Quince and Apple Butterscotch Sponge
Delicious desert
Author: Alan Simmons
Recipe type: Desert
Ingredients
- Sponge.
- 130g self raising flour
- 100g butter
- pinch of salt
- teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 1 egg
- 200 mil of milk
- Butterscotch sauce
- 100g brown sugar
- 150 mil hot water
- 2 tablespoons of golden syrup
- Fruit.
- Cut up into chunks one large quince and 1 large apple. You want to ¾ fill a shallow cooking dish so do more if you want and in whatever ratio of quince to apple you want. Look at photos.
Instructions
- Add cut up fruit to a shallowish oven proof dish.
- Sprinkle over fruit with quite a bit of brown sugar as the fruit will need sweetening during cooking.
- Or alternatively you can put the fruit into a pot, cover with water and add sugar, bring to boil and then let sit until you are ready to assemble the desert. This saves the fruit from discolouring.
- Drain. Still cover the fruit with sugar in the bottom of the dish.
- Mix the egg, flour, vanilla, milk and the melted butter into a bowl and mix well into a runny batter.
- Pour the batter all over the fruit.
- heat in a pot the butterscotch ingredients and when all melted together pour over the top of the whole mixture. This will sink to the bottom during cooking.
- Sprinkle liberally brown sugar all over the top of the finished dish.
- Bake in a 180 c oven for 35 minutes.
- Serve with yogurt or cream.
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Surplus quinces, plums or lemons
A great tip.
Author: Alan Simmons
Instructions
- A good trick with surplus fruit is to just freeze them until required.
- With Quinces, lemons and plums just place them in a supermarket shopping bag or like and put in the freezer.
- When you want to use them just remove as many as you want and in the case of the plums just stew them with some sugar.
- For the quinces you can grate them to make Jam with. Or let them thaw and slice up for stewing with sugar.
- With the lemons just grate them. You get the zingy lemon zest as well.
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Quince Cheese
This makes a great homemade gift idea. Quince cheese is great on biscuits or on a cheeseboard.
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- A number of quinces. Amount irrelevant at this stage.
- Sugar to match.
Instructions
- Cut up the quinces into chunky pieces. Do not peel them.
- Put in a large pot and cover with water and then simmer them for at least two hours.
- Push the pulp through a sieve and then repeat the process so that you get a clearish liquid.
- Weigh that liquid and then add to a large pot with an equal amount by weight of sugar.
- Simmer for at least a couple of hours until you can wipe a wooden spoon across the bottom and it does not close up for a second or two. ie you can see the pot bottom briefly.
- Pour into molds or line a shallow dish with greaseproof paper and pour into that. When set cut into pieces and either store in a container or wrap with greaseproof paper into small parcels.
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Orange Roasted Duck
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- Sauce:
- 1 orange
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 2 chicken stock cubes
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons arrowroot
- ½ cup sweet sherry
- ¼ cup Grand Marnier
- salt, pepper
- 2kg duck
- 60g butter
Instructions
- Fill duck with favourite stuffing.
- Place in roasting pan, brush with melted butter.
- Bake in moderate oven 1 hour, brushing occasionally with juices in the pan.
- Remove rind from orange, and any white pith.
- Cut rind into strips, drop into boiling water, boil three minutes; drain.
- Put sugar, vinegar, water, crumbled stock cubes, orange and lemon juices and blanched strips of orange rind into saucepan, stir until boiling; boil rapidly until sauce is reduced by half.
- Blend arrowroot and sherry, stir gradually into sauce, stir until sauce boils and thickens; reduce heat, simmer 2 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper to taste, stir in Grand Marnier.
- Drain pan juices off duck, add prepared sauce to pan; brush duck well with sauce.
- Return to oven, bake further 40-50 minutes basting frequently with sauce until duck is cooked and well glazed.
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Stewed Quinces
Author: Alan Simmons
Recipe type: Desert or breakfast
Ingredients
- A number of quinces.
Instructions
- Do not peel the quinces.
