As the chill rolls around again, its time to take advantage of two good things of the season: decadent puddings and cheerful winter fruits. Here's a good idea for combining the two.
Decadent Chocolate Pudding with Roasted Winter Fruits
For the brownie:
250g good quality chocolate - I used Whittakers 72% Ghana
250g butter
1 and 3/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 180deg. C. Line a 22 x 30cm or similar baking dish with baking paper.
Place the butter and chocolate into a large heavy based saucepan and melt over a low heat.
Take from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Add the sugar and mix well, followed by the eggs. Mix the eggs in well using a whisk.
The mixture will be thick, smooth and glossy.
Sift the dry ingredients together. Slowly stir into the chocolate mix until well blended.
Place in the lined baking tin and bake for 35 minutes until set, but still fudgy in the middle.
Allow to cool in the tin. The brownie can be reheated in the microwave - about 15 seconds per piece will do the trick.
For the roasted fruit:
3 or 4 granny smith apples
6 stalks of rhubarb
3 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 200deg. C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Peel the stringy skin from the rhubarb by starting from the cut end and pulling it away from the length of the stalk using a paring knife. Cut into 10cm lengths.
Peel, quarter and core the apples. Toss them, and the rhubarb in the brown sugar. Spread the fruit out on the lined baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes until tender.
We served our brownie and winter fruit with whipped cream and ice cream.
The long weekend at the farm afforded me the time and luxury of doing a little more baking. A quick rummage in Mum's garden and I turned up a big bunch of new seasons rhubarb. Having made so many things with apples over the last few months, it's great to have some alternative fruit to gather from the garden. For this recipe I decided to by-pass the refined sugar in favour of honey instead.
While I was in the kitchen, someone was driving Nana around on the lawnmower.
Honey Rhubarb Tart
For the pastry:
1 cup flour
125g butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3-4 tablespoons cold water
Sift the flour, cinnamon and salt together.
Rub in the butter. You can use your fingertips or one of these handy little gadgets.
I don't use a food processor for this recipe, as it tends to over mix the pastry.
Bind the pastry together using the cold water and form into a ball.
Wrap in plastic food wrap and chill for about half an hour.
For the rhubarb filling:
8 or 9 large stalks of rhubarb
1/2 cup honey, plus an extra 2 to 3 tablespoons for spreading over the top of the tart.
Peel and slice the rhubarb into a range of lengths.
Place into a large bowl and stir in the first measure of honey.
Set aside, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been released.
Preheat the oven to 180deg. C.
To assemble:
Roll out the pastry on a floured board or bench.
Make it a little larger than the baking dish you intend to use.
Press the pastry into the baking dish.
Drain the rhubarb and stand the slices up in the pastry lined dish.
Trim the pastry from the edges of the tin and roll and tuck in the edges.
Melt the extra measure of honey and drizzle over the tart.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the rhubarb softened.
We served ours with some natural yoghurt, but whipped cream or custard are also awesome!
Happy baking!
