Book Talk(s)

Come and listen to Vince Frost (Design Your Life), Christine Manfield (Dessert Divas), Karen McCartney (Superhouse) and Richard Unsworth (Garden Life) introduce their new books in conversation with Linda Gregoriou. Meet the authors, share a drink and be the first to bag a signed copy. $30 at Cafe Paci, 95 Riley St, Darlinghurst. Bookings essential.

Christine Mansfield’s reinterpretation of a childhood ice-cream favourite, the Golden Gaytime, was already popular at her restaurant, Universal. But after being featured in the final challenge of MasterChef Australia 2012, the dessert Gaytime Goes Nuts gained even wider recognition. Paying tribute to her sexuality and gay culture in Sydney and beyond, this is definitely not the gaytime confection you remember. While this dessert may take some time, it’s worth it for the diva-like entrance it’ll make to your dinner table. 

Gaytime Goes Nuts

Serves 8
 

HONEYCOMB
360 g caster sugar
120 g liquid glucose
60 ml water
15 g bicarbonate of soda

HONEYCOMB ICE CREAM
750 ml milk
700 ml pouring (35%) cream
8 large egg yolks
300 g caster sugar
250 g honeycomb (see above), roughly chopped

CARAMEL ICE CREAM
750 ml pouring (35%) cream
375 ml milk
9 large (270 g) egg yolks
390 g caster sugar
75 ml water

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
125 ml milk
350 ml pouring (35%) cream
50 g (2 large) egg yolks
25 g caster sugar
2 g gelatine leaves, softened and squeezed
250 g Valrhona Gianduja (hazelnut) 36% milk chocolate, finely chopped

SALTED HAZELNUT CARAMEL
200 ml pouring (35%) cream
75 g liquid glucose
½ vanilla bean, split
100 g caster sugar
25 g unsalted butter
225 g hazelnuts, roasted, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Halon Mon Vanilla Salt

CHOCOLATE WAFER COLLARS
240 g fondant
160 g liquid glucose
160 g Valrhona Caramelia 36% milk chocolate, finely chopped

CHOCOLATE CRUMBLE
50 g caster sugar
50 g ground almonds
30 g plain flour
45 g cocoa powder
35 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes

HONEYCOMB NOUGAT DUST
50 g chocolate crumble (see above), broken into small pieces
150 g Savoiardi sponge fingers
30 g hard nougat (available from Simon Johnson), roughly chopped
25 g honeycomb (see above), roughly chopped

FOR ASSEMBLY
24 g Valrhona dark chocolate pearls
 

Method

HONEYCOMB

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
    
2. Place the caster sugar, glucose and water in a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat until the mixture comes to the boil, then cook for 10–12 minutes or until it reaches a caramel colour.
    
3. Carefully add the bicarbonate of soda, then whisk quickly as the hot mixture will expand immediately. Pour onto the lined tray and leave to cool completely.
    
4. Break into large chunks and store in an airtight container until required. (Honeycomb will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.)

HONEYCOMB ICE CREAM

1. Heat the milk and cream in a small heavy-based saucepan over low heat to simmering point.
    
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl for 5 minutes or until pale and creamy. Slowly add the hot milk mixture, then whisk to combine.
    
3. Sit the bowl over a bain marie, making sure the bowl does not touch the simmering water, and cook the mixture to a custard consistency, stirring continuously until it coats the back of the spoon (it should register 80°C on a probe or sugar thermometer). Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean heatproof bowl, then cool quickly over a bowl of ice, whisking constantly to keep the custard aerated as it cools.
    
4. Churn the cooled custard in an ice-cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions until firm. Fold the honeycomb through the churned ice cream. Spread crossways into one half of a 25 cm × 16 cm base × 3 cm-deep slice tin; the caramel ice cream will fill the other half of the tin. Cover with plastic film and freeze until required. (Ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.)

Note: Simple to make, honeycomb can be used in so many ways – crush it to sprinkle over a creamy mousse, break it into bite-sized pieces and coat with melted chocolate (better than anything you will buy in a packet), or serve small chunks with your favourite ice cream.

CARAMEL ICE CREAM

1. You will need to make the custard base and caramel simultaneously so both are ready at the same time. Heat the cream and milk in a small heavy-based saucepan over low heat to simmering point.
    
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks and 90 g of the caster sugar in a heatproof bowl for 5 minutes or until pale and creamy. Slowly add the hot milk mixture, then whisk to combine.
    
