NZ Woman's Weekly calls this a "boozy feijoa and gingernut pudding". But that's a terrible name for it. It's long, unweildy, and -- despite giving you half the ingreient list in the title -- tells you very little about what the dessert is actually like. But, having made it now, it's basically a tiramisu. But with feijoas instead of custard/saboyon, gingernuts instead of ladyfingers, and sherry or feijoa brandy instead of coffee.

Okay, yes, that is a lot of subsitutions and the final result doesn't taste anything like a traditional tiramisu. But the technique, form, and texture is very tiramisu like, even if the flavour profile is very different. So I stand by this being a "feijoamisu".

Photo goes here.

Feijoamisu

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 250mL heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 200g mascarpone cheese
• 500g feijoa pulp, mashed
• 1 packet Gingernuts
• 1/4 c. sherry or feijoa brandy
• 10-20g dark chocolate, grated

Directions

1. Whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla.
2. Stir the mascarpone and feijoa pulp.
3. One at a time, dip the Gingernuts in the sherry, spread each with a generous quantity of the cream mixture, and place it in a 23x13cm loaf tin to make two parallel rows of cookies and feijoa cream.
4. Once all the Gingernuts have been used, scoop the rest of the cream mixture into the pan to cover up the biscuits.
5. Cover and chill for at least an hour.
6. Uncover, dust with grated chocolate, and serve.

I am continuing to work my way through the various combinations of waffle batters, mix-ins, and toppings in the Breakfast Bible. Today I decided to try the "classic" batter with coconut and macadamia nuts mixed in. And, since we still have a surplus of mascarpone, I decided to top it with that (and a bit of maple syrup). It made for a very nice combo! Although I've scaled up the inclusions here as I didn't feel like 1 Tbsp. each of the nuts and coconut was sufficient.

Coconut-Macadamia Waffles with Lemon Mascarpone

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 190g all-purpose flour¹
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened dried shredded coconut
• 2 Tbsp. chopped macadamia nuts
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g mascarpone
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla sugar
• maple syrup, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, coconut, macadamia nuts, and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and mix to combine.
4. Beat the eggs with the milk.
5. Add the butter to the milk mixture and mix in the vanilla.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
7. Pour one portion of batter into the waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Meanwhile, mix the lemon zest and vanilla sugar into the mascarpone and stir to combine.
9. Serve the waffles topped with mascarpone and maple syrup (if using).

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¹ I don't have any all-purpose flour right now, so I just used 120g of bread flour mixed with 70g of pastry flour. ^Back

I'm used to making parfaits with fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola. You can vary the fruit, add different flavours to the yogurt, try different types of granola or even swap it out for something else entirely (cocoa nibs, wheat germ, graham cracker crumbs, etc.) But those are the general components that I'm familiar with. That's the formula.

This recipe takes a significantly different route.

It still layers fresh fruit with dairy and something crunchy. It just swaps out what you're actually using as your dairy and "cruncy" components.
Instead of yogurt, you beat whipping cream with marsarpone and white chocolate for your dairy component.
For the crunchy... crushed amaretti biscuits.

This all works quite well. The cheese, chocolate, raspberries, and amaretti all make for an excellent (if very rich) final dish. I'm looking forward to having the leftovers after dinner tonight! Yum!

Mascarpone-Raspberry Parfaits

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 375g mascarpone cheese
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 100g white chocolate
• 500g raspberries
• 30-35 amaretti biscuits, coarsely crushed

Directions

1. Beat the mascarpone with the cream for 10-20 seconds.
2. Gently melt the chocolate over very low heat.
3. Drizzle the chocolate into the cheese mixture while beating vigorously. Continue beating for an additional 30-60 seconds.
4. Spoon a few raspberries into the bottom of each glass. (This made 8 small parfaits of ~200mL each for me.)
5. Spoon a bit of the cheese mixture on top of the berries.
6. Sprinkle some cookie crumbs into the cheese.
7. Repeat layers until glasses are full and all of the ingredients have been used.
8. Chill until ready to serve.

Keeping the poached fruit train rolling! And this plum recipe was next up. TF and I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the pears or the quince, but it was still good. And I'm enjoying getting to try all of these different poached fruit desserts.

This one calls for one bottle (750mL) of red wine that has been seasoned with cloves, star anise, and ginger and sweetened with 1 c. of sugar. But, since I was still using leftover syrup from the previous poached fruit recipes, I just chose to add the relevant spices and 1 c. of red wine to the syrup I already had.

For the actual recipe below, I've written it up as given in the book. But I'll try to briefly run through what I actually did here. Just so that I have a record of it.

• Made a syrup of 2 c. water, 2 1/2 c. sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest; poached qince in it
• To the residual syrup, added 1 1/2 c. white wine, peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise; poached more quince in it
• To that residual syrup, added 1/2 c. white wine and fresh ginger; poached pears in it
• Finally, to the resulting syrup, added 1 c. red wine, cloves, and additional star anise; poached plums in it

Poached Plums with Vanilla Mascarpone

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 750mL fruity red wine
• 17 Tbsp. sugar, divided
• 2-3 slices fresh ginger
• 3 whole cloves
• 3 whole star anise
• 2 (7cm long) cinnamon sticks
• 900g red or black plums, peeled and quartered
• 1 c. mascarpone
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine the wine, 1 c. of the sugar, ginger, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil.
2. Add plums, reduce heat slightly, and simmer until softened (8-10 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, combine the mascarpone, vanilla, and remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar.
4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer plums to bowls.
5. Serve topped with mascarpone.

These were absolutely delicious! TF and I both had seconds. I really loved the combination of flavours and textures. (Even if I did undercook my caramel slightly.) This is definitely my new favourite thing to do with quince!

I did cheat slightly on the syrup for these quince. Recipe as written, it's meant to be made with an entire (750mL) bottle of Riesling, 1 c. of sugar, and a few spices. But I still had a bunch of syrup left over from making the quince poached in vanilla syrup the day before, so I just added the spices and a bit of white wine to that and called it a day. This does mean that my final syrup was a bit different than the recipe called for though:

• The original recipe called for a 1:3 ratio of sugar to liquid (by volume); my starting syrup was 1.25:1 sugar to water (which I then diluted with wine to bring it closer to 1:1.5)
• The original recipe used Riesling as the liquid; mine had a mix of water and white wine
• The original contained star anise, cinnamon, and black peppercorns; mine had those, but also the residual vanilla and lemon zest from the previous recipe

I was quite happy with the overall result. And I was pleased that I was able to reuse the vanilla syrup from the first recipe. The catch is that this does make it somewhat difficult to write up accurately.

I've written up the recipe below based on how I'd do this next time if I didn't have the pre-existing vanilla syrup to build on. I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but I think it would give good results.

Poached Quince with Mascarpone, Caramel, and Gingersnaps

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Quince

• 750mL Riesling
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 (7cm) cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/2 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
• 3-4 quince, peeled and halved¹

Caramel

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 2/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Assembly

• 225g mascarpone
• 6-8 Tbsp. crushed gingersnaps

Directions

1. Combine the Riesling, sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, black peppercorns, and vanilla bean and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Add the lemon zest and quince and reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Simmer until quince are tender (~1 hour).
4. Meanwhile, combine sugar and water for caramel, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Uncover and continue cooking, swirling (but not stirring) often until sugar turns a rich caramel colour².
6. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the cream. Stir until smooth.
7. Stir in the butter, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.
8. Once quince are tender, remove from heat and allow to cool in poaching liquid.
9. Use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the cores.
10. Mix 3 Tbsp. of the poaching liquid into the mascarpone.
11. Place a quince half in each bowl and top with a generous spoonful of mascarpone.
12. Drizzle with caramel, sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps, and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for poaching the quince first and then coring them. I found this quite tricky to do. Next time I'd be tempted to try coring them before poaching. (With the obvious caveat that I have not had a chance to test this approach yet.) ^Back
2 I ended up burning the last batch of caramel I made, so I was a little paranoid this time and took mine off the heat a bit too soon. The flavour was fine, but the colour was very pale and unappealing. I think it needed another 30 seconds or so to properly darken. ^Back

I was looking for an easy, relatively healthy dessert the other day and this fit the bill. And, as an added bonus, it even used up the last of the mascarpone that was left over after making the last batch of tiramisu!

