Dobos Torte

The Dobos Torte is a many-layered cake, with a chocolate cream filling and icing, and a glaze of caramelised sugar.It is delicious, and it takes time to make. My best friend and I made one for my birthday, and it was super yummy - well worth the effort. This recipe lasts well - it was better the day after it was cooked, and still moist and yummy two days after that. Then it was all gone, so I can't tell you how long it might have lasted!!

Dobos torte, with slightly wonky layers and oozy chocolate filling,
served with cream and walnut toffee

I'm going to post this in stages, as it will help you better with the flow of what needs to happen.

Firstly make the chocolate cream filling/icing.

150g semi-sweet chocolate melted
6 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 cup butter

Beat the eggs and 1 cup of sugar in the top of a double-boiler until the mixture thickens into a custard - it will have the consistency of a slightly thick creme anglaise. Remove from heat and beat in the melted chocolate and the butter (the heat should melt the butter into the mixture for you).

Set aside to completely cool. This is very important. We actually filled the cake when it was not completely cool, and it did ooze a little - as you can see in the picture. Had we waited we would have slightly thicker and more even filling.

Make the cake

5 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sifted plain flour

Beat the eggwhites until stiff.
Using the unwashed beater, beat the egg-yolks, sugar and salt, until the mixture thickens.
Fold the egg yolk mixture into the eggwhites.
Fold the flour into the batter.

Bake 6-8 layers - your batter should be 1/4 inch thick in a pan that is lined with baking paper - for 10 minutes each in a hot oven (400F or 200C) - they should only be lightly browned.
Turn out and remove the paper immediately.

Make the caramel glaze

3/4 cup of sugar
1 tbs of butter

put the sugar and butter into a pan. Over a low heat let the butter and sugar melt into a caramel. If it is heating unevenly shake the pan, rather than stirring, as stirring can sometimes make the caramel cystallise.

Put a layer of your cake on a piece of baking paper in a baking tray. Pour the caramel over the top and QUICKLY - before it cools - cut the caramel into as many slices/wedges you want the cake to have. You must do this, or you'll find it hard/impossible to cut the cake later. In between each cut you can run your knife through a pat of butter to help with any issues with stickiness. We had a fair amount of caramel run-off - which we then quickly added some crumbed walnuts to & used to snack on and garnish our finished dessert.

Assemble the cake.

place a layer of cake on a board/plate. Cover with filling, Repeat till you get to the last layer which is already covered in caramel. Ice the sides of the cake with the chocolate cream

Sit down and admire your creation. Then enjoy!

Paprikás csirke (Paprika Chicken)

paprika chicken, served with kluski/gnocchi and snow peas.

Paprika chicken is one of those simply yet amazingly tasty dishes. It is heavy in sour cream, so it's really not an everyday food, but it is a fantastic dish for a birthday treat! Seeing as I just had one of those, I had to celebrate and spoil myself :)

Real Hungarian paprika - that is, paprika grown and produced in Hungary - gives the best, most intense flavour and colour. If you can't get that, Hungarian-style will do.

I like to serve it with a little bit of green crunchy veg for texture - and snowpeas are my absolute fav for that!. makes for a lovely vibrant dish as well.

Ingredients

1 chicken, jointed (ask your butcher or use the equivalent in size of wings and legs from the supermarket) - keep the meat on the bone, it improves the flavour.
2 onions finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons of sweet paprika
1 tub sour cream
salt to taste

noodles to serve

Method

• Cook onions in a casserole dish in a little bit of olive oil until translucent.
• Add in meat and brown skin.
• Add in the paprika.
• Cover the chicken with water so that it is *just* covered - the more liquid, the runnier the sauce will be.
• Place in a oven at 180 degrees C and cook for 40mins-1hr until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
• take out of oven, and add in sour cream, a bit at at time, until you get the flavour balance you are looking for. Season to taste.

Serve over noodles.

