Last year we had a promotion going for awhile where, if you sent in a recipe with a picture of it, you received a gift certificate to our store (cheesemaking.com). We had quite a few responses and one of them was from Brooke Emily Moore. She sent in 2 recipes (the ones below) with pictures.
I ended up posting many of the recipes on this blog, but I didn’t do anything with Brooke’s because, the truth is, I thought she had copied them from a gourmet website! Wouldn’t you think that?! We went ahead and sent her a gift certificate, but I buried her recipes in a file and forgot about them.
Then, recently, I was cleaning out my files and I took another look at her recipes. I decided to contact her, which I did, and I let her know that it was fine if she had copied them, but, in the off chance that she didn’t, would she mind contacting me(?).
That’s when I found out that not only were they her recipes and her pictures, but that she is 14 years old!!! Of course, I had questions:
Where do you live?
Taupo, New Zealand
Did you take the pictures yourself?
Yes, I have an Instagram page (@the_flambeed_fig) which I post my photos on. (These are just a few.)
Maple and Balsamic Maple-Roasted Chicken Salad with Creamy Roasted Chicken Mayonnaise, Rocket, Hazelnuts, Pomegranate, Dried Figs, Tomato Caviar and Thyme Flowers
Miso Caramel, Black Sesame and White Chocolate Custard Layer Cake with White Chocolate Sphere, Caramel Shards, Coffee Caviar, Lavender and Nasturtium
White Chocolate and Coconut Panna Cotta Sphere with Black Pepper, Black Sesame and Black Treacle Crumb, Coffee Caviar, Black Sesame Sponge, Black Sesame Mud Cake, Russian Fudge, Orange Foam, Borage, Fennel and Nasturtium
White Chocolate, Raspberry and Red Velvet Entremet with Blackberry Gel, White Chocolate Crumb, Blackcurrant Sponge, Rose Jelly, Blackcurrant Leather, Chantilly Foam, Raspberry Mousse Blackcurrant Caviar, Pastillage and Pistachio
Cold-Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Mousse Shortcake with Beetroot and Pomegranate Sauce, White Chocolate Horseradish, Lemon Foam, Basil Oil, Balsamic Caviar, Parmesan Crumb, Shortcrust Discs and Radish
Red Velvet Entremet with White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Mousse, Dark Chocolate Glaze, Sablé Crisp and White Chocolate
Coconut Chia Pudding, Chai Custard and Cinnamon Berry Jelly with Flame Grilled Pineapple, Fresh Berries, Maple Nut Clusters and Fennel
How did you learn to cook?
I started baking cakes with my mum since I was 2, and then from about ages 4-7 I started making things up without a recipe. There were a lot of cringes, but I do remember a honey loaf I made up when I was 4 that was actually quite delicious! When I was 8 my mum let me cook each weekend independently. I made things out of those little easy cookbooks (one I remember was cinnamon-roasted squab chickens on top of a lentil salad), and then I wanted to expand my skill level. Until I got to about the age of 12, my experiments didn’t have the greatest outcome. But eventually I got there, and now I have learned what works with what, and how to pair flavours, and how to just let components sit on the plate as I feel they like.
Do you make cheese?
I actually got a cheese making kit for Christmas a couple of years back and I love it! I’ve made Mozzarella, Bocconcini, Mascarpone, Ricotta, Ricotta Salata and Halloumi, and I’ve been planning to make Burrata too.
Brooke’s Bocconcini
I don’t know how I learned. I think I used to experiment a lot when I was younger and really enjoyed it, so I wanted to take it further. I learned some of my techniques from blogs and books, and some I just made up without actually realizing it! Now I just like experimenting with flavours, textures and colours and then seeing how it will work on the plate.
Do you have any other hobbies?
Along with my biggest ever passion of cooking, I also enjoy hunting and target shooting. I am yet to try a wallaby I shot a few months ago – it doesn’t smell the best, but apparently is delicious when cooked rare!
Sampling fudge at the Decadent Fudge Co. in Hanmer Springs, NZ. (She loved the Creme Brulee flavored fudge)
Are you in school?
I attend Tauhara College (“college” means secondary school in New Zealand). At my school there is a program run by a wonderful lady who speaks through video conference to our school, and to others in the area, and everyone decides on a creative passion project to pursue. Mine is a multi-sensory restaurant which includes different rooms for different emotions and such, each altering the perception of flavours through psychology and the five senses. This is my ultimate goal; to run this business. Of course I am starting out small – we are trying to find suitable food markets and the likes to start off with.
I am very passionate about my (hopefully) future business; I base a lot of what I do around it!
A couple of Brooke’s recipes:
Meatball, Pasta and Ricotta Roulade, Balsamic Glaze, Pasta Crisp, Chipotle Caviar, Parmesan Crisp, Mozzarella
Ingredients:
Meatballs
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
Pinch salt
70g (1/3 cup) button mushrooms
½ carrot, finely grated
¼ tsp celery salt
500g (2 cups) beef mince (ground beef)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes in juice
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup + 2 tbsp barbecue sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
¼ cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
Roulade:
1 tbsp Ricotta
4 × 1cm (3/8″) strips fresh egg lasagne, uncooked, about 7 cm (2 3/4″) in length
Balsamic Glaze:
½ cup balsamic glaze
2 tbsp water
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
Pasta Crisps:
Fresh egg lasagne, uncooked
Parmesan Crisps:
1 tbsp grated parmesan
Chipotle Caviar:
¼ cup soya bean (or any light-flavoured) oil
¼ tsp gelatine
2.8ml cold water (1/2 teaspoon)
6.5ml chipotle sauce (1 1/3 teaspoon)
Mozzarella:
2l (2 qts) milk
1 ml calcium chloride (1/4 teaspoon)
1 tsp citric acid dissolved in 2 tbsp cool water
½ tablet rennet dissolved in ¼ cup cold water (non chlorinated)
Salt
Meatballs:
1. Fry onion and garlic with salt until soft. Add mushrooms, carrot and celery salt and fry until the carrot is caramelized.
