RECIPES | Ice cream, brownies and mousse cake ... so simple & sweet

3-INGREDIENT NICE-CREAM BITES

The easiest and closest thing to good ice cream, made with bananas. Makes about 500ml (2 cups) per batch. Cut into rectangles, it makes 100 x 2cm nice-cream bites.

Nice cream:

4 large ripe bananas,  peeled, sliced and frozen in a plastic bag

125ml (½ cup) milk 

Flavours:

Caramel

45ml (3 tbsp) caramelised condensed milk

Mint-caramel

45ml (3 tbsp) mint-flavoured caramelised condensed milk

Coffee

15-30ml (2 tbsp) instant coffee granules

Strawberry

30ml (2 tbsp) strawberry-flavoured milk powder

Salted-caramel nice-cream bites

4 x 85g peppermint bubble milk chocolate

5ml (1 tsp) coconut oil

1 portion caramel nice cream

Sea salt flakes, to garnish

Peppermint crisp nice-cream bites:

4 x 85g slabs dark bubble chocolate

2.5ml (½ tsp) coconut oil

1 portion mint-caramel nice cream

Crushed peppermint crisp, to garnish

Iced-coffee nice-cream bites: 

4 x 85g slabs bubble dark chocolate

2.5ml (½ tsp) coconut oil, optional

1 portion coffee nice cream

Lightly crushed instant coffee powder, to garnish

Strawberry milkshake nice-cream bites: 

4 x 80g slabs Milk bars

2.5ml (½ tsp) coconut oil, optional

1 portion strawberry nice cream

250ml (1 cup) puffed rice cereal, to garnish 

Strawberry-flavour milk powder, to garnish  

Method:

1. For the nice cream, line a 20cm square baking dish with baking paper, allowing the paper to hang over the sides slightly.
2. Put the frozen banana and milk in a blender or food processor, along with the flavouring ingredient for your chosen nice cream.
3. Blend the ingredients until just smooth and pour mixture into baking dish and smooth out with a spatula. Freeze overnight, or until set.
4. For the nice-cream bites break the chosen chocolate for the flavour into smaller chunks and place in a bowl.
5. Add the coconut oil, if using. It makes the chocolate glossier and covering of the bites easier.
6. Microwave on high heat at 15 second intervals until melted.
7. Remove the dish of nice cream from the freezer and use the baking paper to lift the whole nice cream slab out of the baking dish. Cut into 2cm cubes.
8. Line the baking dish with a new sheet of baking paper.
9. Work quickly to dip the nice-cream cubes in the melted chocolate, using a fork to lift them out and place into the lined baking dish.
10. Sprinkle with garnish while the chocolate is still slightly melted.
11. Repeat with all the nice-cream cubes and place the dish of bites in the freezer to set.
12. Remove from the freezer 5 minutes before serving and enjoy.

3-INGREDIENT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Makes about 24 squares

Ingredients:

1  x 385g can full-cream condensed milk 

120g (250ml) self-raising flour 

60ml (¼ cup) cocoa powder

To serve: 

Fresh berries, optional

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm square baking dish with baking paper. 
2. Pour the condensed milk into a mixing bowl. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and whisk until just combined.
3. Spoon the brownie batter into the baking dish and spread out evenly. The batter will be quite sticky. 
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the sides of the brownie pull away from the dish slightly. Don’t overbake — you want a squishy centre.
5. Leave to cool down in the dish for 15 minutes.
6. Slice into squares and serve immediately, with fresh berries and a cup of tea.         

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE 

Using just three ingredients, chocolate (lots of it), eggs and cream are all you need to make a show-stopping cake. 

Serves 8 

Cake:

2¾ x 85g  slabs milk chocolate, broken into chunks 

4 large eggs, room temperature, separated

Chocolate mousse topping:

2  x 85g slabs milk chocolate, broken into chunks 

250ml (1 cup) cream

To serve:

Chocolate flakes 

Fresh berries

1. For the cake, preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the base of a 20cm springform cake tin — see important tip below — with baking paper and grease the sides with cooking spray.
2. Microwave the milk chocolate for the cake in a large bowl on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Cool down for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, into the cooled melted chocolate, mixing well after each addition. Take note the mixture takes some time to smooth out — just keep mixing. 
4. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and whisk with an electric hand-mixer until soft peaks form. Stir a third of the whisked egg white into the chocolate mixture until combined. Fold in the remaining egg white until just combined and the mixture is light and fluffy.
5. Pour the batter into the cake tin and smooth out the top. Bake for 30 minutes until the cake pulls away slightly from the edges of the tin. 
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin — note that the cake will shrink while it is cooling.
7. For the chocolate mousse topping place the milk chocolate and 60ml (¼ cup) of cream in a large bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.
8. In a separate bowl, beat the rest of the cream until medium-stiff peaks form. Slowly fold half the whipped cream into the melted chocolate until combined, then fold in the rest.
9. Pour the topping over the cooled cake while it is still in the cake tin. Refrigerate to set for 4-5 hours (or overnight).
10. Release the cake from the tin onto a cake stand. Top with chocolate flakes and fresh berries, slice and enjoy.

Tip: To ensure the cake bakes evenly: Cut a piece of foil to wrap around the tin, with 3cm to spare. Tear a strip of paper towel the same length. Dip it in water, squeeze and fold to form a strip. Lay this along the edge of the foil. Fold the foil over the damp paper, and wrap this around the outside the cake tin.

FOODIES OF SOUTH AFRICA: KITCHEN SHORTCUTS

by Jean Wishaw, Kelsey Dobie and Cassidy Nydahl

This is a collection of fun and easy recipes in one book, all about taking the easy route to cooking success and featuring many clever tips and hacks. Offering accessible recipes that  guarantee success means the whole family can be involved.

The beauty of Foodies is that each recipe has a handy QR code linked to a recipe video — simply click through and follow the fun and proudly local ideas which have made Foodies of SA such a big hit. 

Not only will the cookbook elevate your cooking skills, but 100% of the royalties go to the Bokamoso Education Trust, whose vision is to provide financial support for education to underprivileged South African youth. See bokamoso.org.za

• Priced at R390, published by Quivertree.