Aquafaba Meringue Nests

Aquafaba Meringue Nests

These egg free meringues are perfect for those who cannot tolerate eggs or chose a vegan lifestyle. The brine from a can of chickpeas whips up to the perfect consistency in the Tefal Cuisine Companion for piping these nests which can be filled with coconut cream or an egg free lemon curd instead of the dairy cream I have used. The most important step is to chill your tin of chickpeas in the fridge overnight. 

Note: Vinegar wash your Tefal Cuisine Companion bowl by adding a small amount of vinegar and wiping around bowl with paper towelling. Dry thoroughly with more paper towelling. 

150 mls brine from a can of chickpeas chilled (place tin in refrigerator overnight)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

160 gms caster sugar 

Insert Whisk. Stopper out. 

Add brine, cream of tarter and vanilla extract

Start Sp8:40deg:5mins. After 2 minutes start adding sugar by the tablespoon through hole in lid making sure all the sugar has been added before the final minute. 

Pipe nests onto lightly oiled baking paper covered baking tray. 

Bake 110 deg for 1 hour 30 minutes or until shells are not tacky to the touch. Turn off oven and leave meringue nests in oven with door closed for 1 hour. Cool on wire rack. 

Lemon Cheesecake without Gelatine

Lemon Cheesecake without Gelatine

This lemon cheesecake set without gelatine has been a staple cheesecake recipe for over 40 years. I remember my mother making this for special occasions when I was a child.  I make this with The Tefal Cuisine Companion prepared cream cheese (recipe for cream cheese can be found on this blog using the search function). For this cheesecake to successfully set be sure to use ripe lemons. If using the cream cheese from this blog there is no need to blend until smooth, just add to the Cuisine Companion bowl and proceed from the 'Lemon Cream Cheese Filling'. This cheesecake should be chilled overnight before decorating. 

Ingredients 

140 gms Granita biscuits or similar

75 gms unsalted butter melted

250 gms cream cheese

395 gms condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice strained

Biscuit Base

Insert Kneading Blade, insert internal steaming basket, stopper in. 

Add biscuits

Pulse until biscuits resemble bread crumbs, place biscuit crumbs into separate bowl and add melted butter, stir to combine and press into base of 20 cm springform cake tin. Refrigerate. 

Rinse and dry Cuisine Companion bowl and Kneading Blade. 

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling 

Insert Kneading Blade 

Add cream cheese 

Sp8:30sec or until smooth. Scraping bowl as required. 

Add condensed milk

Sp8:1min or until combined. Scraping bowl as required. 

Insert Whisk 

Start Sp6:30sec adding lemon juice through hole in lid. 

Insert stopper 

Sp8:30sec. 

Pour into chilled crust and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. 

Decorate as desired.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake 

I have been making this cheesecake every Christmas for the past 30 years. I have always used Philadelphia cream cheese but this year I've used my Tefal Cuisine Companion made cream cheese (recipe follows) it is so light, creamy and delicious. The toppings for this cheesecake have changed over the years. I used to set a tin of pitted dark cherries with gelatine and when thick and syrupy pour over the cheesecake. In past years I have made my own dark cherry jam to top this cheesecake but in recent years when pressed for time I have used a store bought dark cherry jam.

Biscuit base:

140 gms plain biscuits (I used Marie biscuits )
75 gms unsalted butter, melted (I melted in microwave)
Insert Ultrablade. Stopper in.
Crush biscuits using pulse button until done with internal steam basket inserted.
Add melted butter. Stopper out. Internal steam basket removed.
Sp3:30sec or until combined.
Press into base of  20cm springform cake tin (you may not use all the crumb mixture, it depends on how thick you like your biscuit base) and refrigerate.

Cheesecake layer:

1/4 cup boiling water
10 gms gelatine powder
250 gms CC made cream cheese or Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
395gm condensed milk
300 mls thickened cream
1/2 tspn vanilla extract
Pour boiling water into small heatproof bowl, start stirring vigorously with fork, add gelatine quickly and keep stirring until gelatine dissolves. Set aside stirring occasionally until cooled to room temperature.
Insert Kneading Blade
Add cream cheese, Speed 11 until smooth, scraping down sides with spatula every 10 seconds.
Add condensed milk, Speed 10 until fully combined, scraping down sides and around blade with spatula every 10 seconds.
Insert Whisk.
Add cream and vanilla extract.
Speed 7 for 1 min 30 or until mixture thickens. Scrape down sides with spatula every 20 seconds.
Start Speed 6 for 20 seconds whilst pouring gelatine mixture through hole in lid.
Remove whisk, give a light stir with spatula and pour onto biscuit base.
Refrigerate until set.

Cream Cheese

1 litre full cream milk

300 mls thickened or pure cream

40 gms white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Greek yoghurt (optional)

Insert Stirring Blade. Stopper out.
Add milk and cream

Sp3:100deg:20mins 

Sp3:1min adding white wine vinegar through hole in lid

Rest 10 mins then gently pour curds into tea towel lined mesh sieve over large bowl. (Reserve 1 cup whey). Strain for 2 minutes then place in clean bowl, and set aside for 1/2 hour.  Add enough  reserved whey to just cover cheese. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to use drain any excess whey. Add yoghurt (optional)
Blend until smooth using Ultrablade, Mini Bowl or stick blender.

