Living in a country where the sun likes to play hide and seek, it has gotten me to learn the real meaning of sun over these years. Sun means happiness to me. When I see the sun coming out to play, I feel motivated and happier than the usual grey, cloudy, and windy day. Well, it’s not only me that feels differently when the sun shines. I suppose, fruits and vegetables are happier too as the sun makes them tastier and sweeter.

Salad is great, not only it’s easy to prepare but delicious and healthy to eat. I especially love making salad during summer and eat it as a meal on its own (with lots of ingredients of course) or make small and light salad to eat as starter. Either way, I think it’s a great way to eat fresh vegetables and fruits!

Watermelon is one of my favourite fruits. Since young, watermelon has managed to make it to my top 10 list of favourite fruits! I love eating it slightly chilled. Even so, I have never used watermelon in salad. I have seen some recipes using watermelon as one of the main ingredients in salad accompanied with feta cheese. I blogged about Greek salad a while ago. This is one of the salads that I have been making from time to time. Reason being the tastiness and its simplicity!

Like Greek salad, Feta cheese is important in this salad too. Try to get the best Feta cheese that you could find. Normally when I buy Feta cheese, I look for those that are imported from Greece. Same goes for Greek yoghurt.

Well, a little more about watermelon. Like I mentioned just now, it’s one of my favourites. I am very particular as I prefer the seedless watermelon. I really find it troublesome to spit out the seeds! Too bad that the one I bought wasn’t seedless. Arggggh! Anyway, I like to slice into chunky cubes and discard the rind. I also love to make it into juice. The other way to eat watermelon is to slice it into small and thin triangle shape with the rind on. Recently, I came across a post about the best way to serve watermelon on My Simple Food. I got really excited and thought that was a great idea!

If you like salad, watermelon or any of the ingredients in this salad, you will enjoy this very summery dish!

Recipe: Watermelon, Cucumber, Olive and Feta Salad

Ingredients:

Small watermelon, ½

Feta cheese, 200g

Purple radish, 2-3 (thinly sliced)

Cucumber, ½ (cubed)

Pitted black olives, 60g

Fresh mint, a small bunch (leaves picked)

Dressing:

Extra virgin olive oil, 4 tbsp

Lemon juice, 2-3 tbsp

Honey, 1 tbsp

Toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbsp

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1. For the watermelon, you can cut into square or use either a melon baller or a tablespoon to create scallops along the watermelon flesh of the watermelon.

2. In 4 individual bowls, arrange equal and enough portion of watermelon, cucumber, feta cheese, sliced radish and black olives.

3. To prepare the dressing, combine all dressing ingredients in a jam jar. Cover and give it a good shake.

4. Drizzle enough dressing onto each portion of salad in each bowl. Garnish with some mint before serving.

I love summer as it means warm and sunny, colourful, BBQ, and lots of fruits to eat! I have a soft spot for berries; they look pretty, colourful and tasty. During summer, when I go food shopping, those berries at the fruits section always catch my attention. Admiring them from far, it seems that they are waving at me and say ‘buy and eat me’!

Amongst so many kinds of berries, one of my favourites has to be cherries! I went to farmers market last week to get some fresh produce and saw lots of cherries on display. They looked plum and juicy. Without thinking much, I bought 1kg for about £5.00. At first, I was planning to eat half of them raw. And the other half, to bake something. Then, I remembered I baked Cherry Clafoutis last year, so, this time I will make something different.

I decided to use all the cherries that I bought to make into compote. Compote can be made by cooking whole or slices of fruits with sugar. A little bit of water is added along with the sugar to the fruits in a saucepan and cook over a gentle heat. Vanilla can be used to infuse the syrup if desired. I opted for vanilla sugar, which I always keep a pot in my kitchen. Making compote is very easy, you can use whatever fruits that you want. Cook on low heat to warm and break it down slightly. Compote can be used as a base for a dessert or eat accompany with ice cream, breakfast porridge, pancakes or even on its own!

