I’m not a dessert cook, so when I make sweets they need to be relatively quick and easy. It is nice to end a meal with a simple dessert or to produce something delicious to serve with a cup of coffee when friends drop by. Sweet treats make great gifts too. Here are some of my favourite easy sweet recipes.
Persian Halva Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Persian cooking class! Halva, meaning ‘sweet’ in Arabic, is popular throughout the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. Unlike the tahini version often seen, Persian halva is made from a flour and butter dough, flavoured with two of Persia’s most popular ingredients: saffron and rose water. It’s […]
Ice Cream with Balsamic Vinegar Join my Small Group Food & Wine Tour of Modena – Home of Balsamic Vinegar Vinegar on ice cream? Really? Absolutely if it’s the thick black gold of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. Good vanilla ice cream dotted with traditional balsamic vinegar is a life-changing dessert. This sweet-sour elixir made […]
Leche Frita Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Spanish cooking class! Leche frita is many Spaniards favourite dessert and popular throughout the country. In the Basque region it’s called tostadas de crema and, as both names suggest, it is fried milk. The milk is formed into a thick custard that is set in the […]
PolvorónesAndalusian Shortbread Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Spanish cooking class! These Spanish shortbreads hail from the southern region of Andalusia and are particularly popular at Christmas time. The name comes from the Spanish word polvo, meaning powder or dust, referring to their crumbly texture – the dough is the crumbliest I’ve ever worked […]
Date Scones Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Australian cooking class inspired by Matt Moran! Date scones are an Aussie classic, perfect as a sweet treat any time. Mine are inspired by Matt Moran’s date scone recipe in Australian Food, which is in turn inspired by the scones his Nan Valda used to make. […]
Pumpkin Scones Like pumpkin scones? You’ll love my online Australian cooking class inspired by Matt Moran! Pumpkin scones are perhaps the most Australian scone of all, made famous by the late Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen, wife of a Queensland Premier. Use leftover roast pumpkin if you have some (you’ll need about 1 cup mashed), in which […]
Spungata (Ligurian Apricot Tart) Join one of my food & wine tours to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! This delicious fruit tart, called spungata in Liguria and spongata in neighbouring Emilia-Romagna, is similar to what other Italian regions call crostata. In Liguria spungata are often given as a gift when visiting friends and […]
Pinolate (Ligurian Pine Nut Cookies) Join one of my food & wine tours to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! Pinolate are simple Ligurian pine nut cookies with a wonderfully chewy soft centre, a crisp outer and delicious nutty flavour. Also called pignoli or amaretti con pignoli, they’re traditionally made with a mix of […]
Benne Wafers (Sesame Cookies) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online cooking class featuring the food of America’s Deep South! Benne (pronounced benny) is the heirloom ancestor to modern day sesame seeds. Morgan McGlone, who worked with renowned Southern chef Sean Brock at Husk in Charleston (South Carolina), tells me that even raw they have […]
Beignets(New Orleans Doughnuts) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online cooking class featuring the food of America’s Deep South! Beignets (pronounced bay-nyay) are close cousins to French boules de Berlin and were brought to New Orleans by the Acadians, French settlers exiled from Canada who relocated to Louisiana in the late 1700s. Beignets are traditionally […]
