The Tropical Treat

Desserts

Ginger chocolate salted caramel tart

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A ginger infused dark chocolate salted caramel tart – rich, indulgent and a little spicy. This is definitely one to make for a dinner party or supper club for a deliciously good finish. The ginger gives it a nice fiery kick!

Not a traditionally tropical dessert but with ginger and chocolate in the mix it evokes sunny, hot climates where these ingredients grow in abundance. 

I adapted a lovely salted caramel tart recipe by Brit British Diana Henry and infused the chocolate with a ginger cream.

This tart is really good. Serve with some creme fraiche on the side and a dusting of salted peanuts. Enjoy!

Serves 8
Prep 15 mins
Cook 30 mins + 1 hour chilling time
Total 125 mins

Ingredients

For the chocolate pastry
300g plain flour, sifted
3 tbsp cocoa powder
150g butter, cold and cubed
3 tbsp caster sugar 
1 egg yolk 
4 tbsp ice cold water 

For the salted caramel 
250g white caster sugar
2 – 3 tbsp water 
100ml double cream 
125g butter, melted 
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes 

For the chocolate filling 
125g dark chocolate (at least 70%)
85g butter
1 egg and 1 yolk 
3 tbsp caster sugar
100ml double cream
5 balls of stem ginger, pureed or finely chopped

Method

First make the pastry, sift flour and cocoa powder in a large bowl and mix in the sugar. Add butter and rub together with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs (alternatively put in a food processor). Add the egg yolk and cold water. Mix together until the mixture comes together in a ball (add more water if it is dry).

Pat down to make a rounded disc shape. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 1 hour to chill. 

Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6 /400F. Bring the dough out and roll on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a 1 pound coin. 

Put the pastry over your tart tin (23cm tart tin with a loose base) and gently push down making sure to get the pastry into the corners of the tin. Cut any excess pastry off the top of the tart tin with a sharp knife. 

Using a fork prick the base of the pastry. Line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice. Blind bake for 12 minutes, remove the beans and paper and then set aside to cool. Turn the oven down to 180C / gas mark 4 / 350F.

For the caramel, put the caster sugar in a large frying pan over a medium heat with water. Swirl the pan round to ensure the water covers all the dry bits of sugar (do not stir the sugar). 

The sugar should start to deepen in colour fairly quickly (keep a very close eye so it doesn’t burn).

Once it’s a light amber colour take it off the heat and stir in the butter until it’s melted, followed by the double cream and salt. Once the caramel is smooth and glossy leave it aside to cool then pour the caramel into the pastry case. 

For the filling, break up the chocolate into pieces and melt with the butter in a bowl above  simmering water. Leave to one side once completely melted.

Whisk the sugar and eggs until pale and fluffy and then stir into the melted chocolate.

In a small pan over a medium heat, bring the double cream and stem ginger to a boil. Pour the ginger cream over the melted chocolate and mix together well. 

Pour over the caramel and put in the oven for a further 12 minutes to bake. Once cooled push out of the tart tin, slice, sprinkle over crushed salted peanuts and serve with creme fraiche.

Banana Fritters with Rum Caramel

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Bananas, spiced rum and caramel are a delightful trio of tropical flavours. Pillowy soft banana fritters dipped in a deep rum caramel sauce – sweet, comforting and dangerously good. This is a great way to use ripe bananas or plantains and ideal for an after dinner treat or a sweet addition to a brunch spread. Make sure to dust them with a little icing sugar whilst they’re warm!

Banana fritters, buñuelos or mosa? Whatever the name, these delicious treats seem to appear in some way all over West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

It’s really no surprise since they are a very simple and easy to make using ingredients that naturally grow in abundance in these regions. And i’ve taken some inspiration from the Caribbean here as I think rum works really with bananas and caramel. 

The internet is full of banana fritter recipes but this one is completely vegan and so a lovely treat for all. 

It’s perfect to make quickly after dinner or as part of a brunch where there’s already lots of savoury dishes on the table.

As much as I don’t like to fry, I really don’t think there’s any other way to achieve fritter perfection. Let me know if you do make them and enjoy!

