The Corkless Mind

Category: desserts

  • Frozen Yoghurt Berry and Pistachio bar. 

    Frozen Yoghurt Berry and Pistachio bar. 

    You might have noticed no Valentine’s themed post… At the the risk of sounding like a grinch, I don’t believe in the capitalist hype around it. What I do believe in is love, celebrated everyday not just between two people but to be shared amongst all. However, you might not feel the same, so to celebrate love today and everyday treat yourself to this delectable treat! 

    The recipe is adapted from this month’s Delicious Australia magazine. 

    **Make a day in advance.**
    Frozen Yoghurt Berry and Pistachio Bar: 
    Ingredients: 
    – 330g (1pack of biscuits) ( I used Marie biscuits) 

    – 350g Mixed berries(raspberries and blueberries) 

    – 120g coconut oil or melted butter

    – 100g chopped Pistachios 

    – 250g plain double fat yoghurt 

    – 4 tablespoons of honey 

    – Two drops of rose water 

    – Dried rosebuds for garnish 
    Method: 
    In a food processor or NutriBullet, blitz the biscuits until fine, chop the pistachios roughly and add to the biscuit mixture. Add the coconut oil/butter and mix to combine, press down into a baking tray(you could use a muffin tray for Individual servings if you wish) 
    In a pan, on medium heat, add the berries, 2 tablespoons of honey and the rose water until the berries are macerated. Set aside 1/4 of the compote to serve later then leave to cool slightly. In a bowl add the yoghurt and the rest of the honey and stir to combine. Add this mixture to the prepared pan with the biscuit and pistachio mixture, top with the berry compote and swirl into the yoghurt. Place in the freezer and leave overnight to fully set. Take the bars out at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the reserved compote mixture and a sprinkling of pistachios. 
    With love, today and everyday! 

    Dominique x

  • White flesh Nectarine.

    White flesh Nectarine.

    Nectarines are one of many of Summer’s amazing bounty that it has to offer. 
    I always miss seasonal summer fruits when it’s out of season and long for all things tropical and sweet in the wet winter months. Nectarines are basically peaches without all the fuzz. This luscious fruit’s name means ‘of or like nectar’ because of its sweet taste. 

    This week I made nectarines the focal point of both dishes, and am I glad I did! Woolworths stocks the most tastiest nectarines, my favourite is the white flesh ones. They’re super juicy and so sweet. It’s just a no brainer to use these beauties in every dish imagined. I made two dishes for this post, a nectarine, feta and tomato salad and little nectarine puddings. 
    Nectarine, tomato and feta salad: 
    Ingredients: 
    – Two nectarines 

    – Handful of Cherry tomatoes 

    – A few chunks of feta 

    – Two tablespoons of Pumpkin seeds 

    – Basil leaves to garnish 

    – Olive oil to dress the salad 

    – Pinch of salt to season

    -Egyptian dukkah to sprinkle over

    Method: 

    Slice the nectarines as you wish and break up the feta into chunks and add to the plate. Half the cherry tomatoes and add to the plate. Lightly toast the pumpkin seeds and set aside. Add the basil, and scatter over the pumpkin seeds, season with a pinch of salt, the dukkah and dress with olive oil.

    Nectarine pudding: 
    Ingredients: 
    – Three nectarines 

    – 175g softened butter 

    – 175g castor sugar 

    – 175g self-raising flour

    – 3 free range eggs 

    – Fresh custard to serve. 
    Method: 

    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Slice the nectarines into thin slices and place on the bottom of a greased muffin pan. In a bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. In a different bowl, whisk the eggs and add gradually to the butter sugar mixture with some of the flour to stop from curdling. Once all of the egg mixture has been added fold through the rest of the flour. Using a big spoon(I used my ice cream scoop) take a spoonful of batter and place into each hole of the muffin tin. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a skewer inserted some out clean. Serve with fresh custard and a dusting of icing sugar of you will. 

    This recipe for the pudding is adapted from Delicious UKI’m going on a little holiday this week, and while I don’t really want to pack away my styling kit and shutdown my wordpress interface, I think I am in need of fresh sea breeze, sand between my toes and different scenery kind of downtime, if you know what I mean. I’ll be back again next week, refreshed and inspired. 

    Happy feasting! 

    Dominique x

  • Festive fare.

    Festive fare.

    Welcome to December! How quick did this year go by!? Every week to celebrate the festive season and to of course give you ideas for your next dinner party, I will be doing at least one festive themed recipe per week. This week I wanted to create a light snack for summer, something for anyone and everyone to enjoy and a refreshing drink that all can enjoy too. 

    I found a recipe from the renowned Chef Liam Tomlin from the revered Chefs Warehouse in Cape Town that he recreated for Woolworths Taste Magazine. The recipe is incredibly simple to recreate at home with very little effort involved, doesn’t that sound good? And of course I added a little(a lot) of sparkle because tis’ the season! 

    I’ve been a weekly regular at a certain awesome bacon themed restaurant in my area, and they serve the most delicious, refreshing locally made artisanal iced tea. Mesmerized by its unique flavour and texture, I have been racking my brain to recreate it at home. This is a recipe that I have developed.

