Ginger and Rosemary Biscotti

In case you think that biscotti are just too complicated and rather uppity for their own good, I can assure you that they’re not – they’re really just fancy rusks that have been cut into thin slices (with apologies to any Italians out there). Biscotti are actually quite easy to make and once you have a good basic recipe, you can vary the flavourings to your heart’s content.

This recipe actually came about rather organically. First my friend Alice gave me some crystallised ginger for Christmas, which got me thinking about how to use it. I’d been craving biscotti so I decided it would be a good opportunity to try making some ginger-flavoured biscotti – but it felt like something was missing…

Then I was browsing Pinterest for a completely different recipe for a main meal and suddenly rosemary, which was one of the ingredients, caught my eye, somehow I made a connection (clearly the biscotti conundrum was sitting somewhere at the back of my mind) and I began to wonder what ginger and rosemary would taste like together. I decided it was worth a try – then I simply added the nuts I had on hand, which happened to be walnuts, and some coarse Himalayan salt for extra taste and crunch. And lo and behold, it worked! 🙂

Berry Pavlova (or Meringues)

In my personal opinion, pavlova is one of the most beautiful and delicious desserts you can serve and it’s actually not that difficult to make, although it does take a while to cook. I think it’s the combination of colours, tastes and textures that makes it such a winner – it’s crispy, creamy, sweet and tangy (especially if you use berries) and it melts in your mouth. I’m salivating just thinking about it!

I use the same recipe to make individual choc-chip meringues, simply adding chunks of chopped-up dark chocolate to the mixture. (If you’re not afraid to go OTT, you could even add chopped chocolate to the pavlova mix.) These are always a huge hit at parties, especially when served with very slightly sweetened, whipped cream. People who don’t normally even like meringues have told me that mine are the only ones they will eat. 🙂

Chocolate and Vanilla Puffs

From a supremely healthy seed and nut cracker recipe to an extremely decadent cream and chocolate confection in one week! Yes, it’s true – I’m all about embracing the extremes. 🙂

This recipe is perfect if you want to impress without putting in too much effort. It’s really easy because you’re using (ready-made) puff pastry, and just adding filling and topping. After all, how wrong can you go with cream and chocolate? Of course if you want to be adventurous and make your own pastry, feel free. I should warn you though that puff pastry is one of the most challenging to make yourself.

I also make something very similar using choux pastry, which ends up as éclairs with either cream or a lemon-flavoured filling and chocolate on top (or not). It takes more effort though as choux pastry is best made at home and the lemon filling requires several steps, although it’s well worth it for the result. One day I’ll post that recipe too but for today, we’ll go simple.

Tri-Colour (or just Chocolate) Mousse

This is one of my favourite dessert recipes as it’s somewhere between a mousse and a cheesecake – two of my best things!

For years I’ve made it in a simple, dark chocolate version, then recently I decided to experiment with a tri-colour collection of dark chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Because you’re working with three different flavours, you need to pay close attention to each step and do a bit of multi-tasking (which is why this recipe is classified as medium to difficult), but it worked really well and I think is well worth the trouble for a special occasion. Serve it in small bowls as it’s quite rich.

For those who aren’t feeling so adventurous, I’ve also included here the simpler, dark chocolate version, which is totally delicious on its own. Or you could check below for how to make the vanilla or strawberry versions instead. Each flavour is quite easy on its own – it’s just when you’re making three at once that it becomes more complicated.

Chocolate Oat Brownies

These chunks of deliciousness are very quick and easy to make and are the perfect comfort food for those days when you just really need something to get by. They’re also great to take to get-togethers when you need to bring a plate, want to take something homemade and don’t have much time available to spend on it. As an added bonus, they still taste good a few days later, although it’s doubtful you’ll have any left by then!

Peanut Butter Biscuits

This is a recipe my Gran used to make and I have many memories of greatly enjoying them as a child. Once she shared the recipe, I started making them myself and to this day, many years later, people always exclaim how delicious they are. They are also very simple and quick to put together and bake, so perfect for last-minute guests or an emergency hostess gift.

Scones Recipe

There is no doubt in my mind that the best scones in Cape Town are served at Kirstenbosch Tea Room. They are moist and fluffy to begin with, and when you add the jam and clotted cream they’re served with, it takes them over the edge into total deliciousness.

I’ve made scones for many years but was never particularly happy with them, especially after I started having tea at Kirstenbosch. So I decided to experiment with trying to recreate the Kirstenbosch scones. After much research on different techniques, I came up with this recipe, which I think is pretty close.

Spiced Carrot Cookies

These spiced bites are a bit like a carrot cake but in soft and chewy cookie form. They are perfect for a snack or teatime treat for kids or adults and you can make them as healthy as you like, depending on what ingredients you use. They are slightly sweet but not too much so and the sweetness comes naturally from the carrots, raisins and honey.

Tip: Using Left-overs

Herb salad with left-over spinach, beetroot and cranberry White Rock

I get weirdly excited when I can use up a bunch of left-overs or small quantities of fresh food that were just a little more than I needed for the original dish. In fact, I often buy/cook more than I need so I can actually create left-overs and then use them in something else.

Examples of left-overs could be meat or chicken from a roast, rice, grilled veggies like sweet peppers, onions or aubergines, the dregs of a can of sweetcorn, the last bits of cheese, the end of a packet of mushrooms or baby spinach, or the last spoon of cream cheese. Obviously the key with many of these ingredients is not to leave them too long before you use them, and definitely sniff them beforehand!

Chelsea Buns

It’s difficult to find a good chelsea bun these days. When I was growing up, there was a bakery up the road that used to make amazing ones – soft, thick and with just the right amount of raisins and icing that sort of oozed down into the bun. Sadly that bakery no longer exists, even if I did still live in the same city and could stroll up the road to it.

These days I find most chelsea buns are either too thin and crispy, more like a Danish pastry, or too sweet, a version of the Cinnabon which has made its way over from the States. Determined to try to recreate my childhood memory of the ideal chelsea bun, I experimented with adapting a recipe for sticky cinnamon buns.