As a yogurt lover, I naturally think of thick and creamy greek yogurt! Apart of eating greek yogurt with greek honey, I think I will not say no to serve it with cherry compote. Instead of using the yogurt as how it is, I decided to make cheats frozen yogurt! No, I don’t have that little gadget called ice-cream maker, so, I did it the manual way. Well, I am guess the texture is probably not as smooth as what is churned using ice-cream maker. So, I just make do with it. I will be thinking of getting a small ice-cream maker one day, perhaps. But, for now, I still enjoy this simple yet delicious dessert.

Recipe: Cheats Frozen Yogurt with Cherry Compote

Cherry (leave whole or halves), 1 kg

Greek yogurt, 1 kg

Vanilla Sugar, 5-6 tbsp

Water, 1tbsp

Method:

1. Pour the yogurt into a small plastic container and put in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes. Once the ice crystal starts to form on the surface and edges, use a whisk or fork to mix and break the ice crystal. Put back to the freezer. Check every 30 minutes and give it a vigorous stir. Repeat this about 3-4 times. Then, Freeze for 6 hours or until almost set. Transfer to a food processor. Process until smooth. Return to container the fridge.

2. To prepare cherry compote, put all the cherries and sugar in a saucepan. Add in 1 tbsp of water and cook over a gentle heat for about 10-15 minutes. Once the cherries start to soften, turn off the heat and set aside to cool. Pour the mixture into a fine sieve to separate the solids from the juice. Place the solids into a bowl. Return the juice in the saucepan and cook over slow heat until it reduces and thickens. Allow it to cool and combine with the cherries.

3. Spoon a big dollop of frozen yogurt on individual bowl or dish. Then, serve enough portion of cherry compote by the side.

Note: Store compote in a airtight glass containers/jar and can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week.

I could feel a sudden change of weather. We have had  kind of wet and stormy weather for the past 2 weeks or so? It rained again yesterday, which was horrible. Not only was the rain that made me feel miserable but the continuous strong gust of wind that was powerful enough to break lots of umbrellas out there! We no longer have double digits of temperature. I am not optimistic about the weather, it is unsettled, the temperature will continue to drop to 2 °C or 1°C, then to below 0°C. However, I could already feel the taste of Christmas. The reds and the greens, lights, Christmas decorations, presents, food, wine, and perhaps snow?

Pears are abundant at the moment. I like the idea of serving poached fruits as dessert. The summer that has passed, I made Peach Melba served with Vanilla ice cream. Since then, I started to pay more attention to desserts that are using the method of poaching. White wine poached pear is just another variation of poached pears desserts. The other one is using red wine, which is as good. I made white wine poached pears yesterday and I thought it was perfect for winner nights in December. It was so good that I had 2 (Ooops!). I don’t know it was because of the weather that made me feel that I needed to eat something like this to warm my body instead of having other kind of desserts after dinner.

Any kind of pears can be used in this recipe. The flavour is so good even if the ingredients are mainly made up of sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. I love cinnamon, the smell of cinnamon is just so special that I don’t only use them in dessert but in cooking main dishes too, especially stew. Good thing about poached pears is that you can make extras and refrigerate them, covered in the thicken poaching liquid in a deep glass dish for several days. They taste even better after!

By the way, we are only 2 days away before the giveaways of Dorset Cereals ends! If you haven’t left a comment to enter the lucky draw, please do so now by clicking on this link.

Recipe: White Wine Poached Pears

Ingredients:

Soft light brown sugar, 75g

White dessert wine, 375ml

Cinnamon sticks, 2

Vanilla pod, 1

Ripe pears, (peeled, cored if desired), 6

Method:

1. Place the sugar, dessert wine, cinnamon sticks and vanilla pod in a pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pears into the pot, turning gently to coat with cooking liquid and simmer for 20 minutes or until the pears are soft but not mushy.

2. Strain the pears and let them cool. Remove cinnamon sticks and the vanilla pod.

3. Return the cooking liquid to the saucepan and reduce in volume by simmering.

4. To serve, place the pears in the middle of individual plates and spoon over the reduced cooking liquid.

Figs are abundant at this time of the year. You can pretty much get them at supermarkets or farmers’ markets. For me, I never knew fresh figs before until a few years ago! I have only seen dried figs and my mom uses them in Chinese cooking. As for fig trees, first time in my life, I saw them when I was in Greece.

