Hibiscus Poached Pears

Delicate mouthfuls of luxurious smooth and melt-in-your-mouth pears.

Bring the water to a boil, add hibiscus flowers, honey and salt, stirring until honey dissolves. Let the water with the flowers boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and add peppercorns, cinnamon stick, and orange juice. Cover and steep 10 minutes.

Peel pears, leaving stems intact. Add pears to pan. Add 1 to 2 cups of water to just cover pears, if needed.

Bring to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 1 hour or until pears are tender.

Strain poaching liquid over a bowl, reserving 2 cups poaching liquid. Bring 2 cups poaching liquid to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high; cook 20 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup syrup.

Serve the pears with the syrup on top.

Vegan and Gluten-Free Strawberry Galettes

A delicious, classic French dessert made vegan and gluten-free.

1. Make the Crust: In a medium bowl or standing mixer, beat olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and yogurt until creamed together and slightly fluffy. Add in tapioca flour, oat flour, and baking powder and fold together. Form into a ball and set dough aside on parchment lined baking sheet.

2. Make the filling: Use the same bowl to make the filling. Gently fold all filling ingredients together until berries are well coated.

3. Roll out Dough: Preheat oven to 200C. On parchment paper, press dough ball into a rectangle using the palms of your hands/fingers. Flour your rolling pin and roll out dough into a oval/rectangle. Thickness should be about 0.5cm. Dough might crack on edges while rolling, just pinch together sides of dough when needed.

4. Assemble Galette: Transfer the parchment paper with the rolled out crust onto a baking tray. Place astrwberries in the center of the dough, leaving a 5cm border. Fold the edges up and over the filling, overlapping slightly (pinch together dough at bottom if it cracks when folding over). Optional: Lightly brush with almond milk and sprinkle with coconut sugar.

5. Bake Galette: Bake galette at 200 C. for 25-30 minutes until golden and strawberries are slightly bubbling. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Crepes

Our founder’s grandmother recipe. An homage to her and her cooking

1. Beat the eggs, add the milk, sugar, salt and oil. Mix well.

2. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix everything well.
3. It has to be a silky and smooth liquidy mix. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

3. In a hot pan add a little bit of oil. Grab a ladle and fill it with the mix, add to the hot pan and distribute the batter very well by moving the pan in a circular motion. It has to be a thin layer of batter. Once the sides of the crepe are golden and crispy, and you have bubbles in the centre, flip it, it will only take 2 minutes to cook.

4. She usually sprinkles some caster sugar in the middle and roll them like a taco. You can also add honey and olive oil.

Cheese Board

Valentine’s day is fast approaching, and cheese lovers will understand the importance of a good cheeseboard on this day.

I am adding 2 recipe ideas. One in the ingredients list and one below:

Grab 2 of your favourite cheeses. Ideally 1 soft and 1 strong. My choices are, most of the times, either brie or goats cheese; and manchego or cheddar.

Place 2 stalks of black grapes, because grapes and cheese pair very well together.

Buy a beautiful fig jam. Buy a good quality jam, it makes all the difference.

Choose your favourite nuts, either walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc. you could do a mix of some or simply choose one type.

Add some pretzels and toasted baguettes

Vegan Caramel Sauce with Fleur de Sel

A delicious and super easy take on Salted Caramel . And it’s vegan!

In a small pan, add the coconut cream, brown sugar, vanilla beans and cornstarch. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly while the coconut cream melts. The mixture will get bubbly and almost foamy. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir frequently for about 5 minutes.
Add a pinch of salt.
Remove from heat. The caramel can be used immediately, or let it cool and it willthicken considerably. Each time you go to use it, give it a good stir.

Pan de Pascua French Toast

Turn your Pan de Pascua into a magnificent breakfast: FRENCHTOAST.

1. Slice your Pan de Pascua
2. In a bowl mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon.
(Use the normal quantities you use for normal French
toast)
3. Dip the slices of bread into the egg mixture allowing
them to soak on both sides.
4. Transfer each piece to the hot griddle and cook until
golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.