Chocolate red wine toffee marshmallows

A girl only needs two things in life; chocolate and red wine. 

But a little toffee and marshmallow can't hurt either so I've thrown those in here for good measure. I've been wanting to create some 'gourmet' (I really despise that word but there really aren't enough food adjectives in the English language) marshmallows for a while now since they're so trendy and all but I didn't want to make just any marshmallows. These needed to be very special marshmallows. For grown-ups!

Then a box full of beautifully-wrapped red wine toffees from Sweet Temptations landed on my desk. It was a sign. 

Obviously this toffee HAD to go into my marshmallows. The recipe I've used is based on Eric Lanlard's cocoa marshmallows and it is so incredibly simple and easy you'll wonder why you've been eating those horridly squishy store-bought pink ones all along. How amazed would your guests be if you whipped these out for after-dinner sweets?!! I know, you're welcome.

Chocolate red wine toffee marshmallows
Recipe adapted from Eric Lanlard's 'Chocolat'
Makes 24 squares

2 Sweet Temptations red wine toffees, thinly sliced lengthwise*
150ml water
2 tsp sweet red wine
200g sugar
2 tbsp gelatine powder
1/4 cup glucose
1/4 cup honey
125g dark chocolate, chopped and melted
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper. 
Place the thinly sliced toffee pieces on a piece of baking paper and roll out using a rolling pin to the size of the cake tin. Cut to fit the base and place in the bottom. 
Place the water, red wine, sugar and gelatine in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the gelatine and sugar is dissolved. Do not let the mixture boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the glucose and honey. Place in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture is thick and holds it's shape. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate and pour into the lined baking tin. Smooth the surface using a hot knife, cover and allow to set in the refrigerator for an hour. Once set, unmould and using a hot or oiled knife to cut into squares. Dust with cocoa powder and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. 

*You could use any very soft toffees here (make sure they're pliable) otherwise, leave out the toffee and sprinkle the base with a dusting of cocoa. 

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Passionfruit choc chip cookie cake

Although nothing makes me happier than spending an entire day in the kitchen baking up a storm, I've made no secret of the fact that sometimes, life calls for a shortcut. Or three. I'm a huge fan of clever shopping, especially for last minute desserts. A few store-bought finger biscuits, a drizzle of espresso syrup and a dollop of mascarpone and voila! You have an instant dessert. 

This 'cake' (I use the term loosely here because to be honest I'm not quite sure what this dessert is - suggestions are welcome) is made up of layered crispy giant cookies crammed with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts then smeared with softly whipped cream and cream cheese and lashings of sunny, tart passionfruit. Can I get a yumm-o? 

Less time in the kitchen means more time for eating! 

What is your best shortcut dessert recipe?

Photograph by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

White chocolate passionfruit cookie cake

Makes 1

1 x 500g Sasko Quick Treats Cookie Mix

140g butter

1 extra large egg

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

500ml cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp icing sugar

200g cream cheese

1 cup passionfruit pulp

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line 2 baking trays.

Place the cookie mix into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg then mix into the flour to form a soft dough. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Divide the dough into two balls, then using your hands, shape into two 15cm discs. Place the discs on the baking trays and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely.

For the filling, whip the cream until soft peaks then add the vanilla, sugar and cream cheese. Whisk until smooth. Place one cookie disc on a plate then top with half the cream mixture, drizzle with passion fruit then top with the remaining cookie followed by more cream and more passion fruit.

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Lemon white chocolate melting moments

Rich and buttery, these pretty shortbreads are delicious with a touch of zesty lemon. They earn their name from the large amount of fat they contain, which allows them to almost magically melt in the mouth. Orange or lime zest would make a great variation in place of the lemon zest, as would swopping the white chocolate filling for sweet raspberry jam, chocolate spread or flavoured butter creams like passionfruit or lime. They would also be mind-blowing with my caramelised white chocolate! I adore this recipe so much and shamefully often forget about it when I'm making a batch of cookies to fill the tin. They are just to-die-for and I don't think there is a person on this planet that would not close their eyes in sheer bliss when biting into one. A melting moment indeed.

Photography by Christelle Botha for Zone magazine

Lemon white chocolate melting moments

Makes 12

175g butter or margarine, softened slightly

1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour, sifted
1/4 cup corn flour sifted

Zest of 1 lemon

100g white chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Cream the butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and corn flour until combined and soft. Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle. Pipe 3 cm rounds onto lined baking tray, allowing room for spreading. Place the tray of biscuits into the fridge for 30 minutes for the butter to chill then bake for 12-14 min or until golden. Cool on the tray. Sandwich the cookies together with the melted white chocolate. Store in an airtight container.

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Milk and cookies bar & a choc chip cookie monster cake

Every Friday on Expresso we've been giving moms and dads out there fresh ideas for kids birthday parties (something besides a done-to-death fairy princess or pirate party). And this past week, Expresso's art director, Matanna Katz and I created a milk and cookies party, and boy, did we have fun! When I think milk and cookies, I think COOKIE MONSTER! So I created an 'om nom nom nom' cake that he would approve of and I couldn't believe how easy it was to create. So, if you're stuck for a birthday party theme? You're welcome.

THE TABLE: Styling by Matanna Katz, Photography by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

THE CAKE: Cookie!-Om nom nom

And cookie monster cupcakes...

