Recipes: Falling Cloudberries Cookbook

There are a stupid number of great and not so great recipes available online but to me having a cookbook in my hand feels good. I like the way you can tell what recipes have been cooked by the state of the page and you can also bring the book to the kitchen counter rather than running back and forth to the computer – so annoying.

‘Falling Cloudberries’ by Tessa Kiros has a really poncey name but it has some great family recipes that originate from Greece, Cyprus, South Africa, Italy and Finland amongst other. Her Prawns with lemon, Peri Peri, garlic and feta is amazing and the Pineapple, cinnamon & Allspice cake is outrageous.

I’ll have some more great cookbooks and recipes later in the week but pray tell:

What is your favourite cookbook?

Prawns with Lemon, Peri Peri, Garlic and Feta (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 2kg large raw prawns, unpeeled
• 200g butter
• 10 garlic cloves
• 45g chopped parsley
• 1 tsp Peri Peri spice or chili powder
• Juice 4 lemons
• 400g feta cheese

Instructions:

1. Clean the prawns and cut a slit through the shell down the back from the bottom of the head to the beginning of the tail. Remove the dark vein. Rinse the prawns under cold water.
2. Dot 80g of the butter in a large casserole dish. Arrange a single layer of the prawns in the dish and season with salt. Scatter about third of the garlic and parsley over the top and sprinkle with a little peri peri.
3. Dot about half of the remaining butter over the top and arrange another layer of prawns, scattered with the garlic, parsley and peri peri. Repeat the layer, finishing up the ingredients.
4. Put the lid on and heat over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the prawns have brightened up. Add the lemon juice, crumble the feta over the top and rock the dish from side to side to move sauce about. Cover the casserole, lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes or until the feta has melted. Serve hot.

Pineapple, Cinnamon & Allspice Cake (Serves 8)

You can use any fruit…raspberries, bananas, apples, pears or mangoes.

Ingredients:

Spice mix

• 5 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 allspice (pimento) berries or ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• Rind ½ lemon

Syrup

• Juice 1 orange
• 60g butter
• 70g brown sugar
• 1 pineapple

Cake

• 250g butter
• 200g brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 185ml milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. To make the spice mix, put all the ingredients in a coffee grinder and grind into a coarse dust.
2. For the syrup, put the orange juice, butter and sugar in a small pan with ½tsp of the spice mix and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes until you have a thick caramel syrup.
3. Line a tin with foil so that the bottom and and side are covered. Peel the pineapple and cut into 1cm slices. Cut each ring in half, either side of the core. Fit the pineapple pieces in the bottom of the tin in a single layer.
4. To make the cake batter, whisk the butter until fluffy and then beat in the sugar. Beat the eggs in one by one and then sift in the flour and baking powder. Mix to combine. Add the milk, ½ tsp ground spice mix and give it a final whisk.
5. Pour the syrup over the pineapple and spoon the cake batter over the syrup and smooth the top. Bake for about an hour and 20 minutes reducing the temperature to 180C after about 10 minutes and cover the cake with foil after about an hour.
6. Serve with creme fraiche or whipped cream.