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This crumbly yet satisfyingly dense dessert combines all the almond flavours of a frangipane with the texture of a polenta cake and the richness of an olive oil cake, while fresh orange flavours add a lovely citrus zing.

This recipe is part of our online gift guide and e-zine Hint Magazine. You can get your free PDF copy here or, for the full experience, flick through it here:Hint Magazine 2024

Christina doesn’t like cake made of cake. Cheesecake is fine. Carrot cake just about makes the grade. But things like sponge are anathema to her.

So it’s understandable that I was apprehensive with this one. But the polenta, almond meal and olive oil made enough of a difference that she devoured this ‘cake’ without a sign of side eye.

But the good thing about it is that it’s not too cakey. And it’s not too sugary either. The freshness from the orange and lemon, and the richness from olive oil, eggs and spices turns up the indulgent dial too.

Sweetness comes almost exclusively from the three dousings of orange and maple syrup, which you add at different stages at different reductions.

A scoop of orange cream on the side sharpens the dish and adds depth at the same time.

This cake is indeed gluten free. We have more gluten-free recipes here.

Polenta and olive oil citrus syrup cake

Here’s what you need:

Cake
– 3 large eggs
– 1 cup (approx 210g) extra virgin olive oil
– 50g caster sugar
– 2tsp vanilla extract
– Zest of one orange
– 2 cups (approx. 175g) almond meal
– 50g polenta
– 2tsp baking powder
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Citrus and maple syrup
– 2 cups fresh pulp-free orange juice (about 4 oranges’ worth)
– 2 tbsp lemon juice
– 100ml (approx 1/3 cup) pure maple syrup
– 2 whole star anise
– 1 cinnamon stick
– 15-20g butter (added later)

Orange cream on the side
– 1 cup Greek yoghurt
– 1tbsp thickened cream
– 1tbsp golden syrup
– Zest of 1/2 orange

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat the oven 160°C fan-forced.

Cake:

2. Lightly beat the 3 eggs into a large bowl until the white and yolk are combined, then mix in the olive oil, the 50g sugar, the vanilla extract and the zest from 1 orange until well combined.

3. Add the 2 cups almond meal, 50g polenta, 2tsp baking powder and cinnamon to the bowl and mix to form a smooth batter.

4. Pour batter into a greased scallop-edged flan tin and bake for 30mins or until cooked through. You can also use a deeper dish like a bread tin, though you’ll need to cook it for longer — around 45mins. Either way, a toothpick or wooden skewer should come out clean.

Syrup:

5. To make the syrup, combine all the ingredients in a pan and gently simmer for 5mins or until the mixture has reduced slightly and the spices have become aromatic. At this stage, the syrup will be quite runny.

6. Using a skewer or toothpick, poke several discreet ‘soak holes’ in the cake, then spoon enough syrup to moisten the surface of the cake and pool slightly. Then return syrup to the heat, remove the spices and cook down for a further 5mins. Spoon more over the cake to glaze.

7. Return the remaining syrup to the heat again, add the 15-20g butter and cook down until the syrup thickens. Add this to each slice of cake when you’re ready to serve.

Cream:

8. Finally, combine the yoghurt, cream and orange zest* well in a bowl. Return it to the fridge, covered, until you’re ready to serve. The longer you leave it, the more the orange zest will permeate.

You can chill the cake if you wish or serve it warm or room temperature. Serve with a scoop of orange cream and a drizzle of maple and citrus syrup.

You can also serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you like.

*The zest will add texture (read: ‘a bit lumpy’). If you don’t want this, pass the yoghurt-cream mixture through a sieve for smoother consistency.

The post Olive Oil Citrus Syrup Cake Recipe – and yes, it’s gluten-free appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

I must admit, I’m usually a bit reluctant to cook with wine. Although it brings so much extra flavour and helps with texture, I always wonder if the wine wouldn’t be better suited to my glass than a pan.

But when you’re making a dish like spaghettini alle vongole, a drop of good-quality Italian wine makes a huge difference to the food.

Dishes that are quick to cook—like spaghettini alle vongole—really respond well to a splash of vino.

