pomegranate Archives - Sugar et al

Rosewater Tartlets With Pomegranate And Salted Pistachios

18|01|2018

What makes a dessert totally irresistible? Well, if you ask me, it is a lot of things put together in perfect harmony. Taste, colour, flavour, texture and so on. When we think of desserts, we automatically think of sweet sensations in our mouth but did you ever wonder why a lot of recipes often include a pinch of salt? Salt is supposed to not only enhance the sweetness and uplift the experience but it brings out the existing flavours in the most delicious way. Just like salted caramel tastes better than caramel!

A few months ago I created a few salted dessert recipes for a magazine that I thought were too delicious not to share over here. This one is my favourite because it involves rosewater (obviously) with lots of crunchy surprises from the fresh pomegranate arils and the pistachios and it looks pretty too. As a little twist to the already amazing tasting dessert, I added salted pistachios instead of the plain ones. Sometimes a tiny little addition or substitute in a recipe can become a game changer. You really need to taste this one. It’s something very, very special.

If you want to make one single tart instead smaller tartlets, you can of course do that. It will yield an 8 inch round tart. The pastry or base here is baked while the filling is not. By all means you can use a no-bake crust using cookies or even a store bought pastry shell if that makes things easier for you.

Rosewater Tartlets With Pomegranate And Salted Pistachios
Makes 6 tartlets

For the pastry
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup, icing sugar mixture
100 g chilled butter, roughly chopped
1 egg yolk

For The filling
150 ml heavy cream
250 g white chocolate, roughly chopped
1 tsp rosewater
1-2 drops pink food colouring (optional)
fresh pomegranate, to serve
dried edible rose petals, to serve
salted pistachios, to serve

To make the pastry

Process the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and process until mixture just comes together. Gently knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 3 mm-thick disc. Line six, 7 cm fluted tart pans with a removable base with the pastry. Trim edges. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place the tart pans on a baking tray. Line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or dried rice or beans. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Remove paper and weights and bake for a further 15 minutes or until pastry is light golden. Remove from oven and let cool inside cases to room temperature.

To make the filling

Meanwhile, bring cream to the boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate and rosewater. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Add food colouring and blend well. Allow to cool. Pour cooled white chocolate ganache over cooked tart bases. Place in the refrigerator to set completely.

When serving, top with fresh pomegranate seeds and salted pistachios.

Chocolate Chip Cake with Pomegranate

1|09|2017

Who doesn’t love a decadent chocolate cake? We all do but not everyone likes to mess around with melted chocolate or rather the process of melting the chocolate. Multiple dishes, careful supervision and then chocolate is extremely sensitive to heat. It can seize, it can solidify quickly if added to cooler ingredients like cream so yes it’s a bit tricky for the novice cook. Believe it or not, I get asked often as to how a chocolate cake can be made rich without adding melted chocolate. The answer is simple! A good quality cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed) and lots of chocolate chips. Have you ever tried a warm cake with chocolate chips in it? Try it and let me know. The itsy bitsy pieces of chocolate when warm become like puddles of gooey decadence inside a cake and it’s oh so delicious!

Like most of my recipes this is one bowl, easy, small (because when you experiment for the first time, you keep it short and sweet and just for family or close friends). Double up if you want a bigger cake. All the decadence in the cake is balanced out by fresh pomegranate seeds that also gives the cake a fresh, tart flavour and a crunchy bite. It’s all about the texture! If you do not like pomegranates, like some of you said to me on Instagram yesterday, by all means add berries, oranges or just top with chocolate chips (there’s no such thing as too much chocolate, right?)

I made a simple buttercream for this recipe and not my usual Swiss meringue buttercream because I have budding bakers and novice chefs in my mind for this one. But the buttercream is still AMAZING! Really, you can’t go wrong with cocoa either!

To my Aussie friends, Happy first day of spring! If you aren’t already tired of hearing it, hear it once again..Spring is my favourite time of the year. It has always been associated with beautiful memories and happy times. Among the things I’m most looking forward to is my Mum’s visit a week from now and the Tulip festival at the Southern Highlands which is short drive from Sydney. To the others, enjoy the mellow beauty that is Autumn. We are so lucky to be connected with people from around the globe in this amazing virtual world, allowing us to take a peek into each other’s seasons and stories.

Chocolate Chip Cake with Pomegranate
Makes a 6 inch round cake

65 g butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup self raising flour
2 tbsp Dutch processed Cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Cocoa Buttercream

125 g unsalted butter, softened
11/2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp milk (more if needed)
3 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degree C for fan forced ovens). Grease the bottom and sides of a 6 inch round pan and line the base with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together till smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat till combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder and milk and mix to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan. level the top with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and leave in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
When cool, frost (pipe o r just spread)with cocoa buttercream. Top with fresh pomegranates. Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve at room temperature or warm.

To make the Cocoa Buttercream, using an electric mixer or a hand mixer beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the sugar, a little at a time beating well until fully incorporated. Add the cocoa powder and milk and beat again until no white streaks appear and buttercream is fluffy. If it is too thick, add another tbsp of milk to lighten up.

Pots de Creme with Rose and Pomegranate

4|02|2016

Rose flavoured desserts were a big part of my childhood. While flavoring milk, cardamom, saffron and rose would take precedence over chocolate and vanilla. Even before I tasted anything with rose, the colour of the dessert/drink would catch my eye. Rose pink as they call it. Such a soothing colour and such a refreshing flavour!

