RECIPES FROM AFRICA

Peach Salad
Ingredients
100g prosciutto, thinly sliced
3 peaches, pitted, cored cut into 6 wedges
12ml extra virgin olive oil
30ml honey
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
60g soft goat’s milk cheese
Zest of 1 orange
Salad greens
Fresh basil
1 small red onion, sliced
Sunflower seeds, toasted

Preheated the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper, place prosciutto in the tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to cool
In a bowl, toss the peach segments in olive oil, honey, pepper and salt. Heat a grill pan over hight heat and grill peach segments for 20 to 30 seconds on each side or until grill marks appear but the flesh is still firm. Set aside to cool down.

Orange Vinaigrette
Ingredients
5ml wholegrain mustard
5ml honey
Juice of 1 orange
100ml olive oil
Salt and pepper

In a mixing bowl, whisk together mustard, honey and half the orange juice. Slowly add olive oil in a steady stream while whisking. As the mixture thickens, add a little orange juice and then continue adding olive oil until finished. Adjust the consistency with orange juice and season with salt and pepper.

Bream Fillets
Ingredients
100g cake wheatflour
30g cornflour
5ml baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste
330ml Zambezi lager of your choice
Oil for deep frying
4 bream fillets
100g cake wheat flour, seasoned with salt and pepper for dusting the fish.

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix in the lager (the batter should not be too thick). Heat oil in a deep fryer to 160C. Dust the fish fillets with seasoned flour, dip into the batter and deep fry until golden in colour. Serve with bean salsa.

Bean Salsa
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
30ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
30ml curry powder
400g can whole peeled tomatoes
30ml sugar
125ml water
400g can borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
400g can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

In a saucepan, stir-fry onion in olive oil. Add garlic and curry powder, and continue to cook over a low heat. Add tomatoes and simmer for further 10 minutes. Add sugar and water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add beans and simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring often and taking care not to burn the salsa.

Sweetcorn Pot Bread
Ingredients
40ml melted butter
400g cake wheat flour
100g polenta
10ml baking powder
5ml bicarbonate of soda
5ml paprika
5ml ground cumin
5ml salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 white onion, finely chopped
410g can sweetcorn
360ml buttermilk or plain yogurt

Light a barbecue to produce hot coals and grease a heavy-based cast iron pot well with butter.
Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix egg, onion, sweetcorn and buttermilk. Combine the wet and dry mixtures and stir to mix well. Pour the mixture into the pot, put the lid on, place it on a bed of coals and put a few coals on the lid too. Bake for 30 minutes and supplement the coals to keep an even temperature.
After 30 minutes, check if the bread is done, the temperature of the coals will determine the baking time. Serve with curry butter and coriander pesto.
Makes 1 large pot bread.

Curry Butter
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
120g salted butter, softened
5ml strong curry powder
Zest of 1 lemon
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spoon the mixture onto a sheet of cling wrap and form into a log. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours until firm.
Coriander Pesto
Makes 1 small jar
Ingredients
Bunch of coriander stems and leaves, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
30ml grated Parmesan
60ml toasted unsalted cashew nuts
5ml lemon zest
120ml olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place coriander in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add garlic, Parmesan, cashews and lemon zest, and process until incorporated. Add olive oil and process until almost smooth. Season with pepper.

Sponge Cake
Ingredients
215g butter at room temperature
205g sugar
4 eggs (room temperature)
420g cake wheat flour
10ml baking powder
5ml salt
260ml plain yogurt
330g honey
10ml vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease and flour three 20cm round cake pans. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. And in another, mix yogurt, honey and vanilla essence. Gradually add the dry and wet ingredients to the mixer bowl, alternating, starting and ending with dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, ensuring everything is thoroughly combined, but do not overmix. Divide the batter equally between 3 pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for 5 to 10 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
325g butter at room temperature
225g cream cheese
900g icing sugar
110g honey

Beat butter and cream cheese in the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until combined. Gradually add icing sugar and continue to mix, scraping down the sides, until incorporated. Add honey and mix until smooth.

Honey Glaze
Ingredients
80g sugar
82g honey
125ml cream
15g butter
Pinch of salt

Combine sugar and honey in a pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and turned liquid. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to darken in colour. When it turns butterscotch brown, remove from the heat. Carefully, pour in cream and stir until combined. Add butter and salt, and stir until smooth. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Honeycomb
Ingredients
300g white sugar
450g golden syrup
20ml vinegar
20ml bicarbonate of soda

Prepare a 25 x25cm baking tray by greasing it lightly with butter or oil. In a heavy-based saucepan over medium to high heat, stir together sugar, syrup and vinegar and heat to 143 degrees C. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will start to bubble. Immediately pour the hot mixture into the prepared baking tray. Allow the honeycomb to cool and harden before breaking it into pieces.

To Assemble The Cake
Trim the tops of the sponges so that they are flat. Place 1 on a serving plate or stand, and spread about a 1/3 cream cheese frosting evenly on top. Repeat this for the second layer. Place the third cake on top and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes so that the frosting can firm up before coating with glaze. Make sure that the honey glaze is at room temperature and a pouring consistency. Pour over the top and edges of the cake to coat evenly and so it also runs down the sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes or until the glaze has set. Garnish with honeycomb and meringues.