Apple & Sultana Crumble Cake

Fruit Mix Ice-cream Bombs

Remove Ice-cream from the freezer & stand in the fridge for 20 min to soften; do not melt completely.

Line 6 x 180ml dariole moulds or similar with plastic wrap. Put the fruit mince, sherry and almonds in a large mixing bowl, add the softened ice-cream & gently stir to combine.

Spoon the ice-cream mix into each pre-pared mould.

Return moulds to the freezer & freeze for 5 hours or till firm.

Put the sugar & egg whites in small bowl, beat until soft peaks form. Approx 10 min

Turn out the ice-cream moulds, invert onto tray,

Spoon or pipe meringue onto each ice-cream mould.

Blow torch to brown meringue or bake at 220C for 5 min

Spiced Lamb Meatballs with Currants

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Roughly chop one half of the onion and add to the bowl of a food processor. Add the lamb, torn apart bread, spices and coriander. Pulse until well combined. Remove to a mixing bowl and add pinenuts and seasonings. Mix well and form into large balls using approx. 1½ tablespoons mixture for each.
2. Heat half of the oil in a large pan and sear the meatballs until well browned, set aside to drain on paper towel.
3. Finely dice the remaining onion half and add to the pan with the remaining oil and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes over a low heat until tender. Add the passata, stock and currants, mixing well. Return meatballs to pot and cover with a lid. Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove lid and cook a further 5 minutes.Alternatively this can be cooked on the stove top, partially covered until meatballs are cooked through. Remove lid to reduce liquid if desired.

Apricot Balls

1. Place apricots, sultanas and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer for 2-3 minutes.
2. Place cooled fruit in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add oats and coconut. Remove to a bowl and roll teaspoonsful into balls and then roll in sesame seeds to coat. Refrigerate until required.

Notes:
Balls can also be rolled in coconut, chopped pepitas or chopped nuts.

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Lightly grease a 4 cup capacity baking dish.
2. Combine flour, almond meal, sugar and cocoa in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs and milk. Add to the dry ingredients with the raisins and mix well. Spoon into baking dish.
4. For the sauce, combine the water, sugar and cocoa. Pour over the batter in the baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes until cake is cooked. Serve warm with ice-cream, cream or custard.

Couscous Dried Fruit Salad

Rinse the couscous under cold, running water.  Add to a saucepan with 750ml water, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 mins or until soft.  Drain and rinse under running water and set aside to cool completely.

Whisk together olive oil and lemon juice, season and pour over the cooled couscous.  Toss to coat. 

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Spoon into a presentation bowl to serve.

This salad can be served cold or at room temperature.

Moghrabieh can be substituted for Israeli (pearl) couscous.  Simply follow the cooking instructions on the packet as they can vary.

Simnel Cake

Preheat the oven to 180degress.

Butter the walls of your Bundt tin well.

Chop your glace cherries into quarters and mix into your mixed fruit.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add the lemon zest.

Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and ground almonds into a bowl and stir to combine.

Into the whipped butter and sugar mix, add 1 of the eggs with a quarter of the dry ingredients.

Add in the other 2 eggs in the same way, followed by the rest of the dry mix remaining.

Mix in the mix, then the fold in the fruit.

Spoon the mixture evenly around the Bundt tin and smooth out the mix.

Bake on 180degrees for 30 minutes and then turn down the oven to 150 degrees for 1.5 hours or until the cake has risen and a skewer comes out clean.

Let the cake rest for 15 minutes before turning it out to cool further.

For the icing, mix the icing sugar, milk and orange juice together and pour over and enjoy!