Kawakawa Berries With Apricot~ Desserts

It's quite fun having our own unique native foods that are also medicines here in New Zealand.

Most people are family with Kawakawa, Piper excelsum that can be found in most parts of the country in our native bush & other spots. A member of the pepper family, the leaves are useful as a rongoa medicine plant but are also edible themselves. The female fruits that ripen around Christmas time are also excellent dried & ground as pepper . The ripe fruits are also fascinatingly delicious with a mango flavour but also spicy seeds. Since there are not many recipes out there for using the ripe berries I have been experimenting with them to see what works & what doesn't. My first post you can find just here. 

Now that there is only two of us & Rob works a lot of afternoon shifts we don't always get through the fruit that I buy, harvest so when I spotted a bowl of ripe apricots sitting there uneaten I decided to make a dessert with them & tried pairing them with kawakawa.

I love the result!

I'm not very good with exact recipes because I am mostly winging it as I go.

I cooked my 8 apricots over low heat & the lid on, without any added water.

When cool I added the same number of ripe berries- just slide them off the little stem.

Add 1/2 cup of honey & blended with a sticker blender until smooth.

I then added a cup of thick plain Greek yoghurt.

Then I beat 1/2 cup of cream to soft peaks adding a little vanilla & folding through half the apricot mixture.

Put in to a bowl & chill.

The other option for the other half was to add 1 dsp of  gelatine in a little water. Sit to bloom, then heat to dissolve. Mix in to the apricot puree & pour over your favourite cheesecake base.

Mine is always walnuts, coconut dates & coconut oil with a pinch of salt.

 1/3 cup each of broken cashews, walnut pieces (toast these first if you like) and coconut, 

add 4 or 5 soft dates (remove the stones first) 

Add a tbsp of melted coconut oil and briefly combine in a food processor until mixed to a fine crumb.

I used a little loaf tin for one of the "cheesecakes". Line with baking paper or glad wrap.

In the little green jug is s a simple yoghurt dressing with more Kawakawa fruits, olive oil, sea salt, orange juice & a little honey. Add some seedy mustard too if you like & even a pinch of turmeric. A yummy summer salad dressing- great with seafood.

Catherine X

Kawakawa Berries- what can I do with them?

 Kawakawa berries are a unique little fruit that taste a little like rockmelon with a hit of spicy seeds.

You don't really think about Kawkawa berries being Christmasy, but they are. Along with the flowering of the Pohutukawa trees, the sweet abundance of the Linden's, Kawakawa berries also serenade the years' end. I have one little local spot that is easy to access every few days. As long as the fruit is plump you can harvest them while they are still green and they will ripen over the next few days. If you click on the photo below you'll see the progression of the fruit ripening over 48 hours.

I have tried them in all kinds of ways now - in dressings, infused in honey, in various desserts & mixed through strawberries, but this year I have decided that I like them best just as they are.

There are some lovely peaches at our Farmer's market just now- this combo was amazing: Hohepa (local) mozzarella, local honey, good salt, fresh peaches & perfectly ripe Kawakawa berries. Brilliantly balanced & the Kawakawa flavours just shone. Baked peaches with a little maple syrup are also delicious with them.

Dressing with Kawakawa berries, orange or lemon juice, lemon zest, thick natural yoghurt yoghurt, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper.

Add a teaspoon of tomato paste to go with a seafood salad.

Thick natural yoghurt, Mango chutney and plenty of ripe Kawakawa berries, especially if you chew well and get the hit of all the spicy seeds. So good with a curry.

Fairy cheesecakes

All mixed in with Mascarpone.

Kawkawa berries are lovely with chocolate too. They can even be dipped in chocolate if you like.

Katie X

Avocado Chocolate Gelato

When we stayed at Tiger House two years ago, in celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary, we had a lovely time reading through the resident cookbooks. 

Blowed if I can remember which one it was now. But I did take a photo of the recipe. Phew!  

This chocolate gelato is so good! What a strange addition- lots of ripe avocado, but it works. beautifully.

100 gms dark chocolate- 70% 

300 gms ripe avocado- probably 2/3 depending on the size

200 mls full cream milk (or milk that suits)

2 tbsps cream (or coconut cream I imagine)

1/3 cup of unrefined sugar- not honey as I tried that and the mixture was not quite firm enough.

