Recipes

Warm Lime Meringue Mousse

Lime Meringue Mousse The idea for this this tasty dessert came originally from the New Basics Cookbook, but I have modified the recipe (for starters, it uses lemons, and the method and ingredients are different here). Anyway, it’s a light and fluffy dessert that always goes down a storm…

Warm Lime Meringue Mousse

Ingredients:

Eggs and Limes60g Butter
150ml Fresh Lime Juice
Zest of Two Limes (finely zested)
200g Sugar
5 Eggs

What to Do:

1. Put the 100g of the sugar along with the butter, lime zest, and lime juice in a saucepan and cook over low heat until all the ingredients are melted together. Allow to cool slightly.

2. Separate the eggs.

3. Beat the egg yolks into the lime/sugar/butter mixture.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. (Do not let it boil, or you will have scrambled eggs with lime!). Remove from the heat.

5. Whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until they are stiff and glossy.

6. Fold half the egg whites into the lime custard, stirring gently until they are combined.

Lime Mousse7. Pour into 6 ramekins.

8. Carefully spoon the rest of the egg whites to the half-full ramekins, so that the egg white is on top of the custard as a top layer.

9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes, until they are golden in colour.

10. Serve immediately!

This has gone to Helene at Tartelette as part of her HHDD mousse party…

Technorati tags: , , , , ,

Extreme Cocoa

Extreme Cocoa I’ve posted various hot chocolate recipes, and this is what we’ve settled on for a hot chocolate with a huge cocoa hit and a drink that’s not too sweet. This cocoa is thick and luscious, and it’s going down a storm in the shops. It’s for real chocoholics only…

Murphys Extreme Cocoa

Extreme Cocoa glass125 g cocoa (unsweetened)
800 ml milk
225 gm sugar
1 teasp. natural vanilla essence

1. Mix the cocoa and sugar.
2. Add the milk in small parts, stirring to create a paste, then diluting the paste until the milk and cocoa mix are combined. Add the vanilla essence.
3. Pour into a saucepan and place the over medium heat, stirring all the time until it reaches 60-65C.
4. Garnish with grated chocolate and/or whipped cream and enjoy!

Six servings.

Notes:

1. If you find it too strong, you can always dilute it with more milk, but then again if you do find it too strong, this is probably the wrong recipe for you!
2. The amount of sugar will vary depending on the chocolate. Obviously you can add more if you want it sweeter.
3. You can freeze any excess and thaw it later when you want to drink it…

Technorati tags: , , ,

Marzipan

Marzipan Few Irish people seem to like marzipan, but I certainly do. Perhaps people don’t like it because most marzipan here is terrible, and finding the good stuff is very difficult indeed. It helps that I have a sister-in-law who is from Lubeck, and brings back Niederegger every time she returns from a visit home.

So I was thrilled when a friend recently showed me a recipe for making it, which I had never done before or even considered. My first attempt wasn’t nice at all – dried out and tasteless, and that got my juices flowing – things not turning out become an irresistible challenge!

So I tested several recipes. The best one I found in terms of method was here. Cooking the ground almonds as directed brings out the flavour, and the egg white keeps it soft. (There are recipes using raw eggs, but I kept away from them, in case I ever wanted to use the marzipan in the shops). 

More MarzipanIf you want to try it, a few suggestions:

1. Use half the quantities unless you want a huge pile of the stuff.

2. I ignore cream of tartar whenever I come across it.

3. I found I had to add another half cup of ground almonds because the initial marzipan turned out quite soggy.

4. Make sure your ground almonds are super-fine (I gave mine a whirl in the food processor).

In the end, I had soft, tasty marzipan, which I enrobed in 70% chocolate. Yum!

I do think it could use a bit of extra flavouring, and I’ll play around some more. Perhaps I’ll post a recipe when I’m completely happy with it…

Technorati tags: , , ,

Brown Bread & Guinness Ice Cream

Brown Bread Guinness Ice Cream We have made one of the nicest flavours to ever have come out of our production, and it is Brown Bread and Guinness ice cream. My brother Sean wanted a special flavour for St. Patrick’s Day, and this is what we came up with. Here it is:

Murphys Brown Bread and Guinness Ice Cream

Ingredients:

Guinness cans1 Cup (237ml) Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
1 1/8 Cups (266ml) Cream
1 1/8 Cups (266ml) Milk
1 Can (500 ml) + 2 tbsp. Guinness
2 Cups (500 ml) volume of stale brown bread crumbs (use a dense, dark brown loaf).
7 Oz (200gm) Dark brown sugar
Yield: 6 Servings

1. Measure out 100ml of Guinness and set aside.

2. Boil 400ml Guinness until it reduces to 100ml in volume. Cool.

3. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.

4. Bring the milk to a simmer.

5. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.

6. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Stir until the custard thickens slightly (around 70C). Use a thermometer, as at 75C the eggs will scramble!

7. Allow the custard to cool.

8. Put the dark brown sugar in a pan, add the 2 tbsp. Guinness, and cook until it is melted and completely liquid. Remove from the heat.

Brown Bread9. Stir the bread crumbs into the melted sugar, then spread on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 175C (350F) for about 20 min, until the brown sugar is caramelised and the crumbs are crispy. Keep an eye on it, though, that it doesn’t burn.

10. Cool the crumbs, and add to the custard base.

11. Stir in both the reduced and non-reduced Guinness.

9. Whip the cream.

10. Gently fold into the custard.

11. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.

