Spring is in the air, and we’re sharing a few seasonal recipes best enjoyed while lounging across a picnic blanket, sipping on some bubbles or lovely cup of tea! 

Orange Blossom Meringue with Whipped Mascarpone and Orange Curd

Serves 8-10

Prep time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

5 eggs
200g Caster sugar
2 tsp Corn starch
2 tsp Cider vinegar
2 tsp Orange blossom water

8-10 tbsp mascarpone
8-10 tbsp orange curd

Method

In a large dry bowl, seperate the whites from the yolks. Prepare a small bowl with the starch and cider mixed together, and another with the sugar.
Using an electric whisk, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, alternating between adding the sugar and the starch/vinegar mix. Take this stage as slowly as you can, in all it should last about 10 minutes. Finally, add the orange blossom water at the end and mix through.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius on convection. Line an oven tray with baking paper, and spoon your meringue into fist sized portions gently so as to keep some height to them and not paste it down. Keep each portion a few inches apart.

Place into the oven and reduce the heat down to 100 degrees Celsius. Bake for 2 hours and then turn the heat off, leaving the meringues to cool completely inside the oven, with the oven door cracked open.

Serve with a dollop of whipped mascarpone and orange curd.

Flourless Orange and Almond Drizzle Cake

Serves 12

Prep time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 large oranges
3 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 cups ground almond
1 tsp baking powder

For the glaze
2 tbsp icing
1 blood orange, juiced

Method

Put the oranges in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. After 10 minutes of boiling, pour out the hot water, and fill with cold water and repeat the process. Do this 3 times in total to help remove the bitterness from the peel.

Finally, once cooled, roughly chop the oranges and place them (skin and all) into a food processor with the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Grease a cake tin, and pour the mix in. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.

In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and juice together to form a glaze. Pour over the cake to serve.

Primavera Tart with Teff and Oatmeal Shortcrust Pastry

Serves 6

Prep time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the Pastry
1 cup teff flour
¾ cup oatmeal
90g cold butter, diced
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp iced water

For the Filling
1 cup fresh peas, shelled
1 cup of fresh broad beans, peeled
3 eggs, whole
4 fresh gbejniet
1 leek, thinly sliced
4 steamed artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Method

The pastry can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for long-term storage.

Place all pastry ingredients in a food processor, and mix until the dough starts coming together (about a minute). Pull it out onto a clean counter top and bring the dough together with your hands. If it’s very crumbly, add some more water. Shape into a neat dough, and place into a zip-lock bag into the fridge for an hour, or in the freezer while you prepare the next steps (if you’re trying to speed things up). Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius on convection, and prepare a tart tin by coating the base with butter.

Into a mixing bowl, add all remaining ingredients, breaking up the eggs and cheese lightly with a fork. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside.

Bring your pastry out onto a well floured surface (use the oatmeal if you’re keeping this a gluten free recipe). Naturally, this is not going to hold together as easily as wheat pastry would, so you may need to patch it together once you’ve placed it in the tin, but that’s fine! Roll the dough out using a rolling pin, into an evenly shaped circle as best as possible, dusting with more flour and flipping it over once or twice so it doesn’t stick to the surface. Once you have rolled it out enough to an even thickness, roll the pastry up onto your rolling pin and transfer it to the tart dish. Patch up the pastry where pieces may have broken off, and trim the ends that hang over. Press the pastry gently into the tin with your thumb. Pour the filling into the tin, drizzle with some olive oil and place into the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden and set.



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