The original recipe called for macerating the cherries with a bit of sugar. But it also called for Ranier cherries. For the sake of convenience, I just ended up using some frozen dark, sweet cherries. I didn't feel that these needed any extra sweetening, so I just used them as-is, with the cascarpone on top.

Cherries with Vanilla Mascarpone

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. mascarpone
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 340g pitted sweet cherries

Directions

1. Mix the sugar and vanilla into the mascarpone and set aside.
2. Get out two bowls and put half the cherries into each.
3. Spoon half of the mascarpone mixture onto each portion of cherries and serve.

Tiramisu (Dish of the Day)

I really liked the tiramisu recipe that I got from Bon Appetit. I would have just stuck with making that recipe, however there was also a tiramisu recipe in the Dish of the Day cookbook that I've been working with lately. And I wanted to see how that compared (and also be able to check it off).

Although the two recipes shared many similarities, there were a few striking differences. Probably the most significant was the proportion of mascarpone and cream. This version had 50% more mascarpone relative to the BA one, but only 25% as much cream! (It also had twice as much rum.) This recipe also included more than twice as much rum. And, although it had about the same amount of sugar overall, it divided it up differently. The BA recipe put most of the sugar into the saboyon (egg yolk mixture) and only 1 Tbsp. into the coffee. This recipe, meanwhile, put almost 60% of the sugar -- a whole 1/4 c.! -- into the simple syrup for the coffee and only a scant 3 Tbsp. into the saboyon.

Overall, I think I prefer the BA rendition of tiramisu. That said, this one was still good. And I did prefer McMillan's method of making the coffee bath. Making a simple syrup first and then mixing in the coffee and rum ensures that the sugar is very well dissolved and means that you can put more sugar into the coffee without it sinking to the bottom and separating out. I quite liked the sweeter coffee bath. I think it makes it a little more balanced. And I'm also a fan of the higher cheese content of this version. Although I did feel it was a bit skimpy on the cream.

I think next time I'll do a mash-up of the two: Use the coffee bath from this recipe, but with the rum content of the BA one; use the saboyon recipe from BA, but include the vanilla from this one; use the mascarpone content of this recipe, but bump up the amount of whipping cream to be somewhere between what's called for in this one and the BA instructions. Hopefully that will make a nice, balanced tiramisu.

I've included two recipes below. The first is following the recipe as written from the book. This is what I actually did for this iteration. Below that are the instructions incorporating the adjustments discussed above. That's how I'd make it next time.

Tiramisu

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Coffee Bath

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 3/4 c. espresso¹
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. dark rum

Filling

• 45g (~2.5 Tbsp.) sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 c. mascarpone
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 18-22 ladyfingers
• cocoa, to dust

Directions

1. Combine the sugar and water for the coffee bath in a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, until sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Mix in the coffee and rum into the syrup and set aside to cool.
4. Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl and beat for a minute or two to mix very well.
5. Bring ~5cm of water to boil and set the bowl over the water. Beat the yolk mixture on medium speed with an electric mixer for 7-8 minutes. The mixture should become pale and at least double in volume, forming ribbons when the beaters are lifted out of the mixture.
6. Once the saboyon (yolk mixture) is cooked and ready, remove from heat and beat in the mascarpone and vanilla.
7. In a separate bowl, beat the cream until stiff.
8. Fold the whipped cream into the yolk mixture.
9. To assemble, dip the ladyfingers into the coffee bath. Working with one biscuit at a time, dip it and then place it into the bottom of a loaf pan (or container of your choice). Use ~1/3 of the biscuits for the bottom layer.
10. Top the biscuit layer with ~1/3 mascarpone mixture.
11. Repeat the layers twice more. (Three layers each of biscuits and mascarpone, ending with mascarpone.)
12. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours.
13. Dust with cocoa and serve.