Wine’s acidity helps delicate ingredients stay tender and to maintain moisture. For this dish, it means while you’re waiting for the more robust ingredients to cook, things like the spring onions and the vongole won’t turn to mush or rubber.

And this dish does cook really fast.

Once you’ve got everything prepped—garlic, chilli and spring onions chopped, and the vongole washed—you’re looking at about 10-15 minutes from stove on to plates filled.

How To Make Spaghettini Alle Vongole like a pro

Santa Margherita—one of Italy’s most recognised vineyards—has teamed up with famed Italian chef Silvia Colloca, who has shared a couple of her favourite recipes that work perfectly with their wines.

This recipe serves two with a bit left over and is a wonderful dish for a romantic meal at home.

The speed it all comes together means you’re not wasting time in the kitchen you could be spending enjoying each other’s company.

Here’s what you need:

– 2tbsp olive oil
– 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
– 3 spring onions, roughly chopped
– 1 long red chilli. roughly chopped
– 200ml Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio
– 1/4 cup baby capers, rinsed
– 500g cherry tomatoes
– 700g vongole or pipis, well washed
– 200g spaghettini
– 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Here’s what you do:

Before you start chopping: have a saucepan of hot, well-salted water ready to when you’re ready to cook the pasta.

1. Heat up on high the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan with high sides. Fry the garlic, spring onion and chilli until the garlic starts to become golden and fragrant.

2. Add the shellfish, tomatoes and capers, then pour the wine in and cook for about two minutes until the alcohol smell has dissipated.

3. Cover the pan with a snug-fitting lid and allow the shells of the vongole to open – about 2 minutes. Extract the shellfish from the pan and set aside in a bowl. Fish out any that might’ve detached from the shells too. Discard any unopened shellfish.

4. Bring the pot of water to a rolling boil and drop the pasta in and cook for four minutes, to just before al-dente. Do not strain the pasta water, you’ll need it.Remove the spaghettini with tongs and drop into the sauce, adding a little pasta water.

5. Stir the pasta and sauce gently for a couple of minutes and watch how the pasta soaks up the juices. Add more pasta water if necessary.

6. Turn off the heat and return the vongole to the pan along with any juice left in the bowl (this is all flavour!) and gently combine. Scatter with parsley, a garnish of extra sliced chilli, a drizzle of olive oil and a crunch of pepper. Serve immediately with the rest of the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio.

Spaghettini alle vongole is a Neapolitan classic from Campagna in southern Italy. It’s a fresh simple dish of chewy yet fine pasta and these delicious little clams that bring texture and gentle briny notes that remind you of the sea.

Santa Margherita’s Pinot Grigio is such a good choice for this dish. It’s light enough not to take over though it has enough body to still make a difference to the food. It’s also lovely to drink while you’re eating.

This also takes the mystery out of trying to match the food with the right wine, though we’ve got some good tips on that here!

Find Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and Santa Margherita Superiore Prosecco—both authentic and delicious Italian wines—at BWS and other good bottleshops nationally.

The post How To Make Spaghettini alle Vongole Properly appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Smooth rich caramel studded with the satisfying crunch of cashews and topped with a dense layer of dark chocolate ganache in a case of crumbly shortcrust pastry, this chocolate cake is not only delicious but easy to make too.

This recipe is part of our gift guide e-magazine Hint, which is packed with awesome gift ideas for everyone. You can read the issue where this recipe features here.

I’ve recently fallen into the role of ‘dessert guy’ with a group of friends that meet up for dinner every Tuesday.

They’ll casually knock up a beetroot, feta and rocket salad with caramelised walnuts, slap down a cheese and charcuterie board full of creamy d’affinois and wafer-thin prosciutto, pull out trays of succulent home-made buffalo wings or slice a perfectly reverse-seared rump cap or giant tomahawk steaks as if it were, well, any other Tuesday.

Aside from the incredible food, the banter on these Tuesday nights is always a healthy bombardment of take-downs and quips, so when the dessert part of dinner somehow fell into my lap, I knew a bit of effort was needed.