- Slice the quinces into quarters leaving the core and then slice up the quarters into thin wedges or like.
- Put into a large pot and add sufficient water to cover the fruit.
- Add quite a lot of sugar. The amount is really a personal preference so as they cook taste and add if you want.
- Cook the quinces slowly. The longer they simmer slowly the pinker the colour will come.
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Baked Quinces
Cook time
Total time
A Yummy way of impressing at a dinner party
Author: Alan Simmons
Recipe type: Deserts
Cuisine: New Zealand
Ingredients
- 1 large quince per two people.
- Brown sugar
- Orange juice
- Cinnamon powder
- Grapes / raisins/ sultanas/ Optional.
Instructions
- You can either remove the core of the quinces with a knife or apple corer but it is quite hard. If you can do it then that's great. Or you can quarter the quinces. Do not peel.
- Place the quinces in an over proof dish and pour about 1 cup of orange juice and 1 cup of water around them...Add more if you wish..
- Sprinkle cinnamon over the quinces and then sprinkle liberal amounts of brown sugar over the pieces. Pack brown sugar into the core cavity if you have cored the quinces as well as raisins, grapes, dates or anything else that takes your fancy.
- cook slowly in the oven at 150c for about two hours.
- Serve with custard and the juices.
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Spinach wrapped fish fillets
This is a delicious change to eating fish and very easy to make.
Author: Alan Simmons
Recipe type: Fish and vegies
Cuisine: New Zealand
Ingredients
- A number of large spinach leaves.
- Fillets of fish cut into pieces about the size of your thumb.
- Onion
- butter
- pepper and salt
- various herbs as in recipe below
- lemon or lime zest or juice.
Instructions
- Remove the hard stalk from the large spinach leaves by cutting them in a V shape and lay one on a board with the large end towards you. You can also add another leaf to fill any broken areas or bulk it out a bit.
- add a nob of butter at the beginning where you are going to lay the fish.....and sprinkle pepper and salt on the leaf as this seasons the whole wrap when finished..
- lay a few half rings of onion and then lay down a piece of fish.
- Add whatever you want at this point in the way of spices or herbs. I like a fine touch of star anise and lemon zest. another is to use a sliver of mango or a smudge of green curry past.... some chilli or really you can make several different ones.
- Wrap the spinach leaf up folding the edges in so you get a nicely wrapped parcel and place in a bamboo steamer or if you don't have one any steamer would do.
- Make other parcels and add them to the steamer. I find 3 per person enough.
- Put steamer on a pot and about 10 mins cooking is enough once the steam is happening.
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Quince Jelly
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 8 large quinces
- 2kg sugar
- 4lt water (enough to cover quinces)
Instructions
- Wipe fruit, do not cut or peel.
- Place whole fruit in preserving pan with sugar and water.
- Bring to boil then maintain a rolling boil for 4 hours, skim froth occasionally.
- When the liquid hangs from the spoon in large drops it's ready.
- Lift out fruit and pour liquid into hot jars and seal.
- Save fruit this is delicious as a desert with custard or ice-cream.
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Apricot Jam
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 1 kg firm ripe apricots-halved-stoned
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1kg sugar
Instructions
- Bring apricots, water and lemon juice to boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes or until apricots are tender.
- Add sugar stirring constantly with wooden spoon (without boiling) until sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to boil, then boil uncovered without stirring for about 30 minutes or until jam will set when tested.
- Stand for 5 minutes before bottling into sterilized glass jars - seal while hot.
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Lemon Curd
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup sugar
- rind and juice of 2 lemons
Instructions
- Beat eggs and put into a bowl with butter, sugar, finely grated lemon rind and strained juice of both lemons.
- Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water, stir until mixture is thick and smooth.
- Pour into clean warmed jars and cover.
