Desserts

Roasted Peach Cobbler

By / Desserts, Other sweet stuff / 2 Comments /

I could smell the peaches even before I entered the market stall. This was a local farmers’ market that was held one every week, during the warm weather months. What is great about it is that most of the stuff there has been picked the same morning. And it is so close to home that I make it habit to go there every week.

RPC-peaches1

And the peaches were superb. Ripened on the tree, picked the same morning, bursting with fragrance and flavour. So I got a bunch of them. Would be perfect for a cobbler.

RPC-peaches2

And peaches in a cobbler are at their best when they are roasted. Roasting brings out their sweetness makes them kind of soft. All you need to do is, toss the wedges of peaches with a bit of brown sugar and place them on a baking tray, under the broiler for 15 minutes. They become glazed and so glossy.

RPC-peaches-roasted

Isn’t the best part of a cobbler the crumbly top? And I decided to add a bit of interest to the crumb by adding some almond meal to the mix. It turned out a good idea indeed.

RPC-crumble-ingredients

Roasted peaches in a baking dish with a splash of vanilla and lemon juice…

RPC-vanilla-lemom

Top it with a generous amount of crumb mix and pop it in the oven.

RPC-crumble

And the most awesome peach cobbler will come out in about 20 minutes. Not really. Actually, you have to open the oven and take it out yourself. 🙂

RPC-done

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

~Ria

Roasted Peach Cobbler
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
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Ingredients
  • 8 peaches
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup almond meal
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 4 tbsp cold butter
  • ½ tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
Directions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.
  2. Cut the peaches into ½ inch wedges.
  3. In a bowl, toss the fruit with the brown sugar.
  4. Place in a single layer on a baking tray and place on the top rack of the oven.
  5. Let it roast for 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and let cool.
  7. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
  8. In a bowl, mix together the flour, almond meal and granulated sugar.
  9. Cut the cold butter into pieces and drop into the flour mix.
  10. With your fingers, blend the butter into the mix till the whole thing resembles large crumbs.
  11. Mix the roasted fruit with vanilla essence and lemon juice.
  12. Evenly place in a pie pan or square baking dish.
  13. Sprinkle the prepared crumb on top of the fruit.
  14. Place in the middle rack of the pre-heated oven.
  15. Bake for 20 minutes. Check whether the top is showing golden brown spots. If not, continue baking for another 5 minutes.
  16. Serve with vanilla ice cream. A streak of peach nectar will be good too, strictly optional.

 

 

Mango Mousse

By / Desserts, Other sweet stuff / 1 Comment /

P1a MM

The light, airy and creamy mousse is a dessert I like to serve at dinner parties as it can be made ahead of time, be served in individual helpings and you can also make many variants to cater to the taste of guests. Mousse with the freshness of mangoes is one I just couldn’t resist.

In Uganda, mangoes are available throughout the year so I didn’t have to depend on preserved mango puree or canned mangoes. Since the mangoes I’d bought were not very sweet, I added a quarter cup of condensed milk while the mango pulp is made. Condensed milk certainly enhanced the taste but I felt it made the mousse slightly denser.

Mousse in general is a little tricky to make. Beaten egg whites and whipped cream should not be stirred in but has to be folded in with care so that the cream and egg whites don’t get deflated.

P2 MM

Cream should be removed from the refrigerator just before whipping to avoid it turning into butter. Overbeating will also result in butter. Using an ice bath is also not a bad idea if the room temperature is too high.Adding a quarter of a teaspoon of cream of tartar to the egg whites before beating helps in stabilising the beaten egg whites.

To avoid last minute stress, it can be made sure that the mousse sets perfectly by adding a teaspoon of gelatine to the mixture prior to transferring it into individual bowls and chilling. Shot glasses are a good choice to serve mousse of various flavours.

final MM

Mango mousse can be garnished with fresh mango pieces or some piped rosettes of freshly whipped cream.

~Min

Mango Mousse
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
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Ingredients
  • 4 cups Mango pulp
  • ¼ cup Condensed Milk
  • (Only if mangoes are not sweet enough)
  • 2 Egg whites
  • ⅛ tsp Salt
  • ¼ tsp Cream of Tartar
  • 2 tsp Powdered sugar
  • 1 cup Whipping cream
  • ¼ cup Castor sugar - powdered
  • (Check the sweetness of the cream before you add the sugar)
  • 1 tsp Gelatine
  • 1 tbsp Water
  • 1 tsp Mango essence (optional)
  • To garnish
  • Fresh mango bits
Directions
  1. Peel the mangoes, remove the seed and cut into pieces. Make mango puree using a food processor. If the mango is fibrous strain the pulp. Add the condensed milk if required and mix well.
  2. Add cream of tartar and salt to the egg whites and beat till soft peaks are formed .Add powdered sugar and beat till stiff peaks are formed.
  3. In a separate bowl add whipping cream, sugar and mango essence (optional). Beat until stiff peaks are formed. This might take 4-5 minutes.
  4. Soak gelatine in 1 tablespoon water in a small heat resistant bowl. Hold it over hot water till it melts.
  5. Transfer the mango pulp into a large bowl. Add the melted gelatin and stir well. Now add the whipped cream in two or three batches and fold in gently.
  6. Now add ⅓ of the beaten egg whites into the mango cream mixture and mix through. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold in. Avoid over mixing.
  7. Pour into individual serving bowls and garnish as you prefer.