In complete contrast, Casa Barilla was a breath of fresh air and the atmosphere was incredibly relaxed: no one was here to be the next Guy Grossi, they were just looking for some inspiration to jazz up their tired repertoire. Plus, there was plenty of bubbles and vino to go around.

“We try to keep it as much fun as possible and to give a true Italian experience to the attendees from the minute they walk through our doors, until they leave. The locals love it and embrace it, so we keep working hard to improve it at all times,” says Luca Ciano, Casa Barilla’s Executive Chef who explains that Casa Barilla opened in 2008 with the aim of sharing the diversity of Italian cuisine with Australians.

“We only focus on Italian cooking, no twist no gimmicks, it’s simple and easy to understand and people can go home and truly replicate the dishes demonstrated.”

The class format is relatively easy to follow – first, Luca demonstrates the steps involved in putting the dish together and then the class breaks to their stations and replicates what they’ve just seen. The process is made a little easier with an elevated LCD which provides an aerial view of what Luca is doing.

I was won over by Luca and his assistant Angelo’s nonchalant attitude to cooking. They were also a great laugh and I really didn’t think a cooking class would be this enjoyable. Luca doesn’t profess to be an expert, but simply provides you with the basics for creating great dishes at home and giving you freedom to interpret and adapt however you wish.

Many of the classes are built around different regional dishes in Italy. The class we attended was inspired by the region of Lombardy in Italy’s north. On the agenda was Osso Buco, Salame di Cioccolato (Chocolate Salami) and Polenta.

Osso Buco is a Milanese specialty of veal shanks cooked in meat broth, flavored with white wine and vegetables. Slowly braised, this relatively tough, yet flavorful cut of meat becomes meltingly tender, and the connective tissues and marrow dissolve into the sauce, making it rich and creamy. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luxury of time with our Osso Buco. I would really like to give the recipe a go in a slow cooker: a slow braise over six or seven hours will really soften the meat and bring out greater flavour in the dish.

Osso Buco alla Milanese
Serves 4

Ingredients
½ onion, finely chopped
½ carrot, finely chopped
½ stick of celery, finely chopped
100g unsalted butter
4 veal osso buco (300 – 350g each)
100g plain flour
1 glass white wine
2 glasses veal stock
1 tin peeled tomatoes or 3 fresh vine-ripened tomatoes (optional)
100g green peas

Gremolata
30g lemon zest
¼ bunch parsley
1 garlic clove
Salt & pepper and olive oil

Method

1. In a large casserole, gently cook the onion, carrot and celery in butter until golden.

2. Coat the osso buco in flour, season them and sear on both sides in the same pan.

3. Add the wine and let it evaporate. Add the stock and tomatoes and simmer with a lid on for an hour and a half.

4. To make the gremolata, finely chop the lemon zest, parsley, garlic and mix with a little olive oil and season to taste.

5. Five minutes before serving, add the peas and season to taste. Serve with gremolata.

Barilla Polenta

375 grams Barilla polenta flour
1.5 litre water
1 tbs salt
1 tbs exra virgin olive oil
60 grams grated grana padano
20 grams unsalted butter

1. Bring to boil the water in a large pot, add salt and oil.

2. Once boiling, add the polenta a litle at a time, whisking constantly.

3. Cook on gentle heat for 3 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and add butter and grana padano, allow melting and mix well.

Salame di cioccolato

100 grams dried biscuit, crumbled
50 grams almonds finely chopped
80 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
150 grams caster sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbs dark cocoa powder
1 tbs rum

1. In a large bowl mix the eggs with butter, sugar, cocoa and liquor.

2. Add the biscuits and almonds and mix well.

3. Place the mix onto the grease proof paper and roll it into a salami shape.

4. Allow to rest for for 2 hours in the freezer before serving.

For more information about Casa Barilla’s upcoming cooking classes, please visit www.barillaaus.com. Classes are priced from $50 per person.

Casa Barilla
4 Annandale Street
Annandale NSW 2038
www.barillaaus.com

The Tastebuds tend to get a little carried away when we’re together – especially when it comes to food. With dessert already in the oven, we decided it wasn’t enough and there had to be a second dessert – or ‘pre’ dessert as Mr. Taste likes to call it.

We all settled on reproducing Martin Boetz’s Tapioca Pudding, in honour of the version we sampled earlier in the year at Taste of Sydney. Tapioca pudding is a quick and easy dessert that doesn’t take long at all to pull together. There’s no real setting required and tastes fantastic served warm. Sadly the season doesn’t allow for fresh fruit, so we used the tinned variety, which works just as well!

