desserts

Drop dead delicious!

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Yudhika Sujanani's Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Yudhika Sujanani’s Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Is it just me or is a self saucing pud just the sexiest thing?  It’s rich, moist and oozes with luscious chocolatey goodness!  It’s wicked, it’s sexy and it is drop dead delicious!  With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I have been dreaming up recipes that would be perfect for this special day and if you are the ‘dessert at my place’ kinda person, then this recipe is especially should tickle your fancy!

This is a rather off-beat recipe but then again, I am an off-beat sort of cook…the sauce is mixed together and then poured over the cake batter which is certainly odd, but it works…trust me on this! I used Belgian cocoa powder in this recipe but you can also try Bournville Cocoa…it will give you a dark chocolatey richness and a silken warm lava like sauce!

Serve with a dollop of fresh cream or ice cream, the choice is yours but this recipe will definitely have your Valentine asking for more! If Creme Brulee is more your kind of dessert, click here to watch the step by step guide from my cooking slot on Mela, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et3a12fBNzI
and don’t forget to catch the show this Sunday on SABC 2 at 13h30! On the menu is a Valentine inspired menu with marinated lamb chops and a dreamy berry pavlova!

Did I mention how easy this recipe is? Give it a go and don’t over bake it or the sauce will disappear!

Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

For the sauce:
250ml milk
90g light brown sugar
35g cocoa powder

125g soft butter
125g light brown sugar
5ml vanilla essence
2 large eggs
100g self-raising flour
30g cocoa powder
Pinch of salt

Cream or ice cream, to serve

Here’s how:

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Gently heat the milk in a 16cm AMC pot until lukewarm and remove from the heat.
Add the brown sugar and cocoa powder.
Stir until the lumps have dissolved and the sauce is smooth.
Leave to cool.

Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
Continue beating until fluffy and add the vanilla essence.
Add the eggs one at a time with a teaspoon of flour, beating well after each one.
Sift the dry ingredients and fold into the cream butter.
Grease a 1,5 litre greaseproof dish with butter. The dish should be about 5cm deep.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish.
Pour the cooled sauce mixture over the unbaked mixture.
Bake the for 30 – 35 minutes.
Serve hot with cream or ice cream.

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Perfect Payasam

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Yudhika prepping for the Pongal shoot on SABC 2's Mela

Yudhika prepping for the Pongal shoot on SABC 2’s Mela

Working on the Mela food inserts gives me a chance to re-visit my childhood and share my favourite food memories.  I grew up in Durban as most of you would know by now and the weekends were reserved for the local pastime, ‘visiting’.  So, some weekends we would be out and about visiting and on others, we would be at home expecting visitors.  It was an awesome tradition and there were no phone calls made to confirm or make arrangements…you just popped in.  Imagine doing that in this day and age?

 

Payasam or vermicelli as we know it was made over the weekend to serve to guests around tea time.  Sometimes we were served cake, biscuits or samosas but we always hoovered up the payasam.  Do you remember the visiting days?

 

Pongal was celebrated by the Tamil community last week and Mela featured some recipes that would be perfect for Pongal…a spicy brinjal curry, lentil pilau, coconut chutney and to follow, a deliciously creamy payasam.  I served the payasam with fried poppadoms.  If you missed the episode and want a quick course on payasam, click here for the step by step guide from Mela, https://yudhikayumyum.com/sabc-2s-mela-videos/mela-pongal-recipes/

 

Perfect for Pongal or anytime of year....Yudhika prepares payasam on Mela

Perfect for Pongal or anytime of year….Yudhika prepares payasam on Mela

 

Payasam

 

Ingredients

 

1 cinnamon stick

4 cardamom pods

125ml vermicelli, broken

60g butter

30ml desiccated coconut

350ml boiled water

1 litre full cream milk

80ml sago, washed

75 – 85g sugar

100g flaked almonds, toasted

 

Place the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods into an AMC pot.

Heat the spices until fragrant.

Add the vermicelli and stir until light golden brown.

Add the butter and stir for a minute, then add the desiccated coconut.

Fry for a minute.

Add the boiled water and full cream milk.

Add the sago and simmer on a low heat until the vermicelli softens and the sago is translucent.

Once the payasum thickens, add the sugar and then flaked almonds, reserving some for garnishing.

