Fresh And Light : Summerfruit Terrine

What does a foodie under stress?
Goes straight to the kitchen and prepares something comforting and yummy.
After a hectic week involving a small traffic accident (fortunately only a fender bender) I was taking refugee in my kitchen practicing a kind of gourmet yoga,
After lots of OOOms and some goodie sample testing I recovered my mental peace :)
Lima is a great city but traffic is..hmm..exciting.
Traffic rules are "flexible" and due to interpretation of the one with the more powerful car.
Don't get me wrong, I love to drive here because it provides you with the perfect adrenalin kick and strengthens your ability  to react on the spot.
It's a kind of daily surviving training on an asphalt jungle and can win you the title of Iron Driver.
If you think I'm exaggerating check out this link from the TV series "You don't want to drive here"
which has devoted a whole chapter to traffic in Lima.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch0JUbgq3Gc
Back to my kitchen I decided that something fresh,light  and easy to prepare would be the perfect way to relax.


This terrine is a stunner for summer parties and even people who usually don't eat dessert cause of diet reasons will love it.
And nobody will suspect it's so easy to make.
This is what you need:


About 900g of fresh summer fruits like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and white or black grapes.
-2 sachets of unflavored gelatin powder (11g  or 1/4 ounce each)
-2 cups cranberry juice or rose wine
-1/4 cup sugar , if you use rose wine take 1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method:
Remove stalks and halve or quarter strawberries so that they are not much larger than the other berries.


Gently mix together fruits in a large bowl.
Place berries in a loaf pan ( 6 cups capacity). Put some of the smaller berries on the bottom of the loaf pan.



Bring 1/2 the cranberry juice or Rose wine to a boil.


Remove from heat and whisk Gelatin powder, sugar and lime juice into it.


Make sure that everything has dissolved well, than add remaining fruit juice and let the mixture cool down.
*If you want some delicious extra flavor add 1 spoonful of fresh raspberry puree.
Pour gelatin mixture over the berries mixture until covered.


Lay a sheet of cling film over the tin.


Place another loaf pan or something similar to act as weight over the cling film to weight the mixture down and refrigerate over night or until firm.


Dip bottom of pan in hot water for about 10 seconds to unmold.
Slice with a sharp knife and decorate with some strawberry or mint leaves.





Serve pure or with Greek yogurt or Crème fraiche.
Enjoy!
Serves 10 to 12 portions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   



 

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Decadent Chocolate-Merengue Semifreddo With Caramelized Orangesauce

Dear all,
thank you so much my friends for your patience and support during the time my blog was "under construction" for a much needed facelift and solving some technical problems. You rock!
A special note to Amelia@ameliasdessert for offering me her support when my blog got, as she put it "the hick ups" and made it difficult for visitors to comment. Merci, Amelia :)
I was definitely missing blogging much more than I ever imagined.
Have I become addicted?
Addicted for sure to the interaction with my friends, readers and fellow bloggers..
Addicted to the Adrenalin rush when time is short and you need to publish your next post.
Addicted to read the new posts my fellow bloggers wrote meantime.
Anyhow, this is probably one of the most harmless addictions and I'm sure every blogger knows what I'm talking about..
During the time I was updating my blog, I was facing a true construction site and there were days when I thought this is never going to finish.
I should have known...many of you warned me that this is going to take time and patience.
We are nearly ready ( there are always small things to adjust) and if you have any suggestions, I would appreciate your comments very much.
Now it's time to celebrate the new season and I would like to share with you one of our favorites for this time of the year.
This rich, melt in your mouth semifreddo is a great treat for guests or to enjoy with your family during spring and summer days.
You need:
 225 g of 70% dark chocolate
180 g soft, non salted butter
7 egg yolks
112g dark, non sweetened cocoa
225g icing sugar
370g heavy cream
3 cups Meringue crumbs
For the orange sauce:
2 oranges
The zest of one orange
1 spoonful of butter
3 spoonful caster sugar
2 spoonful of Cointreau  (optional, can be replaced by freshly squeezed orange juice)

Instructions:
Whip egg yolks together with the icing sugar and soft butter until creamy and light in color.

Then fold in the cocoa, first with a rubber spatula ( to avoid the Cocoa dust) , then whip well until creamy.

