' MAVIS in a candy store.....blog # 35 by 'cookingwithmavis'.

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’#35   “….‘Mavis in a candystore…..”

  'MAVIS IN A CANDY STORE......

We’d escaped our banal and suburban lives in Cape Town, for a weekend once more, in Bredasdorp , but THIS time, with trrrrrrrrrremmmmenndous  restraint, as ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’   was instructed NOT to bring, nor prepare, ANY food to take with!....

After all, if all those “Permanent Bredasdorpians” are able to survive without starving in the daily grind of their countryful lives, sure there’d be enough food   … e-enough variety too, for us to purchase upon-our-arrival , a wholesome weekend’s worth of ‘frugal supplies’!

FRUGAL?... ‘Frugal supplies’ ???  ...well, YES!  ...a huge challenge for us to only buy just  exactly  what we’d need  for 2½ days, and have little-if-no-leftover wastage!

And so it was, with that same trrrrrrrrrremmmmenndous  restraint,  that I agreed to accompany Friend Lee -and-friends  - under the most terrible duress  of not knowing what culinary choices lay before us. Quel horreur!

A-ha! ...we’d been alerted to Saturday morning’s special fresh produce market-to-be,  at  ‘ The Red Windmill ’ farmshop, midway between Bredasdorp and Napier.    Food!   Of course, this being the perfect reason to travel the distance  - and so glad we did!  

Forget about all that healthy-homegrown-gloriously-farm-fresh- variable-variety-of-veggies… ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ , out of the corner of an eye, glimpsed upon a doorway where beyond , lay retro sweets heaven!  

And so, ‘MAVIS made a bee-line for the tiny Candy  Store  abutting the entrance of that rural, “Cape Dutch Revival” Circa1925  building, being   ‘ The Red Windmill ’, to be transported back to childhood…to ‘1950 s’-style logo’s and wrappers, from •polka•  dots to candy  stripes ……a purposely-bespoke chosen stock of retro sweets…proudly curated by vibrant blonde owner “Les”…from beaded sweet necklaces to sherbet powder.

“ Cool BeanS SweetS ”, in its petit corner, was of ego, hUGE…and pleasure-making too;  worth every short minute spent there…BEFORE I  was called away , having been reminded of our Saturday morning deadline to get to the ‘Five Rand Store’  back in Bredasdorp! 

  …..CandyLovelyCandyLovelyCandyLovelyCandy…..

And so to recipes…

           

         MICHELLE’s  AUNT’ s

HAZELNUT  MERINGUE GATEAU

Single portion of  HAZELNUT MERINGUE GATEAU
with COFFEE CREAM & CAPE GOOSEBERRIES

This is an “everyone’s dessert”  - a perfect end to any dinner party, but we traditionally serve this on last night of Passover...

I prefer to make individual-portion gateaux , as they are both easy to serve, and I do think that they look splendidly elegant!

MERINGUE  INGREDIENTS : 

4 egg whites

200g (1 cup) castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

130g toasted hazelnuts finely chopped (okay to use walnuts if you can’t find the other)

***  (Usually, rule-of-thumb is to use 60g castor sugar per egg white – I used less in this recipe, but if you want a stiff meringue, with higher sides, use 240g castor sugar PLUS 1 Tablespoon extra for luck!)

METHOD :

Remember to have all your “mise en place” (pronounced “ miz ɑ̃ plas “ ), laid out on your workspace!   All your ingredients, mixing bowls, baking tray too  - it’s a French phrase - literally means:  "putting in place" -  ….I suppose it’s the ‘pre-preparation’…….

1) Pre-heat the oven to 150*C

2) Spread the raw whole hazelnuts WITH the skins on, onto a baking sheet, and ‘toast’ in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool.   Then chop quite finely in a food processor.

3) Meanwhile, very lightly oil a large oven tray/baking sheet, and line the bottom with baking paper. Very lightly, oil this too.( If you put too much oil, just wipe off with kitchen paper towel!)

4) With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites till stiff.

5) Add castor sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, till the meringue mixture is thick and shiny, then add the next tablespoon of castor sugar, and repeat till you have a very thick meringue.

6) Slowly and gently, fold in the vanilla, and the ground toasted hazelnuts.

7) I fill a large “Ziploc” strong(freezer) plastic bag, making sure all the air is out at the top, and use this as a DISPOSABLE piping bag, by snipping a small (½cm piece off a corner, to pipe the meringue through)

8) I pipe a circle of hazelnut meringue mixture about 6 cm in diameter and pipe extra on top, to heighten the sides....remember to leave enough space between each meringue to expand while baking! It will make at least 12 individual  rounds.

 

MIXTURE FOR HAZELNUT MERINGUES

BAKED TOASTED HAZELNUT MERINGUE

This  yields 6 individual double layer portions .

If you want a higher-sided thicker meringue mixture, see *** above ↑ . You should have at least 10 deep meringue shells, to fill with cream filling.

9) Bake at 150*C for 20 minutes, switch oven off, and then cool the meringues IN the oven overnight / or for 4 hours, to dry.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!

10) When cold, remove carefully off the baking paper.

FILLING :

2 cups (500ml) fresh cream, whipped to stiff consistency

2 Tablespoons icing sugar

2 teaspoons cold very strong coffee / or Brandy

Fruit of your choice (sliced peaches / fresh raspberries)  – I used fresh Cape Gooseberries

Note: sweetened chesnut puree is super too, as first layer of your filling, onto the meringue, then cream on top of it.

METHOD FOR FILLING

1) Whip cream, then gently fold in the icing sugar, and coffee / Brandy.

2) Spoon whipped cream mixture onto the crisp meringue, and decorate with your choice of fruit, sprinkle some grated chocolate and a little powdered ("icing-") sugar over, and serve!

 ‘till next week,

….’COOKINGWITHMAVIS’

                             CandyLovelyCandy..