Crullers

I discovered these heavenly things completely by accident while in New York. Ralph and I had secured spots for the St. Patrick's Day parade, and I went off in search of coffee to keep us from freezing to death (I don't deal well with cold). 

I saw a lady sitting outside a tiny little patisserie having a cup of coffee and one of these. I asked her if the shop was any good and she excitedly told me that this doughnut she was having was amazing. I wasn't convinced, but went inside and ordered one anyway, with two cups of coffee.

Can you tell it was cold? I wasn't wearing my gloves and windbreaker yet at that point. Of course, it hadn't started snowing yet. Why do I look like I'm smiling at some sort of drooling psychopathic dog who's about to attack me? That's me trying to decide whether to be happy about an amazing parade or burst into tears and demand to be taken somewhere with heating (I really don't deal well with cold). The parade won- for a while..

That cruller was just incredible.. They just look like doughnuts on the outside, but inside they're doughey and holey- like an eclaire. In fact, they are eclairs, just deep fried ones. I fell in love with them that day. I wonder why they're not more ubiquitous? I was determined to make them at home, and blow everyone away. And boy did I.

Crullers
From Food Network

1 cup water
114 g unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cake flour
3 - 5 extra-large eggs
Canola oil, for deep frying

3 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk

1) Place water, butter, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a strong boil.
2) Remove from heat, add all the flour, and stir hard with a wooden spoon, until it's uniform.
3) Return to the heat, and stir continuously while cooking the dough a bit to evaporate some moisture. Do this for about 2 minutes.
4) Place mixture into a bowl, and start beating.
5) While beating, start adding the eggs, one by one. Make sure each egg is perfectly incorporated before adding the next. After adding 3 eggs check- if the dough is glossy, and slowly drips off the beaters, it's done and no more eggs should be added. Otherwise, add eggs until the dough becomes the right consistency.
6) Line a couple of baking sheets with wax paper. I drew outlines on mine so that I knew how to pipe the crullers (about 2 1/2 inch rings, I used the outside squares).

7) Fill a piping bag with the mixture.

8) Pipe rings onto the wax paper:

9) Place the baking sheets in the freezer for 1 hour. This will make the crullers easy to lift.
10) Make the glaze: mix the milk and icing sugar until smooth.
11) Heat up about 2 inches of oil on a medium heat.
12) Gently lift off and place the crullers in the oil, fry until golden, and turn over. Drain on paper towels once cooked.
13) Dip the crullers into the glaze, and drain.

14) Let them cool, then serve for breakfast, or tea, or naughty midnight snack that you eat alone before falling into the sweetest sleep.

Espresso Cake for Baby Shower

Little girls are soft, pink, pudgy, wet, and cause for great celebration. A colleague of mine is said baby's daddy-to-be, and he'd been asking for this cake for almost a year now (We both love Smitten Kitchen). I'm not a huge fan of coffee, and so I've just be putting off, but I wish I hadn't. This cake is so balanced, the smooth softness of the cake, the creaminess of the icing, the bitterness of the coffee, and even that slightly drunken rum taste.

I work as a programmer in finance, so for the past couple of years I've been working almost exclusively around men. I have to say.. I miss girls SO MUCH. I miss drinking tea, caring about each other's lives and having all this wonderful support that women provide for each other. However, every now and again, I'm allowed to have feelings around here and I go all out!

One great thing about working with men- if I make them a cake, they eat it! Even if they're supposed to be on a diet.