 

Post Christmas Blues….

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Yudhika prepares a Christmas Strudel...

Yudhika prepares a Christmas Strudel…

I worked at the Broadacres Superspar over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day too….it has to be the most frantic days to be in store and it’s all hands on deck for the rush.  Turkey in every form imaginable….roulades, stuffed, deboned, unstuffed, turduckens and carved….you name it….and it was in store….not to mention gammon…gammon everywhere!

I have been posting post-Christmas recipes mainly using turkey….today I have a recipe that uses the last remaining slices of Christmas cake.  Don’t be too quick to write off this recipe…it is decadent and delicious!

 

Turfing out Christmas cake makes me sad….and it hurts the pocket too…all those good nuts and spices…not to mention the butter and brandy too!

 

This post-Christmas dessert will have you shining like a star!  I added more nuts, spices and Lindt chocolate to the filling and wrapped this in phyllo!  Use a bread knife to slice through the pastry…works like a charm and don’t be intimidated by this!  What I love about this recipe is also those delicious aromas that travel through the kitchen while it is in the oven!!!

 

I made one of these and took a few slices through to Mrs Tarr at Broadacres…and we also had some turkey pie as well with it….I know I can count on her for feedback on new recipes….and well, I can honestly say that after a few festive recipe tastings, I knew I was going to get into trouble for tempting Mrs T….a troubled chef…or a troublesome one?

For more post-Christmas recipes, click here for a delicious turkey pasta…https://yudhikayumyum.com/2014/12/24/christmas-recycled-turkey-pasta/ or here for a hearty turkey pie, https://yudhikayumyum.com/2014/12/21/turkey-express/.  For the latest food inserts from Mela on SABC 2, click here, https://yudhikayumyum.com/sabc-2s-mela-videos/ and don’t forget to like the Mela page on Facebook for the latest recipes!

 

 

Christmas Strudel

 

500g phyllo pastry (12 sheets)

125g butter, melted

Ground cinnamon, to sprinkle

 

300 Christmas cake or pudding

75g hazelnuts

75g pecan nuts

125g dark chocolate, chopped – I used Lindt!

100g dried cranberries

5ml ground cinnamon

75g brown sugar

 

Icing sugar, to dust

Custard, to serve

 

 

 

Here’s how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Crumble the cake into a mixing bowl.

Add the hazelnuts, pecans, dark chocolate and cranberries.

Add 5ml ground cinnamon to the mixture and mix well.

Lay a sheet of phyllo pastry onto a work surface and brush with butter – reserve some butter for the top of the strudel

Place a sheet next to it with an overlap of about 4cm.

Brush the pastry with butter and repeat until all the layers are done.

Brush the top layer with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar over the pastry.

Spread the crumbled cake mixture leaving a 3cm gap around the edges.

Sprinkle the brown sugar over the filling and reserve 30ml for topping the strudel.

Fold the pastry over the filling around the edges.

Roll the pastry with the filling as you would for a Swiss Roll.

Grease a large baking sheet with non stick spray.

Place the phyllo roll onto the baking sheet and brush with butter.

Sprinkle the reserved brown sugar over the roll and bake for 35 – 40 minutes.

The strudel should be golden brown and crispy.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Dust with icing sugar and slice into rounds with a serrated knife.

Serve with homemade custard.

Wanted: Yudhika Sujanani – FED or ALIVE

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The Diwali Burfee Macaron!

The Diwali Burfee Macaron!

It might be paranoia but I am beginning to feel that I am ‘wanted’! I hope been posting full fat Diwali recipes for the last week and judging by my depleted ‘SPAR BUTTER STOCK’, the calories count is rising rapidly! With the whole Diwali weekend to go, my daughter’s birthday and a ‘BOLLYWOOD DIWALI PARTY’ next weekend…the calorie count shows no signs of dropping!

I am going to grin and bear it! The way I cook on-screen is the way I cook off-screen and that is the ‘Sugar n Spice’ secret of my show! A splash of butter here and a drizzle of cream there…it’s all good as long as it’s in MODERATION! I have never eaten a salad as a meal – I just can’t!

