i Lead Recipes

A low-fat dessert for the health conscious.

INGREDIENTS

125ml Basmati rice

625ml fat-free milk

85ml Castor sugar

3 vanilla pods

1 bay leaf

ground cinnamon

METHOD

Heat the rice, milk, vanilla and bay leave in a saucepan. Stir until the mixture starts to boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. The mixture will become thick and soft. Stir often.

Add water if the fluid is cooked away before the rice is soft. When the rice is cooked there should be no fluid left. Cool the mixture, stirring from time to time. Remove the vanilla and bay leaf and dish into separate bowls.  Sprinkle cinnamon over before serving.

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This dessert is ready in a few minutes and just the thing for a warm summer’s day. Be sure to use cream cheese that contains pro-biotics - it benefits the digestive system.

INGREDIENTS

1 container smooth, low-fat cream cheese

250ml ready-made, low-fat custard

6 meringues, crushed

Strawberries and grapes, chopped

Mint sprigs for decoration

2 tall glasses to serve in

METHOD

Mix the cream cheese and custard together. Place a layer of broken meringue in a glass followed by fruit and then the cream cheese mixture. Repeat the layers. Garnish the top with fruit and a mint sprig. Keep chilled until served. 

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Pancakes can be frozen and left to thaw at room temperature when needed. They are always handy for starters – fill them with tuna or salmon and serve with a white sauce and fresh herbs. For dessert, fill them with fresh berries and serve with cream or ice-cream.

INGREDIENTS

1 egg

1 and three quarter cups of water

a quarter cup of cooking oil

1 dessertspoon vinegar

1 cup of flour

 half a teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

a quarter teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

METHOD

Beat egg and water together. Add oil and vinegar. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and bicarb together and mix with the egg mixture. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Heat oil in a frying pan till hot. Pour enough dough to form a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. As soon as the pancake starts to come loose from the bottom, turn it over with a spatula. Leave in pan for a few seconds before letting it glide onto a dish or plate. Keep the pancakes warm by covering the dish with a lid and putting it over a saucepan with boiling water.

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A truly luscious dessert. The sweetness is tempered with the slight tang of lemon. When made in ramekin dishes it serves 6. The recipe can be doubled with great success.

INGREDIENTS

2 lemons

180ml sugar

1 egg

4 egg yolks

250ml cream

icing sugar

extra cream and edible flowers to garnish

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC. Grate 10ml lemon rind and squeeze 125ml lemon juice. With an electric mixer beat the sugar, egg and egg yolks into the juice.Add cream and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Strain the mixture and stir in the lemon rind.
2. Place 6 ramekin dishes in a deep baking dish. Divide the lemon mixture evenly between the dishes. Place the baking pan in the oven and fill it with hot water ’till it is 2cm from the top of the ramekins.
3. Bake 30-45 minutes or until the mixture is just set. Remove the pan and carefully remove the ramekins from the water. Set aside to cool and chill if desired.
4. To serve, dust the dessert with icing sugar. Garnish with a swirl of cream and an edible flower or sprig of mint.

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Truffles can be served with a cherry sauce, on ice-cream or with hot chocolate. They also look wonderful as decoration on cake.

INGREDIENTS

170g dark chocolate of good quality (50%-60% cacao)

100ml cream

20ml soft butter

55g chopped cherries (if preferred the cherries can be soaked in cherry liquor)

cocoa powder and chopped nuts

METHOD

Cut the chocolate into small pieces and put in mixing bowl.

Heat the cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. Wait 2 minutes before stirring and mixing it.

Add butter and cherries and mix well.

Store in refrigerator until the dough is firm.

Roll the dough into small balls and cover each one thoroughly with cocoa powder and fine nuts.

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