Although Australia drew against Ghana that night, the Tapioca Pudding did help to ease a little of that pain. Let’s just hope the boys pull a big victory against Serbia tomorrow!

Tapioca Pudding with Lychee, Jackfruit and Rambutan

Adapted from a recipe by Martin Boetz, Executive Chef of Longrain

Ingredients

1 cup tapioca pearls
12 cups water
500g superfine castor sugar
½ cup coconut cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon salt

Method

1. Bring 8 cups of water to the boil and pour in the tapioca, stirring so that the pearls do not stick to the bottom.

2. Simmer until the pearls become transparent with just a tiny dot of white left in the middle. This will take about 10 minutes.

3. Pour into a strainer and rinse in cold water.

4. Combine the castor sugar, coconut cream, vanilla extract and salt in a heavy-based saucepan over a moderate heat and stir.

5. Once the sugar dissolves, remove from heat. You can serve warm or cool the mixture small bowls. Serve with shreded jackfruit, lychees, rambutans and longans.

I sure have, and I fell hard.

The sticky date pudding on last season’s Masterchef set my heart aflutter and it took me a good while to recover.

Sticky date pudding is the perfect winter dessert – warm, rich and comforting. Although there are three elements to this dessert, the process couldn’t be easy enough. Best of all, you can work on all three parts simultaneously.

The result tasted better than I thought it would. It was sticky as a pudding should be and the caramel and butterscotch glaze was just divine. The slight crunch of the almond praline was the icing on the cake!

If you’re after for a comforting dessert for the cooler weather ahead, don’t look past this recipe!

Ingredients

180g dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1¼ cups (310ml) water
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾ cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar
60g butter, softened chopped
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour

Almond praline
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
¼ cup (35g) slivered almonds (I substituted with chopped cashews)

Butterscotch sauce
50g butter
1 cup (220g) brown sugar
1 cup (250ml) cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees fan-forced). Lightly grease eight (½ cup capacity) metal dariole moulds.

2. Place dates and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Remove from the heat. Add bicarbonate of soda, stir until dates start to break down, set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

3. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl using a hand beater, gradually add eggs one at a time, beat until light and fluffy.

4. Add date mixture, stir to combine. Carefully fold through sifted flour, divide mixture evenly between the eight moulds, until 2/3 full.

5. Place moulds in a baking tray, carefully pour water in tray until it comes up 1/3 of the side of the moulds. Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until golden and skewer comes out clean.

6. Meanwhile, for the almond praline, combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a saucepan over medium heat and cook caramel without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Scatter almonds onto a baking paper-lined oven tray, pour over caramel and cool until set. Break praline into pieces.

7. For the butterscotch sauce, combine butter, sugar, cream and vanilla in small saucepan over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring sauce to the boil, reduce heat and cook for 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.

8. To serve, invert the hot pudding onto a serving plate, top with butterscotch sauce and shards of praline.

This month’s Gourmet Traveller magazine features a collection of Christmas themed recipes from Adriano Zumbo. The gingerbread christmas tree in particular wowed me and it was surprisingly easy to pull together (well, compared to his other famous creations, the croquembouche and the mousse cake).

I decided to forgo the recipe for gingerbread in the magazine and use my old faithful gingerbread cookie recipe. I bought a star shaped cookie cutter set in three sizes and baked eight in each size (it’s important not to overcook the gingerbread). Once they were cool, it was a matter of stacking them together and fixing the layers together with royal icing. To finish, I propped a star on top of the tree with a toothpick and dusted with icing sugar.

And voila! a fabulous and festive centrepiece for the Christmas table.

I always feel a little cheated paying $45 a head for High Tea. So I set out trying to recreate the special experience at home. I made all the staples the night before – scones, cupcakes, sandwiches and macarons, while my girlfriends each brought a little something as they arrived.

In the end, we managed quite a spread of goodies. Blessed with perfect weather, we spent the afternoon sipping champagne, eating sweets and catching up.

And on the High Tea menu was…

* Vanilla cupcakes with raspberry and rosewater frosting
* Trio of macarons – lemon cream, raspberry jam, peach & strawberry
* Salmon sandwiches without crust
* Fresh strawberries and cherries
* Scones with freshly whipped
* German pastries – cherry custard strudel, chocolate custard slice
* Savory quiche tartlets
* Assorted teas
* Piper champagne

But when Friday rolled by, Mr. Taste spilt most of my egg whites over the kitchen counter when I was downstairs buying dinner. Extremely upset, I tried to make the most of the situation and whipped out my measuring cups to see if I could salvage enough for one batch. Lucky for me (and Mr. Taste), there was just enough.

