COOKED HONEY CREAM WITH STRAWBERRY COMPOTE: CELEBRATING 30 YEARS ANVERSARY OF VOGUE ENTERTAINING AND TRAVEL

I really love this magazine: Vogue Entertaining and Travel, I buy every issue since I know it. This issue (October/November) is the 30 anniversary and it’s beautiful as always. I started my affection about 6 years ago, (it’s funny that the size of the magazine is now a lot bigger than the old one) and each time that I look at the older issues I still love them. Most of the recipes in each magazine are reliable (I have to use the word most ^ ^, you know that I didn’t test them all haha). I love the photographs, they are not only beautiful but they seen to be real. I love the imperfection in the dishes or in the cakes; I love the feeling that they are real food which we can make it at home.

After starting my blog I try to pick the recipe from each issue to make, and I’m not disappointed. Each recipe brings the smile to my face, and new recipe to my recipe note book. This issue, I pick this one, the soft, lightly sweet, and fragrance cream is great when pairing with the sweet and sour strawberry compote. I adjust the recipe to suit the ingredients which I have at home (I made only 1/3 of the original recipe, and changed the rhubarb to strawberry).

Adaptation from: Vogue Entertaining and Travel October/November

COOKED HONEY CREAM WITH STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

Serves 5 (small portions)

Cooked Honey Cream
200 ml	Whipping cream
65 ml	Milk
30 g	Honey
30 g	Caster Sugar
4 g	Gelatin powder
Strawberry Compote
130 g	Frozen strawberry
50 g	Sugar
130 g	Fresh strawberry, hulled

Bring cream, 50 ml of milk, honey and sugar to the boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring out of the heat and set aside.

Mix the 1tbsp (15ml) of milk and 2tbsp of boiled mixture then add the gelatin. Stir to dissolve the gelatin powder. Add to cream mixture and stir until dissolved.

Cool mixture slightly, then pour into moulds and refrigerate overnight until set.

Put the frozen strawberry and sugar in a small pan. Bring the pan to a simmer over low heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickened.

Drain syrup from the strawberries into a small saucepan, add fresh strawberries, bring to a simmer over low heat, and cook for 5-6 minutes or until strawberries are just soft but holding their shape.

Cool, the strawberries then combine with the soft strawberries (from the first boiling) and refrigerate until needed.

To serve, turn out the cooked honey cream onto a platter. Spoon over some of the juices and arrange strawberries on top.

COOKED HONEY CREAM WITH STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

Strawberry Yogurt Triffle: for Lightly Sweet Day

Usually I don’t buy yoghurt with fruits; they are too sweet for me. I think if we want strawberry yoghurt, it has to be a real one, I always be like that. So, this is the real treat for anyone who’s on diet, (me, too ^ ^, I have to take a brake from a heavy loaded sweet thing, but I still need a healthy sweet to keep my life go on). Fresh strawberry gives the yoghurt better flavor than the syrupy one that you find in the commercial one. This triffle is made from yoghurt with a little treasure hidden inside “white chocolate”, yes, real chocolate.

Actually you can use other kind of chocolate that you like but try to keep in mind that you try to add special flavor (Ok, it’s a low fat dessert, so don’t change your intention, haha). I use the one with raspberry flavor (which is lovely when sprinkle on top of the triffle). I suggest marinate the strawberry for 4 hours or overnight, so they will be sweeter and more fragrance. Oh, another thing, use the yoghurt that you like, don’t go over the top to the non sugar plain yoghurt if you can’t eat on its own. Use the brand that you like, a little fat and sugar will make you happy more than you hope for.

Strawberry Yoghurt Triffle

Serves 2

250 g	Strawberry
2 tsp	Superfine sugar
¼ tsp	Vanilla extract
200 g	Plain yoghurt
	White chocolate (grated)
	Strawberry for garnish

Cut strawberry into small dice and place them in a bowl.

Sprinkle the sugar and vanilla extract over the strawberry and mix them together.

Cover the bowl with plastic warp and refrigerate for 4 hours (or overnight).

Put the marinated strawberry in a glass; sprinkle the chocolate on top of the strawberry.

Cover with a layer of yoghurt sprinkle the chocolate again, and place another layer of strawberry and yoghurt.

Decorate the triffle as you want.

Strawberry Yoghurt Triffle: for lightly sweet day

Vegetarian Honey & Nut Cup Cakes

Once in a year, my family will eat vegetarian food for 10 days, (Not a vegan but almost a like, it’s a Chinese vegetarian that base on the Buddhist believe. We won’t eat animal product (include dairy products) plus some of the vegetable (onion, garlic, and etc.). So, I have to find some bake goods, which don’t use egg or butter (actually, my family don’t strict to the rule and the dairy products are welcome, ^ ^. But some of my friends are very strict). I got the idea of this cup cake from my friend (Koy), who told me about the banana cake that she made by using coconut milk.

I never making this kind of cake before, I always use the recipe from the macrobiotic cookbook, which don’t use the dairy product and egg too. But the recipe from macrobiotic cookbook is not challenging me any more, and I want the new recipe that makes a moist and soft cake.

I use honey and soft brown sugar (with can’t be use in macrobiotic recipe), which I think they will make the texture of the cake moist and soft. But the first trial was a not good enough, the cake flour made the cake too soft and too moist.

So the second time, I changed the cake flour into all purpose flour. The all purpose flour give the cake more structure, and I’m happy with the result now.

Vegetarian Honey & Nut Cup Cakes

Makes 6 cup cakes

100g	All purpose flour
½ tsp	Baking powder
	A dash of salt
60g	Brown sugar
4 tbsp	Honey
½ cup	Coconut milk
½ cup	Vegetable oil
85 g	Nut (I use pecan), lightly toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare the paper cups. Sift the measured flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl and set aside.

2 Beat the honey and brown sugar together until combine.

3 Pour the coconut milk into the sugar mixture and beat to combine.

4 Pour the vegetable oil into the sugar mixture (slowly) and beat to combine.

5 Add half of the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes until the mixture is thickened.

6 Add the last of the dry ingredients and nut, and mix well. Spoon batters into paper cup, bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the toothpick insert in the center comes out clean.

Vegetarian Honey & Nut Cup Cakes