2. Add beef and cook until browned. Add rest of ingredients except the breadcrumbs and cook 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
3. Take ½ cup of the mince mixture and mix with breadcrumbs, adding more if needed. Roll into balls about the size of golf balls and coat in breadcrumbs.
Roulade:
1. Spread pasta with ricotta and roll up.
Balsamic Glaze:
1. Boil all ingredients in a small saucepan, stirring often, until it coats the back of a spoon. Set aside.
Pasta Crisps:
1. Preheat oven to 200C (392F). Cut pasta into triangles and spray with oil. Bake until crisp.
Parmesan Crisp:
1. Preheat oven to 200C (392F). Arrange Parmesan in a circle on a baking tray. Bake until crisp.
Chipotle Caviar:
1. Pour oil into a metal bowl and place in the freezer.
2. Mix gelatine and water together. Heat chipotle sauce until almost boiling. Whisk into gelatine mixture. Cool a few minutes.
3. Drop small amounts of mixture into the cold oil. They should form into balls. Make differing sizes.
Mozzarella:
1. Pour milk into a pot and stir in diluted citric acid. Heat to 32C (90F) while stirring.
2. Remove from heat and add diluted rennet. Cover and leave 25-30 mins.
3. Make a small cut with with a knife. It should make a clean cut with a clear division between the curds and whey. Cut the cubes into 3cm (1″) cubes.
4. Place on stove and heat to 42C (108C), gently stirring. The curds should become firmer and springy to touch. Transfer to a cheesecloth lined colander (save the whey).
5. Drain 5 minutes. Prepare a bowl of salted ice water and another of 70C (158F) non-salted water.
6. Take a handful of curd and place on a draining spoon. Submerge into 70C (158F) water and leave approx. 20 seconds until the curd looks melted. With gloves, stretch the cord until smooth. Gently form into a ball, retaining as much moisture as possible, and drop into the ice water. Repeat with remaining curds.
7. After spending 10 minutes in the cold water, the mozzarella is ready to eat. Store mozzarella in the fridge with a solution of 2 cups leftover whey with 1/8 tsp citric acid. Do not add salt – add directly to mozzarella when ready to eat.
Triple Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mousse Cake (Dark Chocolate Base, Chocolate Mousse, White Chocolate and Mascarpone Mousse, and Peanut Butter Mousse) with Caramel, Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough, Coffee Caviar, Mascarpone and Chocolate Curls
Serves 4
Mousse Cake
Base:
1 ½ cups flour
70g (1/3 cup) Bougainville cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
105g (7 1/2 Tbsp) salted butter
150g (2/3 cup) sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp treacle (molasses)
Chocolate Mousse:
255g (1 cup) dark chocolate melts
1 ¾ cup cream
Pinch salt
2 tsp gelatine
2 tbsp water
Peanut Butter Mousse:
¾ cup blanched peanuts (roasted)
90ml milk (1/3 cup)
1 ½ tbsp smooth, unsweetened, unsalted peanut butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 ½ tsp vanilla essence
90ml (1/3 cup) whipped cream
Extra milk or cream to thin
White Chocolate and Mascarpone Mousse:
150g (2/3 cup) white chocolate
78g (1/3 cup) mascarpone
1 ½ tbsp milk
Coffee Caviar:
105ml (1/2 cup) strong sweetened coffee (taken from 250ml (1 cup) coffee with 1 lightly heaped tsp instant coffee powder and 1 tsp sugar)
4 tsp gelatine
3 tbsp cold water
¾ cup soya bean or canola oil, very cold
Chocolate Curls:
100g (4/5 cup) dark chocolate melts
To serve
150g (2/3 cup) mascarpone
¼ cup treacle (molasses)
Leftover cookie dough
4 violets
Base:
1. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in remaining ingredients. Press into two lined ramekins, reserving a little for plating. Refrigerate.
Chocolate Mousse:
1. Melt chocolate with ¾ cup of the cream. Cool. Whisk together gelatine and water and let swell for a few minutes. When chocolate is room temperature, heat gelatine for 15 seconds until melted. Whisk in chocolate mixture.
2. Whip remaining cream to stiff peaks and add half to chocolate mixture. Add the other half. Pour over base and freeze until firm.
White Chocolate and Mascarpone Mousse:
1. Melt white chocolate. Add mascarpone and milk and reheat. Stir. It will seize up – just keep stirring until it becomes velvety and smooth. Pour over mousse and refrigerate.
Peanut Butter Mousse:
1. Blend all in ingredients in a stick blender, adding more milk if necessary. Pour over mousse and refrigerate until all layers are set.
Coffee Caviar:
1. Whisk together water and gelatine. Heat coffee and mix it with gelatine. Leave about 1 minute to cool slightly.
2. Using a pipette or spoon, drop parts of the mixture into the cold oil. They should form into balls.
Chocolate Curls:
1. Wrap the handle of a wooden spoon with baking paper. Melt the chocolate and carefully spoon a long strip of chocolate up the handle, rotating the spoon so that the chocolate forms a spiral. Leave to set and carefully remove the spirals, allowing it to break up.
Plating:
1. Brush treacle (molasses) onto a plate with a pastry brush. Place a rectangle of mousse cake (to cut, use a knife dipped in boiling water) over the treacle. Decorate the top with piped mascarpone, a violet and chocolate curls. Garnish the plate with rolled balls of reserved cookie dough, caviar and violets. Serve.
