Bringing the savoury to your sweet
A treasure trove of ways to brighten and elevate baking + desserts with typically 'savoury' ingredients
Kia ora friends,
It’s been a very food-centric couple of weeks for much of the world, with the event of numerous religious calendar landmark occasions such as Easter, Passover and Ramadan leading to Eid at the end of next week (among others). All of these are rooted in food traditions (whether fasting or feasting), again emphasising the importance of food as a vessel for human connection and bringing communities together. Even for those of us who aren’t religious, we often still honour some of these annual food traditions, whether it’s making hot cross buns with the kids or writing clues for the annual cryptic easter egg hunt for your partner (a time-honoured tradition in my family). I find that after this time we tend to retract back into our home silos rather than continuing to be social and celebrate through sharing food with others. I encourage you to buck the trend of the holiday come-down and continue to find opportunities to connect with friends and whānau through food in the coming weeks.
So after this period of tradition, and eating far too many HCBs myself, I wanted the theme of this week’s newsletter to focus on a concept that’s very untraditional. In the past couple of newsletters, I’ve looked at some different ways to cook with flavourful condiments and seasonal produce, and hopefully you’ve all found enjoyment in giving some of these recipes a go in your own home kitchen. You’ll notice that sometimes my recipes follow a more conventional flavour palate, whereas other times I seem to be churning out some fairly whacky flavour combos – and often this is through breaking down the barriers of sweet and savoury cooking by letting ingredients traditionally used in one camp jump ship to the other. This week I want to challenge you to give in to the ‘whacky’ and consider how you can start to get more creative in the kitchen by mixing sweet and savoury ingredients in a delicious way. A great place to start is by trying to incorporate savoury flavours into your baking and desserts, so let’s get to it!
How to use typically ‘savoury’ ingredients to elevate and add interest to baking and desserts?
Below is a list of typically ‘savoury’ ingredients that over the years I’ve found lend themselves equally well to the sweeter side. Next to each ingredient I’ve listed some flavours that I’ve found complement it well when used in baking and desserts. I hope you find this a useful reference for future flavour experiments in your own kitchen:
Balsamic vinegar – vanilla, cherry, berries, ricotta, black pepper, pears, cinnamon, maple
Basil – dark chocolate, banana, strawberry, vanilla
Beetroot – orange, walnuts, pomegranate, thyme, chocolate, cinnamon, star anise
Black pepper – stonefruit, cardamom, vanilla, sesame, strawberry, coconut
Black sesame – strawberry, cardamom, vanilla, pomegranate, cream, rose
Chilli – chocolate, orange, caramel, mango, lime
Fennel – apple, citrus, yellow-flesh stonefruit, cardamom, elderflower, ricotta
Garam masala – caramel, banana, vanilla, milk chocolate, coconut
Gochujang – lime, vanilla, caramel, sesame, cinnamon
Kaffir lime – vanilla, mint, strawberry, coconut, mango, pineapple
Matcha – pistachio, raspberry, lime, vanilla, white chocolate
Mint – dark chocolate, ginger, vanilla, mango, pineapple, melon, lime, honey
Olive oil – vanilla, chocolate, berries
Rosemary – dark chocolate, vanilla, citrus, cinnamon,
Saffron – cardamom, rose, orange blossom, vanilla, citrus, cinnamon, honey
Soy Sauce – caramel, vanilla, citrus, stonefruit, coconut, pineapple, honey
Thyme – lemon, cardamom, stonefruit, dark berries, honey, elderflower
White (shiro) miso – banana, caramel, white chocolate, cherry, strawberry, pineapple
Of course, it isn’t always as simple as just throwing in one of these ingredients to an ordinary recipe (although sometimes it is actually this easy!). Sometimes you may need to adjust other quantities of ingredients to balance the water, fat, protein or carbohydrate component that these savoury ingredients might be bringing with them. As such, here’s a few simple ideas for how to experiment with these flavours in a low-risk way:
Balsamic cherry/berry sauce:
Place 150g fresh or frozen pitted cherries or berries, 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar in a small frying pan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until the fruit starts to soften and the liquid reduces to a runny syrup. Spoon the warm balsamic fruit over ice cream or yoghurt, or alongside a vanilla panna cotta or simple ricotta cake.
