Nadiya Bakes episode 2 – Indulgent Desserts: Nadiya turns her attention to indulgent desserts to end any meal in style. We all love a cheesecake, and Nadiya kicks things off with her frozen, no-cheese cheesecake, bursting with banana and blueberries.
It is the ultimate centrepiece – and it is vegan too! Next up is Nadiya’s husband’s absolute favourite, a modern take on the retro jam roly poly, served with lashings of steaming custard and best eaten curled up on the sofa – comfort food that is guaranteed to lift your spirits. Nadiya also gives us a taste of the Middle East with her take on delicious Lebanese bite-sized treats – perfect parcels of filo pastry, stuffed with a glorious thickened cream and laced with orange blossom and saffron syrup. Finally, Nadiya shares her tips and tricks for her picture-perfect tutti-frutti pavlova.
And award-winning pastry chef Joakim Prat showcases his spectacular choux pastry eclairs.
Nadiya Bakes episode 2 – Indulgent Desserts
Jam roly poly recipe
Nadiya’s version of a classic jam roly poly uses fresh fruit instead of jam. It’s delicious served with hot custard.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Place a deep baking tray in the bottom of the oven, add boiling water and close the oven. Make sure there is a rack above the tray, as this is where the jam roly poly will steam.
- Make a 30x40cm/12x16in sheet of foil and a piece of greaseproof paper the same size and put the paper on top of the foil. Grease the paper and set both aside.
- Pour the flour into a bowl along with the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste. Rub the butter in using the tips of your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You could do this using a food processor.
- Add the suet and mix in well. Make a well in the centre and add 125ml/4fl oz of the milk to it. Using a cutlery knife, bring the dough together, then get your hands in to bring it into a ball. If the dough is looking dry, add the remaining milk. Dust a clean surface with some flour, and roll the dough into a 25cm/10in square.
- To make the jam filling, crush the raspberries with the orange zest and mix well with the sugar. Spread the fruit onto the dough square, leaving a 1cm/½in border exposed.
- Now roll like you would a Swiss roll. Pinch the ends to seal it really well. Pick it up and put into the centre of the paper, seam-side down. Bring the two paper edges to the top and roll to seal, leaving lots of space for the roly poly to grow. Seal the ends by rolling them up, then put the roly poly on the rack and steam and bake for 1 hour.
- As soon as it is baked, take out and leave to cool for 10 minutes in the paper foil parcel. Unwrap, pop onto a serving dish and sprinkle sugar over generously. Cut into slices while still warm and serve with hot custard and fresh berries.
Tutti frutti pavlova – Nadiya Bakes episode 2
Glacé cherries, pistachios and mixed peel give this pavlova a decadently rich flavour that’s a bit different to the usual fresh fruit.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2 and lightly grease a large baking tray. Using a pencil, trace around a 25cm/10in plate onto baking paper and then flip it over onto the greased baking tray.
- To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form, then slowly add the sugar a spoonful at a time, allowing the crystals to melt. As soon as you have used all the sugar and you have stiff peaks, add the vinegar, cornflour and vanilla and whisk one last time to incorporate.
- Spoon or pipe the meringue into the circle on the baking paper, as neatly or roughly as you like. Create a slight indent in the centre, where the cream will sit.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour. When the hour is up, turn the oven off and leave the meringue in there until the oven is totally cold. Pop onto a serving dish or leave in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.
- To make the filling, whisk the cream in a bowl with the icing sugar and cornflour until you have soft peaks. Add about half of the chopped cherries, pistachios and mixed peel and gently fold through, reserving the rest for the top.
- I like to take two spoons and dollop the cream mixture onto the meringue in a rough fashion. Finally, scatter with the rest of the cherries, pistachios and mixed peel and sprinkle all over with the chocolate shavings.
Banana ice cream ‘cheesecake’
Nadiya’s brilliant no-bake ‘cheesecake’ is actually vegan. It uses frozen banana ice cream instead of cream cheese for the filling, with an oaty hazelnut base and tart blueberry topping.
Method:
- Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in round loose-bottom tin, 7.5cm/3in deep.
- To make the base, toast the oats and hazelnuts in a large frying pan on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until they just start to turn golden-brown, stirring all the time. Pop them straight into a food processor and blend to a fine crumb. Add the coconut oil, golden syrup and salt and blend again until it all clumps together.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and, using the back of a spoon, press into the base and 2.5cm/1in up the side. Put the base in the fridge while you make the filling.
- To make the filling, put the frozen bananas into a food processor with the golden syrup, cinnamon and cocoa. Leave for 5 minutes to allow the bananas to defrost just very slightly so that they process more easily, then blend until you have what looks like a soft-scoop ice cream. Quickly spoon the mixture on top of the prepared base and pop into the freezer until you are ready to eat.
- When you are ready to eat, make the compote by adding the blueberries, lemon zest and juice and sugar to a pan and stirring over a medium heat until the blueberries have just softened. This should only take a few minutes. You can make the compote well in advance and, if you do, keep it chilled in the fridge until serving.
- Take the cheesecake out of the freezer, slide it out of the cake tin and place on a serving dish. Add the warm compote on top and leave for just a few minutes before slicing and enjoying.