Springs fruit- Granadilla Tartlets

Before I went to Silwood I must say there were a lot of things I had never tried. Not because I was fussy, but because for some reason we never ate those things in our house when I was growing up. I could probably spend quite a while writing a long list of all those things, but that would be rather boring to do, and to read. 

One of the things I had never eaten was a granadilla (I didn't even know that a grandillla and a passionfruit were the same thing *BLUSH*). I have however grown a lot, and am now in love with these delicious little fruits, so ofcourse I was delighted to see them coming back into season.

There are many ways you can eat this delightful fruit. Aside from just cutting it in half and eating it with a spoon, it makes the most beautiful cakes, cordials, mousses, tartlets, yogurts, jams and jellies. It really is a beautifully versatile fruit that can be added to almost anything. It's also incredibly good for you as it is a great source of antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and calcium.

After coming home with a whole lot of them that were left over from a shoot I spent a little time trying to figure out how I could add them to my cupcakes. The obvious answer was a curd. So off I went on my little mission of making a delicious granadilla curd. 

 

Granadilla Curd

Well the curd didn't make it anywhere near my cupcakes, because it was just too delicious! I did however manage to make some beautiful little tartlets...

Not only is this maybe one of the easiest desserts I have ever made, it's possibly also one of the nicest. Beautifully rich creamy curd, and short crispy pastry. Add a dollop of chantilly cream or maybe even a little ice-cream and there you have it - Granadilla flavoured heaven. 

Beautiful, easy and delicious Granadilla Curd Tartlets :)

Click here to find both my GRANADILLA CURD AND TARTLET RECIPES.

Happy cooking :)

A little town called Greyton

In the last 2 insanely busy weeks I have unfortunately had to put updating my blog on the back burner, but have no fear for I am back and after a beautiful weekend away with Josh feeling very inspired.

Obviously going away entails a lot of junk food and hopefully a braai or two, or so we planned, however due to road closures and terrible weather we arrived very late on our first night. So... no braai. We did however get the most beautiful gift basket from the owners of the farm we were staying on. Packed with a beautiful loaf of homemade bread (which became dinner), a jar of honey (we assume they produce on their farm), a local bottle of wine, some Nescafe cappuccinos and a little box of Lindor chocolates.

The beautiful gift basket we arrived to

After a long windy night, and after checking that my car hadn’t blown away, Josh and I got ready to explore Greyton. Could it be any more beautiful here?? It’s only Saturday morning and I’m already sad that I’m going to have to leave.

Beautiful views on surrounding farms

There’s beautiful little market on a Saturday, but we arrived 2 hours early so we did a little drive around the town and look what we found...

Me and the GIANT pumpkin

This has to be one on the biggest pumpkins ever, and yes it is real. More on this will definitely follow. 

Of course seeing such huge food only made me very excited for things to come and when the market finally opened we immediately found the pancake guy. I can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of him but try imagine- he stands there with about 8 gas burners in front of him all with a pan and there is always a pancake in each pan, and he never burns any, he just stands there flipping them. It’s pretty awesome to watch. Of course they taste amazing too. I mean who doesn’t want a cinnamon and sugar pancake on a Saturday morning??

I also managed to find a delicious lemon, rosemary, feta and almond pesto, and some really good biltong.

Yummy delicious biltong

Of course we couldn’t miss the rugby so after a lovely nap (which we needed after stuffing our faces), we were back in town at the Vanilla Cafe to watch the rugby. What a beautiful little spot.It’s owner run and so welcoming and friendly, with the most beautiful eclectic decor and an iron fireplace which made for the perfect shelter from the weather. The beer also flows very freely. So this made for a wonderful evening of victory (our boys did us so proud) and socialising with the locals.

The Vanilla Cafe

Wanting to try a little of their menu we decided to take ourselves and our hangovers back there for breakfast, on our way home the following morning. The place was even lovelier during the day, and everything on their menu looks delicious. I had a full English breakfast and a latte of course. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect way to end off our little weekend trip. I can’t wait to go back and try some more.

Full english- go away hangover breakfasting vibe!

Lattes and Milkshakes this weekend. YUM!

Unfortunately now I’m back in reality, but I’m already dreaming of when I get to go back to that beautiful little town...

Sadly I have no new recipes this week, but if you CLICK HERE you will be transported to my recipe archive.

Happy Monday, and Keep warm.

All fingers crossed for summer!

Feeling inspired by the beautiful weather we had this weekend, the avocados that are finally coming back into season and the fact that I don’t eat nearly enough fish, I came up with this beautiful recipe. 

Sesame Crusted Trout with Spicy Avo Salsa

It’s really light, fresh and summery, so I may be jumping the gun a little, but there can be no harm in hoping can there?? Besides, if this weekend was anything to go by, we may just be getting lucky. It’s also really quick and easy to make so it’s perfect for those days when you arrive home after work exhausted and starving.

If you are feeling adventurous you can also add a cubed pineapple or , when they are in season, mango to it. That is one of my favourite things to eat with any fish, and it’s especially nice with grilled prawns.

Lastly in case you hadn’t noticed- unlike pretty much every recipe I’ve ever shared it’s really quite healthy. All the fats are good fats and it’s fish, full of omega what what and all that stuff.

I used trout to make mine, not only is it very much cheaper, but it’s also a lot less fishy than salmon, and in a lot of ways I prefer it. You can however use salmon if you wish, or even tuna, or any other firm fish for that matter.

Click here to find this delicious recipe on my recipe page:

Quick and delicious sesame crusted trout with avocado salsa

  Happy cooking and healthy eating :)