Shakshuka

Here's a recipe for the brave....

It's a traditional Israeli breakfast called shakshuka.

All the ingredients are approximate.....

Fry up an onion with some capsicum and add some fresh, ripe tomatoes or use a can, and boil slowly. Add some chilli and cumin.

When I used to make it at home, I didn't add any spices, but cumin is traditional.

When the tomatoes are all soft and mushy and it's just about ready, drop in a couple of eggs to poach and close the lid.

Cook for 3 - 5 minutes depending on how hard you like the egg yolks.

It can also be made in a small paella pan and finished off in the oven.

Serve with crusty bread....dip and eat.

Black Forest Cake

Dene's Black Forest Cake

2x20cm round chocolate cakes using your favourite recipe

Mascarpone cream

500g mascarpone

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 tbs icing sugar

Cherries

2 1/2 tbsp cornflour

1 jar of Morello cherries (about 670gms)

75g-100g sugar (depends on how sour the cherries are.)

30ml Kirsch

500 ml whipping cream

200gm dark chocolate

2 tbls extra Kirsch

prepared cake board (I used a chopping board covered in pretty silver paper)

Method

Cakes

Bake the cakes according to recipe or packet instructions, cool over night then trim and slice in half. Place in fridge or freezer whilst preparing fillings.

Mascarpone cream

Beat the mascarpone, vanilla and sugar in a bowl until smooth and slightly thicker in volume.

Cherries

Drain the cherries and reserve the liquid, then mix the cornflour with enough cherry juice to make a paste. Reserve 12 cherries for the top of the cake.

Combine the rest of the juice with the cornflour paste and put into a saucepan with the desired amount of sugar. Cook, stirring, until it boils and thickens. Add the cherries and Kirsch, remove from heat and place in the fridge to cool.

Ganache

Break 150gms of chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.

Gently heat 75-100ml of cream in a saucepan until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate. Leave for a couple of minutes for the chocolate to soften then mix together until smooth. Put aside.

Cream

Whip the remaing cream with sugar to taste and the extra Kirsch. Take out one cup of whipped cream and set aside.

To assemble the cake

Place first layer on a board, spread half of the mascarpone cream on top of cake. Add one third of the cherry mixture and then top with one third of the whipped cream. Place on the prepared cake board and put in the fridge.

Place the second layer on the board. Take out half of the remaining cream and mix it with half of the remaining cherries, spread on the cake. Put the second layer on top of the first layer and place in fridge. Allow to set for 15 – 20 minutes.

For the third layer repeat the process for layer number one using the rest of the mascarpone cream, cherries and whipped cream then allow to set in fridge for 10 – 15 minutes.

For top layer, place cake on board, carefully spread ganache over the top of the cake, allowing a small amount to droop over the side of the cake. Pipe the reserved whipped cream into 12 rosettes on top of the cake; place a cherry on each rosette. Put final layer on top of the cake and refrigerate until needed.