 1cm thick. Taking three strips at a time, plait the dough together by tucking the strands together at the top and folding the outer strips over in turn into the middle, repeating until you reach the end. Finish my tucking together at the end.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer (or carefully in a large saucepan, filled one third full of oil) until it reaches 170C-180C. Fry the doughnuts in batches of three or four for about five minutes, regularly turning them with a slotted spoon so that they cook evenly. Remove from the oil using a slotted spoon. Briefly place on some kitchen roll to soak up excess oil and then soak in the syrup for a couple of minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

 

Makes 10.

Citrus Celebration Cake

I wanted to make a cake that was summery looking and fresh tasting, but which didn’t necessarily include soft fruits such as raspberries or strawberries, much as I love them. The obvious choice seemed to be citrus. Now… I think it is well established at this stage that I love lemon cakes, but even I felt that I really didn’t want to bake yet another lemon cake! My problem was that I had a bit of a yearning for something citrus-flavoured and was also in the mood for a spot of cake decorating, but didn’t want to make anything too complicated.

I had oranges and lemons in the fruit bowl and was going to make a ‘St. Clement’s Cake’ but feeling brave I decided that I would also include the flavour of lime.

The flavours of lemon and lime combine well together, as do lemon and orange and can be intermingled successfully. I felt that making a cake where all three flavours were included together in the batter would result in a cake that was confusing on the taste buds, so I opted to create three distinct layers, each devoted to one of the chosen citrus fruits.

The cake batter was based on the one that I use when making a classic Victoria Sponge Cake, but I added the finely grated zest of one of the fruits to each individual layer. I then sandwiched each of the cooled cake layers together with some buttercream icing.

This was a relatively easy cake to make and the respective flavours came together well, yet remained distinct from each other, sop in that sense I was delighted with the result. In my opinion, the cake also looks very cheery and inviting to eat. In the photographs accompanying this post you will see that I went a little mad with the piping bag and some orange coloured glace icing and that I decided to decorate the cake with ‘squiggles’. This is of course, not necessary, but I will admit that it was fun to do! 

Ingredients:

Cake layers:
200g butter, softened
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
200g self-raising flour, sifted

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Finely grated zest of 2 limes

A drop each of orange, yellow and pale green natural food colourings

Icing:

100g butter, softened

250g icing sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:

Cake layers:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160c/Gas Mark 4. Using non-stick baking parchment, base-line three 15cm round sandwich tins with removable bases and set aside.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and fold in with a large metal spoon.

3. Divide the cake batter evenly between three medium-sized bowls. Into one of the bowls of batter mix the finely grated lemon zest and drop of yellow food colouring and then spoon into one of the prepared sandwich tins, spreading it out evenly. Repeat this process using the orange zest and orange food colouring in one of the remaining bowls of batter and the lime zest and green food colouring in the remaining bowl of batter.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the sponges are well risen, beginning to shrink away from the edge of the tin and are a rich golden colour.

5. Remove from oven and let cool for ten minutes and then remove from the tins and place on a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Icing:

6. Place all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until creamy and a stiff spreading consistency. Set aside, whilst you trim the cooled cakes.

To finish:

7. Using a sharp, straight-edged serrated knife trip the top and bottom of each cake layer so that the coloured sponge is exposed. Take one of the layers and place on a serving plate. Spread a little of the buttercream over and then place another layer on top. Spread a little of the buttercream over this layer and top with the final sponge cake . Use the remaining buttercream to spread on top and around the sides of the assembled cake. I tend to do this in two stages using two thin layers of buttercream, refrigerating the cake for about ten minutes before applying the second and final layer as I find it makes for a smoother finish. Finally, if you fancy, mix up a little sifted icing sugar with a tiny amount of boiling water and a drop of food colouring to make a stiff pipe-able paste. Pipe the glace icing in squiggles over the cake, using a disposable piping bag to create a decorative finish. 

Serves 6-8.
 

Cod, Minted Pea Purée & Bacon Cream Sauce

This dish is so simple in terms of the ingredients used – cod, peas, bacon and cream, but in this recipe, everything comes together to create a dish that taste delicious and in its simple elegance is also beautiful to look at it.

There is something so summery looking about the dish and whilst light on to eat, it also manages to be satisfying at the same time. I am not a great fan of holding formal dinner parties, favouring more relaxed and convivial dining experiences, but this dish is one that would hold its own at either a formal or casual meal.