35 gms (1/3c) raw cocao powder

2 tsps vanilla essence 

pinch of good salt

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over water in a little saucepan

Add everything else into a blender or food processor. 

Pulse to combine-mixture should be thick & mousse like. 

Add melted chocolate and blend for another minute or so to combine well.

Freeze in to small jars, a container, or little bowls.

Leave to stand out of the freezer for 10 minutes or so before eating/serving.

Actually, this is fine as a mousse and firms up nicely by simply being in the fridge.

This dessert is great on it's own but also teams up well with instant banana ice cream.

You can find the recipe for that here.

Another variation for this versatile dessert is to layer the mousse with other deliciousness such as this nod to Tiramsu:

Bottom layer is the above avocado mousse

Second layer is coffee chia pudding made with 1/4 chia seeds

 1 cup of whole milk, 1 dsp chicory coffee essence, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp maple syrup or honey.

Mix altogether in a jar, stir every now & then.

Leave to do it's thing for a few hours- until thick.

Third layer- 1 cup coconut cream set with 1 tsp gelatine, a wee pinch of salt & a tsp of vanilla & maple syrup or honey.

Top with caramelised walnut pieces or dust with cocoa powder or whatever takes your fancy at the time! I used our own foraged walnuts. Melt a dsp brown sugar in a pan, add the walnuts stir to combine- cook for 5/10 minutes until crispy. Cool.   

These are great stored in the fridge with the lid on.

Great for barbecues & picnics too. 

Of course there are loads of variations that you could use in the chia pudding part such as strawberries, even the freeze dried powders etc instead of the coffee flavouring. And of course, you could use coconut milk or cream or almond milk etc.

Katie x

Turkish Delight & Coconut Cream Jellies

I often find myself reinventing recipes to make them more nourishing and perhaps more satisfying to all the senses too.

This coconut cream Turkish Delight is deliciously light, looks so pretty and is ever so simple to make.  

I am so happy with it. 

The coconut layer is simply a can of coconut cream. Only Kara will will do- trust me, I tried another brand and it was grainy and truly horrible. Simply add a dsp of jaggery, honey or maple syrup, a tsp vanilla essence (homemade is so easy), and a dessert spoon and a half of gelatine.

Mix the gelatine with a little cold water, Sit for a minute to bloom. Microwave for 15 seconds & then stir through the coconut cream mixture. Make sure it's mixed through really well.

Pour into a glad wrap or greaseproof paper lined suitable container.

To make the Turkish Delight topping- brew 2 cups of rose petal & hibiscus tea (I add double pink hawthorn too), strain & add honey or jaggery to taste & a dsp of rose water.

Set with a dsp of gelatine- once again using a little of the liquid to dissolve the gelatine & then mix it back in the the rest of the tea. Cool. Carefully pour over the coconut base (which sets very quickly even out of the fridge) & leave to set fully in the fridge.   

Good gelatine itself is a wonderfully gut healing and nourishing food, along with the coconut and the lovely benefits of the herns (heart nourishing and spirit lifting especially) and the use of either honey or jaggery- a richly delicious and caramelly unrefined cane sugar product that I get from the Indian shop down the road, this really is a perfect summery delight..  

Jaggery. 

Very unrefined cane sugar with a delicious caramel flavour.

Katie X

Orange Frangipane Tart

 Oh how did I not understand frangipane before now!?

We fell in love with a walnut tart a while back, so when I read a recipe from @NZLife for an orange tart I knew I needed to adapt it to be frangipane too.

So here it is- an orange frangipane tart that is perfect for mid winter, while we have the sublime locally grown navel oranges in abundance & for picnics. Last week we had a wonderful wandering adventure out in Havelock North. Our afternoon tea under a leafless oak tree up at Keirunga gardens simply comprised of an orange frangipane tart & a tea of rose petal, hibiscus (sabdariffa), linden & double pink hawthorn blossom that was light & floral & perfect.

So to make the tart:

Pastry: 125 gms of chilled, cubed butter, a pinch of salt if it's unsalted like ours

1 1/4 cups of flour- I used 1 cup of wholemeal spelt & 1/4 white spelt flour

1 rounded tbsp of jaggery or brown sugar & a 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsps cold water.

