Festive recipe: Steamed Christmas Cake

Steamed Christmas Cake
Makes one cake, serves 8 - 10

Ingredients
125 g dried cranberries
150 g chopped dried figs
75 g mixed citrus peel
60 ml Brandy
125 g (1/2 cup) soft butter
60 g (6 Tbls) Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
2 XL eggs
Rind of one lemon
1 T fresh lemon juice
125 g (1 cup) fresh bread crumbs
75 g self raising flour
3 t mixed spice powder
50 g diced almonds
¼ cup apricot jam to glaze
Vanilla ice cream or custard to serve.

How to make it
Combine the cranberries, figs, citrus peel and Brandy, marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Chop the marinated fruit (with the brandy sauce) into tiny pieces.
Beat together the butter and Canderel Crunch until light and fluffy.
Before adding the eggs, add 1 teaspoon of the self raising flour to the butter and sugar mixture and beat well to avoid curdling.
Add one egg at a time, beating well.
In a large bowl, combine the butter mixture, marinated fruit, lemon rind, lemon juice, bread crumbs, flour, mixed spice and almonds. Mix well.
Trace the outline and inside circle of a bunt cake tin onto wax paper. Cut out the rounds.
Grease the bunt tin very well and scoop in the cake mix. Gently flattening the mixture.
Cover the cake mix with the wax paper and flatten it down onto the cake surface.
Cover the entire tin with extra strong tinfoil, tucking overlapping foil underneath. Tie baking string around the lip of the tin to secure the foil and create a kind of steam oven.
Place the bunt tin in a large pot. Add water to the pot until it reaches half way up the cake tin.
Bring to the boil and gently simmer for 2 hours, checking every half hour that there is still enough water, and if not, add boiling water.
After two hours carefully remove the cake from the boiling water and partially remove the foil to insert a skewer to check if the cake is ready. If it is cooked through, replace the foil cover and return the cake to the water (turning off the heat) and allow to cool in the water bath for a few hours.
Once cooled, store it in your refrigerator (in the cake tin) for up to 2 months.
When you are ready to serve, steam the cake in the same manner as above for half an hour to heat through.
Melt the apricot jam in the microwave for a few seconds and brush over the hot cake.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Festive recipe: Spiced Butter with Sweet Potatoes

Spiced Butter with Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the sweet potatoes:
1 kg orange flesh sweet potatoes

Spiced butter:
8 T (120ml) salted butter
2 t Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
2 t nutmeg powder
1 t cinnamon powder
1 t chilli powder

How to make it

For the sweet potatoes:
Bake or boil the sweet potatoes until soft.

Spiced butter:
Melt the butter in a pan.
Add the Canderel and spices, mix well and cook for a few minutes for flavours to infuse.

To serve: Cut or tear the hot sweet potatoes open and drizzle with hot melted spiced butter. Serve immediately.

Festive recipe: Spiced Dukkah with Duck Fat Potatoes

Spiced Dukkah with Duck Fat Potatoes
Serves 8 as a side (makes 1 ½ cups Dukkah)

Ingredients

For the Dukkah:
½ cup almonds, chopped
½ cup mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and flax work well)
½ T coriander seeds
½ T black pepper corns
½ T cumin seeds
½ t Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
1 t Salt
½ t chilli flakes

For the potatoes:
2 kg large roasting potatoes
2 T corn flour
¾ cup duck fat
Salt

How to make it

For the Dukkah:
In a hot pan, toast the almonds till golden. Set aside to cool.
In the same pan, toast the seeds until they start to pop and become golden. Set aside to cool.
Toast the coriander, black pepper and cumin until fragrant. Set aside to cool.
TIP: It is very important that all the ingredients are cool, otherwise the moisture will cause it to become a paste instead of a dukkah.
In a pestle and mortar, roughly crush the coriander, pepper and cumin mix.
In a food processor, combine the almonds and seeds and blend until roughly chopped (only a few seconds).
Add the coriander mix, Canderel, salt and chilli flakes and blend for another few seconds until it reaches the desired consistency.
Store in an airtight container until needed.

For the potatoes:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks.
Boil the potatoes in salted water until just soft.
Drain and allow to cool slightly and dry completely.
Place potatoes in a large container with a lid and add the corn flour. Cover the container and shake the potatoes around to cover with corn flour and break slightly (the more torn edges, the crispier they will fry.)
Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
Scoop the duck fat into a large baking tray and heat in the oven for 20 minutes (before adding the potatoes).
Once the fat is extremely hot, carefully scoop in the potato pieces and toss around to cover with fat – be very careful, as the fat is very hot.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, tossing every now and then, until golden and crispy.
Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

Serve hot with the spiced dukkah.

Festive recipe: Champagne Jellies

It’s celebration time!

This time of year (albeit insanely busy for us) is addictively festive. These little Champagne Jellies are an impressive (and dead easy) skinny dessert you can make a day or two in advance.