And so I decided to make chocolate macarons. A little reluctant to try a foreign recipe, I stuck with my
basic macaron recipe and added 15 grams of cocoa powder. I was extremely happy with the results – the macarons had perfect feet, flat tops and a crispy shell. I’m on a macaron roll!

Chocolate Macarons

65 grams Almond Meal
80 grams Icing Sugar
40 grams Sugar
15 grams Cocoa Powder
50 grams Egg White

1. Heat the oven to 160°C. Line the baking tray with a baking mat or two sheets of baking paper.

2. Blend the almond meal, cocoa powder and icing sugar in a processor, making sure the mixture is well blended and fine. Then pass this mixture through a fine sieve, making sure that there are no lumps left.

3. For the egg whites: make sure the bowl you use is extremely clean. The egg whites should be at room temperature, before you start beating, add a few drops of lemon juice or a pinch of salt. Beat on a medium speed, and slowly add the sugar spoon by spoon. Increase the speed after a minute, beating on high speed for 4 minutes or untill strong peaks have formed. Make sure that the eggs hold firm peaks, like a bird’s beak!

4. Sprinkle the dry mixture spoon by spoon over the egg whites. Blend this mixture very slowly with a spatula, just bend and not beat, else the whites will flop over.

5. While mixing you should be gentle making sure not to overmix, as you’d rather have an undermixed batter than a cakey overmixed batter. Normally, I turn the spatula in 30-40 circular motions depending on the quantity.

6. The best way to know whether the batter is ready, is to look for these signs:
When you started off, the batter was firm and was holding its shape. After mixing for subsequent minutes, when you lift the batter it should fall in ribbons, should be shiny and satiny. You should not be able to see any of the egg white.

7. Fill in this mixture in a piping bag and use a 8-10 mm round tip. Pipe blobs of batter on the circled baking sheet, make sure you are holding the piping back perpendicular to the sheet. Pipe in just about enough to cover the circles you made, or if you were lazy, pipe the size of macaron you would want remember that the batter usually spreads about 1 cm.

8. Leave the piped batter in a dry warm place for minimum 20 minutes so as to develop a thin cover. The macarons should be dry to touch before going in the oven.

9. In the oven, place the tray in the middle, keep another tray below the with the macaron tray.

10. Within 5 minutes the feet will start forming, and at the 7th or 8th minute if the macarons start to brown unevenly, rotate the baking tray. Bake for another 3-4 minutes, however, another trick to check if they are done, is to softly push the macaron, if the feet move a bit. The total time should be 10-11 minutes at 150-160°C

11. Remove the tray from the oven, take off the baking sheet and place on a wet surface for a couple of seconds so as to stop the baking process. You can do so by placing the baking sheet on a wet piece of cloth flattened out.

12. After a couple of minutes, peel the macaron off the sheet and place them upside down on a wire rack. If they do not peel or come off easily, pop them back into the oven for a couple of minutes.

NB – I also tried the below recipe with new eggs aged overnight. The macaron shells turned out very bumpy and I ended up with fluffy tutu feet which wasn’t desirable at all. So it is very important to age your egg whites!

Chocolate Buttercream Filling

125 grams butter, at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
35 grams dark chocolate

1. Whip butter in a small mixing bowl until it is creamy.

2. Melt chocolate over a double boiler and let it cool for 2 minutes before adding to the butter mixture. Add the icing sugar gradually, whipping as you go.

3. Pipe mixture into a piping bag and let it set in the fridge for 10-15 mixture until it is solid enough to pipe onto macaron shells.

All in all, I tried three methods, six different recipes and read another 20 – and it was a recipe by Frosted Envy that gave me success. That’s not to say the macarons were perfect though – some had cracked tops while others had uneven feet. But it was a great start and gave me pointers on what I had done wrong previously.

While I’m no expert on perfect macarons, I do believe I have a fair idea of what makes awful ones. So here are my top 5 tips to avoid macaron disasters in the kitchen:

1. Age the egg whites. I didn’t do this for my first five batches and they all failed. Aging the egg whites releases moisture and also makes them more stable. I aged mine for 5 days uncovered on the kitchen bench (you can also cover it with a paper towel to stop things flying in).

2. Be organised. That means prepping the almond meal and icing sugar mix, placing your piping bag in a tall glass with the sides turned over and having your sugar ready. If you don’t, you’ll be scrambling at the last minute and you really can’t afford to be.