Apart, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Take care that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
Beat in the melted chocolate in the mixture.

Apart, whip heavy cream to soft peaks.

Fold in the whipped cream with a rubber spatula, gently but thoroughly.

Pour mixture carefully into a loaf pan, the first layer chocolate mixture, the next meringue crumbs.

Continue to alternate the different layers until the mold is filled.
Cover with plastic foil and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Orange sauce
2 oranges
The zest of one orange
1 spoonful of butter
3 spoonful caster sugar
2 spoonful of Cointreau  (optional, can be replaced by freshly squeezed orange juice)

Instructions:
Zest the orange.

Cut off the top and the bottom of the other orange, then slice off the peel with a sharp knife. Make sure to remove all the white bits.
Then cut the individual slices of the orange along their thin skin.

Melt butter in a large, flat pan, add sugar and let cook at low heat for about 2 minutes or until sugar has dissolved and the mixture has slightly caramelized.

Add the Cointreau, Orange zest and fillets and simmer for 1 minute.
Then, remove from heat. Set apart.

To serve, remove the parfait from the freezer.

Place in a deep baking sheet filled with hot water (or place a hot, wet kitchen towel over the mold) until the outside of the parfait has softened.
Then place a serving plate upside down on top of the mold until the parfait slips out.

Remove the mold.

With a sharp knife , cut in slices (Rinse the knife with cold water from time to time to avoid that the parfait sticks to the knife).

Garnish with warm orange  sauce, zests, fillet and mint leaves.

Serve immediately.



Enjoy, see you next week.

Serves 8-10 p.

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Sweet Tropical Temptation: Passion Fruit Cheesecake





When it comes to cheesecake their are two fan clubs in our family:
The "purists" led by my husband and the "real fruit topping" fans. So I often do half of the cake with topping and the other half without. Declaredly my kitchen resembles a bit the free market- it all depends on supply and demand :)
The Passion fruit topping cheesecake even convinced the purists because the delicate flavor of the fruit combines very well with the creamy cheesecake filling and is not overwhelming. As for the presentation the Passion fruit gives a wonderful brightness to the pale color of the cheesecake.
A crumbly oatmeal cookie crust adds crunchiness to the silky texture of the filling.
When I'm in Austria, I prepare the local version of  this dessert, "Topfentorte" which is prepared with Topfen or Quark as it is called in Germany. It's lighter and has a very subtle flavor.
As we are planning to spent the next months until after Christmas in Vienna, I will post the Austrian version of this cheesecake soon.
Now I'm off, there are still so many things to do until traveling, time is short and my to do list seems to grow mysteriously every day.

For the cheesecake you need:

3 1/2 P. soft cream cheese ( best at room temperature)
1/2 cup Greek joghurt
1cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 spoonful freshly pressed lime juice
1 spoonful lemon zest
3 cups coarsely crushed oatmeal cookies ( about 250g )
1/2 cup melted , unsalted butter

Method:
Pulse cookies in the food processor or put them in a plastic food bag and crush with a rolling pin to chunky crumbs.

Mix with the warm, melted butter.

Press mixture into bottom of the springform, until evenly covered.

Chill until set (about 1/2 hour).

Method for the cheesecake filling:
Whisk the cream cheese and Greek jogurt with a
hand mixer until soft and creamy.

Add sugar, lime juice and lime zest, mix well.

Add the eggs, mixing well until all ingredients
have blended in well.

Pour over the Cookie mixture

Smooth the surface and bake in preheated oven at 220 C about 45 minutes or until just set in the center. (When a wooden tooth pick stays clean.)
Turn the oven off. Leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly open until completely cooled down to prevent cracking.
Uups, I forgot about this part, so my cheesecake cracked a bit :(

For the Passion fruit topping you need:
11/2 cup fresh passion fruit pulp ( or frozen Passion fruit pulp)
4 spoonful water
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/2 cup of granulated sugar           

Method:
Put the Passion fruit pulp in a medium sauce pan, add sugar (the amount of sugar may vary depending if you use fresh fruit or frozen pulp)

Add sugar and mix well.

Combine cornflour and water in a small bowl. Add to the Passion fruit mixture.

Cook over medium heat, stirring 2-3 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens.

Let cool down.
Pour over cheesecake and place in fridge until set.

Enjoy!

See you next week.

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