To celebrate my husband’s birthday we booked our favourite restaurant in Brisbane, E’cco. One of the advantages of living in one place for a long time is that when you go out sometimes you run into someone from your past and it makes the evening even more enjoyable. This is what happened on this occasion. We were delighted to see that our waitperson was a young lady that was my son’s date for their grade twelve formal. This lead to many of my questions about how our meals  were prepared being answered in great detail. I was so impressed with the walnuts in my pear, walnut and goats cheese salad. I couldn’t quite figure out what process they had gone through to become such a delicious surprise. I was told the process and now share it with you. The last stage was to deep fry them but I could not bring myself to be so indulgent. You can if you want.

You can add these to your salads, on top of cakes and brownies or just eat them straight from the bowl. I have been giving them away as a little present and they have been a big hit.

I hope you enjoy them too.

Recipe

Ingredients

250g of walnuts ( these should be the best you can find.)

One cup of castor sugar

One cup of water

Method

Put the water and sugar in a saucepan over a high heat. When the sugar has dissolved add the walnuts. The water should cover the walnuts.

Leave gentle simmering until the walnuts swell. This should take about ten minutes.

On a tray with baking paper place the walnuts without the liquid and place on the middle shelf of an oven

The oven should be 170degrees. Leave in the oven until golden brown, be careful not to burn them.

Let cool and then store for future use.

1 Comment | In: Gluten Free, Other Delights | | #

I am So excited about my trip to France in September! I have been planning this escape since my last visit to France. When I came home I could not adjust to life in Australia, I was like a love sick teenager, everywhere I looked for that little something that reminded me of my visit to Paris and other places in France. This was not a new feeling. Ever since my first trip when I was only twelve I felt this longing to be there. The quality of day to day living makes me feel so alive.

In order to celebrate that my trip is not far away, I decided to bake chouquettes a little patisserie that the french like to snack on in the afternoons. Parisians like to prende (take) their dinner later in the evening. Eight o’clock at least and this leaves a long time between lunch and dinner. In order to get them through this period  they would stop at a patisserie and pick up a late afternoon treat. These are one of my favourites.

They are best eaten straight from the oven but they can be frozen if it suits.

I followed David Lebovitz’s recipe

Recipe

Ingredients

l  cup water

1 tspn sugar

1 tspn salt

110g butter

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Glaze: 1 egg yolk, mixed with 1 teaspoon milk

Hail Sugar available at Executive Chef

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (220 C.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Heat the water, salt, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and dump all the flour in at once. Stir rapidly until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan.

3. Allow dough to cool for two minutes, then briskly beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth and shiny.

4. Using two spoons, scoop up a mound of dough with one spoon roughly the size of an unshelled walnut, and scrape it off with the other spoon onto the baking sheet.

5. Place the mounds evenly-spaced apart on the baking sheet. Brush the top of each mound with some of the egg glaze then press coarse sugar crystals over the top and sides of each mound. Use a lot. Once the puffs expand rise, you’ll appreciate the extra effort (and sugar.)

6. Bake the cream puffs for 35 minutes, or until puffed and well-browned.

(If you want to make them crispier, you can poke a hole in the side with a knife after you take them out of the oven to let the steam escape.)

I hope you enjoy making them.

These ones I added Chocolate too.

1 Comment | In: Other Delights | | #

This is a lovely dessert for a Winter dinner party. It can be served warm or at room temperature. I have used creme fraiche on mine however ice cream or cream is great too. I love a warm desert with cold cream or ice cream, it is so indulgent and then there is the syrup to add the tang. Another great thing about this recipe is it is a gluten free.

Sometimes I make a big cake but this time I put them in cup cake papers and then turned them out. I am very pleased with the look and the taste is very moist and delicious. Of course I had to taste one to make sure it was up to standard!

RECIPE

No Comments | In: Cakes, Gluten Free | | #