Cookie monster and I even wore matching outfits. 

The Milk Bar

Strawberry and chocolate milk

Are these not the CUTEST?! Moo.

So many cookies!

Baking up a storm!

Choc Chip Cookie monster cake

Makes 1

225g Stork Bake

4 extra large eggs

15ml baking powder

500ml castor sugar

750ml cake flour

250ml water

1 cup chocolate chips

Frosting

250g Stork Bake

500g icing sugar, sifted

Blue gel food colouring

For decorating and assembling

White fondant/plastic icing

2 round black sweets

Chocolate chip cookies, for decoration

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks and beat well. Fold in the dry ingredients and water in 2 batches.

Beat the egg white until stiff and fold into the cake mix along with the chocolate chips.

Pour into 2 greased round cake tins and bake for 45 minutes.

To make the icing, beat the Stork Bake until soft and as white as possible. Gradually beat in half the icing sugar and then beat in the rest then tint with blue colouring.

To assemble, place most of the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (or if you have, a grass and hair nozzle).

Place one cake onto a cake plate or board and top with the other cake, using icing to sandwich the two together. Cover the entire cake by piping icing onto the cake to look like fur.

Roll two big balls of white icing to make some bobbly eyes and press the black sweets into each. Arrange a few chocolate chip cookies on the cake to look like the cookie monster is eating them.

Coconut jam (Hertzoggie) slices

Last week I pledged to celebrate Heritage month by giving some of our favourite South African treats a bit of a twist. If you haven't tried my milk tart pancake recipe, do it! You really won't eat pancakes any other way again. When I was in the Klein Karoo a few weeks ago I was given the most beautiful homemade apricot jam from a tannie that owns the tuisnywerheid and after seeing the little hertzoggie tarts on the shop shelves, I instantly knew what I wanted to do with the sweet spread. 

I absolutely adore hertzoggies; with their crisp shortbread cups, jammy centres and fluffy, coconutty (that's a word) topping they are just the perfect accompaniment to a cup of rooibos tea. My only problem with them, is they're a bit of a pain to make. Well, in their defence, any little tart is a mission. So these slices are my shortcut to sweetness.

The shortbread base is actually the very first recipe I copied down from my mother's cookbook into my own little book and it's such a winner I use it for a thousand things. From cookies, to bars to tart crusts, it's definitely a keeper. If you're not an apricot jam fan, give the bars an even more modern twist and swop it out for fig, strawberry, raspberry or whatever you can get your hands on. 

Hertzoggie slices

Makes 12

250g butter or margarine

¾ cup castor sugar

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

2¹/3 cups cake flour

²/3 cup corn flour

1-2 cups apricot jam

3 egg whites

1 cup castor sugar

2 cups coconut

For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg followed by the baking powder, flour, corn flour and salt. Press the pastry into a 30 x 20cm greased baking dish and refrigerate. Whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage then beat in the castor sugar until thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut. Remove the pastry from the fridge then spread with the apricot jam. Spread the coconut meringue topping over then bake at 170C for 30-35 minutes or until the top is slightly golden but the shortbread is cooked through. Slice into blocks and serve. 

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Milk tart pancakes with cinnamon crumble

I've decided to celebrate Heritage month (taken from Heritage Day on the 24 September) by preparing a few traditional South African foods but with a little Katelyn flair! Pancakes (or crepes to the rest of the world) are an integral part of South African culture, particularly famous for being sold at church bazaars or farmer's markets where they come wrapped in wax paper on a paper plate and so steaming-hot that they blister your fingers and melt the cinnamon sugar sprinkled inside. 

It was this traditional sprinkling that gave me the idea to stuff the pancakes with another South African favourite; milk tart. This recipe contains an almost deconstructed milk tart filling; creamy cinnamon-spiked custard and a crunchy, crispy, spicy crumble. Pancakes and milk tart were just meant to be combined and so, I give you, the South African double dessert! 

Milk tart pancakes with cinnamon crumbles

Serves 6

Pancakes

125g cake flour

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

250ml milk

2T melted butter or oil

Milk tart filling

2 cups milk

1 cinnamon stick

80ml cake flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp vanilla

Cinnamon crumbles

1 cup cake flour

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup sugar

100g butter, chopped

Cinnamon-sugar, to serve*

Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk and whisk into the dry ingredients with the butter or oil. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Heat a non-stick pan and ladle a small amount of batter into the pan. Swirl the pan around to evenly coat it with batter. When the edges begin to lift, flip over and cook the other side until brown.
To make the filling, heat half the milk with the cinnamon stick until just below boiling point then set aside to infuse.
Whisk the remaining cold milk with the flour and ground cinnamon to form a smooth paste then whisk in the hot milk.
Cook over a medium heat until thick and the flour is cooked out. Flavour with vanilla and remove the cinnamon stick. Set aside (cover the surface with clingwrap to prevent a skin forming).
Make the crumbles by combining the flour, cinnamon and sugar and rubbing in the butter to form large crumbs. Spread on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes, stirring every now and then until golden and crisp. Allow to cool.
Serve the pancakes spread with the milk tart filling, a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar and the crumbles.

*To make the cinnamon sugar, mix 2 tsp ground cinnamon into 1 cup white sugar until combined.

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