Culinary Hotline - 28 September 2022
Award-winning author and chef Zola Nene join us on the Culinary Hotline to make her favourite challenges from Taste Master SA!
Double choc chunk cookies with miso caramel frosting
Recipe by Zola Nene
Makes 12-16 cookies (depending on size)
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
225g butter, softened
1 Cup castor sugar
1 Cup Demerara sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Cups cake flour
1 Cup cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
200g chocolate (I use a combination of dark, milk and white), roughly chopped
Miso caramel:
1 Cup white sugar
¼ Cup water
½ Cup fresh cream
2 Tbsp white miso paste
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
5 large egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
Pinch of salt
450g unsalted butter, room temperature cut into cubes
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Cooking instructions:
Preheat oven to 180C.
Cream together the butter, castor sugar, and demerara sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and the vanilla.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and baking powder then mix until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chunks.
Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto lined baking tins, press down lightly to flatten and shape into rounds
Bake for about 10-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are crisp and cookie is baked through.
Cool on a wire rack.
Stir together sugar and water in a saucepan to dissolve, then bring to a boil over medium high heat. Simmer without stirring until the mixture turns an amber colour. Remove from the heat and whisk in the fresh cream, stirring until smooth. Stir in the miso then set aside to cool to room temperature and still pourable.
Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in a heatproof bowl then set over a pan of simmering water. Stir constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved.
Transfer to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk until stiff peaks form and the bowl of the mixer is cool to the touch. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few cubes at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been well incorporated, whisk in the vanilla.
Fold the miso Carmel into the buttercream
Pipe the frosting (preferably using a star nozzle) onto the flat side of the cookie then sandwich with another cookie.
Piña colada lamington cake
Recipe by Zola Nene
Makes 1x 20cm cake
For the sponge:
200g castor Sugar
200g softened butter
4 eggs, beaten
200g Cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp milk
For the coating:
4 Cups icing sugar
1/3 Cup cocoa powder
¼ Cup water
3 Cups desiccated coconut
For the filling:
4 Cups diced pineapple
¼ Cup castor sugar
Juice of 1 lime (reserve zest for cream)
¼ Cup rum (optional)
1 Cup cream
Zest of 1 lime
¼ Cup icing sugar, sifted.
Method:
Heat oven to 180C.
Grease and line 2x 20cm round cake tins.
Place the sugar, butter, eggs, flour, baking powder and milk into a bowl, then mix well until ingredients are well combined.
Spoon batter into the cake tins, then level out and bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, turn sponges out onto a cooling rack, then leave to cool completely.
Place the icing sugar, cocoa and water into a pot, then stir and heat until melted.
Dip each cake into the cocoa mixture to coat on all sides, then roll into the coconut to cover before placing back onto the cooling rack to set.
Make the pineapple filling by placing all the ingredients into a pot, then bring to the simmer and cook on gentle heat for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
Whisk the cream with vanilla and icing sugar until stiff peaks.
Assemble the cake by placing one cake onto a cake stand, top with whipped cream then the pineapple. Top with second sponge layer.
Chakalaka & Cheese stuffed flatbread
Recipe by Zola Nene
Makes 6
Ingredients:
For Chakalaka:
2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
½ red pepper, diced
¼ yellow pepper
¼ green pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp curry powder
1 carrots, grated
1 tin baked beans
salt and pepper
200g cheddar cheese, grated
For the flatbreads:
2 ½ cups cake flour
¼ tsp salt
1/3 Cup olive oil
About 1 Cup water
Method:
Heat oil, then sauté onion, peppers, garlic and ginger until soft. Add curry powder then sauté for a minute. Add carrots and the baked beans, swirl out the can with a little bit of water. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In a bowl combine the flour and salt, make a well in the centre then add the olive oil and most of the water, mix to form a dough – add as much water as needed to form a dough. Knead until smooth for about 8-10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces, then roll each one out thinly into an oval. Divide the filling between the dough, placing it on one half of the rolled out dough ovals. Fold over the other half of the dough to cover the filling, then pinch the edge together and fold and crimp to seal.
Heat a pan to medium, cook the flatbreads in the pan in a little olive oil for about 6 minutes on each side until the dough is crispy and cooked through.