3. Bend and press – not fold. Most recipes will tell you to ‘fold’ the almond mixture into the meringue. If you fold it in like you would a cake, you will end up with air bubbles in your macaron and it will puff up like a biscuit in the oven. I’ve also tried ‘beating’ the air out of the mixture as seen here on Youtube, but it was too hard to control and my mixture went runny. With my winning batch, I used a push and bend technique which yielded very successful results. Instead of mixing the almond mixture and meringue together, I pushed the two together by pressing on the sides of the bowl. It will start off quite thick at first but the mixture should come together quite nicely soon after. I would count your strokes, anywhere more than 40 strokes and your macarons could collpase in the oven.

4. Invest in a baking mat. The silicon baking mat makes a real difference to the heat distribution of the macarons. I found that on a baking tray, my macarons were slightly burnt on the outside rim but undercooked on the inside. The baking mat fixed this problem. I got mine for $24.95 at Chalet.

5. Leave the macarons out to dry in a warm place. I read that macarons that are left out to dry for 30 minutes to an hour have better feet than ones that don’t. While I did leave previous batches out to dry, I didn’t get the ‘dry to touch’ film on the surface which meant that I got no feet. I left my winning batch out to dry on a stool near the oven (I read that warm places were better). And surely enough, after 20 minutes, a nice film formed on top.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing your success stories!

Basic French Macarons (adapted from Frosted Envy)

65 grams Almond Meal
80 grams Icing Sugar
40 grams Sugar
50 grams Egg White
2 drops of Food Colouring (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 160°C. Line the baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Blend the almond meal and icing sugar in a processesor, making sure the mixture is well blended and fine. Then pass this mixture through a fine sieve, making sure that there are no lumps left.

3. For the egg whites: make sure the bowl you use is extremely clean. The egg whites should be at room temperature, before you start beating, add a few drops of lemon juice or a pinch of salt. Beat on a medium speed, and slowly add the sugar spoon by spoon. Increase the speed after a minute, beating on high speed for 4 minutes or untill strong peaks have formed. Make sure that the eggs hold firm peaks, like a bird’s beak!

4. Sprinkly the dry mixture spoon by spoon over the egg whites and add the food colouring. Blend this mixture very slowly with a spatula, just bend and not beat, else the whites will flop over.

5. While mixing you should be gentle making sure not to overmix, as you’d rather have an undermixed batter than a cakey overmixed batter. Normally, I turn the spatula in 30-40 circular motions depending on the quantity.

6. The best way to know whether the batter is ready, is to look for these signs:
When you started off, the batter was firm and was holding its shape. After mixing for subsquent minutes, when you lift the batter it should fall in ribbons, should be shiny and satiny. You should not be able to see any of the egg white.

7. Fill in this mixture in a piping bag and use a 8-10 mm round tip. Pipe blobs of batter on the circled baking sheet, make sure you are holding the piping back perpendicular to the sheet. Pipe in just about enough to cover the circles you made, or if you were lazy, pipe the size of macaron you would want remember that the batter usually spreads about 1 cm.

8. Leave the piped batter in a dry warm place for minimum 20 minutes so as to develop a thin cover.

9. In the oven, place the tray in the middle, keep another tray below the with the macaron tray.

10. Within 5 minutes the feet will start forming, and at the 7th or 8th minute if the macarons start to brown unevenly, rotate the baking tray. Bake for another 3-4 minutes, however, another trick to check if they are done, is to softly push the macaron, if the feet move a bit. The total time should be 10-11 minutes at 150-160°C

11. Remove the tray from the oven, take off the baking sheet and place on a wet surface for a couple of seconds so as to stop the baking process. You can do so by placing the baking sheet on a wet piece of cloth flattened out.

12. After a couple of minutes, peel the macaron off the sheet and place them upside down on a wire rack. If they do not peel or come off easily, pop them back into the oven for a couple of minutes.

White Chocolate and Rosewater Ganache

150g White Chocolate
100ml Thick Cream
2-3drops Rosewater Essence

1. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it’s close to boiling point, remove from heat and let it rest for 30 seconds or so before pouring over white chocolate.

2. Mix well, making sure the chocolate is melted. Add in the rosewater and stir well.

3. Place mixture in a piping bag, seal and leave it in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to thicken.

4. Pipe a 10 cent blob of ganache onto each macaron shelll and sandwich together.

With a simple vanilla cake bottom, the cupcakes have a deliciously light white chocolate and rosewater buttercream frosting.

Vanilla Cupcakes (makes 24)

(Adapted from the food blog, Umeboss.

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 1/4 cups plain flour
225g unsalted butter
2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius. Cream the butter until smooth. Add sugar gradually, and beat well until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the egg, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.