When I was pretty new to these fruits, I was asking myself if I should peel the skin or eat with the skin? Well, the skin can be left on but some people like to peel a little of the skin off starting at the stem end pulling toward the large end but only if the skin is a little thick around the stem. I absolutely love the natural sweetness of figs. I also particularly love to chew on the crunchy little seeds!!

Instead of eating figs raw, I have been thinking and finding another way of using them. I like the idea to use figs in starters, mains and desserts. Since I bought quite a lot of figs lately, I thought I would make figs in 2 ways! Today, I’m going to share with you the first way – a savoury dish using figs. I decided to pair figs with chicken (one of my favourite meats)! I think both chicken and figs go really well. As the weather gets more chilly at night, I start to fancy dishes with more sauce/liquid.

I found a real good recipe that uses both chicken and figs. As a bonus, honey is one of the ingredients that is used too! I think the combinations of all these are great! I added some carrots just to make the whole dish even more colourful and wholesome.

Recipe: Chicken with Figs & Honey

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Organic Free-range chicken (jointed into 6-8 pieces), about 1.6kg

Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste

Olive oil, 2 tbsp

Onion (peeled and sliced), 1

Thyme, a few sprigs

Bay leaf, 1

White wine, 125ml

Chicken stock, 150ml

White wine vinegar, 2 tbsp

Mild-tasting honey, 1 tbsp

Ripe figs, 10

Carrots (halves, cut into 5-6cm length), 4-5

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Trim off the excess fat from the chicken, then season generously with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, then brown the chicken pieces in batches, skin side down, for roughly about 8 minutes, turning to colour them evenly all over.

3. Remove the chicken to a flameproof casserole dish with a slotted spoon.

4. Pour off most of the fat from the frying pan, then add the onion and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes to soften.

5. Add the onion and carrots (if using) to the casserole dish with the thyme and bay leaf. Pour over the wine and chicken stock.

6. Place the casserole, uncovered, on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until the meat is tender but not quite falling from the bone. The skin should now be golden and the liquid reduced by about half.

7. Place the casserole over a low heat on the hob. Mix the wine vinegar and honey and pour in.

8. Tear each fig into four and add to the casserole. Bring to a boil, allow to bubble until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency – it should be glossy and taste both sweet and sour.

9. Serve on warm plates, with a salad and some bread.

“Never skip your breakfast!” That’s what mom says all the time. Even if it’s just a hot drink with a slice of bread, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast literally means breaking fast, indicating the end of the fast of the previous night.

Eating breakfast reduces hunger later in the day, making it easier to avoid overeating. If you skip breakfast, this prolongs fasting which can increase your body’s insulin response, that in turn increases fat storage and weight gain. In fact, skipping breakfast actually increases your risk of obesity.

Skipping breakfast can lead to tiredness, lack of concentration and poor performance at work or school.  It also means that you are more likely to snack on unhealthy foods such as chocolate or crisps before lunch.

Growing up in Malaysia, there are many options to choose from. It can range from bread to noodles. Quick and healthy cereals is something common to be eaten as breakfast too. I always opt for soya milk for lower fat content, a lower proportion of saturated fat and no cholesterol. Besides, it is also a good source of protein.

Muesli is a cereal made from toasted oats, nuts, fruits and wheat flakes. Muesli is very rich in fibre. It is definitely a great choice to start the day. Muesli is commonly eaten with either milk, soya milk or yoghurt. Nowadays, you can get muesli from any supermarkets and they come in different types – muesli with fruits, nuts, and seeds. I particularly love those with fruits and nuts. Even snacking on them is a true joy.

I discovered Dorset Cereals not too long ago. I am totally in love with the muesli! Dorset Cereals is based in Dorset, UK. Dorsert Cereals offers great range of products from muesli to cereal bars and slices. The ingredients used are the best possible that can be sourced. Their 10 recipes for muesli are just fantastic! I have tried quite a few and absolutely love them!

Today, I particularly want to say ‘THANK YOU’ to Dorset Cereals for sponsoring some of their great products to be given away to a few of My Cooking Hut’s readers! The following are the great stuff to be won!

