Breakfast lollies… mango slaw… pistachio macarons, summer eating is going to be great!
Completely in love with baking because of the nostalgia it brings, Durban foodie Nqobile Ngcobo (aka the_foodjunkie) has been cooking up a storm in the kitchen of the ultimate culinary test, The Taste Master SA: The Baking Edition.
The youngest of 12 contestants participating in Season 2 of the televised reality show, Nqobile, who’s always found inspiration in her late grandmother when it comes to cooking and creating in the kitchen, loves incorporating home-grown seasonals.
‘I spent most of my holidays in my grandmother’s kitchen learning from her and love exploring different cultures, cuisines and nature destinations in Africa. I am also passionate about fighting against food insecurity – especially when it comes to vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women and the elderly.’
During some downtime on the show, Nqobile WHO IS DURBAN BASED?, shared some of her favourite summer dishes with us. For those who want to follow her progress on the show, you can catch it every Friday at 7pm. The series finale is on December 3. Details: thetastemaster.co.za.
Berry Delight
Serves 4
Ingredients: 150ml mixed berry fruit juice, 10ml gelatine, 350ml mixed berry yoghurt, 150ml heavy whipping cream, 300ml icing sugar, 2 egg whites, 1ml salt
Method: Warm the juice and hydrate the gelatine in a small bowl. Dissolve the gelatine in the microwave or over warm water. Pour yoghurt into a small bowl, whilst whisking, slowly add the dissolved gelatine to the yoghurt. Whip together cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form.
Whisk egg whites and salt together until stiff peaks form. Fold the cream and egg whites into the yoghurt mixture. Pour into serving glasses and chill immediately to set. Decorate with whipped cream, berries and mint before serving.
Mince Flatbread with Mango Slaw
Serves 4
Slaw: 250ml white cabbage, shredded , 125ml cup red cabbage, shredded, 1 firm, ripe mango, peeled, thinly sliced, ½ red onion, thinly sliced, 2 spring onion, sliced lengthways, 4 sprigs coriander, finely chopped and extra for garnishing, 30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, chopped fresh chilli to taste
Mince: a punnet of mince of your choice, 30ml Canola oil, 1 brown onion, finely chopped, 30ml ginger and garlic, minced, 3 star anise, 1 fresh chilli, finely chopped, 30ml soy sauce, 45ml Worcestershire sauce, 4 grilled flatbread, plain yoghurt for serving
Method: Toss slaw ingredients together and set aside. Heat oil in a pan; add onion, star anise, ginger and garlic. Sauté until translucent and soft. Add mince in batches and brown well. Add remaining ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes stirring regularly, until sticky. Spread flatbreads with yoghurt, top with mince and slaw. Garnish with coriander just before serving.
Breakfast lollies
Serves 8
Ingredients: 15ml honey, melted, 100ml muesli, 250ml double cream strawberry yoghurt, 150g strawberries, sliced
Method: Mix together the honey and muesli and divide between the base of lolly moulds.
Spoon 15ml yoghurt mixture into moulds and freeze for 30 minutes. Arrange strawberries around the sides of the moulds and top with the remaining yoghurt mixture. Add the sticks to the mold and freeze for 4-6 hours. Unmould before serving.
Ice cream cookie sandwich
Ingredients: 500g vanilla ice-cream, 125g unsalted butter, 110g white sugar, 110g brown sugar, 5ml vanilla extract, 2,5ml salt, 1 egg, at room temperature, 375ml all-purpose flour, 3ml bicarbonate of soda, 170g chocolate chips and more for rolling on the sides
Method: Line a baking pan with parchment paper/plastic wrap. Spoon softened ice-cream into the pan; smooth it into an even layer. Freeze until ready to assemble cookies. Brown the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly until butter foam, turns golden brown and smells nutty. Set aside and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, beat cooled butter, white sugar and brown sugar until mixed together. Add the vanilla extract, salt and egg. Beat well.
In a separate bowl, sift flour and bicarbonate of soda. Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Do not over mix. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least half an hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use a teaspoon to scoop the cookie dough out into balls, placing them 5cm apart.
Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown the centres have puffed but are still gooey. Allow to cool completely.
Use a cookie cutter that is as big as the cookies to cut out rounds of ice-cream. Sandwich the ice-cream between two cookies. Press firmly and roll the edges of each cookie in more chocolate chips.
Spicy Zucchini and Pistachio Cake
Ingredients: 375ml self-raising flour, 125ml cake flour, 125ml almond flour, 2,5ml bicarbonate of soda, 10ml ground cardamom, 5ml mixed spice (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice), 3eggs, 250ml castor sugar, 5ml vanilla extract, 2,5ml salt, 250ml canola oil, 2 cups zucchini, grated, strained, 75g toasted pistachios
Method: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift self-raising flour, cake flour, almond flour, bicarbonate of soda, cardamom and mixed spice together. Beat salt, eggs and sugar until thick and creamy. Add oil and continue beating. Gradually fold in the flour mixture, zucchini and pistachios into the egg mixture until well mixed. Equally divide the mixture into two lined baking tins. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Leave the cake to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely. Ice the cake with cream cheese frosting and decorate as desired.
Pistachio Macarons
Ingredients: 2 egg whites, 35g castor sugar, 115g icing sugar, 60g almond flour, 1ml salt
30ml pistachio paste
Method: In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute, then slowly add the granulated sugar, about 1 tablespoon every 20 seconds or so. Increase the speed to medium-high then continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Sift almond flour, powdered sugar, and ground pistachios through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Repeat one more time to make sure the ingredients are uniformly combined, discarding any larger pieces that don’t go through the mesh sieve. Set aside.
Fold the sifted almond mixture and pistachio paste into the egg whites using a spatula until fully incorporated
Transfer the macaron batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe the macaron batter in 1 1/2-inch circles onto the silpat mat. Tap the pan against a counter a few times to release air bubbles.
Let the macarons sit for 30 minutes until the top is dry enough to touch.
Bake one sheet of macaron shells at a time for 16-18 minutes at 150 degrees in a preheated oven. Cool completely on the baking sheet before attempting to remove the macaron shells from the pan.
To fill the macaron shells, transfer lemon curd to a bag fitted with a piping tip. Pipe lemon curd onto the bottom half of the macaron shells, then top with another macaron shell.
Cream cheese Frosting
Ingredients: 125g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, 250g cream cheese, softened to room temperature, 360g icing sugar, 5ml vanilla extract, 15ml lemon juice, 1ml salt
Method: In a large bowl, using a hand mixer beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Sift the icing sugar and salt into the bowl. Add vanilla extract and lemon juice and beat on slow speed until smooth.
Avocado Mousse
Ingredients: 2,5ml gelatine powder, 1 avocado pear, 15ml lemon juice, 1ml salt, 15ml icing sugar
Method: Hydrate the gelatine in 10ml of water. Blend the avocado flesh with a blender or thermomixer together with lemon juice and salt until smooth. Dissolve the hydrated gelatine. Pour into the avocado mixture and blend until fully incorporated. Sift the icing sugar into the blender or thermomixer and beat into a smooth mixture. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
Lemon Curd
Ingredients: 2eggs, 250g sugar, Zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1 ½ lemon, 65g butter
Method: In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice until blended. Add butter and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and coats the back of the spoon.
