Jam roly-poly
Jam roly-poly SERVES 8-10 PREP AND COOK TIME 50 MINUTES This recipe is traditionally made using suet, a hard animal fat. This is not as readily available as it was, so I’ve substituted frozen grated butter. The key to this recipe is keeping everything cold while you work. 1⅔ cups (250g) self-raising flour ¼ teaspoon salt
125g butter, frozen
½ cup (125ml) ice-cold water
½ cup (160g) raspberry jam (see Julie’s tip) 1 egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon icing sugar custard and raspberries, to serve 1 Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced). 2 Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Coarsely grate the butter into the flour mixture and stir through. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix together with a butter knife until the mixture forms a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead dough quickly until the dough comes together. (If you have warm hands, soak them in iced water and dry before handling the dough.) The secret is to keep the grated pieces of butter intact; this makes for a lovely light pastry.
3 Place the dough onto a piece of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 20cm x 22cm rectangle. Spread the jam over the dough, leaving a 2cm border around the edges. Roll the dough up into a cylinder using the baking paper as an assistant. Pinch the ends of the roll closed. With the seam at the bottom, lift the baking paper onto an oven tray. Brush the roly-poly lightly with the egg.
4 Bake roly-poly for 35 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Dust with sifted icing sugar. Serve warm with custard and raspberries. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave. Pecan pie cheesecake SERVES 12 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR 20 MINUTES (+ REFRIGERATION TIME) 250g packet butternut snap cookies ½ cup (60g) almond meal ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
125g butter, melted FILLING 2 cups (440g) caster sugar
½ cup (125ml) water
750g cream cheese, at room temperature 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract TOPPING 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature ½ cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar 3 eggs
¼ cup (60ml) maple syrup
3 cups (360g) pecans
1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line the base of a 22cm springform pan with baking paper.
2 Process cookies until fine crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in almond meal and nutmeg. Add butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly over base and about 4cm up side of pan. Place pan on oven tray; refrigerate while making Filling.
3 FILLING Place sugar and the water in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring syrup to the boil; boil, without stirring the pan, for 10 minutes or until syrup has darkened to a golden colour. Remove from heat and immediately put in 250g chopped cream cheese. Be careful, this will cause the mixture to froth up. Stir constantly until the cheese is combined with the caramel. Beat 250g of the cream cheese in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually pour in caramel, beating until well combined. Add the remaining cream cheese; beat until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4 Pour the Filling into the chilled base. Bake for 25 minutes.
5 TOPPING Meanwhile, beat butter, sugar, eggs and maple syrup in a bowl until combined; stir in pecans.
6 Remove cheesecake from oven; gently spoon Topping over. Bake for a further 30 minutes or until the Topping is set. Refrigerate for 6 hours before serving. Suitable to freeze. Butter suitable to microwave.
Rice pudding with dates and almonds SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES 1 cup (200g) arborio rice
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1.125 litres (4½ cups) milk
6 (120g) medjool dates, quartered 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
½ cup (125ml) cream
½ cup (70g) slivered almonds, toasted (see Julie’s tip) honey and sliced extra dates, to serve 1 Place rice, sugar, salt, milk and half the dates in a large saucepan over mediumhigh heat. Bring to the boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the lid; simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until rice is cooked through. Test if it’s ready by tasting a grain. Stir in vanilla and cream.
2 Serve pudding warm or cooled, topped with almonds and extra dates and drizzled with honey. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.