Amarula Phirni

Phirni is India's version of rice pudding. Made from ground rice and served in traditional earthen bowls called shikoras, it is a bowl of nostalgia for any Indian. I pondered hard on how to spin this lovely dessert without losing its integrity. And for that I turned to my favourite liqueur - Amarula.



Being in New Zealand, I couldn't really find traditional shikoras, but I thought these tart shells are the perfect vessels. It provides a nice crunchy texture and cuts the richness of the dessert. And I am a big fan of edible bowls.



Recipe:

1. Rinse 1/4 cup basmatic rice and drain. Grind the rice till the consistency resembles coarse semolina
2. In a saucepan, bring 1ltr of milk to boil
3. Once the milk boils, add ground rice and 1 cup of sugar and stir
4. Stir till the milk reduces to about 50% and turn off the heat
5. Once the mixture is cooled to room temperature, add a generous amount of Amarula and stir
6. Refrigerate for 2-3 hrs to let it set
7. Serve on store bought tart shells with a sprinkle of cinnamon or cocoa  

Amarula can obviously substitued for any cream based liqueur you have, like Irish Cream or Sheridan.

You can also flavour the milk with cardamom. In case you cannot find tart shells I'd recommend serving these on Biscotti

#Foodventures!

It's been a while since our last post and a lot has changed in that time. We packed up and moved 14500kms east. We moved from a country with the world's second largest human population, to a country with more sheep than human beings. New Zealand is a land of beauty, fresh produce and adventure. And keeping New Zealand in mind, we have decided to share a recipe that we feel best represents the country - sweet, pretty and adventurous.

Tres Leche cake with candied bacon frosting

A Tres Leche ( Spanish for 3 milks) cake is a sponge cake soaked in three variations of milk; condensed, evaporated and full cream. What sets this cake apart (besides how awesomely delicious it is) is it's unique texture that makes it moist without being soggy.

For the cake:
1/2 cup of melted butter, cooked to room temperature
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
5eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

For the soaking liquid:
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk*
1 cup whole milk (full cream milk)

*evaporated milk is milk that is cooked down to allow more than 50%of it's water content to evaporate. If you can't find a can, you can make your own or use a substitute:

Make your own: Simmer 2 cups of regular milk down to 1 cup to give you one cup of evaporated milk
Substitute: Take some milk powder and reconstitute it using only 40% of the recommended water.

Preheat the oven to 175°C

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. In a larger bowl, beat eggs and sugar till well combined. The eggs would turn a pale yellow colour. Add vanilla. Now gradually add the flour mix and fold to combine. It's always a good idea to add the flour in batches. Fold in the melted butter until incorporated.

Butter a baking dish and transfer the batter. Bake for 30-40 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Whisk together the milks. With a fork or skewer, poke the warm cake all over. Make sure you make sufficient holes as the luscious milk mixture will drop into the cake through this. Now pour the milk mixture over the cake. Don't panic if the cake is fully submerged in the milk, it will absorb all the liquid eventually. Set aside as let it cool.

For the frosting, whip 250 ml cream and 1/4 cup sugar together. Spread it over the cooled cake.

Finely chop the bacon. Add it to a hot pan and let it cook till the fat renders and becomes crispy. Add sugar and let it caramelize with the bacon. Remove from pan and let it cool on a silicon mat. Once cool, using a rolling pin, crush the bacon. Dust the crumbs on the frosted cake.

We have just given you the first taste of our food adventure. As we start our new adventure, we want to hear about yours as well. We would like to hear about your adventures with food - it could be anything from interesting anecdotes to tips to recipes. We like to hear anything out of the ordinary that you experienced with food, like my Tres Leche cake with bacon. Remember to use the hashtag #foodventures. For more information check out Youtube http://bit.ly/fvvideol or the website  http://bit.ly/fvmsl