Prize 1:  DORSET CEREALS – Berries & Cherries Muesli AND Super High Fibre Bars

Prize 2:  DORSET CEREALS – Berries & Cherries Muesli AND Berries & Cherries Bars

Prize 3: DORSET CEREALS – Organic Fruit, Nuts & Seeds Muesli

Prize 4: DORSET CEREALS – Organic Fruit, Nuts & Seeds Muesli

Prize 5: DORSET CEREALS –  Delicious Pistachio & Pumpkin Seed Chunky Slices AND Berries & Cherries Bars

Prize 6: DORSET CEREALS – Super High Fibre Bars AND Delicious Cranberry & Almond Chunky Slices

Prize 7: DORSET CEREALS – Delicious Pistachio & Pumpkin Seed Chunky Slices

Prize 8: DORSET CEREALS – Delicious Cranberry & Almond Chunky Slices

To win any of these, what you have to do is to leave a comment, sharing with us what you have for breakfast. Then, amongst all the comments, I will randomly draw the winner for each prize! Please make sure that you leave your comment by the 7th August, 2009, Friday. Good luck!!

This week flew by quickly. It’s hard to believe that it’s now mid-July. The hope of having warm sunny day looks bleak. I can’t believe that when I go out, I still need to wear thin jacket at this time of the year. There was a thunderstorm 2 days ago. Probably the first time I have seen the brightest lightning in London. Well, the uninteresting weather news aside now. I may seem to be talking about weather all the time without realising it.

Plums, peaches, nectarines, apricot, cherries and berries are abundant during this time of the year. I love summer fruits and that’s what make this season sweet and beautiful! Peaches are commonly used in making desserts. Peach tart is one of the them. But, I want to have something simple but nice. At the same time, I was thinking of serving ice cream with this dessert. I particularly love eating ice cream during hot summer day. (Ok, it’s not hot where I live!)

So, instead of eating peaches raw, I thought poaching them would be a great idea! Pêches Melba (Peach Melba) came to my mind. Pêches Melba is a classic French dessert. It is usually served with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. I did it without the raspberry sauce. And instead of sprinkle with some almonds, I substituted with some pistachios.

The poaching technique is called white poaching to keep the peaches firm. During the process, the ingredients are brought to barely a simmer and then the whole pan is removed from the heat. The hot mixture stays in the pan for a time, gently cooking in its own heat as it cools. The result is perfectly cooked, and never mushy.

My first ever experience in making Peach Melba is rewarding – I realise that simple technique like poaching can make such an impact and difference in eating peaches!

Recipe: Peach Melba (Pêches Melba)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

White sugar, 275g

Water, 1.5 litres

Lemon zest, a few pieces

Vanilla pod (split lengthwise), 1

Peaches, 4

Vanilla ice cream, 4 scoops

Pistachios, some

Method:

1. Put the sugar, lemon zest and vanilla pod into a pot with 1.5 litres of water and bring to the boil.

2. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the peaches. Cover with a piece of baking paper and place a plate on top, this will act as a weight and stop the peaches from rising to the surface. Gently simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches and gently peel off the skin by running them under cold water. Set aside.

4. Place about 240ml of poaching liquid, some extra sugar and the peach skins into a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced by half.

5. To serve, place a peach and a scoop of ice cream. Drizzle with syrup and sprinkle with some chopped pistachios.

During summer days, I like light and simple dish like salad. Last week, I made Tuna Vegetable Couscous salad. This weeks, it looks like my love for salad continues. So, 2 weeks in a row I am sharing with you guys salad recipes. I hope you will like them!

What is Kumato? Have you heard of it? What does it taste like? Is there any difference between Kumato and Tomato? I actually came across Kumato in one of the food magazines. When I first laid my eyes on this new fruit, I thought, it looks kind of special and I was intrigued by it!

Kumato is a variety of tomato. It originates from a ‘lost’ wild tomato and has been developed through ten years of cross-breeding by plant specialists Syngenta. The colour of kumato ranges from dark brown to golden green. For the first glance, it may look like unripe tomato and may not taste sweet at all. All I can say is don’t judge kumato by its appearance! This is the natural look of kumato – tomato with a tan! If you wish to know more, click here.