Serves 4 -6
Prep 15 mins
Cook 20 mins
Total 35 mins

Ingredients

For the fritters

4 large ripe bananas (390g), mashed 
30g golden caster sugar
125g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder 
1 vanilla pod, split open and seeds scraped out
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Sunflower oil, for frying
1 tbsp icing sugar, to serve 

For the rum caramel sauce 

200g white caster sugar
60ml water
100g salted butter
200ml double cream
Pinch of sea salt 
60ml spiced rum

Method

Make the rum caramel first. Put the caster sugar in a large frying pan over a medium heat with water. Swirl the pan round to ensure the water covers all the dry bits of sugar. The sugar should start to deepen in colour fairly quickly (keep a very close eye so it doesn’t burn).

Once it’s a light amber colour take it off the heat and stir in the butter until it’s melted, followed by the double cream, salt and rum. Once the caramel is smooth and glossy leave it aside to cool.

In a medium size bowl mash the bananas with a fork and whisk in the sugar until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Heat sunflower oil in a heavy deep frying pan (half fill) until a cube of bread sizzles and turns brown ensuring the oil doesn’t get too hot.

Using an ice cream scoop carefully drop the batter (roughly 2tbsps) into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Cook for a couple of minutes until even in colour, gently remove with a slotted spoon and transfer onto kitchen paper. 

Repeat until the batter is finished and sprinkle over icing sugar whilst the fritters are still crisp and warm. Serve up!

Roasted whole pineapple with vanilla and spiced rum

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Caramelised roasted pineapple with fragrant vanilla and spiced rum is the ultimate tropical treat. A beautiful desert to simply end a very hot day or something to remind you of the sunny days when its freezing cold outside.

There are lots of variations of roasted pineapple around with different flavour combinations and if ice cream isn’t your thing swap it out for creme fraiche, coconut yogurt or have it on its own.

I really love this dish. It’s simple but the flavours are so on point.

This is also a great recipe for gatherings. It doesn’t involve much prep and it’s easy enough to put on the barbecue – make sure you baste and turn it over often so it cooks evenly.

Pineapple is often just sliced and eaten as it is which is great but there’s so much more you can do with it. Roasting them is one way and it definitely enhances the natural flavour!

Make sure you get ripe pineapples – sniff the bottom of them and they should smell fragrant, look out for withered leaves or if unripe wait around a week before using them. 

I used the very tropical Red Leg Spiced Rum which is infused with Jamaican ginger and vanilla, it works a treat here. Serve up with vanilla ice cream and sprinkle over torn mint leaves!

Serves 4
Prep 15 mins
Cook 50 mins
Total 55 mins

Ingredients

1 large ripe pineapple 
125ml maple syrup
1 vanilla pod, cut lengthways and seeds scraped out 
150ml spiced rum
30g unsalted butter
A pinch of sea salt 
Vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)
2 tbsp mint leaves, torn (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5/375F. Using a sharp knife cut the top and bottom of the pineapple. With the pineapple sitting on a chopping board carefully remove its rough skin (try not to take too much of the fruit off). 

Using a small sharp knife remove the holes or ‘eyes’ by cutting diagonally around the pineapple, removing the flesh and creating a spiral pattern (see here).

Put maple syrup, vanilla pod and seeds, rum and butter in a small pan. Stir over a low heat and add a pinch of sea salt once the butter has melted. Simmer for a couple of minutes until it starts to bubble.

Put the pineapple on a small baking tray on its side and pour over the syrup making sure it’s completely covered. Roast for 50 minutes, basting and turning the pineapple every 10 minutes to ensure its evenly cooked.

Once the pineapple is caramelised and tender remove from the oven and leave to cool. Throw away the vanilla pod and reserve any leftover syrup to serve.

Cut the pineapple lengthways into slices, drizzle over the syrup and serve with vanilla ice cream and torn mint leaves.

Notes

*Watch the video to see how to properly cut the eyes from the pineapple. To make this vegan just omit the butter and serve with vegan ice cream.