Chocolate basil cake:
Fold 4 tbsp finely chopped basil leaves into a standard chocolate or banana cake batter. Bake as normal.
Beetroot, orange + star anise cake:
Check out my recipe for Beetroot, orange + star anise cake on the website
Black pepper sweet shortcrust pastry:
Add ½ tsp cracked black pepper when making sweet shortcrust pastry to add a beautiful warmth to your pastry.
Black sesame no-churn ice cream:
For an easy no-churn black sesame ice cream, place 500ml double cream and 395g can condensed milk in a large bowl. Using an electric hand or stand mixer, beat on high until thick and forming medium-stiff peaks. Gently fold in 3 tbsp black tahini until combined. Spoon into a standard loaf tin (about 24cm x 12cm) and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Cover loosely with clingfilm and place in the freezer overnight (for a minimum of 8 hours). Remove from the freezer 5 minutes before serving.
Mango with chilli-lime sugar:
In a small bowl, using your hands, rub together 1 tbsp caster sugar, ½ tsp ground chilli and finely grated zest of 1 lime. Peel and slice a fresh mango, arrange on a platter, and sprinkle with the chilli-lime sugar.
Lemon-fennel syrup for drizzling over a lemon cake:
Place 2 tsp fennel seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat. Toast for a couple of minutes, then add 50g caster sugar and the finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons. Heat together until the sugar dissolves. When your cake is baked, remove from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over the warm cake (including the fennel seeds) and brush across the top so that the syrup soaks through evenly.
Garam masala caramel sauce:
Next time you make a caramel sauce, stir through 1 tsp garam masala at the end and simmer for an extra minute. The garam masala will bring a moreish warming flavour to the caramel.
Gochujang crème caramel:
It’s hard to go past my Gochujang crème caramel recipe (as featured in a previous newsletter).
Strawberry, mint + kaffir lime meringue roulade:
This recipe for Strawberry, mint + kaffir lime meringue roulade uses kaffir lime to flavour a smooth custard and macerated strawberries, that fill the fluffy rolled meringue.
Matcha melting moments:
Add 1 tbsp matcha to a classic shortbread or melting moment recipe for a deliciously green spin.
Pineapple with mint sugar:
In a mortar and pestle, pound together 30 mint leaves and 3 tbsp caster sugar until the mint disintegrates into the sugar. Serve dotted over fresh or grilled pineapple.
Olive oil ice cream:
Drizzle good-quality olive oil over good-quality vanilla ice cream. Simple delicious.
Rosemary poached pears:
For rosemary poached pears, place 4 sprigs rosemary, 2 cinnamon quills, 10 green cardamom pods, peeled zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1 lemon, 200g caster sugar and 750ml water in a lidded saucepan big enough to fit four medium pears on its base. Place over medium-high heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Peel the skins off 4 medium pears, keeping them whole. Once the sugar has dissolved, place the whole pears in the liquid. Bring to the boil and once bubbling, reduce the heat to low and place the lid on the saucepan. Simmer for 30-45 minutes until the pears are cooked through and tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and place on a plate standing upright to cool at room temperature. Return the poaching liquid to medium heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until reduced to a syrup consistency. Strain to remove the herbs and spices. Serve the poached pears with yoghurt or ice cream, drizzled with the poaching syrup.
Saffron + lemon cake:
See the Mood Booster recipe below for a beautiful way to use saffron.
Soy sauce-roasted stonefruit:
Use soy sauce for a remarkably delicious umami boost to roasted fruit. In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp lime juice. Take 6 ripe nectarines, apricots, plums or peaches, remove the stones and cut into large wedges. Add the fruit to the bowl and toss through to coat. Tip the fruit and liquid onto a baking paper-lined oven tray and roast at 180°C fan-forced (or 200°C conventional) for 15 minuets until softened and caramelised but holding their shape. Serve with your favourite ice cream or yoghurt.
Roasted apricot + thyme compote:
I love using thyme in this simple roasted apricot compote, excellent eaten spooned over granola or swirled through yoghurt. In a small baking tin, toss together 350g tinned apricots (drained), 1 tbsp orange blossom water, 50g caster sugar, 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves and a pinch of sea salt. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer the apricots and syrup to a bowl and gently mash with a fork to form a chunky compote.
