Fun in the sun WEEKEND KITCHEN
Picnic with a tropical twist
Iced matcha & coconut water tea
The mint syrup for this delightfully different and refreshing iced tea can be made days ahead if desired.
Mint syrup
1⁄3 cup caster sugar
1⁄3 cup water
1 large sprig of mint
Tea
5 tsp matcha (green tea) powder
1⁄ cup hot water
12 lime, juiced
1 litre coconut water
2 tbsp elderflower cordial (optional,
but delicious)
Plenty of ice to serve
Slices of lime, mint sprigs and
sliced cucumber to garnish
Prepare mint syrup by stirring caster sugar and water together in a small pan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Add mint sprig and simmer for several minutes. Take off heat and allow to cool, discarding the mint.
To make tea, place matcha powder in a large jug with hot water and whisk until combined. Allow to cool then add the cooled syrup, coconut water, lime juice and elderflower cordial if using, stirring to combine. Serve chilled over lots of ice with garnishes. Serves 6
Shrimp vol-au-vents
Vol-au-vent translates to English as ‘‘waft of air’’. If you have round cookie cutters you can make your own vol-au-vent cases in minutes.
Cases
3 sheets ready-rolled flaky pastry 1 egg, lightly whisked
Filling
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp cream
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1⁄4 tsp hot smoked paprika
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce
150g cooked shrimps, chopped Extra coriander, lemon zest and
cooked chopped shrimp to garnish
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut 32 x 4cm rounds from the pastry. Using a 3cm round cutter, cut partway through the centre of each round, leaving a 1cm border (don’t press down hard enough to go all the way through). Prick the inner circle with a small fork, place rounds on a lined tray and refrigerate for an hour.
Heat oven to 200C. Brush the chilled pastry rounds with the egg wash and bake until lightly golden and puffed about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and take out the centre circle and discard. Return the cases to the oven and bake for a further 3-5 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Filling: Beat together the cream cheese, cream, lemon zest, juice, hot smoked paprika and chilli sauce. Fold through the coriander and prawn meat. Season. Divide among the cold pastry cases and scatter with coriander, chopped shrimp and lemon zest. Makes 32
Lime, raspberry & coconut cake
This tall, moist and scrumptious cake has a coconut topping that is briefly baked on the cooked cake, which both sets the topping and browns it for added flavour.
The cake will keep well for several days in an airtight container.
Cake
240g butter
2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 limes, finely grated zest 8 eggs, at room temperature 4 cups desiccated coconut 1 cups raspberries (fresh or
unthawed frozen)
2 cups self-raising flour
Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup caster sugar
2 limes, juice and finely grated zest
Topping
1 cup brown sugar 300ml cream
1 cup desiccated coconut 1 cup coconut thread
Heat oven to 170C. Line a 24cm cake tine with baking paper so it stands 2cm above the rim.
Cream butter and caster sugar together. Beat in vanilla and lime zest, then add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition
Fold in coconut, followed by the raspberries then the flour. Transfer mixture to tin and bake 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
In the last 15 minutes of the cake cooking, make the syrup by boiling all the ingredients together for 5 minutes. When the cake is cooked, take it from the oven and stab it all over with a toothpick, then pour over the syrup.
Increase oven temperature to 180C. To make the topping, combine the brown sugar and cream in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Allow to simmer for several minutes then stir in the coconuts. Press the mixture over the cake and return it to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the topping just starts to brown. Cool completely in the tin before serving. Serves 8-10.