friederike's Reviews
3 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 3Sort by: Title 
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Sweet Indulgence: 100 Great Desserts
By Mandy Wagstaff
Kyle Cathie - 1996
The exotic version of Eton Mess...
A really, really nice dessert! It's also very easy, and can be prepared well in advance and then assembled at the last minute, but it does require a little planning in advance for the meringues. The acidity and the texture of passion fruit worked well to counterbalance the sweetness of the mango, meringue and cream. I was a little worried that the vinegar and the cornstarch would be noticeable, but luckily, they weren't.
There is only one thing that wasn't entirely right, and that was the amount of cream - 250 ml cream for 8 servings would have meant that there'd only be one or two spoonfuls of cream per serving - I used nearly double that amount, and it was great. I also used double the amount of passion fruit, equaling half a passion fruit per serving. Also, you're supposed to assemble the pavlova and then chill in the fridge for at least one hour - I didn't do that because it would only make the meringue soggy; instead I chose to assemble the pavlova right before serving.
I made half a recipe and made four smaller pavlovas instead of a large one serving four; each pavlova had an approximate diameter of 9 cm.
Edited 23 July 2014:
We made this again last night. For some reason, the meringues didn't turn out as beautiful as the last time. They were sticky on the bottom, and looked smaller than last time. Perhaps it was the humidity, perhaps my oven wasn't warm enough (80°C instead of the 120°C it could have been), perhaps it was both.
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Rhubarb Creme Brulee : page 16
In flavour, this clearly was a 5 star dessert. The rich custard that perfectly complemented the flavour of the rhubarb, the crunchy sugar - just brilliant.
The only problem was that the custard didn't get firm, and I'm not exactly sure, why. I might be that we didn't cook it long enough, though I thought we did. I noticed that other recipes such as the very similar one in Flavour First cook the custard au bain marie a second time once it has been filled into the ramekins. To be honest, if possible I would rather try to avoid this, I remember doing it once and thought that it was such a hassle, and with the shallow creme brulee ramekins it'll be an extra hassle. Instead, I was wondering if I could cheat next time by adding a little gelatine .
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Rhubarb Filo Pastries : page 18
I really loved the idea and had high expectations, but sadly, they were not fulfilled.
The most obvious was the yoghurt - baked, it turned into a kind of cream cheese with a displeasing dry texture. But the rhubarb wasn't as nice as expected either. Although I had drained it, the parcels still oozed out a lot of liquid, and with it apparently all sweetness the rhubarb had possessed. And I still don't like ginger with rhubarb, but that's a personal question - it really seems to be a classic, at least in the anglophone part of the world! The filo part though was really great.
My guess would be that you should definitely serve the yoghurt with the ready baked parcels, instead of filling them with yoghurt. You can mix the yoghurt with the rhubarb juice you've reserved to make the yoghurt sweeter and create a balance between the zingy rhubarb parcels and the sweet yoghurt; perhaps you can also add honey (or add honey instead). I'm also wondering if you shouldn't cut the rhubarb into smaller cubes and then just roast for 5 min - they will cook in the parcels anyway, and this way you might retain just a little more bite.
General tips for making these: Make sure that the rhubarb and the butter have cooled down as much, this decreases the chance that the filo will tear. Also, allow lots of time for the rhubarb to dry. Even when I thought it had completely drained and after I had squeezed out the last drop, it still somehow oozed liquid. Best to prepare the rhubarb the night before. Also, don't brush the butter but dabble it on the filo to minimize the chance of tearing. Last, make sure you have lots of space and have everything close by.
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