Pots de creme is another favorite in our house. The tastiest and easiest way to use up those egg yolks. Can you believe that a few egg yolks and cream can whip up something so delicate and spectacular? The flavours you can play with are endless and some are right there sitting in your pantry. Like lemon or orange (a tsp of zest does it), cinnamon, maple syrup, honey, coffee, chocolate or plain vanilla. Want something more creative, use ginger, berries, nuts, caramel, lavender,coconut, saffron and the list goes on.
The addition of rosewater in this dessert reminds me of warm summer days back home and chilled glasses of rose milk that my Aunt served up after a tiring game of catch with my cousin at the park during school holidays. ‘Did you wash your hands?’ she would look at us questioningly. All I could think of was that glass in front of me. So pink, so delicious!

Not much has changed after 3 decades! I could not wait for these to chill. And I could not stop myself from eating them.
They are sure to impress your Valentine!

Notes : If you are using farm fresh eggs that have deep yellow or orange yolks, the colour of your custard might differ slightly. I generally use the grocery store eggs for making this dessert especially if I am using color. I’ve learnt it from experience!
You could use other fruits instead of pomegranates. Raspberry, strawberries and cherries make a good substitute.
The pomegranate seeds could be placed on the bowl before the custard is poured for a surprise element when one is eating or you could serve them as a topping like this one.

Pots de Creme With Rose and Pomegranate
Serves 5-6

1/2 cup milk
11/2 cup heavy/thickened cream
1 tbsp rosewater
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup castor sugar
1-2 drops pink food coloring
Pomegranate seeds, to serve

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C ( 140 degrees for fan-forced ovens) .Combine cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat. Add the rosewater, mix and keep aside.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Pour the warm cream mixture over the egg yolk mixture, little at a time whisking constantly until smooth. Take care not to add the entire cream to the eggs together as it can overcook the eggs resulting in scrambled eggs. Mix in the food color and strain the mixture into a pouring jug.

Divide the custard into five or 6 lightly-greased, ramekins or ovenproof cups. Place in a deep baking tray. Pour boiling water into baking tray until halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake custards, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until just set (while the centres are slightly jiggly when shaken). Remove from the oven and take the ramekins out of the water bath. Leave to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with pomegranate seeds, silver cachous or grated white chocolate. You could decorate with edible, dried rosebuds or petals.

Chocolate, Raspberry And Pomegranate Clafoutis

20|05|2015

In the last couple of years we have changed houses several times. Renting gives you the absolute freedom to explore different neighborhoods, scenery, lifestyles, landscape, people etc. When we packed our bags, a few years ago and left for a new country, I doubt if we ever imagined that a rather large part of our belongings would still remain in those bags, lest we move again within the finite boundaries of a dynamic country. I still have boxes that were taped years ago and remain unopened till this day. Old books, albums, glassware. showpieces and so on. Why unwrap them when you might have to pack again? On the other hand, the things we acquired in recent times continued to grow along with storage to accommodate them. Choosing a place to live, initially is more about the external aspects than internal ones. Easy access to stores, parks, hospitals and proximity to the buzz of the city centre. Over time these get replaced by a different set of priorities. For us it was the school for the boys. Fortunately we were able to move closer to the school which was a blessing considering the significant amount of time they will be spending there.

Lately, we have been craving the sense of security and settling down that comes with owning a house. Where you unpack for a good 20 years at least! You don’t fret ovet a teeny chocolate stain on the carpets because the house you are living in belongs to someone else. Where you can colour the walls in ombre shades and hang pictures of children and cakes side by side. Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at properties in various locations and it dawned upon me that my dream house would be a combination of bits and ideas from 3 display homes that I have been to and an old house. Probably that is why it is a dream! The only challenge is the school. Do we limit ourselves by the distance to the school or do we focus on the suburb even though commute time may go up. Heaps to consider, assess and evaluate and I have been quite preoccupied with these thoughts.

Fortunately, there is not much to think about when deciding a quick dessert for the colder months. It is clafoutis for me, over crumble this autumn. Simple, quick,warm and full of variety. If you look up clafoutis recipes, the most common ones are the cherry, peach and berry clafoutis. Every time I tasted this beautiful dessert before this, I wondered what would stop someone from adding more texture to the batter. Without a doubt, classics are a hit for a reason and I would lick my spoon every time I had one. But I am equally adventurous and I had to put in a few other elements to find out myself, if is does any justice to the dessert. I was happy with the result. A warm chocolate flavored sweet treat, melt in your mouth, tart raspberries, nutty hazelnuts and sweet crunchy pomegranate seeds.

Now you tell me, would you dislike eating something like that? Do you like to be experiment in the kitchen? What would you consider before owning a house…convenience, space, stylish interiors or comfort?

Chocolate, Raspberry And Pomegranate Clafoutis

1 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup hazelnuts, skinned, toasted
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup unprocessed cocoa powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 9 inch oven proof dish (I used a tart pan) with melted butter. Place the raspberries, pomegranate seeds and hazelnuts on the base of the pan. Whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla, flour, cocoa, and sugar in a large bowl. Do not over mix the batter. Pour the batter over the raspberries, pomegranates and hazelnuts. Bake for 40 mins or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.. Let clafoutis rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, then dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm with fresh cream or ice cream.