Improved Tiramisu

Ingredients

Coffee Bath

• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. instant coffee
• 3/4 c. boiling water
• 2 Tbsp. dark rum

Filling

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. white wine
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 c. mascarpone
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 18-22 ladyfingers
• cocoa, to dust

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¹ I didn't have any espresso, so I just used extra-strong instant coffee. The instructions called for 1-2 tsp. per cup of hot water, so I used 2 tsp. for 3/4 c. Next time I think I'd make it even stronger. Maybe 1 Tbsp. for 3/4 c. ^Back

I still kind of can't believe that I found a recipe that fit my ingredients so well. I had cream cheese, fresh goat cheese, and mascarpone to use up. This cake uses all three. And it calls for cranberries and pistachios, both of which I had in the freezer. And the cranberries have been going begging for months now, so I was thrilled to finally have a use for them. (I kept contemplating trying to make cranberry curd to use as either a cake or pie filling, but never quite getting around to it.)

And the cake was delicious. Not, I think, my favourite cheesecake, but it was still really good.

The cake itself is very simple. Just cheese, eggs, and a bit of sugar and vanilla. No crust either! The topping is a little more complicated since you have to poach the cranberries and then strain them and use the poaching liquid to make a gelée. Plus there's making the candied pistachios. But none of those tasks are particularly onerous. I think the worst part of making this cake was all the waiting! Everything needs to be cooled and cilled to set up properly, so it takes forever to be ready to eat. (I actually got impatient and cut mine before the topping had completely set. It was still tasty, just a bit messy.)

Goat Cheese Cake with Wine-Poached Cranberries and Candied Pistachios

Slightly adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients

Cake

• 375g cream cheese, softened
• 225g fresh goat cheese
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 vanilla bean
• 340g mascarpone
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

Topping

• 1 c. port¹
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2-3 strips of lemon peel (~2cm x 5cm each)
• 225g fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 Tbsp. cold water
• 1 1/4 tsp. unflavoured gelatin
• 1/2 c. candied pistachios

Directions

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and wrap a 23cm (9") springform pan in tin foil.
2. Combine the cream cheese, goat cheese, sugar, and salt.
3. Split open the vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds, and add them to the bowl with the cheeses and sugar. (Put the vanilla pod in your sugar bowl or save it for another use.)
4. Beat the cheese mixture for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the mascarpone and beat it in.
6. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
7. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared springform and place it in a roasting pan or other large vessel. Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it comes ~2/3 of the way up the side of the foil-wrapped springform.
8. Carefully transfer the cake in its bain marie to the oven and bake at 160°C (325°F) for ~60 minutes².
9. Transfer springform pan to wire rack to cool.
10. After 1-2 hours, transfer cake to fridge and chill for at least an hour or two before proceeding. (Overnight would be better, but I'm not that patient!)

Topping

1. Combine wine, sugar, and lemon peel and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, for ~3 minutes.
3. Add cranberries and cook until they begin to pop (~3 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool (~1 hour).
5. Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer, reserving both the cranberries and the poaching liquid. (Discard the lemon peel.)
6. Place cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelain. Set aside for 5 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, return poaching liquid to pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
8. Cook, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
9. Remove from heat, add softened gelatin, and stir until dissolved (~1 minute).
10. Pour mixture through a fine mish strainer into a bowl and let cool to room temperature. Skim off any foam or bubbles.
11. Pour gelatin mixture over the chilled cheesecake, tilting to completely coat the top of the cake.
12. Chill, uncovered, until gelatin has set (~1 hour).
13. Meanwhile, make the candied pistachios as directed.
14. Once gelée has set, decorate the cake with the poached cranberries and candied pistachios.
15. Run a hot knife or offset spatula around the edge of the springform pan, then remove the sides.

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¹ I didn't have any port and I didn't want to go out and get a bottle just for this, so I mixed ~1 tsp. of brown sugar into a cup of dry red wine and called it a day. ^Back
2 I checked my cake after 60 minutes and it still seemed really, really jiggly, so I gave it another 10. Then I was worried that it still wasn't done, so I turned off the oven, but put it back in the warm oven for another 10 minutes. I think that last 10 minutes in the warm oven may have been a bit too much though, because my cake came out kind of crumbly. Next time I should probably cook it a little less. Oh well... ^Back