Pierniki - Polish spice cookies

I love these biscuits (cookies for the Americans!!)- their sweet spiciness is a must for Christmas. While it is not Christmas, I thought I would share these with you. 

* 1 cup Honey
* 6 cup plain flour*
* Pinch of black pepper (optional)
* 1/2 ts Cinnamon
* 1/2 ts Nutmeg
* 1/2 ts Cloves
* 1/2 ts Allspice
* 4 Eggs
* 1 cup Sugar
* 1 ts Bicarb Soda

Method

1. Heat honey in a saucepan until it begins to boil, and then allow it to cool to lukewarm.

2. Combine eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat together until thickened.

3. Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg and sugar while mixing to prevent any lumps.*

5. Pour in the honey and mix everything until smooth.

6. Turn out the mixture onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out to around 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes as desired.

7. Place Pierniki onto a greased baking tray, then into the oven at 190C for 12 minutes or until lightly colored.

* Start by adding 4 cups of flour, and then adding more in until you have a soft but workable dough. Quantities will vary according to the size of your eggs etc. Do not to add any more than the 6 cups.

Ricotta and egg ravioli

I did it!! I did it!! I made a ricotta and egg ravioli with burnt butter and lemon. And it was delicious!!

And it was my first time making an italian pasta!! I have to admit, the pasta was not perfect - it was a bit too thick. I'm not sure whether I overworked the dough, didn't have enough liquid, or just didn't roll it thinly enough. It tasted OK, though.

As for that ravioli - omg, how absolutely amazing is that combination of lightly spiced ricotta, runny egg yolk, and burnt butter. This will definitely be made again!


I took the recipe from http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2007/05/24/an-extra-dose-of-sunshine-egg-ravioli/ as my base, but I did change it somewhat to reflect the flavours I saw on Masterchef Australia (they didn't have the recipe up on their site when I went looking).

Ingredients and Method

The pasta dough:
200 g flour, Italian Type 00
2 eggs
salt

Sift the flour into a huge mixing bowl or on a chopping board. Make a well in the center, add a pinch of salt as well as the eggs, then incorporate the flour with your fingers and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough comes together nicely. If the mix is too firm, add a little water, if it’s too soft, use a little more flour. Shape it into a ball, tightly wrap in cling film and let rest for at least 30 minutes on the counter.

The filling
200g Ricotta
zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
small egg yolks, preferably free range (amount depending on the number of egg ravioli you want) egg white (to brush the pasta sheets)

Mix together, season with salt and pepper to taste.

cut sheets of pasta into rounds (I did squares, cause I wasn't thinking...) Place the ricotta in the middle, with a little well in the centre. Put the yolk into the well. Cover with another sheet of pasta, crimp closed. Brush with egg white.

Cook in boiling salted water until the pasta is al dente.

for the burnt butter and lemon sauce
100g butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice Add butter to pan and heat until butter begins to foam. At this point, add the sage and cook until butter has browned. Squeeze in the lemon juice and serve sauce immediately over ravioli.

Mint and Apple Jam

This mint and apple jam is tangy and savoury and oh so perfect with lamb dishes. It is also makes a terrific base for a salad dressing - stir in a little olive oil to loosen it a little and then stir it through a garden salad or just chopped up cucumbers for an unforgettably yummy salad.

Traditionally mint jelly and mint jam use granny smith apples, but in this version I substituted with some lovely tartish red apples.  It has added a beautiful reddish tint to the jelly, which makes it look quite festive in my opinion!

You can also change the type of mint - or even the type of herb used. Apple and rosemary or apple and thyme also make really nice condiments to serve with pork or lamb.

Ingredients

500g apples, cored and roughly chopped
375ml white vinegar
400g of sugar
4 - 6 tbs chopped mint.

Method

Cook apples in vinegar and sugar until soft. Use a potato masher to break down the soft pieces of apple. Bring to boil, and boil for 10 minutes until the mixture starts to jell.

Turn off the heat, add the chopped mint and stir through. The residual heat will cook this through.

Pour into sterilised jars.