I remember the excitement of knowing my grandparents were coming to visit us from Canberra as children. We were always spoilt with attention and food. Good food.
In my grandmother's basket she'd usually have:
* a fresh loaf (or two) of genuine Italian bread - ciabatta.
* a roast chook from the supermarket to have on the bread. That was gold for us. I loved the stuffing.
* avocados to have on the sandwiches too.
* containers of her frozen mulligatawny soup, lamb curry & bouillabaisse soup for our freezer for when my parents didn't feel like cooking. There was no home delivery where we lived and we couldn't have afforded it if there was.
* meat: a lamb roast to be cooked.
* nougat.
* homemade cupcakes with and without sultanas.
* fruit mince tarts (I wasn't keen on these).
* one of her famous fruit cakes drenched in brandy (or petrol as she once slipped up to my mother).
I also remember her bringing me an ice cream cake for one birthday. I will never forget the luminous pink ice cream.
Another treat of my grandmother's was my absolute favourite, strawberry hazelnut torte.
The thing about having pets is that you need them to be checked regularly when you're away so we asked our dear neighbours if they'd mind feeding the chooks, collecting the eggs and minding the guinea pigs when we headed down to the FSC a month ago. Our neighbours are simply wonderful.
When we returned i had bought them a few small things from our travels but I was contemplating making them something when I flashed on the hazelnut torte from my childhood. I texted my grandmother who promptly emailed me (yes, email, and she's 75!) the recipe. Now I should note at this stage that although its my tendency to digress from a recipe I didn't because I wanted that authentic childhood memory to flood back. My mum later suggested that you can squish berries in booze and put them in the middle layer. I guess tinned dark cherries would work well too.
So here it is and here are some pics from my attempt. I made it a few days later for a dinner party and it was just as good as I remembered it. I should add a disclaimer here. On Day #2 it's still pretty damn good... The problem is making sure it lasts to Day #2!
STRAWBERRY HAZELNUT TORTE
5 egg whites
1 & 1/4 cup castor sugar
4 & 1/2 ozs ground hazelnuts
few drops vinegar
2 tablespoons black coffee (cooled)
Filling:
1 punnet strawberries
1/2 pint whipped cream
6 ozs cooking chocolate
3 tablespoons water
Beat egg whites with salt until stiff; gradually add sugar; beat until mixture is meringue consistency. Fold in remaining ingredients. Spread in two greased and butter-paper-lined 8 inch sandwich tins. Bake in moderate oven for approximately 35 minutes. Cool.
In a saucepan melt the chocolate with the water on a low heat. Place a layer of meringue on serving plate. Spread with a thin layer of chocolate spread. Spread 3/4 inch layer of cream over chocolate. Top with layer of sliced strawberries. Place second layer of meringue on strawberry layer, spread with remaining chocolate mixture. Top with remaining cream, and decorate with remaining strawberries.
In my grandmother's basket she'd usually have:
* a fresh loaf (or two) of genuine Italian bread - ciabatta.
* a roast chook from the supermarket to have on the bread. That was gold for us. I loved the stuffing.
* avocados to have on the sandwiches too.
* containers of her frozen mulligatawny soup, lamb curry & bouillabaisse soup for our freezer for when my parents didn't feel like cooking. There was no home delivery where we lived and we couldn't have afforded it if there was.
* meat: a lamb roast to be cooked.
* nougat.
* homemade cupcakes with and without sultanas.
* fruit mince tarts (I wasn't keen on these).
* one of her famous fruit cakes drenched in brandy (or petrol as she once slipped up to my mother).
I also remember her bringing me an ice cream cake for one birthday. I will never forget the luminous pink ice cream.
Another treat of my grandmother's was my absolute favourite, strawberry hazelnut torte.
The thing about having pets is that you need them to be checked regularly when you're away so we asked our dear neighbours if they'd mind feeding the chooks, collecting the eggs and minding the guinea pigs when we headed down to the FSC a month ago. Our neighbours are simply wonderful.
When we returned i had bought them a few small things from our travels but I was contemplating making them something when I flashed on the hazelnut torte from my childhood. I texted my grandmother who promptly emailed me (yes, email, and she's 75!) the recipe. Now I should note at this stage that although its my tendency to digress from a recipe I didn't because I wanted that authentic childhood memory to flood back. My mum later suggested that you can squish berries in booze and put them in the middle layer. I guess tinned dark cherries would work well too.
So here it is and here are some pics from my attempt. I made it a few days later for a dinner party and it was just as good as I remembered it. I should add a disclaimer here. On Day #2 it's still pretty damn good... The problem is making sure it lasts to Day #2!
STRAWBERRY HAZELNUT TORTE
5 egg whites
1 & 1/4 cup castor sugar
4 & 1/2 ozs ground hazelnuts
few drops vinegar
2 tablespoons black coffee (cooled)
Filling:
1 punnet strawberries
1/2 pint whipped cream
6 ozs cooking chocolate
3 tablespoons water
Beat egg whites with salt until stiff; gradually add sugar; beat until mixture is meringue consistency. Fold in remaining ingredients. Spread in two greased and butter-paper-lined 8 inch sandwich tins. Bake in moderate oven for approximately 35 minutes. Cool.
In a saucepan melt the chocolate with the water on a low heat. Place a layer of meringue on serving plate. Spread with a thin layer of chocolate spread. Spread 3/4 inch layer of cream over chocolate. Top with layer of sliced strawberries. Place second layer of meringue on strawberry layer, spread with remaining chocolate mixture. Top with remaining cream, and decorate with remaining strawberries.
No comments:
Post a Comment