Creme de Cacao Chocolate Buttercream

Creme de Cacao Chocolate Buttercream

This is one of the most delicious chocolate buttercreams I've ever made. It is silky smooth, full of chocolate flavour and so easy to spread as a filling or topping for cakes or cupcakes. It also pipes beautifully and because the sugar is dissolved there is none of that grainy texture that spoils other buttercreams. Because the Creme de Cacao is boiled you're left with the flavour of the Creme de Cacao and no alcohol so this buttercream is suitable for everyone. 

Silky smooth Creme de Cacao buttercream 

75 gms Caster Sugar 

70 gms Creme de Cacao 

60 gms Water

200 gms chilled Unsalted Butter diced

200 gms Dark Cooking Chocolate melted and at room temperature 

Insert Stirring Blade. Stopper out.

Add caster sugar, Creme de Cacao  and water

Sp3:70deg:1min or until sugar dissolves.  Scrape bowl with spatula. 

Sp3:100deg:45sec or until mixture comes to a rapid boil. Set aside in heatproof bowl and place in refrigerator to chill. 

Rinse CC bowl in cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towelling.

Insert Kneading Blade. Stopper out.

Add chilled unsalted butter 

Sp10:2 min or until butter is  smooth and creamy (butter will form a ball at first but will become smooth and creamy).  Scrape sides of bowl with spatula as required.
Insert Whisk . Stopper out.

Start Sp8:1min 30sec adding chilled Creme de Cacao mixture through hole in lid. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula as required. Mixture may not have incorporated at this stage.
Add cooled melted chocolate. 

Sp8:20sec or until mixture is combined and smooth, scraping sides of bowl as required. 

Mascarpone

Mascarpone 

Revised

Unfortunately one batch I made didn't set because my lemons were not quite ripe. So I've revised the recipe to use white wine vinegar or strained lemon juice. 

Make your own Mascarpone for the fraction of the cost of store bought. Mascarpone imparts a delicious creaminess to desserts and savoury dishes alike. Most store bought mascarpone use citric acid as the acid agent needed to make the cheese but this recipe uses white wine vinegar or lemon juice. The Tefal Cuisine Companion is perfect for making marscapone as well as cream and ricotta style cheeses.

Note: You will need to allow up to 48 hours setting time.
Note: If using lemon juice make sure your lemons are ripe. 

Note: I use thickened cream without gelatine added. I also buy the cheapest thickened cream which works perfectly. 

600 mls thickened cream without gelatine

15 gms lemon juice strained OR 15 gms white wine vinegar

Insert Stirring Blade. Stopper out. 

Add cream

Sp3:90deg:15min

Start Sp2:90deg:10min adding lemon juice OR white wine vinegar through hole in lid.
Empty mixture into heatproof bowl. Mixture will be watery at this stage. Set aside for 30 mins to come to room temperature then cover with clingwrap pushing it onto the surface to prevent skin forming. Refrigerate 24 hours.
Spoon mixture into a tea towel or cheese cloth lined sieve that is sitting over a small bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours to set. Mine only took 12 hours.
Store in airtight container and use within 48 hours. 

Linzer Biscuits

Linzer Biscuits 

An Austrian classic biscuit combining almond, cinnamon and raspberry jam. The Tefal Cuisine Companion mixes the dough in seconds and can make the jam in under 20 minutes using frozen raspberries and sugar. The jam recipe can be found by typing raspberry jam in the search function. I coated the bottoms of the biscuits with chocolate for an extra taste sensation. 

I used special Linzer biscuit cutters but any cookie cutter can be used and the middles can be cut out with a smaller cutter or a piping tip. 

Makes approx 24 completed Biscuits. 

230 gms Unsalted Butter softened
1 large Egg

40 gms Almond Meal

85 gms Brown Sugar 

360 gms Plain Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

Raspberry Jam
Icing Sugar Mixture
Dark Chocolate melted (optional)

Insert Kneading Blade. Stopper out.
Add all ingredients in order listed

Sp10:30sec or until mixture forms a ball. 

Divide in 2 and shape into discs, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate one hour. 

Roll or pat out first disc on lightly floured silicone sheet or board (you may need to lightly flour your rolling pin) to about 3/4 cm thick and cut out 5 cm rounds. Use a small spatula to remove the rounds from the silicone sheet and place on paper lined baking tray. 

Roll out second disc as above and cut out centres with a small cookie cutter, piping tip etc. 

You can re roll the off cuts to make more biscuits. 

Bake at 160 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until just beginning to turn light golden around the edges. Leave biscuits on baking trays for 10 minutes to firm up before transferring to cooling racks.
Spread melted chocolate on bottom of biscuits if liked. Leave to set then spread 3/4 teaspoon of jam on biscuit bases. Sift icing sugar mixture over biscuit tops and place over raspberry jam filled biscuit bases. 

Cream Cheese

Homemade Cream Cheese

This cheese is similar to a ricotta style cheese I make in the Tefal Cuisine Companion but by adding cream you have the most delicious soft cream cheese that can be used for cheesecakes etc. at a fraction of the cost. This is a very mild cheese but you can add some Greek yoghurt to give the cheese a slight tang.

1 litre full cream milk

300 mls thickened or pure cream

40 gms white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Greek yoghurt (optional)

Insert Stirring Blade. Stopper out.
Add milk and cream

Sp3:100deg:20mins 

Sp3:1min adding white wine vinegar through hole in lid

Rest 10 mins then gently pour curds into tea towel lined mesh sieve over large bowl. (Reserve  whey). Strain for 2 minutes then place in clean bowl, and set aside for 1/2 hour.  Add enough  reserved whey to just cover cheese. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to use drain any excess whey. Add yoghurt (optional)
Blend until smooth using Ultrablade, Mini Bowl or stick blender.