So far, this caramel cashew choc tart is proving to be the most popular, so I’m glad it’s one I can make ahead of time and that it’s pretty easy to put together.

Easy Caramel Cashew Choc Tart

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

– 1-2 sheets of frozen shortcrust pastry
– 200g unsalted roast cashews
– 180g brown sugar
– 115g butter
– 2tsp vanilla extract
– 250ml thickened cream
– 200g dark chocolate

Method

1. Fit the pastry into a baking tin (I use a 25cm flan tin), trim the edges and blind bake at 180°C for 10mins. Remove blind-baking weights and baking paper, and bake for another 10-15mins until the pastry is cooked through and golden.

2. On another baking tray, roast the cashews for 5-10mins until they turn slightly golden. Cool in a bowl.

3. Caramel: combine the sugar, butter, vanilla and 160ml of the cream in a pan, bring to the boil then simmer for 8-10mins or until thickened and the caramel coats a metal spoon.

4. Spread the cashews over the surface of the pastry then pour the caramel over the top so the nuts sit under the surface. Allow to cool—you can put the whole thing in the fridge—until the caramel no longer wobbles when you move the tin.

5. Ganache: break chocolate into a bowl then boil the remaining cream (85ml). Pour the cream over the chocolate, and stir then whip until combined and smooth. This is now ganache.

6. Spread chocolate ganache over the caramel in an even layer* then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Serve in slices with whipped cream, ice cream or just on its own.

* I also like to sprinkle a pinch of salt flakes over the caramel before I add the ganache to elevate the flavours a little, but you don’t have to.

If there is any left over, it’ll keep in the fridge for around three days.

The post How To Make This Easy Caramel Cashew Choc Tart appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Figs are one of the most delicious fruits. The only thing better than a fresh fig, is one stolen from the tree that grew in my zia’s (Italian auntie’s) garden when I was little.

The trees would be covered in nets to protect them from the birds above, but they were no match for little fingers reaching up from underneath.

This cake also reminds me of Italian apple cakes that my other auntie would make in wintertime. So if figs aren’t in season, you could try this with apples or stone fruit like plums or apricots.

The original Ottolenghi recipe uses Star Anise powder instead of Allspice which is also delicious. If you have extra figs, these can be cooked into a sugar syrup and spooned over the cake for a truly decadent dessert.

How to Make a Fig and Yoghurt Cake

Here’s what you need:

– 200g unsalted butter – chopped
– 200g caster sugar, plus 1 tsp extra
– 3 large free-range eggs
– Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla paste
– 1 tsp Orange Blossom Water*
– 180g almond meal
– 100g plain flour
– ½ tsp salt
– 1 tsp ground Allspice
– 100g Greek yoghurt
– 8-12 figs
– Greek yoghurt to serve

* Orange Blossom Water is an ingredient that may be a little harder to find, so you can make the cake without it. If you can find it, this essence adds a lovely floral note to the finished cake.

Fig & Yoghurt Cake – here’s what you do:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC. Line the bottom and sides of a 20-24cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until they turn light and pale. This takes a few minutes and is easier if your butter is at room temperature.

3. Beat the eggs lightly, and add the vanilla and orange blossom water. Add the egg mixture in small parts, slowly, into the butter and sugar. Wait for it to combine before adding in more egg. Keep going until all the egg is mixed in.

4. Mix all the dry ingredients together – the almond meal, flour, salt, and allspice. Fold them gently into the batter. Mix until the batter is smooth, then fold in the yogurt.

5. Pour the batter into your cake tin and smooth the top with a spatula or spoon. Cut each fig in half and arrange in circles on top of the cake, just slightly immersed in the batter.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170ºC and continue baking until it sets – about 40-45 minutes longer. Use a toothpick or skewer to check if the cake is done. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.

7. Allow the cake to cool and sprinkle a teaspoon of caster sugar over the surface of the figs. Serve with some extra Greek yoghurt.

This cake keeps surprisingly well for a few days in an airtight container but we haven’t been able to keep it around for longer than that.

