The Corkless Mind

Tag: make it delicious

  • Affogato and chocolate muffins with a coffee sugar

    Affogato and chocolate muffins with a coffee sugar


    This is another amazing recipe from Delicious Australia, and was said that it was inspired by a three ingredient dessert bread recipe by the revered Matt Preston. He is someone I look up to, aspiring to be as great a food writer as he is, with so many of the greats like the late A.A Gill being the ultimate food writer for me. 
    This recipe can also be found in the latest issue of delicious Australia. Do yourself a favour, subscribe to their magazine. It’s like Christmas every single month, for me there’s nothing better than being gifted premium food articles and aspirational food writing and of course mouth watering food photography that visually inspires me to recreate those spectacular shots.


    I added my own little twist to the recipe with the addition of dark chocolate and coffee liqueur. My sister and her soon to be husband gifted my partner and I a bottle of locally produced Beaver creek  coffee liqueur that I cracked open and used in the batter for that extra kick of coffee.

    Affogato and chocolate muffins in a coffee sugar: 

    Ingredients: 

    300g self-raising flour, sifted

    750ml vanilla ice cream, softened

    165ml canola/sunflower oil 

    1 free-range egg, lightly beaten 

    150g caster sugar 

    3 teaspoons of instant coffee granules, crushed

    2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur 

    100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped. 

    Method: 
    Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 

    Sift the self-raising flour in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the softened ice cream, egg and oil till combined. Add this to the flour and fold gently till just incorporated. Add the coffee liqueur and chopped chocolate and gently fold again to combine slightly. Pour into a muffin tray and bake for 20 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. To make the coffee sugar coating, lightly crush the coffee granules in a pestle and mortar and add to the caster sugar, and taking each muffin and dipping into the sugar mix until coated on the top and/or sides if you will. Serve with your favourite espresso or coffee liqueur. 

  • Brussels Sprout and sweet potato gratin. 

    Brussels Sprout and sweet potato gratin. 

    These days I’m leaning towards greener pastures, or so I’d like to think. I find myself wanting to eat more green, more plant food. Eating plants/vegatables has a very lacklustre underrated reputation as something of a side dish to your main meat dish. This perception can be something of the past. Lately with the help of many innovative chefs there are many restaurants or pop ups ‘hero-ing’ the humble veg placing it front and center. At the risk of lecturing, our burdened planet is taking so much strain trying to produce enough for so many and consuming red meat on a regular basis certainly doesn’t help with the on going crisis of climate change, collectively we can all make a difference, by consuming less and eating ethically reared red meat. 

    This recipe comes straight from this month’s delicious Australia issue, a bright and interesting Jamie Oliver feature, focusing on Brussel sprouts as the ‘hero’ ingredient. Again, Brussel sprouts doesn’t exactly have the best reputation, however from what I’ve seen in this issue, there certainly are ways to make them tasty and interesting without compromising on nutrition.
    Sprout and sweet potato gratin: 
    Ingredients: 
    -20g unsalted butter 

    -2 onions, sliced thinly 

    -5 garlic cloves, sliced thinly 

    -4 thyme sprigs 

    -1 large sweet potato or 2 large potatoes (sliced into rounds) 

    -2 cups of (500ml) milk 

    -100ml double cream 

    -200g creme fraiche 

    -600g Brussels sprouts, sliced thinly

    -grated lemon zest of 1 lemon 

    -1 cup (80g) of Grana Padano or any other Parmesan 

    -50g stale breadcrumbs I used sourdough, but you can use whatever you have on hand

    -50g chestnuts or macadamia nuts, finely chopped 

    -3tablespoons of olive oil 
    Method: 
    Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Melt butter in a flameproof baking dish or large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and half the thyme, and cook stirring for 8 minutes or until the onion is soft. 
    Add the sliced potato and stir well, then pour over the milk. Bring to the boil, the reduce heat to low and simmer. Stirring constantly to release the starch from the potato slices, for 3 minutes or until the potato is heated through.

    Remove from the heat and stir through the cream and creme fraiche, then fold through the sliced Brussels sprouts. Add the lemon zest and half of the Parmesan. Season, and stir gently to combine, before grating over the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan. 
    Place the bread in a food processor and pulse get breadcrumbs, place in a small bowl, add the chestnuts or macadamia nuts (whichever you could find or have on hand) oil and remaining thyme, and stir to combine. Sprinkle the nut crumb over the top of the vegetable mixture. Transfer to the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the top is bubbling and golden. Remove the gratin from the oven and set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly, then serve with a seasonal crisp salad.