Category Archives: Sweet Yummyness…

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Meringue mess at the House of Eels, Vermaaklikheid part 2 of 2

Continue from part 1 of 2 ….

So do you really want to know what the kids caught in the Eel room below the house…. while they waited for dessert? Maybe i should rather keep to the dessert…

Elzaan’s mojito’s out of a “box” with blueberries and mint…

For the Meringue Mess you will need to following:

4 packets of meringues, i like to use soft colours like cream, pink and purple.
(try to get good quality meringues or bake some yourself, they need to be goooey inside and not dried out completely)
1 tub of fresh cream
2 x 250g punnets of blueberries
1 x large punnet of strawberries
1 x flake (optional)
4 x tablespoons of sugar
some lemon juice

Visuals of the House of Eels

Make the Blueberry sauce:

Boil together one punnet blueberries, 4 tablespoons of sugar and 3/4 cup of water for +/- 8 minutes.
Strain the hot blueberry sauce through a sieve, and push as much of the blueberry pulp through the sieve with the back of a spoon. Add a BIG squirt of lemon juice and reduce further by simmering for another 10 – 15 minutes to get a rich black shiney slightly thick sauce. Let this cool completely (make in advance if possible).

Use a BIG bowl, and mix together the 4 x packets of meringues (break them up a bit), one tub of whipped cream, 1 punnet of fresh blueberries 1 punnet of halved strawberries, and the homemade blueberry sauce. It is important not to mix the ingredients too much, basically give it 2 stirs and that should be enough otherwise it might get too messy. You should still be able to see the individual ingredients …..

Serve on a BIG white flat platter as this is one of those visual feasts…. sprinkle with flake or chocolate shavings….

After dessert we all walked down to the river ….

This is such an untouched piece of paradise…

And when the sugar rush hits a HIGH, trust Bruce to take the team for a “penguin walk / dance” through the house while the “penguin song” blares over the Duivenhoks Valley….

The “penguin walk to the penguin song” don’t ask me what the song is really called , i have no clue…

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Creamy Lemon Tart, at Natanya, part 2 of 2

Continues from part 1 of 2, Natanya Birthday weekend…..

After a lovely lunch, featured in part one, we’ve moved on to the outside deck, overlooking the sea….

Natanya views…

This lovely tangy creamy lemon tart was the first item we’ve put on the menu during the weeks planning our weekend, as Shannon knows, this is my favourite dessert for any “special” meal…

The base was made the afternoon before.

For the Rich short-crust pastry you will need:

250g plain flour
175g butter
1 egg

Rub the flour and the butter together, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
If using a food processor, be careful not to over mix.
Beat the egg and add to the mixture. Mix till it forms a ball, and let the pastry rest for 20 minutes.

Waiting for the pastry to rest, Shannon enjoying one of several glasses of Genevieve MCC

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured cold surface. Line a greased 24cm loose bottom flan / quiche dish. Quiche dish works better as it is deeper. Let the pastry rest for another 30 minutes in the fridge, this helps that the pastry don’t shrink.

For the filling you will need:

6 extra large free range eggs (in Elgin we “free range” everything)
250ml castor sugar
120ml lemon juice
10ml finely grated lemon rind
160ml cream

Blind bake the pastry at 200 degrees centigrade for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly brown.

Reduce the temp to 150 degrees.

Beat the eggs and sugar. You want a nice creamy mixture. An electric beater or processor makes it easier. Stir in the lemon juice and rind. Whip the cream until stiff and gently fold into the egg mixture.

Pour into the base. (bake tart on a solid baking tray… when adding the egg filling to the base leave tray and tin in the oven, pull out the shelf half way and pour in the filling, LESS MESSY)

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until set but still slightly wobbly.

Cool, and remove from tin. (so here i’ve asked Shannon, what do i call this tin, tart pan, quiche tin, and she answered “you call it ‘tin’, and if they don’t know what that is they should not be in the kitchen….)

Dust with icing sugar once cooled completely. (You can bake this tart up to 6 hours before you want to serve it, do not refrigerate, and serve at room temerature)

Lemon tart and our new favourite “wax paper” for serving

We’ve served this Creamy Lemon Tart on sheets of wax paper, with heaps of strawberries and marscapone… AND glasses full of Genevieve MCC, a match made in heaven…

Guests…

The guests stayed till late to watch the beautifull sunset…

Natanya sunset…

Natanya sunset…

And the next morning we could not wait to sit on the “stoep”, with mugs of coffee and the last little piece of CREAMY LEMON TART…looking at the pictures….

The morning after the LUNCH before…

NATANYA, the food, the friends…………

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Chocolate Fudge Tart

Earlier this week Shannon forgot to pick Abby up from school, o dear, she felt so bad about forgetting her that i got a delivery the next morning on my desk at the office….