There may appear to be quite a few ingredients and a number of steps to this recipe, but I promise you that it is simple. You can make the pea purée and the bacon cream sauce in advance and keep them warm until you are ready to cook the fish. As I have noted before, many people are fearful of cooking fish, mainly because they are not confident about it. The thing about this recipe is that the fish really does need to be cooked just before serving, but it only takes a few minutes and if you use the timings that I have given; you really should have no problems.

I know that I have become a bit evangelical in advocating the eating of more fish but there are many varieties on sale, it is quick and easy to cook, is full of essential vitamins and minerals and most importantly it tastes wonderful. My children, who can be a little bit fussy about what they eat, love when I cook this recipe and often request it. Granted, they like it served with chips, but even I will admit that there is something wickedly good about dipping a tasty chip in some of the velvety pea purée.

Ingredients:

4 x 200g cod fillets (try and get good thick ones)
A little vegetable oil
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice
100g frozen peas, cooked in boiling water until just tender
Pea Purée:
25g butter

1 shallot, finely chopped

500g frozen peas

1 tsp sugar

100ml hot chicken stock

A handful of mint leaves

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to season

Bacon Cream Sauce:

150ml milk

8 rashers of smoky bacon sliced into ½ cm strips

6 shallots, sliced

A knob of butter

250ml fish stock (or vegetable)

100ml cream

Sprig of thyme

Method:

Pea Purée:

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently fry the shallot until soft but not coloured. Add the peas and sugar and pour in the stock. Bring to the boil and cook the peas are soft and tender.
2. Strain the peas and shallots, but do not discard the stock. Place the peas and shallots in a blender and add the mint and a little of the reserved stock. Blend to a purée, adding a little more of the stock if required. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Set aside and keep warm.
Bacon Cream Sauce:
3. Place the bacon and milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Separately melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and gently fry the sliced shallots for about 5 minutes, but do not allow them to colour. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the thyme and continue to sweat gently for a further 5 minutes.
4. Add the fish stock, the cream and the bacon infused milk. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat but allow to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve so that you are left with a well-flavoured bacon and shallot cream sauce. Discard the bacon, shallot and other solids. Keep the sauce warm whilst you cook the cod.

To finish:

5. Preheat oven to 200C/Fan Oven 180C/Gas Mark 6. Season the cod with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat a little vegetable oil in a non-stick oven-proof frying pan and place the hot cod into the vegetable oil. Allow to cook for 1 minute and then flip the fish over. Place the frying pan into the preheated oven and allow to cook for 4-6 minutes depending on the thickness of the cod. Remove from the oven and squeeze some lemon juice over the cod.

6. Put a generous spoonful of pea purée in the centre of each serving plate. Scatter a spoonful of cooked peas on top of the purée and place a piece of cooked cod on top. Using a hand blender, froth up the bacon cream sauce and pour some on top of each piece of cod. Serve.
 

Serves 4.
     

Maple Shortbread Biscuits

I continue to be drawn to recipes which are quick and easy to make and which, most importantly, taste delicious. The dough for these biscuits can be made and in the oven baking in no time at all. They are wonderful to eat on their own but also make a lovely accompaniment to ice-cream and other creamy desserts such as crème brûlée or panna cotta.

These biscuits are essentially shortbread, but rather than using sugar, maple syrup is used in its place. This creates a softer than normal dough and as such, I find that it is easier to pipe out individual biscuits rather than try to form them using my hands or stamping out individual biscuits. The smell of warm maple syrup as the biscuits cook is divine, being sweetly smoky with a hint of butterscotch.

 

The anticipation whilst waiting for the biscuits to come out of the oven is almost unbearable.  It is recommended that the biscuits are eaten after they have cooled, but I will admit that is impossible to stop yourself from trying one out as soon as they emerge from being baked.

My daughter Emma and her cousins loved these biscuits and they were quickly wolfed down! The finished biscuits could be dipped in a little dark chocolate if liked but I actually prefer them as they are and unadorned as I think that the maple syrup adds a complexity of flavour that does not require the addition of chocolate.

These biscuits may contain very few ingredients, but they are definitely more than the sum of their parts in taste terms!

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened

80ml maple syrup

½ tsp vanilla paste
110g plain flour
35g cornflour

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.  Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.
2. Place the butter, maple syrup and vanilla paste into a mixing bowl, and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Sieve the flour and into the bowl and using a wooden spoon work into the creamed butter mixture, making sure that it is fully incorporated.
3. Spoon the mixture into a disposable piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Pipe out individual 24 biscuits onto to the parchment-lined baking tray, leaving space between each biscuit. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 24.