Rum, Caramel and Meringue Semifreddo

I love ice-cream. I like it soft and a little melty and any flavour will usually suffice. Maybe it's this hot humid weather that we experience this time of year in the north but I have been indulging in ice cream more than usual lately. I have a great recipe that I usually use to make a super delicious, super easy home ice-cream but have ventured out a little and found a different version that is still easy and yummo.

This recipe is a combination of a Caramel Semifreddo and Nigella's Meringue Gelato Cake. I added some rum ('tis the season) and created a delicious frozen dessert. You can call it anything really I won't hold it against you semifreddo, gelato or ice-cream. I'm sure there are proper definitions of each but it's all the same when its in my belly! The meringue gives it a little crunch of texture which I don't mind in ice-cream, and rum + caramel = great combination! Enjoy! Oh and apologies for the terrible photos, not my best effort :(

Rum, Caramel and Merengue Semifreddo

Adapted from Australia's Sweet Baking Favourites and Nigella.com

What you will need

4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
300ml thickened cream
1 can caramel top 'n' fill (or a tin of condensed milk boiled to caramel)
30mls rum
100g crushed meringues

What you will need to do

In a small bowl, whisk the caramel with the rum until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the cream and beat until thick. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture until just combined. Gently fold through spoonfuls of the caramel mixture and merengues until just combined, do not over mix. Pour mixture into a pan with at least 2l capacity. Freeze overnight.

Choc Chip Banana Bread

I love a nice slice of banana bread, toasted with a bit of butter. But you know what is even better? Banana bread with a sprinkling of choc chips! Most people I mention this recipe to react with 'That's unusual!', but I grew up making choc chip banana muffins so this combination seems pretty common.

This recipe is a great way to use up old bananas and is so easy to make. You pretty much just mix the wet and dry ingredients together then bake. It would make a great  recipe to introduce children to baking as you can do it all by hand and they will only need help with the oven.

I decided to make half of the flour wholemeal to try and add a bit of 'health' factor to the recipe but I should have upped the milk or butter a bit as I feel it lost some of the moisture (wholemeal absorbs more liquid than white) so after being in the fridge for a few days it did taste a bit dry. Feel free to experiment by increasing the liquid a bit, if you do let me know how it goes! Next time I make it I know I will tinker with it a bit more.

Choc Chip Banana Bread

Adapted from Australia's Sweet Baking Favourites by Nestle

What you will need

1 cup plain white flour
1 cup plain wholemeal flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 bag choc chips
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 large mashed bananas
50g melted butter

What you will need to do

Preheat the oven to 180*C and prepare a loaf tin by spraying the inside with cooking oil. In a bowl, combine the flours, sugar and choc chips (reserve a handful to sprinkle over the top). In a separate bowl combine the eggs, milk, bananas and butter. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into prepared tin and sprinkle the reserved choc chips over the top. Bake for approximately 40 mins or until the centre is fully cooked (check with skewer or cake tester).

Remove from oven and let cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out on to wire to cool completely.

Nanaimo Slice

I have been wanting to make this slice for some time now, ever since I tasted it at a local cafe. It is a canadian treat and I had never even heard about it until recently. This no-bake slice is made up of three layers. The first is a chocolatey, nutty, coconut, biscuit crumb base not dissimilar to chocolate slice or a cheesecake base. The middle layer is a custard flavoured buttercream filling and the final layer is a chocolate ganache. 

Richness overload! It is very sweet and indulgent. I probably could have halved the filling in the middle to make it less of a heart-attack-inducing treat. So I ticked this off my bucket list of baked goods (well technically no-bake) and put it on my "stuff to try for realsies list". Now that I have made them myself, I look forward to trying these treats IN Nanaimo, Canada...one day.

Nanaimo Slice

Adapted from I Wash You Dry

What you will need

For the base

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
5 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups plain biscuits processed to crumbs (you can use gluten free biscuits)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup desiccated coconut

For the filling
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tbs custard powder
3 tbsp cream
2 cups icing sugar

For the topping

115g milk or dark chocolate
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream

What you will need to do

Prepare a slice tin by lining it with baking paper and set aside. Set up a  heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water making sure not to let the bowl touch the water. Place the butter, cocoa, sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whisk until melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and quickly add the egg and whisk until combined. Return the bowl to above the saucepan and stir cooking for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the crushed biscuits, walnuts and coconut. Mix until all combined then press into the prepared tin. Place in the fridge to set.

To make the filling, beat the butter, custard powder and cream in a bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar until light and fluffy and sugar has dissolved. Spread out over the base and return to the fridge.

To make the topping, place the chocolate butter and cream in a heatproof bowl and place over the saucepan of simmering water just like for the base. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from the saucepan and leave to cool for about 10 minutes. Pour chocolate mixture over the top of the slice and spread out. Return to the fridge until the chocolate has set. Remove from fridge and slice into pieces.

Melting Moments with Strawberry Jam

I donate plasma as often as I can, it's such a wonderful thing to do and because I don't really make enough money to donate to charities I donate my time and my plasma instead. And the best part of donating blood or plasma is the food the lovely ladies feed you afterwards! There is always such a delicious selection of biscuits, cakes and savouries you always leave with a full tummy.

My favourite by far is the melting moments biscuits they serve. I cannot remember the brand, but they are large and individually wrapped. They literally melt in our mouth and are just what you expect the perfect melting moment to be. So naturally I had to try and recreate them for myself. I added a strawberry jam to these ones because of the abundance of strawberries that were around at the time so they are a bit of a melting moment / monte carlo hybrid. I have tried a couple of recipes to get the best one and this recipe was given to me by D's mum, it's just a recipe from a magazine but unfortunately I don't know which one :(

Melting Moments with Strawberry Jam

Adapted from Barb Northwood

What you will need

250g butter, room temperature

1/3 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour 

For the icing

100g butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

For the jam

100g strawberries, green leaves chopped off

100g sugar

1tsp gelatine

What you will need to do

Preheat the oven to 180*C and prepare a baking tray with baking paper. Set aside. Beat the butter and icing sugar in a small bowl until pale and creamy. Stir in sifted flour and cornflour until combined. Roll spoonfuls of mixture into balls and place onto the baking tray and flatten with a fork dusted in flour. Cook for about 12 minutes or until just starting to brown. Cool on the trays then transfer to a wire rack.

Meanwhile to make the jam, chop the strawberries into small pieces and place in a small saucepan. Add the sugar and cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, stirring all the time. Let mixture simmer until it thickens slightly. Dissolve the gelatine in one tablespoon of warm water then add to the jam mixture. Remove from heat and stir. Pour the jam into a heat proof container and place in the fridge to cool and thicken.

To make the icing, beat the butter  until light and creamy. Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until thick and pale. Spoon or pipe icing onto half the biscuits. Spread jam on the other half and then sandwich together.