One little slice of this heavenly chocolate tart. Luckily it did not take a lot of convincing to let her make it again for me this morning.

For the Chocolate Fudge Tart you will need:

240g unsalted butter cut into small blocks at room temerature and slightly soft
360g dark chocolate, we’ve used Albany with slivers of almond (don’t use chocolate with big pieces of nuts, if you don’t find the one with almond slivers, then use plain dark chocolate)
290g light brown sugar
4 tbsp water
5 large freerange eggs
pinch of salt
50g finely chopped pecan nuts
cocao powder for dusting
Double thick cream for serving but this is really optional…

Greasing the tin…

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees..
Grease a 20cm springform cake tin, or slightly smaller tin, don’t go bigger…
Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan and dissolve the sugar and bring to a rolling boil for about 1 minute or until all the sugar is dissolved, don’t boil too long, it should not go brown.

Bring the sugar and water to a rolling boil…

Place the dark chocolate and butter in a large heatproof mixing bowl, make sure the chocolate is broken into small pieces as the warm sugary water needs to melt the chocolate and the smaller the chocolate and butter, the easier it will melt.

Chocolate and butter

By now the sugar should be reaching a rolling boil, remove from the heat and slowly pour the bubbling sugar and water mixture over the chocolate and butter pieces.

Melted sugar reaching a rolling boil..

Don’t stir, let it rest for about one or two minutes.

Melting butter and chocolate

Slowly start to stir the mixture, don’t panic if it looks grainy, it should come together, just let it rest for another couple of minutes and stir again, untill the butter is completely dissolved. It is important for the butter to be at room temperature and soft otherwise it won’t melt into the chocolate.

Seperate the eggs, stir the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture and allow it to cool completely.

Adding the egg yolks…

Chop the pecan nuts fine, we prefer them fine to prevent them from dropping down to the bottom of the cake, add to the chocolate mixture.

Chopped Pecan Nuts…

Whisk the egg whites to form firm peaks, add the pinch of salt to the egg whites, slowly fold into the cooled chocolate mixture, don’t over mix.

Pour 2/3rds of the mixture into the greased loose bottom tin, remember ONLY 2/3rds of the mixture as strangely this is a double baked chocolate tart… not too sure why but it works…

Spud and the chocolate tart…

In the tin… and leave some mixture for later…

Bake in the pre heated oven for 40 minutes, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool.

At this stage we’ve had some tea on the stoep, overlooking the beautifull Elgin Valley…. and gave Spud the attention he demanded the whole morning while we were busy in the kitchen..

Having a cup of tea, overlooking the Elgin Valley..

Spud..

As we walked back into the house, Shannon asked me {DOES THAT CAMERA OF YOURS HAVE A SMELL SENSOR? AS IT WILL FLIP THE ROOF WHEN YOU WALK BACK INTO THE HOUSE! And believe me, the smell of warm baked dark chocolate hits your sense like you cannot believe…

Once the cake is cooled, gently push down the cracked top with anything flat, gently and just slightly, then pour over the remaining uncooked chocolate mixture (the last 1/3rd). Return the cake to the oven and bake a further 30 minutes.

The “second” bake…

I find this “raw batter” being baked on the “baked tart” quite strange, but magically this really works to give it a fudgy gooey consistency at the end…

The Second bake..

Keep to the baking times of the cake , the skewer should not come out completely clean as the cake still needs to be gooey inside.

Testing the second bake..

Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin, at this stage I sadly had to go home, so Shannon packed the warm cake safely into a box for my journey home.

For the yourney home…

Once home, I’ve let the cake cool completely before I’ve turned it out.

Dust with cocoa and serve as is, or with a dollop of double thick cream…

Chocolate Fudge Tart…

This tart can be made the day before, just don’t put it in the fridge, I would prefer to make it in the morning before you want to use it, as i think that nothing tastes like “freshly baked” warm chocolate…

Chocolate Fudge Tart..

Enjoy, i can just imagine that this will work well for a packed picknick as well…

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Carrot Cake….at Lands End, Victoria Bay

Before i tell you more about this delicious Carrot Cake, i first need to tell you a little bit more about THE PLACE, no better setting to showcase this Carrot Cake than Lands End, Victoria Bay….

A perfect setting for a long weekend or beach holiday.

Lands End, situated in the seaside hamlet of Victoria Bay. The last house of about 12, tugged into the bay, on the Garden Route coastline. Lands End, a mere 10 minutes drive to the closest shops, but it is so secluded that it feels like a little piece of paradise with the ocean a mere 3 meteres away from your front stoep.

Lands End Victoria Bay

Memories….

