GOING WITH THE SEASON

2012 ended with a whimper, not a bang, in my house. The world didn’t end (for those who planned for it, you have a lot of tinned food to get through and a bunker to spring clean), and the eating, drinking, xmas party fatigue gave way to slothful holiday behaviour. 

I did manage to pop one eyelid half open to note that the cherry farmers were banging on about the best cherry season EVER. Hard to ignore, particularly given cherries are a must on an Australian Christmas table, and weather conditions are so all over the shop we don’t know when we’ll see a season like it again.

So, seize the day I did, or Boxing Day night to be more calendar precise. This Burnt Butter, Cherry and Almond Torte, went down a treat. According to Karen Martini, it’s just as delicious with raspberries, blackberries or figs, so you adapt it to what’s in season (fig torte in April perhaps?). This cherry-laden version is a fine end to a meal (beef fillet, stuffed onions, pumpkin and macadamia salad, and roast potatoes). *Not too sweet, though the next time I make it, I may leave out the almond essence. I felt it gave it a note of artificiality. 

One word of advice. Make it several hours in advance. A couple of stages of the recipe require you cool the ingredients to room temperature, which threw my timing.

Sorry there’s wasn’t a piece left to show you the glorious flakey cakey base. It was polished off with a lot of red wine, and family stories from the annals. Another holiday season survived, now to the new year healthy eating resolutions... 

Happy 2013. I hope it’s marvellous for one and all.  

Cherry and Almond Burnt-Butter Torte

from Karen Martini’s Feasting

(Serves 8)

cooking spray

180g butter

1 1/2 vanilla beans, split, seeds scraped and cut into fine splinters

5 egg whites

pinch of salt

340g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting

110g plain flour

100g ground almonds

1/2 teaspoon almond essence*

2 tbsp flaked or slivered almonds

300g cherries, pitted and halved

creme fraiche, to serve

ice-cream (an optional extra for those who can’t live without)

Preheat the oven to 160C if fan-forced, if conventional set it at 180C. Line a 24x5 cm fluted tin (with a loose base) with baking paper and spray with cooking spray. 

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add the vanilla beans and seeds and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture darkens and smells nutty. Pour into a bowl and cool to room temperature. Remove some of the vanilla splinters and set aside for garnish.

Whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add half the icing sugar and combine, then fold in the remaining icing sugar, flour and ground almonds. Stir through the burnt vanilla butter and almond essence. 

Pour mixture into the tin and scatter over almonds and cherries (reserving a few for garnish). Bake for 1 hour or until the tart is puffed and just set. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature, making sure to remove the fluted tin once it’s cool enough to touch (you can do this by placing it on an elevated base, and loosening the fluted part slowly and gently).

Dust with icing sugar and garnish with reserved cherries and, if you like, vanilla-bean splinters. Serve with creme fraiche, and if you must, ice-cream! 

SUNDAY MORNING SPECIALS

After visiting New York City last year, I came back completely enamoured with the ritual of Sunday brunch, but so rarely do I stray from the weekend morning routine of a couple of eggs on toast, that it has taken an entire year to build this post... Scrambled eggs and Bloody Mary's just don't look that blog-able, even though they're delicious. However, all that cream and vodka before midday just doesn't seem like a routine one should endorse publicly (ahem), so here's something completely different.    

I busted out the bread-less brekkie this past weekend. No recipe needed, just some roasted rhubarb (sprinkled with sugar, in a 180C oven in a baking dish covered with foil, cooked for 15-25 minutes: it is ready when the knife slips through easily.) Cool the rhubarb, layer with toasted rolled oats, Greek yoghurt, and some toasted slivered almonds. Wakes up the palette in three seconds flat, even if coffee is still needed to put my brain into first gear...

Bill Granger's Coconut Bread from his first cookbook Sydney Food needs a bit more preparation, but it is easy to freeze slices of it, and have it at the ready for the occasional treat. Just defrost, toast and serve it with butter. 

Coconut Bread

(Makes 8-10 slices)

2 eggs

300ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 1/2 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup caster sugar

150g dessicated coconut

75g unsalted butter

to serve

butter

icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together.

Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and coconut, and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined. Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth. Don't overmix.

Pour into a greased and floured 21x10cm loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.

Leave in the tin to cool for 5 minutes, and remove to cool further on a wire rack. Serve in thick slices, toasted, buttered and dusted with icing sugar.

Poached egg, Asparagus and Smoked Salmon

Another favourite when I've jumped on the carb-free wagon for short-lived attempts at virtue, is a poached egg, smoked salmon and asparagus. 

I thought this might be a good change of habit, having just spent a week in LA eating a lot of pizza (more on that later). The West coast didn't disappoint in the brunch stakes either. This is 3 Square's twist on Eggs Florentine (which I'm such a sucker for it is all I ever order). The snow peas and spinach cover some fairly sinful brioche beneath, but as you can see they don't smother their eggs in hollandaise sauce. 

Ideally, I would eat this every Sunday, which is why I haven't skilled up to make a good hollandaise, or that Bloody Mary. Some things are best left to the experts, and to really special Sunday brunch dates. And to New Yorkers, who I hope will return to their routines soon.