Frutta Pavlova

By Matthew Luca

Wondering what to do with left over egg whites? who can refuse a good pavlova anyway.

Oodles of cream and crisp but gooey meringue, soo tasty.

Ingredients

6 egg whites

300g Caster sugar

1/4 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

200ml double cream (whipped)

200g chopped strawberries

100g raspberries

50g blueberries

Method

Using a food mixer with balloon whisk or bowl and electric whisk, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, add the sugar, vanilla essence and white wine vinegar and whisk for a further 5 minutes until smooth and very firm.

Preheat oven to 130c. On a large baking tray lined with greaseproof/baking parchment, place the soft meringue on the middle, spread to form a round and make a well in the middle so that when cooked the cream can sit inside.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour, 30 minutes until firm but slightly soft in the middle. transfer carefully to a cooling rack.

When the meringue is completely cool spread the whipped cream around the middle of the pavlova, garnish with the fresh fruit.

Chefs tip; put a little of the soft meringue mix into a piping bag and make little nests, they take around 40 minutes to cook. why not try some spun sugar for decoration.

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Cioccolato Fondente

By Matthew Luca

It's more than just a luxurious dessert, it's a return to childhood

Ingredients

200g 70% Dark Chocolate (Broken into pieces)

200g Unsalted Butter

300g Caster Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla extract

4 large eggs (beaten)

175g Plain flour

20g cocoa powder

50g melted butter

1 tbsp Popping candy

Method:

fill a saucepan quarter full with water and bring to the boil, in a glass or metal mixing bowl add the 200g butter and dark chocolate pieces and place over the pan of boiling water and gently melt, stirring occasionally until smooth and glossy, remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, 300g sugar and vanilla essence and beat with an electric whisk until doubled in size. Slowly pour in the hot chocolate sauce stirring in to the eggs gently until combined, then fold in the flour, cocoa powder, gently keeping as much air in the cake mix as possible. Pour into Dario moulds (small individual cake tins) that have been brushed on the inside with melted butter and then coated lightly in cocoa powder and leave in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180c, cook on the middle shelf for 12-15 minutes, using a tea towel/oven glove. remove from the oven and gently score around the edge with a knife and place upside down on a serving plate, lift up the tin to reveal the fondant. Dust with some cocoa powder and top with a little popping candy just before serving.

Strawberries & Cream Semifreddo

Ingredients

250ml double cream

8 large strawberries

2 Basil leafs

Method:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth, place into lockable freezer bag and freeze for 2-3 hours, while occasionally taking the bag out and squeezing it gently in your hand to churn. When its firm it's ready to serve.

Pictured above: I have served mine with the Strawberries & Cream semifreddo and some pulled sugar.

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Amaretti di Saronno Cheesecake

By Matthew Luca

A deliciously quick no bake cheesecake, using an Amaretti biscuit base instead of the traditional digestive. This devilishly created dessert is mouth watering and can be plated in a number of inspiring ways.

Ingredients (serves 4)

200g Amaretti Biscuits

100g Butter

200g Caster Sugar

250g Mascarpone Cheese

250ml Double Cream

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method

Put the Amaretti biscuits into a food processor and blend until crumbs form. Place amaretti crumbs into a microwave safe bowl and add 50g butter, 100g sugar then heat on full power for 10 second intervals until the crumbs, sugar and butter begin to combine. Add more butter a little at a time if required. The Amaretti crumbs should be hot and sticking together being careful not to burn the butter.

Using either a cake tin, small pie dishes or round pastry cutters on a baking tray press a layer of Amaretti crumb to the base to around half inch thick then leave to cool in a fridge for 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, add the Mascarpone, Double Cream, 100g Sugar, Vanilla Extract and lemon juice. Using an electric whisk, mix until combined and very thick (You almost want it to be over whipped).

Take the Amaretti base out of the fridge and spread a thick layer of the Mascarpone Cream evenly on top, You could also transfer the cream into a piping bag if you prefer. Place back in the fridge for around 30 minutes until ready to serve. If you used pastry cutters or circular cooks rings to make the cheesecakes, carefully remove them in an upward motion prior to serving.

