Summer dreaming...

I was meant to go off to work today from 10 am till 6.30pm. Coming home just in time for the masterchef grand finale. However, at 3 am this morning, my little 8 month old was up crying with a blocked nose, chesty cough and was refusing to drink anything. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and she is miserable. My husband is sick with a cold, my toddler has had a runny nose for the last week and all I can say is that I'm so sick of winter! Bring on some warmer weather where the only problem you have on your day off is deciding on whether you should get out of the pool.

I need to escape from this Melbourne weather! When reminiscing over last summer, I remembered a lovely dinner I had with friends where I tried this dessert which has become one of my favourites. It's fresh, easy and absolutely divine. I know mangoes aren't in season at the moment, but hey...we all need some 'summer love' on this cold Melbourne day...so keep this recipe in mind when the weather gets warmer and you're doing some summer entertaining.



Mangomisu

Ingredients (serves 6)

* 500g mascarpone cheese
* 600ml thickened cream
* 1/3 cup (50g) icing sugar
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
* 1/2 cup (125ml) Grand Marnier
* Juice of 2 oranges
* 300g savoiardi (see note) (sponge finger biscuits)
* 3 mangoes, flesh sliced 1cm thick
*
Raspberry sauce
* 1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
* 250g fresh or frozen raspberries
* Juice of 1 lemon

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Method

1.

Line the base of a 22cm springform cake pan with plastic wrap or baking paper. Place the mascarpone, thickened cream, icing sugar, egg yolks and vanilla seeds in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until thick and well combined.
2.

Combine the Grand Marnier and orange juice in a separate bowl. Dip half the sponge fingers into the juice mixture and layer in the base of the cake pan. Spread with one-third of the mascarpone mixture, and top with one-third of the mango slices. Repeat the process, then top with the remaining mascarpone mixture, reserving the remaining mango slices to serve. Cover the cake and chill for 2 hours or until firm.
3.

Meanwhile for the raspberry sauce, place the sugar and 2 tbs water in a small pan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cool slightly, then add the berries and lemon juice. Whiz in a food processor until smooth, then pass through a sieve. Chill until ready to serve. (You can store the sauce, covered, in the fridge for 3-4 days).
4.

To serve, carefully remove the sides and base of the cake pan and transfer the mangomisu to a platter. Decorate with curls of the reserved mango, then slice and serve with berry sauce.


Notes

* Savoiardi (sponge finger biscuits) are available from delis and supermarkets. I bought them from Safeway.

Blackberry and Almond Slice

Almond & blackberry slice



Makes 20 squares

200g flaked almonds
2 tbs milk
225g unsalted butter
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
11/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1/3 cup (50g) cornflour
1/2 cup (160g) blackberry jam
1 cup (150g) thawed frozen or fresh blackberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 20 x 24cm slice pan and line the base and sides with baking paper.
Place the almonds, milk, 60g butter, 1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a saucepan, and stir over very low heat until the butter has melted and sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
To make the shortbread base, place the remaining butter, sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until thick and pale. Sift the plain flour and cornflour together into a bowl, then in 2 batches, add to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Place the jam and blackberries in a bowl and lightly crush with a fork. Spread the jam mixture over the base, then pour over the cooled almond topping. Bake for 25 minutes or until
the topping is golden brown.
Cool the slice completely in the pan, then remove from the pan, cut into twenty 5cm squares and serve

Where art thou?

Hi there,

Sorry for my silence! (maybe it's a good thing- not sure?) I had grand plans of writing on this blog weekly with all my food ideas, however life has seemed to taken over in the last month and things in our household have been hectic, busy and stressful. I've had little time to get in front of the computer, let alone think about any food ideas. Hopefully, things may settle down a bit now and I can blog a bit more.

I've been thinking about food a lot lately and feeling quite sad as my yearly subscription to Delicious magazine and Donna Hay has had to be cancelled due to finances. Those magazines were my little bout of inspiration that arrived every month and gave me an excuse to sit on the couch with a cup of peppermint tea and flick through pages of inspiration. Sadly, I only have a few issues left to come. But I hope to use my blog as my inspiration and post lots of great recipes in the next month.

On a happier note, I've got my sons 2 year old party coming up. It was actually meant to be today but we had a death in the family so it was cancelled (it's been one of those weeks). Anyway, I've re-scheduled it for August and hopefully this will give me some more time to plan. I'm really excited about deciding the menu and having some beautiful treats to share with some special friends for afternoon tea. I saw this amazing slice recipe that I want to try from Bill Granger. It's a blackberry and almond slice, a bit of a take off on the traditional baked jam slice but with toasted almonds on the top. It looks amazing!

Anyway, check out the recipe and will promise to try and write more!!

Love

Nim