Diwali is a time where splashes and drizzles becomes chunks and large glugs! And yes, I do wish there were low-fat versions but sadly not!!! I hope that the Heart Foundation, Weightwatchers and Weighless are not looking out for me….I am beginning to think that I am public enemy No 1!

I am not a heart specialist, dietician or a nutritionist – just a happy hearty cook with a sparkle in my eye and a love for food! In other words, I plead not guilty!

Shabnum Moosa from the Daily News said I just make something to tickle her dessert loving taste buds…and this is how the Diwali Macaron was born….bright red to symbolise a happy occasion and good fortune, filled with white chocolate and leftover burfee bits and a hint of cardamom to zhoosh them up! In other words, to die for!

After I submitted this recipe to Jenny Kay from The Star Newspaper, we met for coffee at Tasha’s in Hyde Park…she explained that Macarons are a pretty ambitious dessert to make and I was quite surprised…I have always just popped into the kitchen and banged up a batch…she tested the recipe and I got a late night sms with a picture saying they worked…for those of you who don’t know….Jenny Kay is ‘Angela Day’ from the Verve section of the newspaper! I have worked with her for a few years and have to admit that she is our very own ‘recipe guru’! For more recipes from her, log onto http://www.angeladay.co.za

Here is another recipe perfect for a Diwali treat!

Macarons!

Macarons!

Diwali Burfee Macarons

Makes 18

Ingredients

100g ground almonds
180g Spar icing sugar
Pinch of salt
90g egg whites
25g sugar
Pinch of cardamom
Red gel food colouring

Filling
60ml fresh cream
100g white chocolate, chopped
60g burfee, finely chopped

Here’s how:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
Draw 4cm circles on silicone baking paper and turn it onto a baking sheet.
Place the almonds in a coffee grinder and process until fine.
Sift the icing sugar with the ground almonds into a bowl, then add salt.
Whisk the egg whites until foamy and gradually add the sugar.
When stiff peaks form, add the cardamom and red colouring – brighter colours work best!
Gently fold the almond mixture into the egg whites.
Pipe the mixture onto the baking paper.
Gently tap the tray to remove air bubbles.

The macarons...fingers crossed!

The macarons…fingers crossed!

Leave aside for an hour so that the macarons set.
Bake for 12 15 minutes and then leave the oven door ajar for 5 minutes.
Leave to cool and then remove from the baking paper.

For the filling:
Heat the cream and then add the chocolate.
Whisk until the mixture is smooth, then add the chopped burfee.
Stir the mixture until smooth and refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours.

...and now for the tasting....

…and now for the tasting….

Sandwich the macarons together with the filling.
Serve at room temperature once the filling has set.

Here I go again….

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No matter how hard I try to stay away from my Winter comfort eating, I just don’t seem to be winning!  I dream of delicious desserts to chase away the blues….the only trouble is – my girly curves are very curvy at the moment.  Like my good friend says, ‘Curves are the new black’!

 

I simply can’t resist sharing this recipe…its one of my favourites!

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Banana Fritters

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

 

4 medium sized Freshline bananas

 

150ml self raising flour

 

40ml sugar

 

30ml finely ground Basmati Rice

 

45ml desiccated coconut

 

100ml cold water

 

2,5ml vanilla essence

 

30ml Spar melted butter

 

Sunflower oil to deep fry

 

Icing sugar to dust fritters

 

Here’s how:

 

Place the self raising flour, sugar, ground Spekko basmati rice and desiccated coconut in a

 

mixing bowl.

 

Pour in the cold water and vanilla essence.

 

Mix well to ensure there are no lumps.

 

Stir in the melted butter and stir well to combine.

 

Heat the sunflower oil in a 28cm AMC pan on medium heat.  

 

Slice the bananas lengthwise and dip them into the batter.

 

Gently lift the sliced bananas out of the batter and deep fry until golden brown.

 

Remove the bananas from the oil when they are crispy.

 

Drain in a strainer and then dab the fritters with absorbent paper towel.

 

Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

 

Yudhika’s Tips

 

Grind the basmati rice in a coffee grinder for best results.

 

Always use half ripe bananas for this recipe.  Ripe bananas will break when dipped in batter.

 

Dip the banana slices in the batter one at a time to prevent them from breaking.

 

 

Finely ground rice makes the batter crispy and adds a crunch as well.