3. Sit the bowl over a bain marie, making sure the bowl does not touch the simmering water, and cook the mixture to a custard consistency, stirring continuously until it coats the back of the spoon (it should register 80°C on a probe or sugar thermometer).
    
4. Meanwhile, place the remaining 300 g sugar and the water in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil, shaking the pan occasionally but not stirring to ensure the sugar dissolves before the mixture comes to the boil. Continue to boil for 10–12 minutes or until the sugar syrup reaches a deep caramel colour.
    
5. As soon as the caramel is ready, add a ladleful of the custard to the caramel in the pan, then gently shake the pan to combine; this loosens the caramel. Immediately pour the hot caramel mixture into the custard base and whisk until smooth and combined. Strain the caramel custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean heatproof bowl, then cool quickly over a bowl of ice, whisking constantly to keep the custard aerated as it cools.
    
6. Churn the caramel custard in an ice-cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions until firm. Spread the caramel ice cream into the other half of the 25 cm × 16 cm slice tin, alongside the honeycomb ice cream. Cover with plastic film and freeze for at least 2 hours or until required. (Ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.)

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

1. Heat the milk and 125 ml of the cream in a small heavy-based saucepan over low heat to simmering point.
    
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl for 5 minutes or until pale and creamy. Slowly add the hot milk mixture, then whisk to combine. Sit the bowl over a bain marie, making sure the bowl does not touch the simmering water, and cook the mixture to a custard consistency, stirring continuously until it coats the back of the spoon (it should register 80°C on a probe or sugar thermometer). Add the softened gelatine and stir to dissolve, then cool quickly over a bowl of ice until it registers 45°C on the probe or sugar thermometer.
    
3. Meanwhile, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a bain marie, making sure the bowl does not touch the simmering water, then heat until it has melted and registers 45°C on the probe or sugar thermometer.
    
4. Fold the melted chocolate through 150 g of the cooled custard base until combined. (The remaining custard base can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks.) Strain the chocolate custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, then cool quickly over a bowl of ice, whisking constantly to keep the custard aerated as it cools.
    
5. Whip the remaining 225 ml cream until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate custard. Transfer to an airtight container, then seal and refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm.

SALTED HAZELNUT CARAMEL

1. Heat the cream, glucose and vanilla bean in a small heavy-based saucepan over low heat to simmering point.
    
2. Meanwhile, heat a clean and dry heavy-based saucepan over high heat for 1 minute or until hot. Add the caster sugar and cook without stirring for 8–10 minutes or until a dry caramel forms. Immediately add the warm cream mixture and cook for 5 minutes, stirring until combined. Add the butter and stir to melt and combine. Remove and discard the vanilla bean. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool completely.
    
3. When ready to serve, mix the chopped hazelnuts and vanilla salt into the cold caramel.

CHOCOLATE WAFER COLLARS

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. While the oven is heating, place a baking tray upside-down inside to become very hot.
    
2. Heat the fondant and glucose in a small heavy-based saucepan over medium heat until the mixture registers 180°C on a probe or sugar thermometer. Add the chocolate and stir until well combined to form a smooth paste. Spread onto a silicone mat on a baking tray. Using a rolling pin, roll the wafer mixture until 5 mm-thick. Set aside for 10 minutes or until completely cooled and hardened.
    
3. Break the wafer mixture into small pieces. Using a mortar and pestle, break down to roughly 1 cm pieces; this prevents the mixture from heating while it is blitzed. Transfer to a blender (or use a Thermomix on speed 8–10) and grind to a fine powder.
    
4. Sift ½ cup of the powder at a time though a fine-mesh sieve onto a silicone mat on a baking tray, using a rectangular 20 cm × 7.5 cm acetate template for shape, to form a 2 mm-thick layer; the powder should just be level with the thickness of the template.
    
5. Place an index finger at one end of the template to hold it in place, then gently lift off the opposite end, taking care not to touch the powder. Lift the template away completely. Take the hot upside-down baking tray from the oven and place it upside-down on a heatproof work surface.
    
6. Gently slide the mat onto the hot upside-down tray and allow the powder to melt completely; this will take 60–90 seconds. If the powder doesn’t meld together completely, place the tray in the oven for 15–30 seconds, watching carefully to ensure the powder doesn’t burn.
    
