Mother's Day Breakfast brûlée

This pretty teacup is filled with layers of yoghurt, granola and rose water-marinated raspberries, which is nothing special until you have to crack the crisp, golden caramelised sugar topping with the back of your spoon a la crème brûlée to delve into the layers! It’s a healthy, fat-free breakfast that not only looks beautiful but is disguised as something utterly decadent.  In other words, it’s the best kind of breakfast! It’s simple enough for the kids to make and delicious enough for mom to enjoy (without the hazard of having to crunch through omelettes with egg shells in them!) So get creative and experiment with all kinds of fruits, nuts and yoghurt flavours. And if you’re opting to cook mom dinner instead? A dash or two of liqueur is all that seperates this breakfast brûlée from becoming a healthy after-dinner dessert. Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day breakfast brûlée

Serves 1

¼ cup raspberries

pomegranate rubies

1 tsp rose water (optional)

¼ cup toasted muesli

1 small pot fat-free plain yoghurt

1 tbsp light brown sugar

Place the raspberries and a few pomegranate rubies in a small bowl and sprinkle with rose water. Spoon some of the muesli into the bottom of a pretty teacup then top with a layer of yoghurt. Next, sprinkle the marinated fruit over the yoghurt and repeat until the cup is full, ending with a layer of yoghurt. Just before serving, sprinkle the brown sugar on top and caramelize with a blowtorch or under a preheated hot grill until golden, melted and crisp. Garnish with extra berries and serve.

VARIATIONS

• ·     Greek yoghurt & honey – alternate layers of thick Greek yoghurt, drizzles of honey and toasted almonds
• ·     Pineapple & coconut – roast chunks of pineapple in the oven with a little butter and brown sugar then alternate with vanilla yoghurt and layers of toasted coconut mixed into granola. 

Lemon ginger tarts with meringue ice cream

Did you know that there are 55 uses for a lemon? Well, 56 if you count eating it, which is obviously, my favourite use of all. But turn the lemon into these good-looking tarts and now we’re talking! Along with the zesty zing of our over-achieving citrus friend, I've added a generous dash of ginger lemongrass cordial to this tart (because it was sitting around in my cupboard and I had to use it up), which I thought was a rather clever way of using this it - if I do say so myself. This recipe is a bit of a challenge so if you’re of the school of thought that believe life is too short to make your own pastry or ice cream, then by all means go the store-bought route (I won’t judge you, promise.)

Lemon ginger lemongrass tarts with meringue ice cream

Serves 8-10

Meringue ice cream

250ml double cream

150ml cream

3-4T castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4-5 meringues, crumbled

Shortcrust pastry

225g cake flour

125g cold butter, chopped

½ cup icing sugar, sifted

3 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp ice cold water

Lemon filling

1 cup cream

2 eggs

3 yolks

½ cup ginger lemongrass cordial, plus extra for serving

¼ cup castor sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

Begin by making the ice cream, whisk the creams together with the sugar until just combined and the mixture just holds its shape (careful not to over mix or the ice cream will be grainy and buttery). 

Stir in the crushed meringues and freeze until firm.

For the pastry, place the flour, butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process in short bursts until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the iced water and process until the dough just comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and bring together to form a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Roll the pastry out to 3mm thick. Line 8-10 lightly greased loose-bottomed small tart tins with the pastry. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Bake the pastry blind: line the pastry case with non-stick baking paper, fill with baking weights or beans and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and the weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool.

To make the filling, whisk all the ingredients together until combined. 

Pour into the blind-baked pastry cases and bake at 140ºC for 30 minutes or until the filling is just set. 

Allow to cool completely then refrigerate until chilled. Serve the tarts drizzled with cordial and with a scoop of ice cream.

TIP I topped the tarts with fancy-looking candied orange twirls that you can buy at a tuisnywerhuid (local baking shop) but orange and lemon slices simmered in the ginger lemongrass cordial until soft and syrupy would also work like a charm. 

Chai cupcakes with marshmallow frosting

... that's what the best cupcakes are made of! 

While baking a test batch of vanilla cupcakes this week for a dear friend and bride-to-be I couldn't resist whipping in a sprinkling of spice. Since my two whirlwind work trips of the 'Spice Islands'; Seychelles and Zanzibar (which both happened in the space of 4 weeks - I know, I'm such a jet setter!), I've found my spice drawer overflowing with the most beautiful cinnamon quills, nutmegs, cloves, cardamom, juicy vanilla pods and white peppercorns. 

The markets in Zanzibar and Seychelles are packed with spice stalls and the heady aroma hangs in the thick humid air - it's intoxicating! The vendors all haggle for your attention and you're encouraged to get the best bargain whether it be in Seychelles rupees, Zanzibar shillings or dollars. Compared to Seychelles, the spice sellers of Zanzibar are far more persistent and I found myself purchasing spices I didn't even need just so we could continue our tv shoot in peace! 

The cinnamon quills were my favourite treasure - long, golden and perfectly curled they're unlike anything we get here in South Africa. Cinnamon is actually one of the spices first used in antiquity (along with francincense and myrrh) which of course only adds to it's charm. I love how it laces everything it's added to with a deep warmth. Vanna Bonta said it perfectly; 'Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously'. Which is exactly what these spicy cupcakes will do! 

Chai cupcakes with marshmallow frosting

Makes 12

125g butter

150g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp chai spice*

Marshmallow frosting

2 egg whites

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour and spices and beat again. Spoon into a muffin tin lined with cupcake wrappers and bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. 

Make the frosting by whisking the egg whites in a heatproof bowl until soft peak stage. Add castor sugar and whisk over simmering water until the meringue is hot to the touch. Remove from the heat and beat on high with a hand mixer until cool. Whip in the vanilla. Place in a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes immediately. 

*TIP: To make the chai spice mix, combine 1 tsp each of ground cinnamon and cardamom then add 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp each of ground cloves, ground nutmeg and ground white pepper. Store in a sealed jar. 

I like to grind the whole spices myself in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar as the flavour is far more punchy than the store-bought ground stuff. 

Tomato, sausage and lentil cassoulet with basil

Everybody has those ‘clear-out-the-fridge’ days and more often than not they happen at the end of the month. I relish the challenge of these days! For me, a cook is only worth his or her salt if they can turn the most average ingredients into something utterly delicious. It’s easy to walk into a supermarket with a recipe and then purchase the freshest ingredients, but to open a half-bare cupboard and turn a few odds ‘n ends into a special meal is tricky. This is my quick, budget version of cassoulet which is really a very fancy French name for meat and bean stew. Traditional cassoulet is usually made with sausages and white beans, mine however features barley and lentils (because that’s what I had in my cupboard). What is your finest ‘clear-out-the-fridge’ creation?

Photography and styling by Katelyn Williams

Tomato, sausage and lentil cassoulet with basil

Serves 4

Olive oil

300g cocktail pork sausages

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 large garlic clove, crushed

½ glass white wine (drink the rest of the bottle)

2 bay leaves

1 cup baby tomatoes, halved

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tin green lentils, drained

1 cup cooked barley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

handful fresh basil leaves

crumbled feta, to serve

Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the pork sausages over medium low heat until golden and cooked through. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until soft. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and allow to evaporate completely. Add the bay leaves, tomatoes (halved and tinned) with the paprika. Allow to simmer gently and reduce slightly. Add the lentils and barley and season well.  Serve in bowls with torn fresh basil leaves and crumbled feta. 

And yes, every now and then I do take a break between eating chocolate and cupcakes to cook something savoury and healthy :)