Pudim de Maracuja (Passion Fruit Pudding)
1 litre cream
1 tin condensed milk 397g
8 leaves of gelatin
400g passion fruit pulp (about 8-10 passion fruit)
Mix the cream, condensed milk and passion fruit in a bowl. Melt the gelatin in a bowl with a cup of warm water, add each leaf one at a time. Once the gelatin is liquid you can add to the cream mixture stirring it well in. Pour the mixture into a large bowl or 8-10 individual ice cream bowls, and leave in the fridge for about 4 hours till set. You can also leave some of the passion fruit to the side just to put a little on the top once set.
You can use this method with any other fruit pulp, just replace the passion fruit. Raspberries, strawberries, mango all work well, just pulp the fruit down.
Tim Tam Tum
A popular licor at Christmas time and very easy to make. Looks great in nice bottles for a present.
0.5 litre Water
0.5 litre Sweet Madeira Wine
0.5 litre Aguadente ( or use Vodka)
500g Sugar
100g Raisins
30g Prunes
6 black tea bags
4 sticks cinnamon
1 vanilla pod
In a saucepan bring all ingredients to the boil, except the Madeira Wine and Aguadente (or Vodka)
Let is simmer for 15 mins and then let cool. Now add the Madeira wine and the Aguadente (vodka) stir and place in a large Mason jar and leave in a dark cupboard for at least 7 days shaking a couple of times a day.
Then strain through muslin cloth into nice bottles, and enjoy this lovely licor at Christmas.
* You can leave the licor in the cupboard for a month or more to improve the flavor.
Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
How to make homemade Sweet Thai Chili Sauce (when you live
outside the UK and can’t get all the
normal ingredients).
I love living on the island of Madeira, but because we are
so isolated in the middle of the Atlantic, we
can’t always get the sauces, spices, foods that we love from
back home. I recently started to
experiment with making the things I miss using alternative
ingredients sometimes. Today I am going
to give you the recipe for this lovely, spicy sweet dipping
sauce. It is really easy to do and you can
keep it in your fridge for up to 3 weeks. Remember, as each
day passes the spice calms down, but its
still lovely!
You will need:
One red chili pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup (not mug) of white sugar
½ a cup of white wine vinegar
1 cup of water
1 and a half tablespoons of corn flour mixed with 2
tablespoons of water, for thickening.
*If you like your sauce less spicy, remove the seeds from
the chilli,
To make:
Chop your garlic and chili
Put the water, sugar, vinegar, garlic and chili in a pan on
a high heat and bring to the boil. Turn the
heat down a little and keep it simmering for around 10
minutes.
Put the heat on to low and now stir in the corn flour mix,
keep stirring whilst it thickens. Once its
nice and thick and sticky, turn off the heat and let it
cool. You can put it in a jar, or just in a bowl with
foil or Clingfilm on the top...and there you go! Great for
dipping chicken goujons, prawns, even just
crisps!
Bolo do Caco
Traditional Garlic Bread
7g sachet yeast
1 tsp salt
100g sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
200ml warm water
Garlic Butter.
Mix all the ingredients together with enough warm water to make a soft, kneadable dough, you may not need all the water, or you may need to add a little more . Knead, dusting with extra flour, for 10 minutes. Put in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for 1 hour. Divide the mixture and shape into 8 flat rounds. Cover and leave to rise for a further 30 minutes. Heat a flat griddle or heavy frying pan and cook the bread for 8-10 minutes each side until browned and cooked through. Cut through the middle and spread with garlic butter
Poncha
Madeira's most traditional drink.
3 cups fresh lemon juice
3 cups fresh orange juice
0.5 cup honey
2-3 cups Aguardente (Sugar Cane rum from Madeira) (you can try with Vodka as well)
Place all ingredients together and mix well. Poncha is usually mixed with a Poncha stick called a Caralhinho. Start with 2 cups of Aguardente and taste if you need more alcohol then add more to taste. You can use other fruits as well. Passion Fruit, Tangerine, Strawberry and Kiwi are all popular on the island.
Sonhos
A very popular fritta at Carnival time. Sonho is the Portuguese word for Dreams, and these are light and fluffy and delicious.
You will need.
250ml water 100g butter
250ml milk 1 teaspoon cinnamon
9 med eggs zest of 1 lemon
300g flour pinch salt
Oil for frying mel de cana
Place the water, milk, butter, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt in a saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat and stir in the flour, bring it together to make a dough, now mix the eggs ONE AT A TIME into the dough bringing it altogether before adding the next egg. once all eggs are mixed in leave the batter mix in the fridge for about an hour.
Now in a pan heat the oil, you will need about half a saucepan full, get it very hot, you can drop a teaspoon of the batter into the oil, if it bubbles and cooks straight away its hot and ready to cook your sonhos.
With 2 spoons drop a good spoonful of batter into the oil do this to fill the pan then turn each one over when golden brown, once both sides are golden, remove from oil and place on kitchen paper.
Let cool and serve with Mel de Cana, sugar and cinnamon or maple syrup.
Now in a pan heat the oil, you will need about half a saucepan full, get it very hot, you can drop a teaspoon of the batter into the oil, if it bubbles and cooks straight away its hot and ready to cook your sonhos.
With 2 spoons drop a good spoonful of batter into the oil do this to fill the pan then turn each one over when golden brown, once both sides are golden, remove from oil and place on kitchen paper.
Let cool and serve with Mel de Cana, sugar and cinnamon or maple syrup.