7. Run a small right-angle palette knife over the wafer to check the consistency – you want it to be set and cool enough to be pliable and easy to roll, but not hot enough that it stretches easily. Lift up one end of the wafer by gently flicking it with the palette knife. Lay a 5.5 cm base-diameter plastic squeez-y bottle over the hot wafer and roll it up around the bottle to make a cylinder. Gently press the edges around the bottle onto the hot mat to seal them together, then gently ease the cylinder wafer off the bottle.
    
8. Repeat this process 7 times with the remaining powder so you have 8 cylinder wafers in total. Leave to cool.
    
9. Line a large airtight container with baking paper, then stand the wafer collars upright in one layer and seal until ready to serve. (The wafers need to be made on the day of serving.)

CHOCOLATE CRUMBLE

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
    
2. Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the caster sugar, ground almonds, flour, cocoa, butter and salt on medium speed until combined to form a coarse, sand-like texture the consistency of crumble; it should not come together like dough.
    
3. Spread the crumble mixture on a silicone mat on a baking tray to form a 1 cm-thick layer; it won’t be smooth but will look a bit like coarse breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 minutes or until crisp and fragrant; it should taste cooked.
    
4. Leave the crumble on the mat on the tray to cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container until required. (The crumble can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.)

HONEYCOMB NOUGAT DUST

1. Blitz the chocolate crumble, savoiardi, nougat and honeycomb in a heavy-duty blender (or use a Thermomix on speed 8) to form fine crumbs. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until required; this prevents it from clumping.

FOR ASSEMBLY

1. Place a spoonful of honeycomb nougat dust on the centre of each serving plate, then flatten it into a 6.5 cm diameter circle. (It should fit a chocolate wafer collar standing upright, leaving a border showing around the edge; do not add the wafer collar yet.)
    
2. Using a round 4.5 cm pastry cutter, cut the honeycomb ice cream into 8 rounds. Repeat with the caramel ice cream.
    
3. Place a round of honeycomb ice cream on the centre of the dust on each plate. Dip each round of caramel ice cream into 3 g of the dark chocolate pearls to cover the surface, then place on top of the honeycomb ice cream.
    
4. Gently ease a chocolate wafer collar over each ice-cream stack to encase it, then fill with a couple of small chunks of the ice cream (about 1 teaspoon in total) if required, to bring the ice cream to 1 cm below the top of each wafer collar.
    
5. Spoon a little salted hazelnut caramel evenly over the top of the ice cream on each plate to cover, filling to the top of each collar.
    
6. Place a spoonful of honeycomb nougat dust over the salted hazelnut caramel and top with a quenelle of hazelnut chocolate mousse. Serve immediately. 

Dessert Divas by Christine Manfield - Photography by Anson Smart

To coincide with the publication of her new book Dessert Divas, Christine is taking her iconic desserts on the road
 collaborating with restaurants around Australia to present a dessert menu.
 An ideal opportunity to taste one of her desserts and buy a signed copy of her book at Bottega Rotolo. Dessert demonstration and tasting for limited numbers. Tues 25th and Wed 26th November.
Contactbottega-sa@bottegarotolo.com.au

P 1300 2688342 

To coincide with the publication of her new book Dessert Divas, Christine is taking her iconic desserts on the road
 collaborating with restaurants around Australia to present a dessert menu.
 An ideal opportunity to taste one of her desserts and buy a signed copy of her book at Tonka. Tues 18th to Sat 22nd November.
Contact info@tonkarestaurant.com.au
P 03 9650 3155 

To coincide with the publication of her new book Dessert Divas, Christine is taking her iconic desserts on the road
 collaborating with restaurants around Australia to present a dessert menu.
 An ideal opportunity to taste one of her desserts and buy a signed copy of her book at The Source at MONA. Thurs 6th to Sat 8th of November.
Contact thesource@mona.net.au
P 03 6277 9904 

To coincide with the publication of her new book Dessert Divas, Christine is taking her iconic desserts on the road
 collaborating with restaurants around Australia to present a dessert menu.
 An ideal opportunity to taste one of her desserts and buy a signed copy of her book at Nomad.
Contact http://restaurantnomad.com.au/events/
P 02 9280 3395 

Tuck into a sumptuous three-course feast including seasonal heirloom vegetables matched with fine wine at award-winning bar and restaurant Bellota. Leading Australian garden designers and experts Simon Rickard and Michael McCoy will lead us on an enchanting evening talking heirloom vegetables, plant selection and garden design. They also will share some images and stories of their exciting travels visiting some of the finest gardens around the world, and look at what we can learn from them. Tickets $100, bookings essential.
Contact http://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=104875
P 03 5427 4711 

Join us for an exclusive afternoon in the balcony garden of Indira Naidoo made famous by her best-selling book The Edible Balcony. Enjoy champagne and canapes and hear from Indira how she grew 70 kgs of produce on a 20 square metre balcony. There will also be the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Indira's book and funds raised from the day will go to Oxfam to support their 'Feed Global, Eat local' campaign.

