Author: Karen Claassen

I have never been able to eat breakfast, but tasting these muffins have convinced me that I might just be a brunch person!

Makes about ten muffins, depending on the size of your tins.

1 orange

125ml orange juice

190ml pitted dates, roughly chopped

1 egg

125ml butter, melted

375ml cake flour

5ml bicarbonate of soda

5ml baking powder

2ml salt

190ml sugar

125ml pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Line a muffin tin with paper cups and spray lightly.

Cut the orange into smaller pieces, leaving on the skin. Remove any seeds that you can see.

Add the orange pieces and orange juice to the bowl of a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.

Add the dates, egg and melted butter and mix.

Now mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Add half the flour mixture to the bowl of the food processor and incorporate into the orange mixture. Add the rest of the flour mixture and incorporate until well mixed.

Stir in the chopped nuts.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each muffin hole about two-thirds.

Bake for 20 minutes.

The muffins do taste best when cooled completely.

This is one of those canapés that isn’t big on looks but out of this world as far as flavour goes. It is my go-to when I want something that every single person raves about and I serve them as a canapé with wine and at times as a casual starter on the patio. They are a bit fiddly to make and you should allow enough time for that, but can successfully be made a day in advance.

250ml flour

100g butter, cubed

200g strong cheddar cheese

2,5ml smoked paprika

2 sachets pitted green olives

poppy seeds to sprinkle

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Grate the cheese in a food processor and keep aside.

Now blitz the cubed butter and flour until it forms clumps as tiny as peas.

Add the grated cheese and paprika and mix to achieve a well blended dough.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it with the heel of your hand to bring it together.

Drain the olives and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Now break off small pieces of the dough, press it flat in your hand and place an olive in the centre. Shape the dough around the olive, working towards a ball shape and making sure that it is sealed all around. They don’t have to be perfect, just bring the dough together without any olive showing.

Place the balls onto the baking sheet and sprinkle some poppy seeds on top.

If you run out of olives, simply roll and mould the remaining dough into stick-shapes and place onto the baking paper.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

Serve slightly warm or cold.

This is a perfect meat-free meal when accompanied by a crisp salad or fruit.

Filling:

15ml vegetable oil

30ml butter

4 onions, sliced

45ml brown sugar

3 – 4 sprigs of thyme

125g Camembert, Brie or other soft cheese with a rind

Pastry:

40g butter, melted

100ml cultured buttermilk

1 egg

5ml wholegrain mustard

200g cake flour

5ml baking powder

5ml salt

60ml cheddar cheese, grated

For the filling:

Put a heavy-bottomed saucepan onto medium heat and add the butter and oil.

Add the sliced onion and cook over a medium heat until soft and translucent.

Now add the brown sugar and the thyme and allow everything to cook, stirring now and then, until caramelised and golden brown. This will take about 30 minutes so it is best to keep an eye on it while you get on with making the pastry.

For the pastry:

Preheat your oven to 200℃.

Grease a loose-bottomed cake tin.

Mix the melted butter, buttermilk, egg and mustard in a mixing bowl.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt onto the wet mixture.

Grate the cheddar cheese and add that as well.

Mix together and knead the mixture with your hands until you have a soft workable dough.

Flour a work surface and roll the dough to a circle about the same size as your cake tin.

Lay the circle of dough on the bottom of your tin and with your fingers, press the dough slightly up onto the sides of the cake tin. Try to get the dough about 2cm high.

Spoon the caramelised onion mixture onto the pastry and spread it evenly.

Slice the Camembert cheese into strips and arrange on top of the onions.

Bake for 15 minutes, turn heat down to 180℃ and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Take the cake tin out of the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the cake tin.

Slice into portions and serve with a salad.

It is gooey and chocolatey and if I did not tell you, you would never know that this chocolate mousse was made from avocado pear. In fact, four ingredients, 5 minutes and a dessert that is truly fabulous!

Simply double the ingredients to make up the portions you want: 2 avocado pears makes 4 generous portions of mousse.

Keto friendly, vegan and gluten-free.