    Ingredients: 

    4x Rooibos tea bags

    500ml boiling water 

    200g strawberries 

    100g blackberries/any other berry of your choice

    A drop or two of rose water

    250g castor sugar 

    Juice of one lemon
    Method: 

    Over a medium to low heat, bring the berries, sugar, lemon juice and rose water to a simmer until the berries are macerated and the juices of the berries have covered the berries and sugar dissolved, take off the heat and leave to cool. 
    Brew the rooibos tea in the boiling water and let the tea draw for 10 minutes, leave to cool and place in the fridge. Once both the tea and the berries have been cooled, pour the compote mixture into a tea pot or carafe with the rooibos tea, serve with a slice of lemon and a few sprigs of mint. 
    This is the ideal drink for long scorching summer days or switch it up and add alcohol to make a crisp cooler. 
    Happy festive season! 

    Dominique x

  • Cocoa powder dusted Pavlovas with Blueberry compote. 

    Cocoa powder dusted Pavlovas with Blueberry compote. 

    Pavlovas are without doubt one of my favourite desserts! I’ve always found them quite daunting and intimidating to make, until yesterday I took a leap of faith and tried out a recipe from Donna Hay,that leap of faith and trust in a legend’s recipe truly paid off! I’m slowly getting into the festive season spirit, and what better way to start it off then with a festive pav! I added a little something extra(as always) I had a punnet of Blueberries sitting on my fridge shelf about to go off, to accompany and top the Pavlovas I made a quick blueberry compote using castor sugar to equal parts of water(a few tablespoons until it just about covers the blueberries) 

    Okay, time to let the cat out of the bag…remember that piece of news I’ve been teasing you all about? So, last week with the release of the December issue of the Food&Home Magazine, I was chosen and featured in this issue as their ‘Blogger of the month’! Exciting right?! 🙂 I feel incredibly honoured and so grateful to be chosen by Food&Home Magazine, check out my Instagram feed for the photo of the feature. If you’re in South Africa head out to get your copy of the issue, not only to read the feature, but there are so many gift ideas and amazing recipes for entertaining this festive season! 

    I shot this series of photos this morning and took me a while to shoot and edit thereafter, feeling like a train hit me, down with the common cold. So, to cheer myself up, I experimented with different backgrounds, aperture settings and light exposure, yes these are things that cheer me up! The above photo with blue backdrop, I crinkled up some tissue paper and painted it with water based paint to get that effect. I can never get enough of backdrops and backgrounds, I’ve recently noticed that there are online stores in the United Kingdom and Russia that make and sell backdrops for food photography. There are some incredibly beautiful backdrops at both stores, all of which are rather expensive if you have to include shipping costs too! I would love to make my own backdrops using stone and wood, but have no idea where to start…

    Do you have any backdrops you love or know how to make? Share in the comments section. 

  • Apple Tart with Butterscotch sauce. 

    Apple Tart with Butterscotch sauce. 

    Apple tart, freshly baked bread, and a fresh brew of coffee are up there with my favourite wafting scents from the kitchen! It’s been a crazy few weeks, and as you know, one of the ways I regroup and relax is by baking. I adapted this recipe from Woolworths Taste Magazine and used Pink Lady apples instead of strawberries. I love the contrast of tart and sweet from the Pink lady apples married with a rich drizzle of butterscotch sauce. 

    This was the very first time I made a batch of Butterscotch sauce, it came out velvety smooth and gorgeously golden, yes, it’s better than store bought! There are so many things to do with Butterscotch sauce, drizzle over ice cream, French toast, pancakes, cakes, or gift it to a friend or family member, pour in a glass jar with a little handwritten note. The tart had a glorious crisp bottom (no soggy bottoms here) I used my silpat to bake it on, which really helps to achieve a crisp bottom with the right oven setting and temperature, you can’t go wrong.

    At the moment I’m doing lots of research and reading up of recipes for the festive season. I love this time of year, the type of food, the weather and of course, just the festivity of it all. I’m super excited to be celebrating Christmas this year, not only on the blog, but sharing and creating special memories with my family and friends of course, as that is what it’s all about any way. 

    Shooting a tart is always a bit tricky, I was told by someone that I look up to very much that when shooting the pastry treat, always create height and volume, by failing to do so makes the shot appear flat and lifeless. I took his advice as best I could and tried to create something that hopefully makes you want to lick your screen 🙂 

  • Apple Crumble Semifreddo.

    Apple Crumble Semifreddo.

    Semifreddo, is Italian meaning ‘semi cold’ dessert. Unlike its cousin,Ice cream, this frozen delight does not include churning or tempering of eggs in its process of making, but whipping and lots of it, best be sure you have an electric handheld beater for this one.
    The recipe comes straight from one of my regular inspirations, Donna Hay. I’ve never made Semifreddo before, this seemed an interesting recipe to try out and experiment with, and what better time than right now, being on the precipice of summer! The recipe is super easy to recreate at home, with little effort and or need for any other equipment.
    While I’m on the topic of frozen dessert, it’s no secret that my obsession with ice cream is, well, an unhealthy one. There’s a new ice cream parlour that has opened its doors not too long ago in Cape Town central, that I absolutely have to check out soon. But more on that later! I went sourcing for backdrops and background material yesterday and found these lovely gems at my local tile store. I love the texture it lends to the overall look and feel of the shot. For now I’m leaning towards a more rustic style in my photos. I am completely enamoured with the depth and character it adds to shots.

    Remember that exciting bit of news I mentioned a while back? I’m counting the days till all can be revealed! 🙂

    Dominique xo