3. Shift in the 1/3 of dry ingredients. Mix it through, and then add the 1/3 of milk + vanilla. Continue adding alternatively, and mix through at each addition. Be careful not to overmix.

4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full.

5. Bake for 20 to 30 mins, or until it springs back when you press lightly at the top of the cake.

6. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack.

White Chocolate and Rosewater Buttercream (makes 24 cupcakes)

225g unsalted butter
200g white chocolate
2 tsp rosewater essence
100ml cream
1/2 cups milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
6-8 cups Icing Sugar

1. Heat cream in a small saucepan. Once it’s close to boiling, remove from heat and add the white chocolate pieces. Stir until chocolate is dissolved. Add in the rosewater essence and mix well.

2. Place 4 cups of icing sugar in a bowl, add all other ingredients. Using an electric mixer, beat up till smooth and creamy.

3. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.

4. Add the white chocolate and rosewater mixture to the buttercream and mix well.

5. Fill a piping bag with frosting and pipe onto cool cupcakes.

The classic Aussie lamington

I found an easy enough recipe from Taste.com.au, secretly wishing I had a recipe from the Country Women’s Association cooking bible. No one makes lamingtons better than country women!

The thing that determines a good lamington for me is the soft fluffy sponge cake centre. I didn’t realise how difficult it was to master this until I pulled my cake out of the oven and seeing that it was thick and dense.  I must have over beaten my eggs, or maybe not enough.

Lamingtons with Jam Filling (Serves 6)

Ingredients

Sponge cake
Melted butter, to grease
75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
70g (1/2 cup) cornflour
6 eggs, at room temperature
215g (1 cup) caster sugar
1 tbs boiling water

Chocolate icing
300g (2 cups) icing sugar mixture
35g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
60ml (1/4 cup) milk
60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water

Strawberry jam
170g (2 cups) desiccated coconut

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush a 19 x 29cm (base measurement) lamington pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang slightly.

2. Sift the combined flours together into a large bowl. Repeat twice.

3. Use an electric beater to whisk the eggs in a large clean, dry bowl until thick and pale. Gradually add the sugar, 1 tbs at a time, whisking well after each addition until mixture is thick and sugar dissolves.

4. Sift the combined flours over the egg mixture. Pour the boiling water down the side of the bowl. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold until just combined. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn cake onto a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside overnight to cool.

5. Trim the edges of the cake and cut into even squares. Combine two squares together and fill with jam. Leave to set for an hour.

6. To make the chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. Add the milk and water and stir until smooth.

7. Spread the coconut over a plate. Use 2 forks to dip 1 cake square into the warm icing to evenly coat. Allow any excess icing to drip off. Use your fingers to roll the cake in the coconut to evenly coat, then place on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cake squares, icing and coconut. Set aside for 1 hour or until icing sets.

I’d love to make these again, but maybe with a different recipe next time.

I’m always a little stumped when it comes to making a cake that everyone will love. What can I say, I’m a crowd pleaser, which means I also take uneaten cake rather personally!

I eventually settled on a Layered Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Frosting, which I felt was just adventurous enough to write about, but also not too obscure that our parents would refuse to eat it. Their palates only take them so far…

Layered Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Frosting

I didn’t go off a single recipe for this cake. Instead, I mixed and matched different ingredients an added a few of my own. For the cake, I doubled the ingredients and made two cakes in 20cm spring foam pans. You can definitely just stick with the one portion.

All up this cake took about 3 hours to make, please allow sufficient cooling time for the cake, there’s nothing worse than frosting slipping off your cake because it’s too hot!

A slice of chocolatey heaven!

Layered Chocolate Cake

Adapted from geordieshell’s recipe on All Recipes

Ingredients

125g butter
I cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate melted
3/4 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to moderately slow, 160 degrees C/140 degrees C fan-forced. Grease a deep 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper

2. Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until just combined.

3. Stir in sifted flours, bicarbonate of soda, and cocoa, then stir in the melted chocolate and milk Spread in cake tin and bake for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until firm to touch.

4. Leave in cake tin for 15 minutes, then turn onto wire rack to cool.

Pistachio Frosting

250g butter, room temperature
150g pistachio, roasted and shelled
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp condensed milk
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Beat the butter with electric beaters until light and creamy.

2. Gradually add the icing sugar alternately with the vanilla essence, condensed milk and milk, beating until smooth and fluffy.

3. Chop or grind pistachio and add to frosting. Mix well.

Assembly

Cut tops off the chocolate cake until you have two flat discs. Spread a generous layer of frosting to join layers together. Spread frosting over the top and sides until neatly sealed. Sprinkle a thin layer of pistachio on top to set.

Wrapped up and all ready to go!