2 ripe avocado pears

120ml cocoa powder

90ml honey

20ml vanilla

Blend the ingredients together with a stick blender until completely smooth.

Spoon into small serving glasses.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Serve cold.

This is the dessert you want to have when strawberries are in abundance. Keep them whole, cut them in half or dust them with icing sugar….you will keep going back for more!

For the pastry:

One portion of Pâte Sucrée (you will find the recipe on this blog under French Lemon Tart)

For the pastry cream:

500ml milk

40g corn flour

100g sugar

4 egg yolks

5ml vanilla

Assembly:

Fresh strawberries

Icing sugar, if you want to dust the flan

For the pastry:

Blind bake. a Pâte Sucrée pastry case and allow to cool completely.

For the pastry cream:

Add the corn flour to a small bowl and add just 50ml milk to dissolve and mix the corn flour. Put aside.

Pour the rest of the milk into a small saucepan, add about half the sugar and put the saucepan on the heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and just before the milk starts boiling. Take off the heat.

Now add the egg yolks to a mixing bowl and sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top.

Add the dissolved corn flour mixture to the egg mixture and whisk well.

Pour the warm milk directly from the saucepan onto the yolk mixture in a very thin stream while constantly whisking. Remember: pour slowly and whisk quickly!

Once you have incorporated all the milk, immediately pour the mixture back into the saucepan and put it back onto a low heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is beautifully thick. Allow it to bubble away for about a minute.

Take the pastry cream off the heat, add the vanilla and pour the mixture into a clean bowl.

Put a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming.

Chill the refrigerator.

Assembly:

Take the cold pastry cream and give it a really good whisk by hand so that any lumps break up and the mixture is smooth once more.

Scoop the mixture into the pastry case.

Arrange whole or halved strawberries onto the pastry cream.

You may dust a layer of icing sugar onto the strawberries.

Keep in the refrigerator.

These milk rolls are soft and incredibly diverse. Dress them up as dinner rolls, a picnic roll with a spread like tapenade, plated rolls for cocktails or pumpkin shaped rolls for the younger ones.

15g instant yeast

300ml water, lukewarm

60ml milk powder

45ml sugar

7,5ml salt

1 egg

45g butter, melted

600g bread flour

Topping:

1 egg

15ml milk

5ml sesame seeds

5ml poppy seeds

Pour 300ml lukewarm water into a mixing jug and sprinkle the yeast over.

Add the milk powder, sugar, egg and melted butter to the mixture and give it a good mix with a spoon.

Add the bread flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.

Turn the mixer onto low speed and add the water.

Now turn the mixer onto medium speed and knead for 5 minutes.

Oil a clean mixing bowl and place the dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap and leave

to rise to double the volume.

Preheat your oven to 200℃.

Knock down the dough and divide it into 30g pieces for the dinner rolls and 60g pieces for the picnic ring.

Grease a 20cm X 20cm baking tin for the dinner rolls and a loose-bottomed cake tin for the picnic roll.

Place the shaped dough balls half a centimetre apart in the baking vessel.

Mix the egg and milk in a small bowl and brush it over the dough. Sprinkle the seeds on top and leave to stand for 15 minutes.

Bake the rolls for 15 – 20 minutes.

This dessert is from a very old handwritten recipe book I have had forever. It personifies simplicity, nostalgia and effortless eating. Go retro and give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised by what three ingredients can achieve!

380g tin of evaporated milk

2 X 80g packets of jelly powder

250ml boiling water

Place the tin of evaporated milk in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Pour 250ml boiling water into a mixing bowl and dissolve the jelly powder in it. Set aside and allow it to cool to room temperature, but do not allow it to start setting.

Decant the cold evaporated milk into another mixing bowl and beat it with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Scoop spoonfuls of the evaporated milk into the jelly mixture and fold it through with a metal spoon. Keep going until well incorporated.

Pour into serving bowls and place in the refrigerator for four hours, until set.

Whether you are cooking short ribs in the oven or outside on a fire, this is an easy method to ensure more-ish, lip-smacking lamb that will have everyone coming back for seconds.