Either process the mix to a fine crumb & then pulse in the water, or rub the butter through the flour & sugar & mix the water in. Chill while you get organised- like turning on the oven to 180 degrees C 

Bake for 10 minutes in a 23cm tart tin lined with baking paper, or several smaller ones 

Filling: soften 75 grams of butter & a large tbsp of jaggery, raw or brown sugar, beat together 

Add 1/2 cup of lovely honey

Beat in 4 eggs one at a time

Add the grated zest of a good rough (easier to grate) large orange so that you have at least a tbsp of zest

Add the juice of the orange, a tsp of lemon zest & the juice of half a lemon

Then stir through a cup of ground almonds & a tbsp of flour

Pour in to the par baked shell. Add mandarin segments in a pattern on top if you like.

Bake 180 degrees for 10 mins & then 20- 25 minutes at 160 until the tart is golden & set.

Cool before removing from the tin/s

Katie X

Feijoa Jelly

 A few weeks ago when a man gleefully bought himself a large bag of feijoas from our wee stall he paused to chat and told me about how he likes to make a delicate jelly with the fruit. He uses a whole can of condensed milk to the blended fresh feijoas and them sets the liquid with gelatine. I just can't quite bring myself to use a tin of condensed milk so instead I used 1/2 can of Kara coconut cream, some honey and a little rose water. I soaked some gelatine in a little of the liquid, heated it gently to dissolve and then stirred some feijoa/coconut cream mix in to the warm gelatine stirring all the time- mix it all in together and then pour in to jars, small bowls or a larger one and leave to set in the fridge. It's quite gritty- feijoas will do that, but it's delicious. Adjust the amounts to suit. and gosh, use condensed milk if you want to!

Katie X

Hawthorn and Blackberry Ice Blocks, Jelly and Pastilles

Late summer in Hawke's Bay means that it's time for both blackberry picking 

& the gathering of hawthorn berries. 

Both are deeply rewarding but also rather challenging to harvest with all those thorns & prickles, providing a great opportunity to slow down & enjoy the experience.

So it's lovely to realise that there are so many delicious things to do with them both. Last summer I came across a brilliant little recipe for "ice pops" over at Learning Herbs. I have adapted the recipe to make use of blackberries, rather than raspberries. It is so worth reading the whole article about reducing inflammation & managing the heat of summer.

To make the basic mix: simmer 1/2 c haws & 1/2 c (or a little less) hibiscus sabdriffa in 2 cups of water in a medium sized pot for around 10 minutes, add 1 cup of blackberries & simmer for another 10 mins. Strain. While still warm add 1/2 c honey & a pinch of salt & stir to dissolve the honey.

When cool stir in 1/2 tin of coconut milk or cream. We prefer Kara coconut cream.

Stir altogether & pour in to ice block moulds. Freeze.

Any extra can be set in to a jelly with gelatine.

Or the same mix can be used to make a larger dessert like below.

Simply take a 1/3 c of the liquid before you've added the coconut cream/milk & add 1 1/2 dessertspoons of gelatine. Stir. Leave to swell for a few minutes. Microwave for 12 seconds & stir to dissolve. Pour the gelatine mix in to the main liquid & stir well. Now mix in the coconut cream.

Pour in to a pretty bowl, small bowls or little jars with lids. Pop in to the fridge. 

Each time we make this fabulously simple dessert it comes out a different colour. It naturally layers itself much like Spanish cream which is fun.

The final option is to make a batch of immune boosting, gut nourishing pastilles: use the same original recipe but leave out the coconut cream & add fresh or dried elderberries.

The amount is a little less so in to a medium pot add 1 1/2 cups water & 1- 1 &1/2 cups of a mix of hawthorn berries, blackberries, elderberries & hibiscus sabdariffa. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Strain. Add honey to taste.

 Take out a little of the 1 1/2 cups of liquid & add 3 tablespoons of gelatine. We really like Nutra Organics natural gelatine. Pop in to the microwave for 15 seconds (or use a small pot on the stove). Stir to dissolve. Pour the gelatine into the main liquid stirring well. Pour in to moulds or a small tin lined with baking paper. A syringe is a great tool to get the liquid in to small moulds. Leave to set- around 20 minutes. Press out shapes or use a biscuit cutter to make hearts etc, if you'd like to. 

Will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Best left uncovered to deter moulding. One or two eaten each day from late summer into autumn make a delicious seasonal support for old & young a like. 

 

Both pictures by Margaret Tarrant

Katie X