I bought a box of kumatoes and I can tell you that they taste sweet and they are just like the normal tomatoes! It is said that it contains higher sweetness than usual tomatoes. Kumato is widely grown in Spain, France, Belgium and Switzerland. It is ripened under optimum climatic conditions in order to achieve the highest levels of fructose.

Kumato has really firm texture and juicy. Thus, kumato is perfect for salads! I think it also gives a brand new look to normal tomato salad, what do you think? I made a real simple salad with kumato. This Asian-style komato salad is great for summer days when you want to have light lunch. It is also suitable to be served as starter!

Recipe: Kumato Salad

Ingredients:

Kumato tomato, 4-5

Red onions (sliced), 1/4

Cherry tomato (for garnishing, quartered), 2-4

Fish sauce, 1 tbsp

Sugar, 1 tbsp

Lime juice, 2 tbsp

Garlic (chopped), 1 clove

Roasted unsalted peanuts, 1-2 tbsp

Method:

1. Quartered kumato tomatoes. Put in a salad bowl and set aside. Also quartered some cherry tomatoes for garnishing.

2. In a bowl, mix in fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and finely chopped garlic. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

3. Thinly slice the red onions and mix with kumato tomatoes.

4. Pour in the dressings and give it a good toss.

5. Serve in individual bowls and garnish with some cherry tomatoes if you wish. Sprinkle some toasted unsalted peanuts before serving.

Yes, it’s boiling! Temperature above 3o°C can be said as boiling! A heatwave warning has been issued for England, with temperatures in some areas potentially rising as high as 32C (90F) in the coming days. It’s unusual to see this kind of headline in the newspaper, but, hey, sounds good to me! Hopefully, this summer will be much much better than last, which I don’t remember I saw the summer sun for more than 1 week?

During warm and humid days, I love cold drinks. Chilled smoothies are great! Since there are plenty of berries at this time of the year, I grab the opportunity to buy all the berries that I like and blend them to make into a glass of goodness! There are no rules to make smoothie. You use whatever fruits you like and blend them into the best drink ever! Ah, full of vitamins, of course! If you are on detox diet plan, smoothie is a must in your menu.  What kind of fruits would you use to make your smoothie?

Summer is colourful, warm and lively. Make this smoothie today!

Recipe: Berries Summer Berry Smoothie

Ingredients:

Strawberries, 75g
Raspberries, 75g
Blackberries, 75g
Apple juice, 150ml
Crushed ice, some
Raspberries and blackberries to garnish, some

Method:

Place all of the fruits and juice in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass over ice and garnish with raspberries and blackberries.

According to Wikipedia, a mince pie or also known as mincemeat pie is a traditional festive British sweet pastry, usually consumed during the Christmas and New Year period. Mince Pies normally have a pastry top, but versions may also be found without the top in which case they are known as a mince tart. Mince pies are filled with mincemeat - a preserve which typically contains apple, dried fruits such as raisins and sultanas, spices and either suet or vegetable shortening. 

Before I set my eyes on mince pies, by the name, I thought they were savoury pies filled with meat or something. The fact that it uses mincemeat, doesn’t help but confuses me more. That’s how I concluded they were savoury pies. However, in the US, mincemeat is known with a more accurate name as ‘fruitmince’.  

Why is it called mincemeat? I did some research on the internet and learnt that mince pies did contain meat. This goes as far back to Victorian era where mince pies contained actual meat along with spices and fruits. It was a way of preserving meat by mixing it with fruit, spices and alcohol. The only remnants of the meat in today’s mince pies is the inclusion of suet in the filling. So, now I understand why!

As Christmas is approaching, I thought I would share this typical British sweet pastry with you all. Below is the recipe of mince pies from Gordon Ramsay. Happy baking!

Recipe: Mince Pies

Serve 12

Ingredients:

For the shortcrust pastry

Soft flour, 200g

Salt, a pinch

Butter, 100g

Water, 2-3 tbsp

For the mince pies

Mincemeat, 540g

Orange zest, a large orange

Brandy, couple of tbsp

Cinnamon, a pinch

Milk, 50ml

Egg (beaten), 1

Icing sugar, sift on top of mince pies

Vegetable oil or butter for greasing tin

Method:

For the shortcrust pastry

1. Make sure your butter is at room temperature to make it easier to work with.

2. Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour.

