#pecan halves

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Luxury Praliné

This Luxury Praliné, thus called because it is made with no less than four different nuts, will gorgeously enhance everything it touches whether you swirl it into a cake batter, an ice cream, spread it on toasts or use to make chocolates... It will also make a lovely gift this Holiday Season...even if it's only to yourself! Happy Wednesday!

Ingredients (makes a jar):

1/4 cup hazelnuts

1/4 cup peanuts

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup pecan halves

3/4 cup demerara sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

Line a small tray or plate with baking paper. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, toast hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds and pecans until fragrant. Remove from the heat, and transfer to a plate. Set aside.

Wipe the pan with a paper towel, and return to the stove, over medium heat. Sprinkle demerara sugar evenly at the bottom of the pan, without stirring, until sugar starts melting. Sprinkle in caster sugar evenly, and allow to dissolve into a light brown caramel. Swirl the frying pan to help sugar dissolve.

Once completely dissolved and you have a nice, shiny caramel, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in sea salt flakes with a wooden spoon.

Finally, stir in toasted hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds and pecans, coating them generously in the caramel. Then, spoon onto prepared plate or tray, and spread out into an even layer with the wooden spoon. Let cool, 15 minutes.

Once cooled and hardened, break nutty brittle into pieces in a food processor. Pulse a few times, until brittle is finely ground; and then, process on high speed until mixture breaks down and comes together into a thick, then smooth paste or Praliné. This will take a few minutes, at least 10, for the nuts to release their oils and make the paste smooth and shiny. Scrape the sides of the food processor occasionally.

Spoon Luxury Praliné into clean glass jar, and keep at room temperature, a couple of months.

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Texas – Pecan Pie

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Honey Pecans

These simple Honey Pecans take less than five minutes to prepare and they are so versatile you can sprinkle them on salads or Ice Creams alike, or eat them as they are. It makes an excellent accompaniment to cocktails, should you have guests dropping by! Happy Saturday!

Ingredients (makes 1/2 cup):

1/2 cup pecan halves

1 heaped tablespoon natural honey (like Manuka Honey)

1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

Line a plate or a small tray with baking paper; set aside.

Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add pecan halves and toast until fragrant, shaking the pan often, a couple of minutes. Then, drizzle in the Manuka Honey, shaking the pan to coat the pecans. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, shake once more and remove from the heat.

Spoon beautifully glazed pecans onto prepared plate or tray. Let cool completely.

Eat Honey Pecans as a snack or use them as a toppings for yoghurt, ice creams, salads...

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Hummingbird Banana Bread

If you have ripened bananas in your fruit bowl, an open can of pineapple slices in the fridge and a few nuts in your pantry, you might want to make a hummingbird cake. But if you’ve also resumed exercising with Karl Te Nana, you might also want something lighter. Then, this scrumptious and moist Hummingbird Banana Bread is for you, my mates! Happy Wednesday!

Ingredients (serves 8 to 10):

1/3 cup pecan halves

1/3 cup walnut halves

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 slices canned pineapple (kept in its own juice rather than syrup)

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 over-ripe bananas

2 heaped tablespoons coconut sugar (or demerara sugar)

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 large eggs

½ cup Greek yoghurt

2 heaped tablespoons Greek yoghurt

1 heaped teaspoon fragrant honey (like eucalyptus)

freshly picked garden flowers, to garnish (optional)

In a frying pan over high heat, toast pecans and walnuts until fragrant. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before chopping roughly. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter a large loaf pan, and line it with baking paper; set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat.

Cut pineapple slices into chunks; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine plain flour, baking powder and salt. Give a good stir; set aside.

In a larger bowl, thoroughly mash ripe bananas with a fork. Stir in coconut sugar, 2 tablespoons of the pineapple juice and Vanilla Extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Then, alternately stir flour mixture and Greek yoghurt into the banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Whilst adding the last of the flour mixture, also add melted butter, pineapple chunks and toasted pecans and walnuts, folding the whole lot in with a rubber spatula until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, and place in the middle of the warm oven. Bake, at 160°C/320°F, 1 hour and 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and let cool in the pan, 15 minutes. Remove from the pan, carefully peeling off baking paper, and let cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine Greek yoghurt and honey; stir until well-blended. Spoon Greek yoghurt and honey mixture onto the loaf, spreading gently, to ice. Garnish with garden flowers, if desired.

Serve Hummingbird Banana Bread with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

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Caramel Pecan Pie Cheesecake

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Chocolate Pecan Pie

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Maple Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie

We celebrate Thanksgiving in October, as Canadians do; but we also like an excuse to eat pecan pie. Also, we’ve heaps of American friends, and we’re grateful on their behalf and ours, and that of the world at large, that come January, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be in the White House. It’s enough to celebrate with a Sweet Potato Casserole, and this decadent Maple Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie! The pastry is short as, and the filling is absolutely scruptious!

Ingredients (serves 8 to 10):

For the pastry

1 1/3 cup plain flour

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

¼ cup ice water

For the filling

1 2/3 cups pecan halves

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup dark muscavado sugar

1/2 cup pure Canadian Maple Syrup

2 teaspoons Bourbon Vanilla Extract

60 millilitres/2 fluid ounces (4 tablespoons) good quality bourbon

the seeds of ½ plump vanilla bean

¼ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

60 grams/2 ounces good quality dark chocolate

In a food processor attached with the plastic blade, combine flour, sugar and salt. Pulse a few times, to combine. Add butter and process, scraping the sides occasionally, until mixture resembles coarse meal. While on low speed, gradually add water until a soft ball forms. Remove from the food processor, flatten wrap tightly in cling film, and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Roll pastry out onto a lightly floured surface, adding more flour as you roll to roll it quite thinly. Fit pastry into a buttered 9″ pie plate, letting it hang over the edges. Trim excess pastry, and crimp. Prick the base of the pie with a fork. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes, or in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, lightly toast pecans until fragrant. Remove from the heat; set aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan, over a low flame. Remove from the heat; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk muscavado sugar with Maple Syrup, Bourbon Vanilla Extract, Bourbon, vanilla seeds and salt. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Roughly chop dark chocolate into small chunks.

Scatter pecans and dark chocolate chunks in pie shell. Pour Maple egg mixture over them. Bake in the middle of the oven, at 180°C/355°F, for 55 to 70 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling is set. Remove from the oven and let pie cool at room temperature.

Serve Maple Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie lukewarm with Maple Whipped Cream or Intense Vanilla Whipped Cream.

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How to Make Pecan Pie