Espresso Chiffon Cake with Fudge Frosting
From Smitten Kitchen

Cake:
60 ml (1/4 cup) canola oil
6 eggs, separated
90 ml espresso (for those of us who don't own a machine- this is roughly a triple espresso)
10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup cake flour
250 ml (1 cup) sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar

Syrup:
80 ml (1/3 cup) espresso
125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar
80 ml (1/3 cup) dark rum

Icing:
180 g dark chocolate (I used Bournville)
4 1/2 cup icing sugar
360 g unsalted butter
45 ml milk
45 ml cream
1 tblsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 180 C. Get 3x 8 or 9 inch cake tins, and line the bottom with wax paper. Don't grease.
2) Combine canola oil, egg yolks, espresso, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
3) Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl.
4) Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy, add sugar gradually, and beat to soft peak stage.
5) Fold together egg yolk mixture and dry ingredients.
6) Add a large spoonful of the egg white mixture, and fold in gently.
7) Add the rest of the egg white mixture and fold in completely.
8) Split the mixture between the pans. Bake cakes for about 15-20 minutes depending on depth, until a toothpick comes out clean.
9) Take tins out, and let the cakes cool in them.
10) Mix together espresso, sugar and rum in a small bowl.
11) Melt the chocolate, cool, then place all the ingredients for the icing in a bowl and mix until smooth.
12) Now, take you final serving plate, and begin with the first cake. Place it in the centre, and use a brush to soak it with the syrup. Then add about a 2 cm layer of icing.
13) Add another cake on top, repeat the soak and icing.
14) Add the final layer of cake, soak, and now ice all around the cake, piping around the edges.
15) Decorate at will!

Vetkoek and Mince

In my mind, this is just the best South African meal. Ralph's cafeteria used to make it as a special on Thursdays and I would exercise extra hard just so that I could go over there and have some. I guess people who haven't tried it would compare it to a curry sloppy Joe? Except the vetkoek itself is so much better than just some roll.

I made this as the main course for our Mother's Day meal. Vetkoek is very similar to a dish my grandma used to make, and both my mom and I love to be reminded of her. In her recipe, she would make a mince mixture, and fold the dough around it, leaving some of it peeking out. I can still picture her tiny hands (is Radiohead playing in your head right now?) smoothly and professionally pulling and squeezing the dough wrap around the mince. 

I know people feel content with buying their mom presents and special meals for Mother's Day, and I tend to do the same. But is there ever really enough you can do to show your mom just how important she is? Does spending a day in the kitchen making her one special meal tell her how much it means to you that she made you mashed potatoes every day for months when you were little and refused to eat anything but that and pickles?

Vetkoek and Mince

From The Ultimate Book of Baking by Heilie Pienaar (no longer in print)

4 cups cake flour

15 ml sugar

3 ml salt

10 g instant dry yeast (1 packet)

30 ml sunflower or canola oil (I would even use olive)

About 400 ml lukewarm water

Sunflower or Canola oil, for deep frying

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped (or crushed)

500 g lean beef mince

20 ml curry powder

5 ml masala

3 ml turmeric

2 ml ground cumin

3 medium potatoes, chopped into small cubes (I like very small)

1 medium carrot, grated

About 250ml beef stock

1) Whisk together flour, sugar, salt and yeast. 

2) Add oil. 

3) Add water, bit by bit, until the dough comes together. It should be quite soft. 

4) Knead until it becomes smooth and elastic. 

5) Place in a bowl covered in a damp cloth to rise, until doubled in size.

6) Knock down and knead a bit. Then divide into balls. I made roughly tennis-sized balls, but traditionally you would want them flattish and about double the diameter.

7) Heat the oil in a deep pot (oil should be at least 8-10 cm deep) on a medium heat. Fry the dough balls until deep brown. The larger the balls, the lower the heat, as you want them to cook through. Drain on a kitchen towel before serving.
Now for the mince:

8) Heat some oil in a large pan, fry onions until translucent, add the garlic and fry until fragrant.

9) Add the mince, and fry until brown and caramelised.

10) Add the spices and cook for a couple of minutes. It should start smelling pretty fantastic.

11) Add potatoes and carrot, and add enough stock to cover everything. Cook until potatoes are tender, and sauce has thickened.

12) Serve warm mince inside the vetkoek, preferably very fresh, as it has a wonderful crunch when it is.