We’ve since also cooked this in a long, shallow flan tray to make a smaller teacake slice which is great for lunchboxes.

The big test was when we brought it over for lunch at our Italian auntie and uncle’s house – they asked for a second slice so we consider this the biggest sign of success.

Check out some of our other delicious recipes here:

For another classic Italian recipe, my family recipe for gnocchi

Jim’s recipe for taralli, a wonderful crunchy snack from Puglia in southern Italy

My amazingly easy and popular recipe for lemon meringue semifreddo

Jim’s more-addictive-than-smack roast potatoes

Our neighbour’s incredible recipe for rocky road

The post Easy and Delicious Fig & Yoghurt Cake appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

There’s nothing quite like the rich aromas and heady flavours from a warm cup of mulled wine. And it’s not a new thing.

We’ve been adding spices and heat to wine has been a thing for centuries. The Ancient Greeks did it, the Romans copied them and also wrote it down, and there are still versions of mulled wine throughout Europe and as far away as Chile.

At its essence, mulled wine is warmed (but not boiled) red wine with spices like star anise, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamon and fennel, and citrus fruit – usually orange or lemon.

But different variations around the globe – whether it’s the Swedish glögg, German glühwein or Chilean candola – add different spices and fruit, and even a range of different liquors too.

It’s really up to you which style you want, though there are some important things to bear in mind when you make your mulled wine.

By the way, if you love our fire pit on our balcony as much as we do, we’ve got a post on how to make your own tabletop fire pit right here.

Important things to bear in mind with mulled wine

1. Use an affordable bottle of wine. There’s no need to dig too deep into your cellar or your pockets for this.
2. Use a low-tannin, full-bodied wine. Cabernet Sauvignon will probably be too tannic and bitter; at the same time, a Pinot Noir will be too light. You’re looking for a jammy, rich wine like a young shiraz.
3. Don’t boil the wine. You (probably) want some alcohol left in your mulled wine, but if you boil it too long, the booze will evaporate.
Simmering at about 60dC will do the trick to extract the flavours from the spices and warm up the wine enough.

But if this all sounds a bit precarious and like too much work, go find bottles of Jam Shed Shiraz in your local bottleshop.

For a limited time over the winter, Jam Shed are including a ‘teabag’ of spices and a recipe for mulled wine with every bottle of Jam Shed Shiraz and Red Blend. It even comes with a Jam Shed jam jar glass.

Find this offer at participating bottleshops for a limited time for $13.00RRP – that includes the spice bag, glassware and bottle of wine.

Jam Shed’s actually the perfect choice for mulled wine. It’s an affordable bottle, it’s rich and full bodied, and – as its name suggests – it’s fruit forward with a good level of sweetness.

But let’s cut to it – here’s the recipe for mulled wine if you can’t get your hands on one of Jam Shed’s special bottles.

Mulled wine recipe

Serves 3-4 – makes about 750ml

Here’s what you need

– 1 bottle of 750ml Jam Shed Shiraz or similar
– 2 whole cinnamon sticks
– 3 star anise
– 4 whole cloves
– 10g fresh ginger
– 1tsp fennel seeds
– 2 cardamon pods
– 1 orange – sliced

Optional extras:

– 1/2 cup brandy, rum or port
– 1/4 cup brown sugar, honey or maple syrup

Here’s what you do

1. Heat all ingredients in a saucepan until gently simmering (not boiling) – about 60dC.
2. Remove from heat, cover and leave to steep for about 15 minutes – or longer if you want a stronger spice flavour.
3. Strain mulled wine into mugs and garnish with an orange slice and a star anise. You can retain the other spices to reuse if anyone wants a bit more.

There are literally hundreds of variations and alternatives for mulled wine recipes out there. It’s really a case of working out which one is your favourite.

The most important thing is that it tastes great, warms you up and brings a smile to all who sip it.

Do you have a favourite ingredient or method for making mulled wine? Tell us all about it!

The post Get your liquid glow – how to make the best mulled wine appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Do you remember your first espresso martini? That startling smoothness, the sweet coffee combo, the zing of caffeine to put your night right on track…

It’s an iconic cocktail – so much so that we’ve got our own recipe for an espresso martini here and we even created a new version of the classic in honour of our lovely friend Nikki Parkinson.

