Lemon Chiffon Cakes - Heaven!

This is a recipe I cut out ages ago from Feast (SBS) - finally made it on the weekend and absolutely love it - it's sort of a Japanese modern take on cream sponge cakes.

Here it is:

Ingredients:

60ml vegetable oil
165g castor sugar
1tbs lemon zest
3 eggs, separated
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
150ml thickened cream
1tbs icing sugar, sifted

Glazed icing
240g icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
10g unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 160c.  Line muffin pans with muffin cases.
Place oil, 110g castor sugar, lemon zest and egg yolks in bowl of mixer and beat until combined. Add sifted flour and lemon juice.
Place egg whites and tartar in clean dry bowl of electric mixer and whisk to soft peaks  Add remaining 55g sugar gradually and whisk until stiff and glossy. Working in 2 batches, fold the egg white mixture into cake batter until well combined, then divide mixture among muffin cases. Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  (mine took about 25 minutes).
Cool cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn onto wire rack and cool completely. When cool, gently peel off cases.
To make icing, combine icing sugar, lemon juice, butter and a little hot water (it has to have a runny consistency).
Place wire rack with cakes over oven tray. Drizzle glazed icing over cakes to coat, then leave for 15 minutes to set.
Whisk cream and icing sugar.  Pierce each cake with a skewer or chopstick and pipe cream mixture through.  Serve.

Pina Colada Icecream with Pineapple Salsa - Yum!

This is a recipe I got from Delicious magazine - with a few slight tweaks of mine!

Ingredients:
720g sour cream
375g pure icing sugar sifted
440can crushed pineapple, drained
125ml coconut cream
100ml Malibu liqueur
245g shredded coconut, toasted
Mint leaves, to garnish

Pineapple Salsa
1 lemongrass stalk (inner core only0 bruised
10cm piece ginger, peeled chopped
150g castor sugar
4 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored, thinly sliced

Pina Colada Ice Cream
Whizz sour cream, 300g icing sugar, crushed pineapple, coconut cream and Malibu in food processor until smooth.  Transfer to an ice cream machine and churn. Place in a terrine lined with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

For the salsa, pace lemongrass, ginger, sugar, kaffir lime leaves and 1 cup water in saucepan and cook, for 2-3 mins until sugar dissolves, add pineapple and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove pineapple and cook syrup for further 5-6 mins, discard lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.  Pour syrup over pineapple until ready to serve.  To make the crumb, toast coconut in non-stick pan until golden, add remaining sugar and pulse lightly in food processor to make a crumb.

Remove ice cream from freezer 5 minutes before serving, uncover and invert onto plate, removing plastic wrap.  Slice and roll the edges in coconut crumb.  Serve with pineapple salsa.  Decorate with mint leaves.

Cafe Soleil - Episode 8

“Christ, did you call the police?”

“No, I didn’t, because he’d only get madder.”

“What do you want me to do?  Beat him up?”

“Oh, Darryl, I don’t think you’d stand a chance.  He’s got a black belt. No, that’s not the answer.  It’s just one more problem I didn’t need.”

“Maybe I can help.”

“I just don’t know.  I don’t want to burden you with muy problems.  You’ve got enough of your own…with Mark…and all”

He didn’t want to say that they’d face their problems together, because it was just too soon.  There were too many unanswered questions.  It was a co-incidence surely, that she was in that very same hospital as mark at the same time after he was knocked down.  They never found the car or the driver.  He didn’t want to think that there might be some connection.  She did like a tipple, that was true, but that didn’t make her culpable.  He rubbed his eyes, as if to dismiss the thought.

A few weeks later, when the detective showed up at the café – it wasn’t one of the locals that he’d been serving flat whites to for ages – it was someone from the “Accident Investigation Team” – Darryl was surprised and had to admit to some fear.  What if his worst case scenario was true and Susannah had something to do with Mark’s accident? No, no, no.

“Take a seat, “Darryl said, wiping his hands on his streaked apron.  It was near closing time and luckily there weren’t many people in the café.  In the quiet corner he’d picked, they could be pretty much undisturbed.  What would the locals think, that he was in some sort of trouble? Rosie would take care of any stragglers at the till.

 
He looked at Detective Cassidy expectantly.

“Would you like a coffee or something? I was just about to turn the machine off, but…”

“No, I’m fine.  I wanted to talk to you about Mark’s accident.  We think we may have found some new evidence about what happened on that night.  Someone has called in new information about a vehicle that was seen speeding from the scene.”

“It was rainy and wet that night.  Blowing a gale.  I don’t know why he went out”

He didn’t know why he was adding this information, and he really wanted the detective to tell hjm what they had found out, but there was a small voice in his head saying “not yet, I don’t really want to know” so he just ploughed on.

 

“Always headstrong.  Never listens to his dad.  Even though he had to get up early to open the café, still goes out to get smokes.  Never took any notice of the Quit programmes that are all over the place now.  Gave it up myself years ago.  Never looked back.”

Detective Cassidy gave him a quizzical look and continued.

“Anyhow, our investigation are still continuing.  But I wanted to talk to you about your son.  I know you went through all this with the local police, but I hoped you wouldn’t mind me asking a few more questions”

God, did they suspect him now, because that was what it sounded like.  It was like an interrogation, the ones they do on CSI or Criminal Minds or something.  He’d have to stop watching so many of those crime shows, they were getting to him.

“So I know this might be an obvious question, but did Mark have any enemies…that you know of, I mean?”

“No, no, no.  Mark wouldn’t hurt a fly.  I can’t understand why you’re asking this…”

“Just routine, Mr Cavanagh.”

“Call me Darryl, please.  No, I can’t think of anyone at all.  Why is this coming up now?”