Notes:

1. I havent made this recipe for home use, so I would love any feedback if you try it!

2. I combine reduced and non-reduced Guinness because using just reduced loses a bit of freshness in terms of flavour.

Technorati tags: , , , , ,

Coconut and Rum Ice Cream

Coconut Rum Ice Cream We have a new restaurant customer in Dun Laoghaire, the Gastro Pub, and they requested a coconut ice cream. Being a big fan of alcohol in ice cream, and given that coconut can be overpowered in the mix, I suggested a coconut and Malibu rum ice cream. The recipe is below if you like things coconut…

Murphys Coconut and Rum Ice Cream
1 Cup (237ml) Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
3/4 Cups (175ml) Cream
3/4 Cups (175ml) Coconut milk
3/4 Cups (175ml) Desiccated (dried and shredded) coconut
1 1/8 Cups(266ml) Milk
4 tbs. (65ml) Malibu Rum
1 tbs. (15ml) Lemon Juice

Malibu RumYield: 6 Servings

What to do:

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.

2. Bring the milk to a simmer.

3. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.

4. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Add the coconut milk.

5. Stir until the custard thickens slightly (around 70C). Use a thermometer, as at 75C the eggs will scramble!

6. Refrigerate over night.

Dessicated Coconut, Toasted7. Toast the desiccated coconut over medium heat in a dry saucepan, stirring all the time, until they turn a golden colour. Allow to cool.

8. Stir the toasted coconut, rum and the lemon into the refrigerated custard.

9. Whip the cream and gently fold in the custard.

10. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.

Notes:

1. Coconut milk has all different strengths, so taste it and make sure you’re happy with the flavour. You can always add a bit more, but remember there will be more coconut flavour coming from the desiccated coconut and rum.

2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

3. I haven’t tested this recipe for home use, so I would be delighted for any feedback…

Technorati tags: , , , , ,

Hot Fudge Sauce

Hot Fudge over Vanilla Ice Cream We have been serving chocolate and caramel sauce in our shops for the past six years, and I feel we’ve pretty much perfected them. Hot fudge sauce, however, is something that I miss from time to time. It can be time-consuming to make, but it is so tasty that I’ve been considering adding it to the mix. I feel I’m pretty close with the following recipe, and I’ve also worked on a method of cutting the time down for preparation (some recipes take upwards of two hours to make). If you want to try it:

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

150g 70% chocolate
100g butter
100g cocoa
300g sugar
150ml cream
100ml milk

What to do:

1. Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler over simmering (not boiling) water.

Fudge cooking2. Add the cocoa and stir until it is completely integrated.

3. Keep the chocolate mix warm in the double boiler.

4. Combine the sugar, milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture boils. Remove from the heat.

5. Add the hot milk mixture to the warm chocolate mixture as follows – add one sixth of the liquid, stir until the liquid is completely incorporated, then add the next sixth, stirring again, and continue thus until all the liquid has been added.  

Hot Fudge Sauce6. It will clump at first, and it may separate, but keep adding a bit of the milk mixture and stirring it in until the sauce is glossy and smooth.

7. Serve the fudge sauce warm over ice cream! 

Note: This makes quite a bit of sauce, but you can keep it refrigerated for a couple of weeks (if you have that kind of self-control!) 

Technorati tags: , , , ,  

Cardamom Honey Ice Cream

Honey Cardamom Moroccan Ice Cream This time last year, I was preparing to take two weeks holiday in Morocco. And what a lovely two weeks it was. In fact, this year, I am feeling nostalgic for the desert. Or was it dessert?

Most Moroccan desserts use a combination of the following flavours – almond, honey, cardamom and rose. I decided to make an ice cream using two of the above. I think it is quite a special flavour. Here it is:

Murphys Cardamom Honey Ice Cream
1 Cup (237ml) Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
1 1/8 Cups (266ml) Cream
1 1/8 Cups(266ml) Milk
2 tbs. (10g) Ground Cardamom
3 tbs. (65g) Honey

Yield: 6 Servings

What to do:

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.

2. Bring the milk to a simmer.

3. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.

4. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Stir until the custard thickens slightly (around 70C). Use a thermometer, as at 75C the eggs will scramble!

Honey Cardamom Ice Cream5. Stir in the honey and cardamom.

6. Refrigerate over night.

7. Pass the mix through a fine sieve to remove the cardamom bits.

8. Whip the cream.

9. Gently fold in the custard.

10. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.

Notes:

1. Since it’s a mostly cold extraction with the cardamom, it will need a bit of time, so that’s why I have the mix rest over night.

2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

This is going off to Meeta as part of her Monthly Mingle…

Technorati tags: , , , ,

Caraibe and Coffee Fudge

Coffee Fudge I have been in the mood for fudge, and with David Lebovitz hosting an event based on chocolate by brand, it seemed a good excuse to pull out the Valrhona and go making it, even though I missed his deadline. Why Valrhona? Well, it is my favourite eating chocolate, and it also tastes the best in many cooking applications. So which one? I decided on Caraibe, because it’s dark enough to keep the fudge from being over-sweet and smooth enough to balance the bitterness of the coffee. In fact, eating it, you would never guess that it has such high cocoa content…

Please note – you will need a good thermometer. The temperatures are very important!

Kieran’s Coffee Fudge Recipe

Ingredients:

500 gm caster sugar
250 ml cream
120 gm Caraibe (66%) chocolate
75 ml very strong coffee
40 gm butter

What to Do 

  1. Coffee Fudge w CaraibePut all of the ingredients in a good, thick-bottomed pan (it shouldn’t be too small, or it’s more likely it will burn).
  2. Melt over low heat, stirring until chocolate and sugar are dissolved.
  3. Cease stirring, increase the heat, and bring the temperature to 115C.
  4. Immediately place the pan in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process (you can use your sink, half-filled with water).
  5. Cool until 80C. Beat with wooden spoon until fudge lightens in colour and becomes more solid.
  6. Pour into baking tray and cool until the fudge sets.
  7. Cut and serve.

Technorati tags: , , , ,