It’s called the Styling You mocha espresso martini and it’s delicious.

But when we were recently loaned a new coffee machine to play with, Christina and I thought we’d do something a bit different to the classic espresso martini.

How to make a Stay Up Till Tequila Sunrise

Here’s what you need

– 60ml tequila reposado like El Jimador
– Double shot of espresso
– 30ml Kahlua Salted Caramel edition
– 15-20ml lemon juice
– 3 dashes Angostura bitters
– Orange peel to garnish

Here’s what you do

1. Stir (or shake actually) all the ingredients over ice then strain into an old fashioned glass, served on the rocks or up.

2. Garnish with the orange peal.

3. Make this a longer drink by topping up with aranciata Italian style bitter orange soda.

Note: If you don’t have the salted caramel Kahlua, you can use the regular one but you might need to add a measure of simple syrup to bring up the sweetness. Dissolve equal parts caster sugar in hot water to make the syrup.

You can watch us make the Stay Up Till Tequila Sunrise in our Cocktail Hour episode on IGTV here.

The golden tequila and lemon juice are a classic combo, lightening the spirit and toning the acidity of the citrus accordingly.

Rich earthiness and bitterness of the espresso (and its all-important hit of caffeine) blend with the sweetness of the Kahlua, and the Angostura bitters delivers a herbaceous note that builds layers to the drink.

All together, these flavours create a bright refreshing cocktail with a zap of caffeine perfect for getting the party started.

But one of the most important things about this recipe is to use a good-quality espresso. If you don’t have a machine at home, get a takeaway from the local cafe… or ever better, get one of these:

Which coffee machine? Jura S8

We’ve been given a new coffee machine from Jura to play with – the Jura S8 – and we’re really impressed with this compact yet full-function espresso machine.

Cafe-style espresso machines tend to be messy, fiddly, long-winded and – unless you know what you’re doing – disappointing. Capsule machines give you consistency, speed and very little mess, but don’t allow you to modify or adjust things much.

This Jura machine is pretty much the sweet spot between the two.

It has an integral grinder, so you can use your own beans. You can change things like the temperature, volume and strength of different coffee styles, and the touchscreen gives you lots of types of coffee to choose from.

The machine is easy to use, and works quickly and quietly. And the used grounds collect in the tray inside, so there’s virtually no mess to worry about.

For an automatic machine, the quality of the coffee is amazing – especially the espresso, ristretto and long black.

The milk steamer is fine, but you’re never going to get that same cafe-quality silky finish.

You can shop the Jura S8 Coffee Machine here.

The post How to make an espresso cocktail with a difference appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

From the humble affogato to the opulent tiramisu, we’ve been looking for ways to incorporate alcohol into our desserts for years. So don’t you think it’s interesting that we’ve never thought of ‘boozing up’ an Eton mess before?

Perhaps we were just waiting for the right alcohol to come along to match the sweet, crunchy, creamy, fruity chaos of the Eton mess.

Warner’s Distillery in the UK was the first to make pink gin a thing. Since then, that rosy hue has become a trend across the juniper all over the world.

The pink in Warner’s gin isn’t from artificial colouring though. It’s from the fresh rhubarb they introduce towards the end of the distilling process.

It not only adds that bit of blush but also a fresh, summery flavour that goes so well in a G&T – and even a gin and ginger ale.

But with a couple of tweaks to the recipe, Warner’s rhubarb gin in an Eton mess makes for one of the best grown-up desserts you’ll find.

Buy Warner’s Rhubarb Gin here.

Warner’s gin Eton mess recipe

Here’s what you need:

Makes 1 gin Eton mess – simply multiply measurements to make more

– 50ml Warner’s Rhubarb Gin
– 5 Strawberries (cut into quarters)
– small handful of blueberries
– 1tsp caster sugar
– 2 Meringue shells (broken into chunks)
– 2 Generous scoops of slightly melted* vanilla ice cream
– 1 Mint sprig

Here’s what you do:

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the strawberry quarters and stir until the sugar is either dissolved or coating the strawberries.