I made a few variations of this dessert (see pictures below) with some piped Mascarpone cream to form peaks and broken amaretti biscuits and an Amaretti macaroon. Also spinning some sugar for visual effect.

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Lazy Mary's Tiramisu

By Matthew Luca

This recipe is dedicated to an Italian restaurant that served me Coffee Cake when I ordered a Tiramisu, how I held my head down is disbelief at that atrocity.

I wanted to make the best Tiramisu recipe I know and started off separating egg whites from yolks and made a technically challenging mousse combining this with mascarpone cheese then leaving it to set in the fridge for 8 HOURS!!! and after making it I honestly though it was a totally unnecessary process. My philosophy is beauty is in the simplicity of cooking and my second version proved far superior in texture and taste without waiting a day to eat it. Oh and I named this dish after a famous Italian tarantella by Lou Monte "Lazy Mary"

Ingredients

16 ladyfingers (sponge fingers)

500g Mascarpone cheese

400ml Double cream

50ml Vin Santo dessert wine (or Masala wine or Amaretto Liqueur)

1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

200g Caster Sugar

1teaspoon icing sugar

2 large cups filtered coffee "double shot" (using instant coffee is an Italian form of disrespect)

1 Orange for grating zest

100g Dark chocolate for grating

Cocoa powder for dusting

Method

In your favourite dessert dish with shallow sides lay the sponge fingers covering the base of the dish, add 25ml of the vin santo wine to the coffee and pour over the sponge fingers a bit at a time and allow them to soak it up but not get drenched, put in the fridge for 5 minutes to cool.

In a mixing bowl add the Mascarpone cheese, sugar, 25ml of Vin Santo, a tablespoon of the double cream, vanilla extract and a grating of orange zest. Using an electric whisk combine until loose and smooth in texture.

In another mixing bowl add the double cream along with a teaspoon of icing sugar and using an electric whisk, mix until thick and stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone cheese until combined and then spoon on top of the sponge fingers in the dish, evenly spread to cover the sponge. then simply dust generously with cocoa powder, grate over some more orange zest and a grating of the dark chocolate. It's now ready to serve and can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Panna Cotta

by Matthew Luca

One of my favourite desserts is Panna Cotta and I'm surprised it does not appear so often in Italian restaurants because its actually quite simple to make.

Ingredients

650ml double cream

250ml full milk

150g caster sugar

4 leafs gelatine

1 vanilla pod (or 1 tbsp. vanilla extract)

Method

In a bowl of cold water submerge the gelatine leafs and leave to soften for 5 minutes.

In a large heavy based pan add the cream, milk, sugar and seeds scrapped from the vanilla pod. cook on a high heat stirring occasionally until just before boiling point (do not let it boil). remove from the heat, add the gelatine leafs one at a time into the hot mixture stirring in until dissolved and then let the mixture cool stirring occasionally. When cool transfer mixture to a measuring jug or a water jug (I tend to pass the mixture through a fine sieve into the jug to remove any possible lumps), place in fridge for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (until you see the vanilla seeds are not sinking to the bottom and holding in position) now that the mixture has thickened pour into moulds, I use a plastic ricotta cheese container as its the perfect size and smooth on the inside, you can also pour the mixture into dessert or wine glasses as pictured below (this is less fussy). leave to set in the fridge for around 3 hours before serving.

Serving suggestion: if your planning on serving the panna cotta as pictured above and you want to turn the dessert onto a plate you'll need a separate bowl with hot water where you'll dip your mould 3/4 into hot water for around 10 seconds until the panna cotta frees itself and then place a plate over the top and flip upside down.

Balsamic strawberry sauce

Ingredients

400g strawberry (cut in halves)

1 tbsp cornflour or plain flour

75g caster sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Method

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and put on a moderate high heat, stirring gently until combined and strawberries have softened slightly and a sauce is forming, remove from the heat and leave to cool, (Tip) leave in the fridge to chill before serving on the panna cotta.

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