Champagne Jellies
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 leaves gelatin
360 ml Champagne, Method Cap Classique or Dry Sparkling Wine
2 t Canderel Crunch with Stevia
Fresh berries (blue berries and raspberries work well) and pomegranate rubies

How to make it
Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes until soft.
Over a water bath of simmering water, gently heat 180ml of the Champagne and the Canderel.
Squeeze the water from the gelatin leaves and add to the Champagne mix. Stir until dissolved and remove from the heat.
Add the remaining 180ml Champagne.
Add some berries to 4 Champagne glasses (about a tablespoon per glass).
Divide the Champagne mix between the glasses, allowing the berries to settle.
Refrigerate overnight to set.
Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with friends and family ;)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

The LekkerBek office is covered in red ribbon and glitter! 

Hoe cute are these custom pamper gifts? It’s a tin apple filled with goodies from The Body Shop surrounded by delicious chocolates in a hand made wire beaded basket. Love it! 

Visit www.lekkerbek.co.za for more festive gift ideas.

Posole Rojo

We adapted this traditional chunky Mexican soup from the Thug Kitchen cookbook, and although all the recipes in the book are vegan, we’ve added some beef for our meet-eating family, but it will be equally delicious without it.

This soupy spicy one-pot-meal is fantastic served with a whole array of crispy fresh accompaniments topped with a squeeze of zesty lime juice.

Posole Rojo
Serves 4

Ingredients
6 large dried chilies
1 ½ cups warm water
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 T cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 red onions, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
350 – 400 g beef or pork mince (or tempeh for a veggie version)
1 T dried oregano
3 tsp cumin powder
1 cup carrot, cubes
1 cup cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
Soy sauce
1 can red kidney beans (or hominy)
5 cups good vegetable stock
Salt

For serving
Fresh limes
Shredded cabbage
Sliced spring onion
Fresh coriander
Baby radish wedges

Optional: Tortilla crisps

Method

In a deep heavy based pot (the same one you’ll be using for the rest of the recipe) toast the dried chilies for 3 – 5 minutes until they become fragrant and bendy (don’t burn them) and remove the stems. Soak the chilies in the warm water for 20 minutes. Roughly chop them once finished soaking and reserve the water. TIP: Remove the seeds at this point if you want it less spicy.

Combine the garlic cloves, cocoa powder, chopped chilies and soaking water in a food processor or chopper and process until fine with no remaining chunks.

Fry the onion in the oil for about 3 minutes then add the mince to brown.

Add the oregano and cumin and fry for a minute or two.

Add the carrot and cauliflower and a splash of soy. Stir to combine all the ingredients.

Add the vegetable stock and chili sauce you made earlier and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Season to taste with salt.

Serve hot with all the fresh accompaniments.

The Swartland Revolution

The husband and I spent the most fabulous weekend sipping wine, open air dining and talking all things viticulture in the little town of Riebeek Kasteel, tucked away in the Swartland Winelands. 

The 500 tickets for this year's Revolution were sold out in 2 minutes! So one can say that the festival has garnered somewhat of a cult following. The aim of the weekend is to showcase wines from the Swartland region and talk all things wine during the 3 'seminars' - well organised but still casual in approach. (Read about the tastings in more detail in this article by Tim James: WineMag) 

More about the Swartland Revolution:
www.theswartlandrevolution.com

Here are my highlights in pictures: 

Designer G&T's on the lawn of the Royal Hotel.

Our first tasting with Pax Mahle from Wind Gap in California. 

Dinner under the stars.

Hangover burgers and coffee.

We tasted some devine (and one-of-a-kind) wines at 9 in the morning!

Craft beer and snack break.

The last tasting hosted by John Platter (who specially came out of retirement for this event).

Picnic (and loads more wine) on the lawn.

LekekrBek Festive Gifts

Visit 

www.lekkerbek.co.za

for our delicious range 

of Festive Gifts.

Coffee Granita

Joburg has been hit by a heatwave, and what better way to cool down than with a frozen coffee?

Coffee Granita

Serves 6 – 8 

Ingredients
2 cups (500 ml) strong black coffee or espresso, freshly brewed
½ cup Huletts brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Fresh whipping cream, cold
Huletts castor sugar
Instant coffee for garnish

Method
Dissolve the sugar in the coffee, stirring well. Add the Vanilla extract.
Pour into a large flat bowl and place in the freezer. Check on it every hour or so, and once ice crystals start to form use a fork to break them up by stirring it gently. Continue this process until it is completely frozen.
Once the granita is ready, whip the cream and sweeten to taste with castor sugar.
Scoop the coffee ice crystals into serving glasses, top with a dollop of whipped cream, sprinkle over some instant coffee and serve immediately.

Busveld Dreaming

We spent a magical week in the Madikwe Game Reserve. Going on fresh morning game drives, sipping chilled white wine and G&T's in the heat of the day, taking afternoon naps, watching the super-moon rise, chatting by fire light... an amazing weekend with family. 

Take me back!

#soulfood