2. Pour the Warner’s Rhubarb gin over the strawberries and leave them to soak for at least 6 hours, overnight if possible.

3. Add the strawberry gin mix to the bottom of your serving glass, followed by the meringue pieces. Press the meringue down lightly.

4. Top with ice cream – the more melty the better so the ice cream combines with the meringue, gin and strawberries.

5. Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve.

*Ordinarily, you add cream to an Eton mess, but the gin can have an unfortunate curdling effect on it. But if you allow the ice cream to melt a bit, it has a similar effect and mixes with the gin perfectly.

The sharp brightness of the gin brings so many more dimensions to a standard Eton mess recipe, cutting through the sweetness and richness of the meringues and ice cream. And its colour blends with the strawberries too.

But best of all it’s not only a pretty dessert that will impress your dinner guests, it’s also quick and easy to put together.

The post Boozy rhubarb Eton Mess recipe with Warner’s Gin appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

FOMO is real and it hits me hardest when I’m trying to choose a sauce to go with my steak. Mushroom? Red wine? Peppercorn?

But that’s all moot if I can order Cafe de Paris butter instead.

Much more than just a disc of regular butter plopped atop your meat, Cafe de Paris butter is a carefully flavoured ‘compound butter’ – a mixture of all kinds of unlikely ingredients including curry powder, tomato ketchup and anchovies.

Together these elements, which shouldn’t really work at all, create a level of umami that dials up the flavour of your steak – be it meat, vegetable or alternative protein – to dizzying heights.

And as the butter melts languidly over your steak, it creates a beautiful sauce that even the best jus or creamy velouté couldn’t rival.

This butter also works well on top of barbecued fish, chargrilled field mushrooms or eggplant slices or even tofu. In fact, the trouble with having a log of Cafe de Paris butter in your fridge is that you want to use it on just about everything!

How to make Cafe de Paris butter

Don’t let the expansive list of ingredients in this recipe put you off. It is a long list, but once you’ve got them all together, the process is easy – and totally worth it.

The butter will keep in the fridge for a few weeks or you can wrap it up more and freeze it no worries. It should keep in the freezer for months.

Here’s what you need:

– 250g unsalted butter, softened and chopped
– 1 large shallot
– 2 cloves of garlic
– 5 anchovy fillets
– ½ tsp capers, rinsed
– ¼ cup parsley
– 1 tbsp thyme (I used 1/2 lemon thyme 1/2 regular thyme)
– 1 tbsp chives
– 1 tbsp brandy
– 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
– dash of Tabasco sauce
– 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
– Finely grated zest of a lemon
– 2 tbsp lemon juice
– 1 tsp Dijon mustard
– 1 tsp salt flakes
– 1 tsp of Keen’s curry powder
– ½ tsp smoky paprika
– ½ tsp cracked black pepper
– ½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed and chopped (optional)

Here’s what you do:

1. Chop everything quite finely, you don’t want any big lumps or whole leaves in the butter.

2. Combine all the ingredients with the butter and mix well. You can use a food processor, but as long as the butter is soft, a fork then a spoon will do the same and you get more of a feel for the food.

3. Spoon the butter mixture onto a sheet of cling film in a rough sausage shape – about 3-5cm high – then wrap up the long edges and squeeze both ends to get all the air out. Hold the loose ends of the plastic and roll the sausage into a firm cylinder.

4. Tie off the ends and pop in the fridge. Once it’s hard, the butter can be sliced into discs when you’re ready to serve. Just remember to peel off the plastic once you’ve cut the pieces off.

A ½cm thick slice is all you need for each steak.

Apart from meat or veggie steaks, I’ve also seen Cafe de Paris butter used on top of fries and slow-cooked baked potato – even steamed vegetables.

It’s so tasty and versatile. All the flavours in the compound butter somehow work in perfect unison to raise the profile of pretty much any dish you put it with.

And also, let’s face it, butter.

The post Top of the Steak – how to make Cafe de Paris butter appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.