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Pineapple Curry Sauce
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 2 X 450g slighlty underipe pineapples
- 1 tablespoon peeled chopped freash ginger
- 5 garlic cloves
- ¾ cup chopped onion
- 1 sliced green pepper
- salt to taste
- 1½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon tumeric
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced onion
- 5cm piece of cinnamon stick
- ¼ crushed cardmon seed
- 3-4 curry leaves or 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon rosewater
- 1 tablespoon Spirulina
Instructions
- Twist leaves from an slightly under ripe pineapple, peel, core and cut pineapple into cubes.
- In a blender or food processor grind ginger, garlic, chopped onion, sliced pepper, salt, pepper and turmeric.
- Heat oil in saucepan over moderate heat until it's hot.
- Add sliced onion, cinnamon and curry leaves (or bay leaf)- saute the mixture until onion is golden.
- Stir in pineapple and ginger/garlic mixture, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in honey and raisins and cook, stirring constantly until honey is absorbed.
- In a small bowl mix flour with the coconut milk and pour onto pineapple mixture.
- Simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in the rosewater and Spirulina.
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Lemon Delicious Pudding
Author: Alan Simmons
Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons margarine
- 1¼ cups caster sugar
- ½ cup self raising flour
- grated rind and juice of 2 ripe lemons
- 4 eggs, separated
- 300 ml milk
- small quantity icing sugar for 'dusting'
Instructions
- ream sugar and margarine together, blend in flour, lemon rind and juice.
- Mix together well, stir in egg yolk and milk.
- In a separate clean bowl whisk egg whites until stiff, then gently fold into the lemon mixture.
- Pour into a lightly greased shallow casserole dish.
- Place casserole dish in a baking dish then fill baking dish with water to go half way up the sides of the casserole dish.
- Bake in a moderate oven (350C) (180F) for 35-40 mins or when turns golden.
- Dust lightly with icing sugar, serve as is or with whipped cream.
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Citrus Sorbet
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¾ cup water
- 2 teaspoons gelatine dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 egg white
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon or orange rind
- 1 tablespoon Cointreau
Instructions
- This can be served up an as entree or enjoyed as a dessert.
- Chill glasses for serving.
- Gently heat sugar and water in saucepan until sugar dissolves.
- Allow to cool.
- Add gelatine to syrup, then sitr in fruit juices.
- Pour into a freezer tray and freeze for 1 hour - or until it begins to set.
- Remove from freezer and place in bowl.
- Whisk egg white until firm (making sure you use a clean bowl) fold this into fruit mixture.
- Add grated fruit rinds and Cointreau.
- Return to freezer tray and freeze for a further 2 hours.
- Whisk again if necessary before serving.
- Serve in well chilled glasses.
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Strawberry Ice Cream
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 3 punnets ripe strawberries (approx. 750g) discard any fruit that has been bruised.
- 4 tablespoons castor sugar (or to taste)
- 2 egg whites
- 300ml whipped cream
- extra strawberries halved for garnish
Instructions
- Wash and drain strawberries, blotting them with paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Remove hulls.
- Puree the fruit in a processor or an electric blender or food mill, or mash with a fork.
- Add the sugar and beat well until all the sugar is dissolved.
- In a clean, dry mixing bowl whip the egg whites with a whisk or beater until stiff. (peaks will form when beater is lifted)
- Mix into the strawberry puree, pour into ice cream trays, cover and freeze.
- (If freezing in trays beat mixture well when it's half frozen)
- Fold the cream into the strawberry mixture until thick but not stiff.
- Continue freezing it until mixture is firm.
- To serve up-tumble a few halved strawberries over the ice cream.
- Enjoy!!
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Pineapple Fruit Salad
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 1 large fully ripe pineapple
- 2 punnets strawberries
- (discard any if bruised)
- caster sugar to taste
- 4 large mandarins
- kirsch or orange liquer, optional
- mint leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Cut pineapple in halves lengthways, through the crown of the leaves.
- Run a short knife around the fruit about 1.2cm (1/2") from the shell to loosen the fruit without piercing the skin.
- Use a pointed knife to cut straight down through the core, dividing the fruit into about four spears.
- This makes it easy to lift from the shell in sections.