Quick white (shiro) miso crumble:
For a quick miso crumble, in a bowl, whisk together 40g plain flour, 30g ground almonds and 2 tbsp soft brown sugar. Add 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso and 30g cubed chilled butter and using your hands, rub the miso and butter into the dry ingredients until well combined and forming soft clumps of crumble mixture. Scatter onto a baking paper-lined oven tray and bake at 160°C fan-forced (or 180°C conventional) for 10 minutes until golden brown. Serve with your favourite roasted fruit and ice cream for a quick deconstructed crumble.
I hope you find these quick and easy recipes as much fun to eat as they are to make! So next time you’re baking that regular chocolate brownie or cooking that classic custard, I challenge you to be brave, and try something new by incorporating one of these ‘savoury’ ingredients to level up your sweet creations.
Happy cooking, much love,
Alby xx
This week’s MOOD BOOSTER
Saffron + lemon cake with lemon curd mascarpone
I love to use saffron in baking for its floral scent and slightly earthy flavour. Here it combines beautifully with a hefty dose of lemon, imparted through the cake batter and the silky smooth lemon curd that sits atop, swirled through mascarpone. This cake is moist and fluffy, simple yet surprising, and delicious as always.
makes one 20cm cake, serves 12
Ingredients:
Cake batter
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp orange blossom water
large pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
200g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
100g butter, softened to room temperature
2 eggs
120ml canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g sour cream
150g plain flour
100g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
Lemon curd
65g egg yolks (from 3 or 4 eggs)
100g caster sugar
65ml lemon juice
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
100g butter, cut into small cubes
Lemon mascarpone
200g mascarpone
4 tbsp lemon curd, plus extra to decorate
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (or 180°C conventional). Grease and line a standard 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.
For the cake batter, place the honey, lemon juice and orange blossom water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to melt the honey and when starting to bubble, remove from the heat, add the crumbled saffron threads and set aside to cool and steep for 10 minutes. Place the caster sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and use your hands to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until deeply fragrant. Add the butter and using an electric hand or stand mixer (with the paddle attachment), beat together for 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat for 1 minute, until well combined. Pour in the oil, vanilla, sour cream and saffron syrup and beat for an additional minute until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Pour the batter into the lined cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool fully.
For the lemon curd, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a medium heavy-based saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, whisking regularly along the bottom of the pan, until the curd is thickened and only just starting to bubble (you do not want it to boil). This will take a few minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter in two parts, until smooth and thick. Strain through a sieve into a bowl and cover the surface with cling film to stop a skin from forming. Refrigerate to chill and thicken further.
To serve, in a bowl whisk together the mascarpone and lemon curd until smooth. Spread the lemon mascarpone evenly over the top of your cake and dollop with extra lemon curd. Use the back of a spoon to sweep the curd through the mascarpone to create peaks and troughs (as pictured). Serve on the day of baking, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ)
Early limes
New season kiwifruit
Apples
Figs
Silver Beet
Lettuces
Pears
Early pumpkins
Feijoas
Kitchen music of the moment
I’m usually not one for covers, but recently I’ve been enjoying this The Temper Trap cover of Australian band Church’s 1988 single Under the Milky Way. It has a dream-like quality in the music and vocals that is pretty addictive.
It’s amazing how we can connect with creatives through social media, and it’s through Instagram that I’ve stumbled upon South Africa-born, Melbourne-based musician Ruby Gill. Her lyrics are often frank and excellent, and it’s worth checking out her most recent album I’m gonna die with this frown on my face. I particularly enjoyed the opening track.
Interesting reads
Not a read but a watch - my mum recently put me onto this new show on Disney + where renowned chef Kristen Kish takes you around the globe to some of the world’s most remote restaurants - it’s amazing what chefs are able to produce with limited resource.
An alarming read comparing the cost of food in Australia vs NZ. Especially alarming given the equivalent wage for the same job is often less in NZ compared with Australia.
Is there a gender gap in the impacts of climate change on the food industry? a recent UN report suggests women are disproportionately impacted.
Some lighter reading about the concept of ‘umami wine’