Category: desserts

Brunch at Le Chateau

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

For me, food is closely associated with gatherings, friends, and family. Food plays a huge role in bringing people together and forging relationships. Although A Kitchen in Uganda emphasizes home cooking, once in a while, it’s wonderful to explore what is on the food scene around Uganda.Picture 1On Sunday the 30th of April, I had the privilege of attending Le Chateau’s Bottomless Brunch and Bubbly; a monthly event that brings people together for brunch. Le Chateau’s monthly bottomless brunch and bubbly is all about bringing people together, creating a great environment for them to let loose and let go and serving up a storm of a variety of unlimited food.I got Bella, a fellow creative and CEO of Enviri Za Nacho (EZN) to come and experience brunch with me.When Bella agreed to come along, I was thrilled because that meant I got to know more about the amazing woman behind EZN and of course share a meal with her.15Since the restaurant’s menu is based around Belgian and French cuisine, we had our fill of perfect buttery croissants and macaroons (the desserts are great!). There was an endless supply of drinks, cheese, fruit, dessert, an assortment of cold cuts and chips-exactly what you need on the lazy Sunday when you don’t want to do anything in the kitchen. BeFunky Collage 2Le chateau is situated along Ggaba Road in Nsambya; right next to the USA Embassy. The restaurant has a wonderful ambiance; a cross over between modern, lush greenery and traditional African-a photographers dream really! It threatened to rain that day but ended up showering a little which created the perfect mood for an epic brunch affair. Collage41314With an awesome personal attendant, an array of different foods, an endless supply of drinks, to say that we had a wonderful time is an understatement.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Yes, I know you like what you’re reading. And yes, it’s every end of the month. And oh, it’s family friendly too. Couldn’t get any better!

Next one is on the 28th  May 2017.  Thank me later.

🙂

 

 

Jackfruit Scones

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

 

I think this year I have had the most jackfruit! Partly because we have generous neighbours and partly because we have a jackfuit tree in the backyard that is yielding the juiciest fruits. I cannot even begin to describe the joy that comes with harvesting from your own garden! A piece of this sweet fleshy fruit is enough to carry you through the day. Seriously! Because jackfruit packed with a lot of natural sugars (read: very sweet!) and has a sweet pungent fragrance, I have enjoyed baking with it on more than one occasion. Yes some moments have been fails but then some have been so good. And these scones fall in the latter category.  Just so you know I have been making these scones from way back in 2012 and now I am finally sharing this recipe. it is a surprising texture and flavor altogether.

 

What you will need:

I C. Ripe Jackfruit, diced

2 C. Flour

¼ C. Butter/Margarine

¼ C. Milk

2 Tbsp. Sugar

½ Tbsp. Baking powder

 

Method

  1. Combine flour, baking powder and sugar and mix well. Rub in the butter till the flour is like coarse breadcrumbs.
  2. Add the diced jack fruit. Pour in the milk little by little while kneading until a dough forms.
  3. Dust your working area and using your hands press the dough to half an inch thickness.
  4. Cut the dough into three equal parts and pile them on top of each other. Using a rolling-pin, roll out the dough again to half an inch thickness.
  5. Using a glass or cookie cutter cut out the scones.
  6. Bake till they turn golden brown.

 

Serve warm.

Hope you do try these scones for the holidays.

🙂

Sophie

Homemade Caramel Popcorn

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

caramel popcorn-AKIU-10

It is official Caramel is my new favourite flavour! Way back in high school there was this caramel popcorn that we used to always make sure that we had at break time. Perfectly crunchy popcorn with a generous coating of browned caramel. it was addictive. Now popcorn is a huge deal here. There are a ton of popcorn machines in the taxi park and I am always tempted to buy a bag every time I am there.  popcorn has been in our family for as long as I can remember. We have this thick cast iron pot with a lid  that we use to make popcorn. It keeps and distributes the heat well.

caramel popcorn-AKIU-9

So for the love of popcorn and caramel, I wanted to recreate this caramel popcorn that I used to eat over 5 years ago.  Popcorn is fairly easy to make and so is caramel. You need only three basic ingredients: cream, sugar and butter/margarine.  With Paramount Dairies Whipping cream, you will be able to make rich well-flavoured caramel easily.  And since caramel is so easy to make (Why did not I know this before?) I thought combining the two would create a delightful and surprising dessert or snack really! And it did.

What you will need:

Caramel

1 C. Sugar

½ C. Whipping Cream

1 Tbsp. Butter/margarine

1 Tsp vanilla

¼ C. Water

 

Popcorn

500 gm. Popcorn kernels

¼ C. Oil

 

Caramel popcorn

Caramel

Popped Corn

Observations:

  1. Make sure the cream is at  room temperature
  2. To make good popcorn, use a pan that has a lid or find one that can fit on the pan well to keep all the heat inside

 

Method

Caramel

  1. In a clean sauce pan, combine sugar, water, vanilla and butter. Place on medium fire and let the sugar slowly melt.
  2. Once the sugar has completely melted, increase the fire and let the sugar syrup brown to a caramel colour.
  3. Once it has browned, add the cream and mix well. Remove from fire before the caramel gets very burnt.

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Popcorn

  1. Place the kernels in a bowl. Pour in the oil and mix well
  2. On high heat. Place pan. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of popcorn. Cover the pan and let the corn pop.
  3. Once it stops popping, remover from fire immediately.
  4. Repeat the process till you have popped all the corn.

Caramel Popcorn

  1. Once you have the popcorn, pour in the caramel while it is still hot.
  2. Pour while mixing to make sure all the puffs are coated with the caramel.
  3. Sprinkle some salt.
  4. Wait for the caramel to harden . About 5-10 minutes.

Serve.

 

 

The best flavoured popcorn! It’s true that caramel is addicting. I almost. ALMOST made a batch to just eat out of the jar. Almost.

🙂

Sophie

 

 

This post is made possible by Paramount Dairies. You can find Whipping Cream  and more cream products in major supermarkets in Kampala. Thank you for supporting brands I believe in.