2 racks of lamb short rib

15ml wholegrain mustard

15ml garlic salt

15ml smoked paprika

30ml balsamic vinegar

45ml rosemary, chopped

62ml honey

30ml brown sugar

Mix the mustard, garlic salt, paprika and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.

Brush this mixture over the racks, completely covering it and place the racks in a large roasting tin.

Cover the tin tightly with aluminium foil and leave to stand at room temperature for at least an hour.

Preheat your oven to 180℃, even if you plan to cook the lamb on an open fire outside.

Bake the ribs for two hours.

Remove the ribs from the oven. If you are finishing them in the oven, turn the oven up to 225℃.

Remove the foil and cut the racks into individual portions.

Line a clean baking tray with baking paper.

Mix the chopped rosemary, honey and brown sugar in a small bowl. Brush the glaze onto the ribs, being generous about it!

Stick the roasting tin back into the oven for 5 – 10 minutes, until the meat is dark and sticky.

I do admit, it is very unusual to have raw sweet potato in a salad but the Yoghurt salad dressing transforms this salad to a crisp, nutritious and fabulously delicious meal.

Yoghurt Salad Dressing:

250ml plain yoghurt

125ml sour cream

125ml buttermilk

3 – 4 cloves of garlic, minced

5ml salt

30ml red wine vinegar

60ml honey

Add all the ingredients to a glass jar and shake well to amalgamate.

Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator and enjoy with other salads.

200g baby spinach leaves

250ml grated sweet potato; about one large sweet potato

250ml cubed apple

250ml cubed pear

125ml pecan nuts, roughly chopped

125ml dried cranberries

125ml Yoghurt Salad Dressing

Wash and peel the sweet potato and grate it coarsely into a mixing bowl.

Immediately pour on the Yoghurt Salad Dressing to prevent it from oxidising.

Cube the apple and pear with skins on and add to the sweet potato. Mix through.

Add the pecan nuts and cranberries and give the ingredients another mix.

Lay the spinach leaves onto a serving platter and spoon the mixed ingredients on top.

Serve with fresh bread and a fruity glass of white wine.

If you like fruit cake packed to the brim with fruit and nuts, this is the one for you! I lace mine with plenty of brandy which matures and ripenes the cake and really brings out the caramel flavours of the fruits.

Although fruit cake is traditionally served on Christmas Day I prefer to serve mine in the run-up of silly season: it is absolutely delicious when served with a good Gorgonzola cheese after dinner. Bake more than one and tie a ribbon around it….it makes a wonderful gift.

Ripen your fruit cake by wrapping it in a double layer of aluminium foil and then storing it in a plastic container. Open the cake once a week and drizzle about 45ml of brandy on the surface. Wrap it up tightly and repeat the next week. The cake will literally keep for months if kept wrapped in the foil.

Fruit:

1kg mixed raisins, currants and sultanas.

150g glazed cherries, red and green

125ml pecan nuts, roughly chopped

250g dates, chopped roughly

125ml brandy

Mix the fruits together in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the brandy. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to stand overnight.

For the cake:

250g butter

250g brown sugar

6 eggs

45ml apricot jam

Dry ingredients:

750ml cake flour

2,5ml salt

2,5ml mixed spice

2,5ml cinnamon

2,5ml nutmeg

2,5ml ground ginger

10ml baking powder

Preheat your oven to 150℃.

Line a 22cm cake tin or a medium sized bread tin with baking paper.

Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream the mixture.

Add the eggs, one at a time and then add the jam. Mix to incorporate thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients to a separate mixing bowl and stir through.

Sprinkle about two thirds of this onto the fruit mixture and mix through.

Add the rest of the flour to the butter mixture and mix.

Now add the butter mixture to the fruit and flour mixture. Mix through with a spatula until there are no trace of flour. Keep mixing, it will all be absorbed.

Spoon the mixture into your prepared baking tin and level with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 3 hours.

Cool the cake in it’s tin on a cooling rack until completely cold.

Wrap the fruit cake in a double layer of aluminium foil and store it inside a large plastic container.

Drizzle the fruit cake twice a week, with either brandy, sweet dessert wine or fruit juice.