Mauritian marvels

MasterChef 2012 winner Shelina Permalloo serves up four mouth-watering recipes

Judges and hosts said she had cooked some of the 'best meals' they had ever tasted on Masterchef - now you can give your meals a little Mauritian magic.

Shelina Permalloo - who learned her skills and knowledge of Mauritian cooking from spending time in the kitchen with her mother - has partnered up with Billington’s, the unrefined sugar specialist, to bring you four delightful dishes to try at home.

Shelina said: 'I’m still reeling from all that’s happened since MasterChef!'

These recipes are certainly a high...

Almond and Cinnamon Cake

This deliciously moist cake is gluten and lactose free!

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• 5 medium free range eggs
• 200g ground almonds
• 200g Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar
• 15g ground cinnamon
• 50g almond flakes
• 15ml Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract

For decoration:

• Cinnamon sticks
• Billington’s Golden Icing Sugar

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160° fan/Gas 4 and grease and line a 9 inch cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Using two bowls, separate the eggs placing the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another.

3. Using an electric handheld or freestanding mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff, and in the other bowl, whisk together the yolks, vanilla extract and sugar until completely pale and aerated.

4. Slowly fold in the ground almonds and the cinnamon into the egg yolk mixture, being careful not to lose any air.

5. Next slowly add the egg white mixture, carefully folding in after each addition so you don’t lose any of the air in the mixture.

6. Pour into the lined cake tin and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

7. Place in the oven and bake for around 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

8. Once the cake is completely cooled, remove from the tin and place onto a cake stand, sprinkle with icing sugar and decorate with some broken cinnamon bark in the centre.

Mango Cream Cake

Serves 6/8

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 250g Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar
• 1 large vanilla pod, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
• 4 large free-range eggs
• 250g self-raising flour
• 100ml full fat milk
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 75ml Alfonso mango purée
• 50g Billington’s Golden Icing Sugar
• 220ml double cream
• 2 fresh mangoes - chopped into 1” cubes

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C/160° Fan/ Gas 4 and grease and line 2 x 8” round cake tins.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds for about 10 minutes until pale and fluffy - this is key to the recipe so it is worth doing this bit well!

3. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well between each one.

4. Carefully fold in the flour ensuring you don’t lose any of the air in the mixture. It may need loosening so use as little milk until you get a dropping consistency.

5. Split the mixture into two equal sized portions into the prepared tins and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the sponge is golden brown and springs back to the touch, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

6. To make the filling lightly whip the double cream with the icing sugar until you get a soft peak, then stir in the mango purée.

7. Spread this evenly over the cooled sponge cakes (as you would do making a Victoria Sponge). Scatter over the fresh mango pieces and sandwich the cake together.

8. Dust the cake with icing sugar. For additional decoration place some of the remaining cream into a piping bag, and using a big star tip crown the cake with stars on the edge and place a piece of mango on each tip. Serve immediately.

Thai Pork and Lime Stir Fry

Serves 2/3

Gluten/Lactose Free

Ingredients:

• 300g pork neck fillet (or tenderloin)
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1tsp galangal, grated (or ginger) 2 birds eye chilli, finely chopped
• 1 lemongrass, white part finely chopped
• 1tbspn Billington’s Molasses Sugar
• 2tbspn fish sauce
• 1tspn shrimp paste
• 3 tbspn coriander stalk, finely chopped
• Handful fresh mint leaves
• Handful fresh Thai basil (or Basil)
• 3 Limes, juiced and 1 lime segments
• 70g snake beans, 1inch pieces (or green beans)
• 5 spring onions, 2 inch pieces

Method:

1. Using a heavy knife, chop the pork into small pieces, then chop vigorously and quite heavily until you turn the pork into a mince. This is a Thai technique to turn good quality meat into mince.

2. In a pestle and mortar lightly pound together the garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass and coriander root until it turns into a rough paste.

3. In a wok on a high heat, fry together this paste with some vegetable oil and then add the mince and cook through for about 3-4 minutes. Add the shrimp paste, fish sauce, lime juice, lime segments along with the sugar and cook for another minute. Add the green beans, spring onions and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Take off the heat and toss through the fresh mint and basil leaves.

5. Serve with Thai sticky rice.

Chai Tiramisu with Vanilla and Rum (pictured top)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 5 medium free range egg yolks*
• 120g Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar
• 750g Italian mascarpone Chai masala tea (can be found in any Asian supermarket)
• 200ml hot water
• 75ml Mauritian spiced rum
• 1 pod of vanilla de seeded (you can add the pod to your Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar to create a vanilla sugar)
• 200g Italian Savoiardi sponge fingers
• 100g good quality dark cocoa powder
• 100g pistachios, crushed

*Substitute – Use double whipping cream instead of egg yolks if you are making this for a pregnant lady or if you prefer cream

Method:

1. Brew 3 chai tea bags with 200ml of hot water and allow to steep for around 5 minutes, then remove the tea bag and add the rum. Place this in a bowl and set to one side.

2. Using a hand-held mixer, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla seeds together for about 10 minutes until the mixture has at least tripled in size and should be a very pale yellow and really aerated, then slowly fold in the mascarpone cheese.

3. To assemble the tiramisu – dip each sponge finger in the chai and rum mixture and place in the bottom of a glass trifle dish, continue this until you have covered the base.

4. Next spread a layer of the whipped vanilla egg mixture and then dust with cocoa powder and crushed pistachios.

5. Continue layering the sponge fingers and whipped egg mixture until you have created around 2-3 layers.

6. Place in the fridge and allow to set for a few hours before serving.

7. Finally dust with cocoa powder and sprinkle over some crushed pistachios.

For further inspiration and baking advice, head to www.bakingmad.com. Baking Mad is a free, mouth-wateringly helpful site that takes the stress out of baking with an array of recipes and step-by-step guides.