recipes_Australia_Issue_129_April_2017

APRIL 2017 recipes+ 59

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PHOTOGRAPHY

CHRIS CHEN & JOHN PAUL URIZAR

Chocolate Macaroon

Layer Cake

SERVES 12 PREP 20 minutes

COOK 5 minutes + 2 hours to chill

COST $1.75 a serve

400g milk chocolate, finely chopped

400g dark chocolate, finely chopped

2 cups cream

⅓ cup coconut-flavoured liqueur,

plus ⅓ cup extra

6 egg yolks

2 cups moist coconut flakes, toasted

1 quantity Coconut Macaroon Discs

(recipe, right)

Shaved fresh coconut, to serve (optional)

1 Combine milk chocolate, dark chocolate,

cream and liqueur in a heatproof bowl over

a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let

base of bowl touch the water). Cook and stir

for 3 minutes or until melted and smooth.

Pink Chantilly

Cream Layer Cake

SERVES 12 PREP 25 minutes + cooling

COOK 50 minutes

300g butter, at room temperature

3 cups gluten-free self-raising flour

⅓ cup caster sugar, plus 1¼ cups extra

¾ cup milk

3 eggs, at room temperature

3 eggs whites

500g strawberries

1 quantity Chantilly Cream (recipe, below)

1 quantity Pink Icing (recipe, right)

1 Preheat oven 180ºC/160ºC fan-forced.

Grease and line bases of 2 x 20cm (base

measurement) round cake pans. Sprinkle

side of each pan evenly with a little

gluten-free flour; shake out any excess.

2 Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a bowl

until pale and creamy. Sift flour and sugar over

butter. Add milk; stir to combine. Using electric

mixer, beat eggs and egg whites in a dry, clean

bowl until thick and creamy. Gradually add

extra sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating

until dissolved between additions. Fold

egg mixture into butter mixture until just

combined. Divide mixture between prepared

pans; level surfaces. Bake for 50 minutes or

until a skewer inserted into centres comes

out clean. Stand cakes in pans for 10 minutes,

then turn out onto wire racks to cool.

3 Using a large serrated knife, split cooled

cakes in half. Reserve 12 small strawberries

for decoration. Hull and thinly slice

remaining strawberries. Place one piece of

cake on a serving plate. Top with one-third

of the Chantilly Cream, then one-third of

the sliced strawberries. Repeat the layering,

finishing with a piece of cake. Spread Pink

Icing over the top of cake. Decorate with

reserved whole strawberries

Chantilly Cream

MAKES 1 Quantity PREP 5 minutes

450ml thickened cream

2 tablespoons pure icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Using an electric mixer, beat cream in a

large bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar

and essence; beat until combined.

Pink Icing

MAKES ¾ cup PREP 10 minutes

2 large ripe strawberries

1½ cups pure icing sugar

1 tablespoon boiling water

Push the strawberries through a small

sieve into a small bowl. (You will need

1 tablespoon of strained strawberry

puree.) Sift icing sugar into a bowl; stir

in strawberry puree and the boiling

water to make a smooth, runny icing.

Remove from heat. Whisk the yolks in

a separate heatproof bowl over saucepan

of simmering water for 2 minutes or until

thick and pale. Remove from heat; whisk in

chocolate mixture. Using an electric mixer,

beat for 5 minutes or until thick and cool.

Fold in toasted coconut; chill, stirring

occasionally, for 2 hours or until thick.

2 Place a Coconut Macaroon Disc on a

serving plate. Brush with a little extra liqueur.

Top with one-fifth of the chocolate mixture.

Repeat layers, finishing with chocolate

mixture. Serve topped with fresh coconut.

Coconut

Macaroon Discs

MAKES 5 cake discs PREP 15 minutes

COOK 20 minutes

3⅓ cups coconut flakes, plus ½ cup extra

1 cup pure icing sugar

¾ cup almond meal (ground almonds)

6 egg whites

Pinch of salt

1 cup caster sugar

1 Preheat oven to 180º/160ºC fan-forced.

Grease and line 3 oven trays with baking

paper. Combine coconut, icing sugar and

almond meal in a bowl. Using an electric

mixer, beat egg whites and salt in a large,

clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form.

2 Gradually add sugar, until firm peaks

form and mixture is thick and glossy. Fold in

coconut mixture. Transfer mixture to a large

piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle;

pipe a 21cm disc onto each prepared tray

(you will have mixture left over). Top with

some of the extra coconut.

3 Bake discs, swapping trays halfway

through cooking, for 8 minutes or until

light golden and centres feel firm when

lightly pressed. Cool completely on trays.

Repeat with the remaining egg mixture

to make 5 discs in total.

TOP TIP

Coconut flakes are

sold in the baking

section of major

supermarkets