The season of togetherness calls for some indulgence in sweet treats. Try your hand at a few of these lipsmacking recipes to shower some love on your partner AND your own self this Valentine’s Day.
Dates and Walnut Kheer
Ingredients • 1 litre, fresh milk • ½ kg dates (deseeded and chopped) • ½ cup sugar • ½ cup walnut (chopped) • 3 tbsp oats • 4 tbsp roasted almonds (chopped) • 300 ml fresh cream • 2 cups water
Method
Add dates and water in a blender and make a fine paste.
Heat milk in a pan and cook on a low flame. Add sugar, date paste and mix well.
Add oats and half the quantity of crushed walnut and almond and bring to a boil.
Cool the mixture and refrigerate. While serving, stir in the cream and garnish with remaining nuts.
Peppery Tapenade Savoury Tart
Ingredients • 50 nos. savoury tarts • 10 ml oil • 50 g onion (chopped) • 30 g garlic (chopped) • 100 g red, yellow and green pepper (chopped) • 50 g black and green olives (chopped) • 100 g tomatoes (chopped and blanched) • 2 g white Pepper Powder • 2 g aromat seasoning • 75 g tomato paste • 75 g orange cheddar cheese (GO) • 5 g parsley • 2 g salt
Method First, make small savoury baskets.
For the mixture
Heat oil in a pan, sauté fine chopped garlic, onion, peppers, blanched tomatoes and tomato paste. Then, add the chopped olives.
Season it well with white pepper powder and aromat seasoning.
Serve it up
Fill the savoury tarts with the mixture, top it up with grated orange cheddar cheese and garnish with parsley sprig.
Toffee Apple Pudding
Ingredients For the toffee sauce • 125 g butter • 175 g brown sugar • 200 g fresh cream • 1 tsp vanilla essence
For the pudding • 175 g butter, plus extra for greasing • 3 large red apples • 130 g brown sugar • 2 eggs, beaten • 4 tbsp milk • 150 g refined flour • 1 tsp lemon zest • Lightly whipped double cream, for serving
Method For the toffee sauce
In a small saucepan, melt butter and sugar together in a pan over medium heat, until the mixture begins to turn amber and caramelises.
Lower the heat and slowly stir in the cream and vanilla extract, then take off from the heat and set aside to cool it completely.
For the pudding
Lightly butter a 9-inch baking basin. Cut a small disc of butter paper and place it at the bottom.
Peel core and slice the apples. Then, heat 25 g of the butter and gently fry the apples until they turn tender and start to caramelise. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a bowl, beat together the rest of the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and creamy. Gradually, add in the beaten egg and milk and mix well.
Sift in the flour and fold into the batter until well-combined.
Scatter the apples at the bottom of the buttered basin and drizzle half the toffee sauce. Then, pour the sponge batter over the apples.
Cover the pudding basin with a lid, and then place a thin aluminium foil on top of the lid, and seal the edges.
Place the basin in a large saucepan or steamer and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides.
Then, cover with a lid and steam for at least an hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out clean.
Turn the pudding onto a plate and serve it with the remaining toffee sauce and light whipped cream.
Plum Pudding with Sabayon Sauce
Ingredients • 100 g sugar • 150 g butter (room temperature) • 100 g mixed fruit jam • 200 ml milk • 100 ml orange juice • 4 nos. eggs • 125 g honey • ½ tsp salt • 3 tsp baking powder • 1½ tspbaking soda • 550 g maida (wheat flour) • 1 kg soaked fruits • 100 g breadcrumbs • ½ tsp cinnamon powder • ½ tsp cardamom powder
For soaking fruits • 100 g dates chopped • 100 g golden raisins • 50 g cashew nuts (broken) • 50 g almonds (chopped) • 50 g candied orange (chopped) • 100 g TutiFruti • 150 g soaked plums • 50 g glazed cherry • 1 tsp cinnamon powder • ½ tsp clove powder • ½ tsp nutmeg powder • 150 ml red rum • 150 ml red wine • 150 ml beer • 100 g sugar
For the Sabayon Sauce • 5 nos. egg yolks • 200 g caster sugar • 100 ml sweet white wine • 100 ml cooking cream • 2 drops of vanilla extract
Method:
In a heavy bottom saucepan, add beer, sugar and raisins and cook on low flame till the sugar melts.
Then, add the candied orange, dates and stir well. Cook for about two minutes and then remove from heat.
Add remaining fruits, spice powders and liquors and stir well and allow the mixture to cool down and then cover it in an airtight container and set aside overnight.
Sieve together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, coco powder and spice powders for three times and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, place butter, sugar and beat well till the sugar melts. Then, add eggs one by one by mixing it continuously.
Add fruit jam, orange juice, honey and milk to the butter mixture and beat it well with a balloon whisk. Then, add the flour mixture and fold well.
Fold in the soaked fruits and mix well and set aside. Meanwhile, grease the pudding moulds and line it with butter paper (3-inch Dia x 6 nos).
Place the prepared molds (3-inch deep) in a baking tray and pour enough water to cover ¼ of the mould. Bake at 1800 C Celsius for 45 minutes. Then, with a wooden skewer, check the centre and if the skewer comes clean, then the pudding is done and if not then bake for further 10 minutes. Once the pudding is cooked remove from heat and allow it to cool for at least four hours.
For sabayon sauce:
In a medium-size stainless steel bowl, place egg yolks, caster sugar, sweet wine, cooking cream and vanilla extract.
Place the bowl on a double boiler and cook stirring vigorously with a balloon whisk till the sugar melts.
Then, pour the prepared sauce on the pudding before serving.
Rice & Pumpkin pudding
Ingredients • 1 cup steamed rice • 3 cups of milk • 1 cup red pumpkin (peeled and chopped) • ¾ cup honey • 1 tsp essence • ¾ tsp cinnamon powder, plus more for garnish • ¼ tsp dry ginger powder • ¼ tsp nutmeg powder • ¼ tsp salt • cup whipping cream, whipped
Method
In a large baking bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, rice and salt.
Add the pumpkin mixture to the saucepan and stir well to combine. Then, cover and transfer to the oven.
Bake at 1800 C for about 45 to 50 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about a third and the mixture is foamy and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and stir well to combine all the ingredients.Transfer to a large serving bowl.
Then, cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight.Then, serve with a dash of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Sweetcorn Fritters with Sweet Chilli Sauce
Ingredients • 100 g American corn • 20 g Thai red curry paste • 3 ml lemon juice • 2 g aromat seasoning • 50 g boiled potato • 50 g suji (rawa) • 100 ml oil (for frying) • 4 g coriander (chopped) • 50 g sweet chilli sauce
Method
Boil the American corn and roughly chop it.
Add Thai red curry paste, lemon juice, aromat seasoning and chopped coriander to it.
For binding, boil a potato. Then, make equal size patties, roll and coat it with suji/rawa and then deep-fry the patties.
Serve hot with sweet chilli sauce.
Recipes: Chef Ashish Rai, Head Culinary, Barbeque Nation Hospitality Ltd.