Month: July 2011

Almond meringue gateau with mango cream cheese filling.

This was inspired by a recipe I saw in one of my recipe books. The original recipe called for hazelnuts, raspberries and whipped cream filling, but obviously, as the title has indicated….I replaced them with almonds, mangoes and cream cheese.

I used almonds because it’s cheaper than hazelnuts and I happened to have them in the pantry. Same goes for mangoes.

As for the filling, although I had whipped cream, I thought it might render the meringue a bit too damp by the time I delivered it to Old Klang Road (where a bunch of us were having dinner) so I replaced it with cream cheese, which tasted like, oh I don’t know, 100 times better? Hahahaha.

# – Almond meringue gateau with mango cream cheese filling.

It should be quite stress-free to make this gateau but for some unknown reason, baking luck was not with me.

The recipe called for 4 egg whites…but I managed to waste about 7 eggs due to “reason of multiple yolk explosions in hand” before I managed to successfully separate 4 eggs. So yeah, total number of eggs used were 11, instead of just four :P

/hangs head in shame…

And then, believe it or not, I managed to burn my first batch of meringues. I’m guessing hazelnuts have higher burning temperature compared to almonds because my attempt to bake almond meringues at the temperature stated by the original recipe resulted in two burnt discs of rancidness.

/hangs head in shame again…

As dinner time was approaching quickly, I had to whip up a new batch of meringues at lightning speed. Thankfully, an almost yolk explosion incident was successfully averted and I even had the rare brilliance of turning the oven’s temperature down, resulting in perfectly baked almond meringues.

Final count of eggs used: 15.

Anyway, enough with the sob stories, lets begin on how to make this delicious pudding!

For the meringues:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 180 grams of caster sugar
  • A few drops of vanilla essence
  • 1 teaspoon of vinegar
  • 120 grams of ground almonds

For the filling:

  • 2 mangoes, peeles and cut into small cubes
  • 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
  • 300 grams of cream cheese, softened
  • 5 tablespoons of yogurt

# – First, beat the egg whites until fluffy and then gradually add in the caster sugar while still beating.

# – When the mixture has turned glossy, add the vanilla essence.

# – Followed by the vinegar. I used malt vinegar in this case. Beat for about 10 seconds more.

# – Next, fold in the ground almond.

# – Gently stir until combined.

# – Separate mixture into two 8″ pie/cake tins. I used non-stick silicon baking moulds but you can greased ordinary tins and lined them with non-stick baking paper.

# – Stick into preheated oven at 135 degrees celcius for about 40 minutes to 1 hour. Always check to make sure your oven’s not too hot to avoid burning. The final result should be slightly browned.

# – When done, leave the meringues out to cool down completely.

# – In the meantime, beat softened cream cheese and yogurt together until smooth.

# – Add a tablespoon of icing sugar to balance out the tartness.

# – Then throw in the cubed mangoes.

# – Gently fold to combine. The mango cream cheese filling is now done. I don’t recommend sticking it in the fridge as it’ll be hard to spread chilled cream cheese.

# – When the meringues have completely cooled down, place one piece on a serving plate and then spread the mango cream cheese filling all over.

# – Next, top with the other piece of almond meringue and dust icing sugar all over. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour. It tastes better chilled.

# – Almond meringue gateau with mango cream cheese filling, DONE!

The gateau is a combination of crispiness, nuttiness and crumbliness with the most decadent, almost savoury cream cheese filling. It is a true adult’s dessert. I brought the gateau to a dinner outing, which will explain the sudden change of lighting in my pictures.

# – Crispy, slightly crumbly almond meringues with a rich, decadent mango cream cheese filling.

# – Grill Sergeant Lance giving me the look of approval. Yay!

# – I can’t wait to make more!

The boyfriend was very happy with the pudding too and told me it’s like I’d combined my 3 big loves into one super dessert: pavlova, macaron and cheesecake.

Yeah baby, that’s how I roll it!

Salted plum pork chop recipe

This was an experiment that turned out really well. I wanted to grill some pork chops but was unsure of what to marinade the chops in. When I opened my fridge, the bottle of salted plums called out to me.

I love salted plums! I use them for this salted plum lemonade drink that is possibly one of my favourite drinks ever.

This recipe is so mind-boggling easy….all you need are 3 ingredients. YES, only THREE!

# – Salted plum pork chop.

The ingredients:

  • 2 pork chops, with rind still attached
  • 6 salted plums
  • A dash of ground black pepper

# – First, in a bowl, throw in salted plums and pork chops.

# – Squash the plums and massage the chops with the flesh for 2 minutes.

# – Then sprinkle the ground black pepper all over the pork chops. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Don’t leave them too long or you’ll end up with salted chops :P

# – Heat up a well greased griddle till when you flick a drop of water in it, you will hear it sizzle (this is a method to check that your pan is hot enough).

# – Lay the chops over the griddle for 5-8 minutes depending on how thick the chops are.

# – Then turn over the chops and cook for 5-8 minutes as well.

# – With a thong, hold up the chop sideways to cook the rind…it will transform into beautiful crackling :D

# – Salted plum pork chops, DONE!

# – Juicy, succulent pork that’s perfectly flavoured with a bit of kick and crispy crackling to boot!

You know you want to make it happen :D