Cape Town by Mouth

June is the time for oranges in Cape Town. I have been missing them for a couple of months already and thought that it was time to celebrate their yumminess. So I came up with a menu that had orange in just about every dish. Butternut and orange soup for starters, pork roast with balsamic and orange roasted beetroot and finally a chocolate orange marquise for dessert. I have to say it was the best chocolate cake I have ever made. Highly decadent.

Chocolate and orange marquise

Serves 6-8

Base:
1 egg white
50g icing sugar
50 g flaked almonds
80 g crushed pistachios

Cake:
1.5 dl sugar
1 dl fresh orange juice
220 g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
100g unsalted butter, cubed
3eggs
1 orange zest, grated
2 tbsp flour
icing sugar and orange zest to decorate

Instructions:
Start with the cake. Preheat the 180 degrees celsius. Line a small cake pan or other round ovenproof dish with baking paper. The dish needs to fit into a roasting pan.   Place half of the sugar in a saucepan, add orange juice and stir over gentle heat until sugar has dissolved completely. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate and butter.   Whisk eggs and other half of the sugar in a large bowl until very thick, add the orange zest. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture carefully. Sift the flour and fold in. Scrape the mixture into the  cake pan.   Place in a roasting pan, transfer to the oven and pour hot water into the roasting pan to about halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for about 1 hour or until the cake is firm to the touch. Remove the cake from the water bath and let it cool before you take it out of the pan.   Make the base as the cake cools down. Line a baking tray with parchment and draw a circle the size of the pan you baked the cake in. Combine all the ingredients for the base gently and lay them out over the circle you drew in a thin layer. Place the tray in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until it is golden brown. let it cool and transfer it to your serving dish.

Turn the cake out on the base quickly and carefully. You only get one shot as it is tricky to move. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with orange zest. Serve with custard.

*If you want you can make candied orange zest as a decoration. Cut zest of one orange into thin strips and boil it in 2 dl of water and 0.5 dl of sugar until soft. Dry on kitchen roll.

Figs are in season and boy are they sweet and beautiful. This tart is French in style and it is very very easy to make.

Fig and almond tart on puff pastry base

Serves 4-6

Enough puff pastry to line a tart base
100g powdered almonds
100g cream cheese
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 punnet of fresh figs (300 grams) sliced lengthwise

optional glaze
2tbsp apricot jam
1/2 tbsp water (depending on thickness of jam)

Fig and almond tart

Heat the oven to 210 degrees. Mix together almonds, cream cheese, sugar and cornstarch. Spread on puff pastry base leaving about 2cms free around the edges. Bake in a 210 degree oven for about 30 mins until golden around edges. Leave to cool. In a small pan heat apricot jam and water until liquid and allow to cool. When the mixture is lukewarm use a pastry brush to glaze tart.

Comfort food delight… I think the secret to a great banana bread is buttermilk and canola oil. Come to think of it that combo works for a lot of baked goodies.

Moist bananabread

2 eggs
1 dl buttermilk
1 dl canola oil
2 medium bananas
2.5 dl brown sugar
3.5 dl flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
50 g chopped pecans/walnuts

Heat oven to 200C. Oil a loaf pan and line the bottom with baking paper (works well for other recipes as well if you hate having something stuck to the bottom).

Beat the eggs enough to break them upp and combine with buttermilk, oil and mashed bananas. Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir in pecans. Mix well. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 45 for minutes.