We booked the two bottom units of the house, Point View and Bay view, Point View with two bedrooms sleeps four and Bay View with only one bedroom with a pull out couch for small children. Both units with their own kitchen but if you book them together it forms a lovely single unit with a large front stoep, and this is where you will spend your days, on the stoep. The front stoep is very well protected and even if it’s raining you can still sit there and just breathe in the view and amasing scenery.

Lands Stoep


The two main bedrooms are so close to the water, literally 3 meters. It is the last house, so it’s situated right on the point of the bay, in the morning the voices of the surfers, sitting on their boards, waiting to catch a wave wakes you up, this is really a gem of a weekend getaway spot.

There is a small swimming beach, which is about 2 minutes walk back towards the entrance of the bay, and a lovely tidal pool for the smaller children.

Swimming Beach…

I’ve decided to bake Belinda’s Carrot Cake for our Lands End weekend, as you can make it up to two days in advance, keep it in a airtight container till needed and ice at your destination.

Make the Carrot Cake as follows:

1: Mix together : 2 cups of sugar , 4 eggs and 1 and a half cup of canola oil.

2: Sift together and mix with sugar mixture: 2 cups flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp bicarb of soda,
1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt.

3: Mix together and add to the above: 3 cups grated carrots, 3/4 cup grated coconut, 1 cup chopped pecan or wallnuts, 1 cup crained crushed pineapple (don’t drain too much).

Bake in a 30cm springform pan at 180 degrees for 45 – 55 minutes or untill a skewer comes out clean.

I’ve used a large ringpan. Make sure you butter the pan very well, and let the cake stand for at least 15 minutes after baking before you turn it out.

Carrot Cake

For the Cream cheese icing you will need:

125 ml butter
500 g sifted icing sugar
250 g cream cheese

Cream the butter and gradually add the icing sugar. Add vanilla, followed by the cream cheese. Don’t beat too much as the cream cheese will become watery.

I always have a little bit of extra icing sugar on hand, add if the cream cheese icing is a bit soft….

Lands End Carrot Cake on the stoep, watching the surfers…

Serve thick slices of Carrot Cake with copious amounts of warm tea……

If more friends come to visit, tuggg in…

And tomorrow, if more friends come to visit, they will tuck in as well…

And before you go home, take a brisk walk along the old railway tracks towards Wilderness…

Lands End, a great place to visit, take some friends with and spend your days on the stoep having Carrot Cake and warm tea….

WE WILL GO BACK TO LANDS END….

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Warm Apple Cake with Butterscotch sauce…

Comfort food at it’s best, Warm Apple Cake with Butterscotch sauce made with fresh yummy sour Granny Smith apples straight from the packhouse on the farm…. As seasonal as you can get…

Stormy winter weather on the farm…

The Cape of Storms, a mere flip over the hill… today we’ve experienced it’s fury, while the family was sitting snug and cozy in front of the fire, i was cooking away in the kitchen..

Today’s Apple Cake is made with Granny Smith apples, grown and packed here on the farm…

Granny Smith apples, packed and ready for the Markets…



For the cake you will need:
190g cake flour
200g castor sugar
10 ml baking powder
2 eggs
45ml melted butter
125ml milk
4 Granny Smith apples, cored and peeled, cut into 8 segments per apple
30g butter for frying the apples..

Method: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, grease a 6 hole large muffin pan or one large 20cm cake tin. I prefer to use the large muffin pan. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, except the apples, don’t overmix, use a wooden spoon…

Saute the apples with 30g of butter over a low heat until golden in colour, this will take a while but adds so much flavour to the final taste.

Fill the bottom of the tin with the caramelised apples, one nice thick layer. Pour the cake mixture over the apples, fill about three quarters full…

Bake for 30 minutes if using the muffin tin and 45 minutes for a larger cake tin.

Make the sauce while the cake bakes, you will need:

125g butter
250ml milk
200g castor sugar

To make the sauce, simmer together the butter, milk and castor sugar for about 15 minutes or until thickened.

Pour one tablespoon of the warm sauce over each muffin size apple cake as soon as the cake comes out of the oven, and let it rest for about 10 minutes before your turn them out.

Serve with the rest of the warm sauce… and enjoy with a cup af bitter tea… bitter, as the apple cake is sweeeeeeet…..

I LOVE stormy winter weather….

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Decadent Caramel yumminess….

Ingredients:
250g margarine
1 tin caramel condencemilk
500g icing sugar
2 t instant coffee mixed with 2 t boiling water
1 t vanilla
2 packets crushed Marie biscuits.

Melt margarine and caramel, don’t boil. Add sifted icing sugar and mix.
Add coffee and vanilla and crushed Marie biscuits, don’t crush it too fine…..

Spread in flat tin, +/- 30 x 15 cm but any baking tin you can cut in.
Cut in SMALL blocks, 2 x 2 cm and place in fridge for 2 hrs till set.

Once set lift out with spatula and store in fridge.