- Slice off, discard core and cut the fruit into cubes.
- Sprinkle with a little caster sugar and liqueur.
- Wash and hull strawberries, macerate in caster sugar and liqueur.
- Peel mandarins, removing all white membranes and seeds.
- Chill fruit until ready to serve up, then pile all fruit into the pineapple shell, decorate with sprigs of mint.
- Serve chilled.
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Watermelon Sherbet
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 1 large watermelon (making sure it has a good shape)
- sugar to taste
- 3 teaspoons gelatine
- ½ cup water
- rose water or lemon juice to taste
- mint sprigs for garnish
Instructions
- Wash melon and cut off top third of shell.
- With a melon baller make perfect melon balls from the solid flesh near the skin of the melon.
- Leave the softer, spongier center portion for the sherbet.
- Remove all seeds from the scraped melon and puree in a blender.
- Add sugar to taste, keeping in mind when frozen the sweetness diminishes somewhat.
- Sprinkle gelatine over cold water in a cup and leave for 5 minutes to soften, then dissolve over hot water.
- Stir into watermelon pulp.
- Add lemon juice or rose water to taste, then pour into freezer trays and freeze.
- When half frozen remove from freezer beat with beater, then return to tray and freeze again until quite firm.
- Decorate edge of melon with peaks (ie: zig zags made with sharp knife) cover with cling wrap and chill.
- Cover melon balls and chill separately.
- When serving use an ice cream scoop to make balls of the frozen sherbet and pile them into the watermelon shell together with the melon balls.
- Decorate here and there with sprigs of mint and serve immediately.
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Self Saucing Pudding
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 1 cup SR flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 55 g butter
- ½ cup milk
- Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- 1½ cups hot water
- 30 g butter
Instructions
- Pudding:
- Place all pudding ingredients in a large bowl and beat gently until mixed well.
- Place mixture in a greased deep casserole dish.
- Place all sauce ingredients in a saucepan.
- Stir over low heat until butter melts.
- Gently pour sauce over pudding mixture.
- Bake at 180 C for 30-35 minutes.
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Apple Bread n Butter Pudding
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 8-10 slices fruit bread
- 2 Granny Smith apples
- ½ cup bourbon
- 600 ml cream
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- ½ cup castor sugar
- 3 eggs
Instructions
- Remove crusts from bread, cut each slice in half diagonally.
- Core apples and slice thinly leaving skin on.
- Arrange bread and apples in a lightly greased ovenproof dish.
- Combine bourbon, cream, spice, sugar and eggs, pour over bread and apples.
- Stand for 10 minutes before baking at 180 C for 1 hour.
- Stand this in a larger baking dish with water coming up half way on side of dish.
- Serve warm or cold.
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Pavlova
by the way, Invented in New Zealand. No matter how often the Australians claim it the proof is very clear. Pavlovas are usually decorated with kiwifruit or strawberries and loads and loads of cream.
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- 3 tablspoons cold water
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 3 teaspoons cornflour
- whipped cream
- freshly sliced fruit of the season, if using bananas, slice then brush with lemon to prevent from browning.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven 150C.
- Using an electric mixer with a clean bowl.
- Beat egg whites until stiff.
- Add water and beat again.
- Add sugar gradually while still beating.
- Slow beater, add vinegar, vanilla and cornflour.
- Line an oven tray with baking paper, draw a 22cm circle on it.
- Pile the pavlova mixture to within 2cm of the edge of the circle, smooth surface over.
- Bake for 45 minutes, then leave to cool in the oven.
- Decorate with whipped cream and your choice of thinly sliced fruit.
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Basic Batter
Author: Alan Simmons
Ingredients
- 120g Self Raising flour
- pinch of salt
- ¼ pint tepid water
- 1 tbsn melted Butter
- 1 egg White
Instructions
- Sift flour in a bowl make a well in the center pour the butter in and gradually add the water.
- Beat well.
- Beat egg white until light n fluffy fold this into batter just before using it.
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