Yogurt Soufflé Glacé

The original recipe is from Loredana and you can find it here (in Italian).

The ingredients from Loredana:

3 egg whites (About 100g)
200 g icing sugar
100 ml water
200 ml cream
250 g plain yogurt
1 tbsp fruit compote

First you have to make an Italian meringue base. I must confess that I really enjoy making Italian meringue, possibly because it is not something that I see here in New Zealand. Beat the egg whites really stiff, in the meantime make a syrup with the water and icing sugar (I never used icing sugar for the syrup before, so this was a new one for me!). I don't have a sugar thermometer (didn't I say this already?? A few times?? Yep!) but you see, Loredana in her original recipe doesn't talk about temperatures, she just says to make quite a thick syrup. Ahh, a real home cook! I made my 'thickish' syrup, and I wish that I could explain it better, but it is that stage when the syrup just start to get a little white and you can smell candy floss. Pour the hot syrup slowly into the egg whites and keep beating until they are cold (see first photo below on the left). In the meantime whip the cream, fold in the yogurt, and then fold with the Italian meringue.

Wrap some baking or cooking paper around the ramekins, leaving about 5 cm border at the top, and securing them with kitchen string (large photo below on the right). The idea looked pretty but... I don't really have the right ramekins: they are not straight but open up at the top, even if very lightly, and although they looked pretty with a kitchen string ribbon... after the first one I secured the others with Sellotape :-P!! I filled the ramekins with the soufflé mixture and I placed them in the freezer.

Next the fruit compote. I heated a few frozen raspberries with a tsp of sugar and mashed them into a sauce. When the soufflés were set I removed a little from the centre and ate it. I loved this step. Place the soufflés back into the freezer until serving time. Finally it was time to serve my soufflés glacés so I filled the holes with the fruit sauce (second image on the left), removed the paper and decorated the tops with a raspberry, a violet (edible) and mint tips. Because there is so much sugar, air and fat in these soufflés, they don't freeze into a block of ice: they are firm yet soft. I will make them again, but smaller portions (here I made 4, but they were rugby player's portions, I think that I should use smaller - and straighter ramekins, and make 6, or even 8) and I will try to use less sugar next time (the boy complained that they were too sweet for his), just to see what happens.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini and http://lacucinadimamma-loredana.blogspot.com/©

This is my entry for the Sweet New Zealand blogging event.

How to make Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum), and Sweet New Zealand

Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum) Before I start I would like to say that I don't have a sugar thermometer, essential if you are really into confectionery, and that I didn't use much sugar for these Turkish delights. Many recipes use much more sugar, and it is not that I wanted to make a low sugar treat here (it is still pretty sweet), it is just that making it at home really makes me realize how much sugar there is already in my diet, and if I can have something with a little less... well, why not! This method is 'home friendly' i.e. these can be made at home with very little effort and equipment, and the recipe comes from my book Sweet As... where I also have the recipe for lavender and orange blossom Turkish Delights. Ingredients 1 l water 300 g sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice 100 g cornflour 1 tbsp frozen raspberries 1 tbsp rose water icing sugar (very little) and cornflour (lots) to dust. In a pot put hal...

Silver beet Paneer, a variation of Palak Paneer

The other day I showed you my curry made with borage , ‘invented’ because I have tons of it in the garden! The other green-leaf crop that does well in Auckland is silver beet. My old plants (from last year!) got so tall that I started collecting only the little leaves from the stalks, and they look like spinach. One of my favourite Indian dishes is Palak Paneer (or Panir), spinach with panir cottage cheese, and this variation is made using my silver beet. I washed (many times!) the small silver beet leaves, and then I steamed them and drain them. In a heavy pot I heated 2 tbsp of vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil) and sautéed for 30 seconds: 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp turmeric 1/3 tsp ground chili then I added 2 roughly chopped shallots and, after 3 minutes, a good pinch of salt and the cooked silver beet. I cooked everything on low for about 20 minutes (you may need to add just a little water if the silver beet is too dry) and then finely pureed the content ...

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This is another recipe from my book Sweet As , and something that I love to make for Xmas. I would like to say that for marzipan you should get the best almonds around, natural, but here in New Zealand the almonds taste different from the ones in Italy. They are imported, not sure where from most of the time, but they are not top grade almonds. Still, with a few tips, you can make your marzipan taste great even with 'regular' almonds! Buy them natural, not blanched, you need to blanche then yourself or the result will be too dry. To blanch them you need to put them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, and then add cold water and take the skin off, one by one. For this recipe you will need: 200 g almonds 100 g icing sugar 5 apricot kernels. As I was saying before, the almond here have little taste, so I like to collect the stones from apricot and get the almonds out. They are a real pain to crack! In the photo above you can see apricot stones and kernels. The apricot kernel...

Priya SureshAugust 23, 2011 at 9:43 PM
Absolutely irresistible,feel like relishing..
Beloved GreenAugust 24, 2011 at 1:31 PM
These look amazing, and I love how you garnished them!
AlessandraAugust 25, 2011 at 7:48 AM
Thank you ladies :-)
Zo @ Two SpoonsAugust 29, 2011 at 11:05 PM
Love how this doesn't involve baking, makes it much less terrifying hehe.

Also that's one of the very few times I've read the sentence: "the boy complained that they were too sweet"!

Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

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