3. Using your fingertips, rub the fat into the flour, lifting the mixture up and dropping it back into the bowl – you want to keep the mixture light and airy. Keep going until all the fat is mixed with the flour and has reached a texture that resembles fine breadcrumbs.

4. Sprinkle a little cold water into the bowl and mix through with a knife. Use your fingers to bring the pastry together: it’s ready when and the sides of the bowl are clean and it’s formed a solid ball. You shouldn’t need to add much more than a tablespoon of water so be careful not to overdo it.

5.Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the pastry to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

For the mince pies

1. Heat the oven to 220C/400F/Gas 6.

2. Mix your jar of mincemeat together with the orange zest, brandy and cinnamon.

3. Lightly grease your patty tins (or small fluted tins) with a small amount of vegetable oil, or any butter.

4. Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry as thinly as possible. Cut out approximately 12 rounds with a pastry cutter (most pastry cutters have two sides, one with a greater diameter than the other, use the larger side for the base and the smaller for the lids) and place them in the base of your patty-tins (or small fluted tins).

5. Prick all the pie bases with a fork to stop them rising. Fill each case with about 3 teaspoons of the mincemeat mix – don’t overfill your cases or the mixture will leak through the pastry when cooking.

6. Brush the pie edges with a little milk. Stamp out another 12 rounds, using the larger end of your cutter, for the lids and place over the mincemeat mix.

7. Pinch the pie edges together to seal. Brush over with egg wash and pierce the tops with a fork. Bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes until golden brown.

8. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 1 minute before placing on a wire rack to cool.

9. Serve warm with a light sifting of icing sugar on top.

Tip:

Christmas is just around the corner and I am always under the impression that many people are busy with all their Christmas shopping. For me, I do most of mine online, which is pretty handy as I don’t like to join the crowds at the main shopping places in London!

Most of us will probably have our Christmas dinner or lunch on the eve or on Christmas day itself. For those who have to prepare Christmas dinner or lunch, lots of planning and thoughts are involved; from drafting the menu up to the point to decide what colour scheme to choose for table setting and the overall look and feel. For those who have to plan and think of what to prepare, keep on reading!

You guys will be thrilled and feel lucky at the same time to have Aran from Cannelle et Vanille with us to share one of her great dessert recipes. It could be the dessert that you can prepare to impress your guests on Christmas! 

Aran is very talented. Every time I check her blog, I wish I could bake like her! Not only that, all her photos accompanied with her recipes are nicely composed too.  I once tried making one of her desserts, Yoghurt Mousse and absolutely love it!

Let us today give a warm welcome to Aran from Canelle et Vanille, sharing with us Grapefruit Pudding Cake. By the name itself, I can tell you that it’s gonna be one of my favourites, remember that I love citrus fruits!

Citrus season has started here in Florida so grapefruit, oranges and tangelos are everywhere. This is a variation on the classic lemon pudding cake with the addition of grapefruit. It is amazing how a simple recipe can yield such a delightful dessert.

Light and spongy cake on the bottom and creamy pudding on top. I paired it with a small quenelle of devonshire cream that has been whipped with a little lemon zest and some chopped pistachios for crunch. It is a simple recipe that I hope you try!          

Recipe: Grapefruit Pudding  Cake

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks

185 grams whole milk

½ tsp lemon zest

½ tsp grapefruit zest

60 grams grapefruit juice

100 grams sugar

25 grams flour

pinch salt

2 egg whites

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Spray the inside of 6 4-oz ramekins (or any other size) with cooking spray and place them on a shallow baking dish.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, zest and juice.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and whisk until combined.

4. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to medium stiff peaks.  Add the whipped egg whites to the custard base and fold gently trying not to deflate them too much. It will be a runny batter.

5. Pour the batter into the ramekins about ¾ of the way full. Bring the baking dish to the oven and fill with hot water to cover about half way up the ramekins.

6. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake the custards until the tops are lightly golden. It will take about 30-35 minutes depending on the size of the ramekin.

7. Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before unmolding so the pudding part sets.