Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Potcake

Serving size Dessert for 4 people
  • 5 Tbl Spoons Sugar
  • 3 Plums (or apples, nectarimes, peaches, mirabelles....)
  • 1 large Egg
  • 65g Sugar
  • 65g Flour
  • 65g Butter
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
Instructions

Use a small pot (diameter 15cm, high around 6cm) for this amount of ingediences - if you increase them, get a bigger pot. Make sure you can cook in the pot AND put it in the oven (so no plastic handles...). I use a glass form.

Cut the plums (or other fruit) in half and take out the stones.

Add 1/2 cup of water to the pot and mix in the sugar. Stir until resolved, only then bring to the boil. Do not stir any more once the syrup is boiling. Let reduce until you get a brown, thick caramel.

While the caramel is cooking, mix egg, flour, sugar, butter (you can liquidize the butter in the microwave) and baking powder to a batter.

When the caramel is ready, take the pot off the heat and add the fruits (cut side down) into the syrup. Now cover the fruit with the batter - spread evenly.

Bake at 170 degrees celcius for 30-35 minutes until the sponge has risen and is nice golden on top.

Immediately while hot place the cake on a serving plate - fruit side up! That makes sure the syrup will soak through the upper part of the sponge.

Serve while warm with a dollop of cream or creme fraiche.

Et voila...

Posted by at 08:42:50 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 07, 2008

Vacation in Snake Central

Here we are in 2008 - and Happy New Year to you too!
We spend the change of years in the bush (www.bushfellows.co.za), and while having loads of time to reflect I wondered about the following: Is it only me fearing for my life when on vacation in the bush or do other people also get the creeps between insects & lions?

Now where we were - no lions. Around our tent in the middle of no-where only buck, zebras, giraffe and crawlers had their home, BUT: what about getting bitten by a puff-adder (of which there where plenty we were told)? Puff-adders are unfriendly, lazy buggers lying in the bush waiting for (german) tourists to step on them and SNAP! And then what - hours of drive away from hospitals. In my nightmares I saw myself saying words of goodbuy to my beloved while the helicopter was (not) coming....Anyway, I developed a strategy: always have somebody else walk in front when needed (see picture, poor man, I know, but he did'nt know he was my "victim" and other family members obviously had the same idea, making sure I am always in front of them, so could not 'mis-use' them....not that I would ever do that anyway!)


Maybe I am exaggerating with the snakes. BUT then what about spiders - there are weird creatures out there, and given the fact that creepy crawlers and mozzies like to bite me even with plenty of other choice around (see picture, ouch!), spiders might chose to do the same. And now look at this one! The ranger said it is venomous - anybody out there who knows it's name? Cause there were thousands of them where I was......


In the end I survived our trip - again ;-)
Gotta loooooooooove the  bush!

Other crawlers from our trip:
Posted by at 16:21:49 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |