Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

This cake is called Upside down cake because after making it, you turn it over and the bottom become the top of the cake - no decoration needed.

Ingredients:

For Pineapple base 

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 8 Pineapple rings
• Glace (cocktail) cherries 8-15

For Cake

• Flour 250g (8oz) 
• Butter 250g (8oz) 
• Sugar 250g (8oz) 
• Eggs 4
• Baking Powder  2 tsp

Process:

Pineapple base: Use a 9" solid bottom cake tin or a oven proof dish, butter the sides. 

• Add ½ cup butter and ½ cup sugar and melt over gentle heat and let it spread on the base
• Lay pineapple rings on over the base and place a glace cherry in each pineapple ring. You can also place some in between the gaps.

Sponge cake:

• Turn the oven on to 200c
• Mix Flour, Butter, Sugar, Eggs and Baking powder in a food processor or with a hand mixer until smooth.
• Pour over the pineapple base. 
• Put it in the oven for 30 minutes
• Test by inserting a tooth pick in the middle of the cake, if it comes out dry, it's done, if not, put it back for another 5 minutes.
• Let it cool a little, when just warm turn it upside down

Will go very well with some icecream!

Mango Yogurt Parfait

This is a party dessert for 30 people. If you dont have that many ramekins, you can make it in one large dish, process will be the same.  

Ingredients:

1. Greek Yogurt 1kg / 2 pint / 1 litre. 
2. Sweet cond. milk 2 cans
3. Long life milk 1 L
4. Salt. 1 tsp. 
5. Mango pulp 1 can (850g) 
6. Sugar ½ c
7. Lemon juice 1 lemon
8. Cornflour 2 tbsp diluted in 2 tbsp water
9. Cream 600 ml
10. Icing Sugar ¼ cup
11. Crushed pistachio

You will need 30 ramekins (shhhh! I used 30 Ikea candle cups, they are not expensive)

Make yogurt:

• Turn oven on to 170c
• Mix ingredients 1+2+3+4 and pour in the ramekins, upto 2/3rd
• Put them in the oven for 20 minutes
• Bring them out and let cool

Make mango jelly:

• Mix ingredients 5+6+7, Heat the mango pulp mix in a saucepan on medium heat, 
• When it starts bubbling add the diluted cornflour, stir and cook for 1 minute.
• Turn the heat off & let it cool down.
• Spoon it over the cooled yogurt, shake the cup to spread the mango to cover the yogurt completely. 
• Put them in the fridge to set for few hours or overnight.

Make whipped cream:

• Mix Cream and Icing sugar and whip lightly (soft peak)
• Pour the cream over the mango layer, shake to cover the mango completely.
• Sprinkle some crushed pistachio over to garnish. 

Tip: Make it day before the party.

Shakshouka

Shakshouka is a staple of Tunisian, Libyan, Algerian, Moroccan, and Egyptian cuisines, traditionally served in a cast iron pan or tajine with bread to mop up the sauce. It is also popular in Israel,where it was introduced by Tunisian Jews and other Maghrebi Jews, hundreds of thousands of whom immigrated to Israel during the 1950s. - Wikipedia

Ingredients:

1. Aubergines (Eggplant / Begun) 2 > chopped
2. Tomato 4 (large) > chopped
3. Onion 1 > chopped
4. Garlic 4 cloves > Chopped
5. Minced meat (Keema) 250 g
6. Cumin powder 1 tsp
7. Chilli powder 1/2 tsp
8. Cinnamon powder 1 tsp
9. Tahini 2 tsp
10. Sumac 2 tsp
11. Salt (to taste)
12. Olive oil 3 tbsp
13. Eggs 4-5
14. Green Coriander 

Process:

• Fry Garlic and onion
• Add Aubergine, Tomato and Minced meat until aubergine and mince is cooked. 
• Add Cinnamon, Cumin, Chilli, Paprika,
• Add Tahini & Sumac (found in Mediterranean shops, leave it if you don't have)
• Add salt to taste
• Cook for 5 minutes
• Make little wells and crack eggs in them
• Cover and cook until eggs are half poached and turn the heat off, eggs will keep cooking, yolks should be runny.
• Sprinkle the green coriander, drizzle some olive oil over and serve. 

Croissant Pudding

This is a decadent version of Bread & Butter Pudding I posted earlier. 

Ingredients:

1. Croissants (400 g)
2. Cream (600 ml)
3. Milk (600 ml)
4. Sugar (half cup or more if you like sweeter) 
5. White chocolate (200 g)
6. Sultanas/Raisins (1 cup, less or none if you don't like raisins)
7. Butter (melted) 3 tbsp
8. Vanilla 1 tbsp

Process;

• Chop 10 large croissant
• Spread in a oven-proof dish.
• Sprinkle sultanas over
• Sprinkle butter all over 

       Make custard:

• Mix 600ml Cream &  600 ml milk
• Add vanilla 
• Add 200g of white chocolate 
• Warm it up until chocolate is melted. 

       In a separate large bowl: 

• Mix 6 egg yolks + 2 whole eggs. 
• Add sugar. 
• Whisk
• Pour warm milk mixture gradually into egg sugar mix while whisking.
• Pour on croissants
• Let it soak for 15 minutes 
• Cover with tin foil 
• Turn the oven on to 200c (by the time oven will reach 200c croissants will be well soaked and ready)
• Put the dish in the oven 
• After 15 minutes, take it out and let cool down and then chill in the fridge.

The dish is not complete without a caramel crust. Ideal way to do it is to sprinkle some sugar over and use a blow torch to caramelise the sugar. It is unlikely that an average kitchen would have a blow torch! So the other way to do it is to sprinkle icing sugar (powdered sugar) over and put it under hot grill for few minutes until the sugar is melted.