Tag Archives: dessert

I like desserts that double up as snacks and meals. This means I can eat them anytime of the day or night without someone raising their eyebrows and saying, “you’re eating THAT for breakfast?” Begone oh killers of joy and self-appointed diet police – you are not welcome in my home.

Ticking all the necessary dessert-friendly boxes are these cute Rhubarb Apple Yoghurt Pots. Yes, you could eat them as a dessert, but you could equally enjoy them for breakfast or morning or afternoon tea.

Rhubarb is such a pretty coloured vegetable. I’d never eaten it before until I was working in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the early 2000s and a lovely colleague made me a rhubarb crumble for dessert one night. Seeing how simple it was to prepare and cook encouraged me to try cooking with it myself.

This dish couldn’t be simpler to prepare. You simply stew the fruit, let it cool and then top with vanilla yoghurt and some toasted muesli. Too easy. You can make these up in advance and keep them covered in the fridge until you’re ready to use them (just leave off the muesli until the last moment so it doesn’t get soggy).

That’s dessert done. And breakfast. And morning and afternoon tea. Now give yourself a pat on the back for being such a clever multi-tasker.

INGREDIENTS

• 600 grams apples, cored, peeled and chopped into medium pieces
• 500 grams rhubarb, trimmed and chopped into medium pieces
• 1/2 cup rice malt syrup or 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 kilogram tub top quality vanilla yoghurt
• 250 grams toasted muesli

METHOD

• Place apples, rhubarb water and chosen sweetener in a saucepan and bring to the boil. 
• Lower flame and cook over a low-medium heat for about 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool.
• To assemble, spoon fruit into a cup and then add yoghurt and garnish with toasted muesli.

Serves 6.

Hello! I’m back!

I’m still not 100% but at least the tastebud-destroying throat lozenges and heart rate-accelerating cold tablets are finito. Thank goodness for that because there has been so many nice things happening that I’ve wanted to share with you.

First up, I’m excited to let you know that it’s time for another Sweet Adventures Blog Hop!

For those new readers, Sweet Adventures is a group of Aussie foodbloggers – 84th & 3rd, The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader, Delicieux, Dining With a Stud, and I, The Hungry Australian, who host a monthly, dessert-themed blog hop.

Previously, we have hosted:

• Nuts About Sweets (July 2012)
• Sweet as Pie (June 2012)
• Tea (May 2012)
• Lemons (April 2012)
• Layer upon Layer (March 2012)
• Love at First Bite (February 2012)
• Death by Chocolate (January 2012)
• Festive Favourites (December 2011)
• Australian Pavlova (November 2011)

This month it was my turn to host again and I opted for beautiful berries.

So if you blog, and like to experiment in the kitchen, we invite you join us for the Berry Nice to Meet You blog hop kicking off on Monday 20th August.

Continue reading →

There are times when you just need to make a pudding. Perhaps you’ve had a lousy day at work. Or you are feeling a little fragile. Maybe you just feel like spoiling yourself and those lucky enough to be fed by you.

Whatever the reason, the tail end of winter, with its beautiful, sunshiny days and cool nights, is the perfect time for this recipe. The voluptuous caramel pudding is soothing and satisfying while the honey ice cream reminds you that spring, and therefore summer, are just around the corner. Which is reason enough to celebrate.

This dish was inspired by a Nigella Lawson recipe. I made it for dessert one Friday night and it was so darn good that I had to make it again two days later when we had a family celebration.

It’s so simple and quick to make, too. Can you chuck some torn up croissants in a dish? Boil some sugar water? Whisk some eggs? Throw it all in the oven? Of course you can. So you have no excuses not to make this dish.

Cook it. Eat it. You won’t regret it.

By the way, I don’t make the honey ice cream – I buy a tub of Golden North honey ice cream, which was my favourite when I was a child. Eating it reminds me of long, lazy summer days spent in the pool playing Marco Polo and pretending to be mermaids and narwhales. You could substitute it with vanilla or macadamia nut ice cream. But only if absolutely necessary.

INGREDIENTS

3-4 large croissants, to fill a small oven proof dish as per above
150 mls thickened cream
150 mls full fat milk
3 large eggs, beaten
100 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 tablespoons water
Golden North honey ice cream

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius (160 degrees if fan forced).

Tear the croissants into small pieces and put into a small oven proof dish until dish is comfortably full as per picture above. I used three and a half croissants.

Put the sugar and water into a small saucepan and mix to combine. Bring to the boil and then let it bubble away for about 5 minutes on a medium heat to caramelise – once it changes colour from clear to a dark orange-brown it is ready.

Turn to low heat and add cream and vanilla essence. Whisk furiously away as the sugar will start to turn into toffee and you’ll end up with chunky bits as per the picture below. Whisk fast to dissolve the toffee over a low heat.

Turn off the heat and then add the beaten eggs to the mixture, stirring to combine.

Pour mixture over croissants and leave for 10-15 minutes.

After 15 minutes the croissants should have absorbed all the liquid and be gorgeously moist.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is crisp and beginning to brown.

Serve with a generous scoop of honey ice cream in individual dishes.

Be prepared for requests for seconds.

Perfect for 4-6.