Heirloom Vegetables explores and celebrates the beauty, history and diversity of heirloom vegetables according to their various families. Following on an explanation of what is an heirloom vegetable and why they are important to us, detailed stories for each heritage vegetable are accompanied by glorious photographs. Author talk and book signing with refreshments in the histrical home and garden of Buda, Castlemaine. Tickets $15, including $5 book discount.
Contact info@earthgarden.com.au

Join Belinda as she walks you through some of her favourite recipes from Utterly Delicious Simple Food and shares with you her vast culinary knowledge from decades of experience. This event includes a personally signed copy of Utterly Delicious Simple Food and samples of the demonstrated recipes for you to enjoy. $70 at Essential Ingredient Rozelle.
P 02 9004 1111 

Mike McEnearney shares his debut cookbook Kitchen by Mike which is full of his signature market-fresh recipes with unmatched depth of flavour. Join him at Kinokuniya for a talk and book signing. Free with RSVP recommended. 
Contact ebd1-sydney@kinokuniya.co.jp
P 02 9262 7996

It is always a treat to have Belinda in the kitchen and we are very happy that she will be with us to launch her new book. “Utterly Delicious Simple Food” – describes Belinda perfectly. Tickets $130, bookings essential. Accoutrement Cooking School, Mosman. 20th and 21st of October.
Contact accoutrement@bigpond.com
P 02 9969 1031 

Movida Solera is a celebration of Andalusian food and culture. Frank Camorra journeyed through the south of Spain, collecting traditional recipes from the food and wine producers, farmers, fishermen, chefs and cooks, who call this region home. Frank covered almost 10,000 kilometres through Andalusia’s eight provinces, namely Seville, Huelva, Cádiz, Málaga, Córdoba, Jaén, Granada and Almería, accompanied by co-writer Richard Cornish.

This book is a culmination of research and travel and many of the recipes were generously shared from the people he met along the way. The result is an exploration of the gastronomic history and legacy of the region. 

In Cádiz, Frank tastes some oloroso sherry from the El Maestro Sierra producers, run by Doña Pilar Plá Pechovierto (pictured right) and her daughter, María del Carmen Borrego Plá.

A herd of an indigenous breed of Spanish pig forage for acorns and grubs. These pigs will make jamón (pork) ibérico de bellota for Domingo Eíriz Martín, whose family have been making jamón in Corteconcepción, Huelva for 200 years. Right: Jamones are cured in secaderos for up to 48 months.

The geometric designs of the Moors are evident in the sprawling cathedral of Córdoba. Right: The white village of Grazalema is home to traditional rural industries. 

The sun sets over the ships in Isla Cristina, Huelva's main fishing port. Right: Seafood served fisherman's style.  

During La Feria, a week-long celebration held every April in Seville,  the women dress in body-hugging flamenco dresses, while the men walk proudly beside them sporting the traje corto (a short jacket).

Before the Seville Feria a group of local women, from a gypsy catering firm called La Mama Dolores, stand in a line to make buñuelos. 

Many of Andalusia’s best pastries are made by nuns. 

With Jaén businessman and lover of wild food Iñigo Caño Arbaiza, Frank spent a morning clambering around the grounds of a thirteenth-century tower, looking for spiny wild asparagus called espárragos de piedra.  

MoVida Solera by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish - Photography by Alan Benson

This fish soup originated in Livorno, the port city in northern Tuscany, before being adopted by the town of Viareggio, the poshest of the summer resorts on the Tuscan continuation of the Ligurian Riviera. 

The name comes from the Turkish word kuciuk, meaning ‘small things’. According to legend, it was first prepared when a Livornese fisherman’s boat was overturned in a huge tempest and he drowned, leaving his wife and children in poverty. His hungry children went to the port and asked the other fishermen for some food. Everyone gave something: octopus, calamari, some black mussels, some little bony, unsellable fish  . . . The children took it all home to their mother, who prepared a soup with it. The neighbours were so taken with the beautiful aroma that they went to the woman and asked her what it was. And so cacciucco was born, and it is said there are as many types of fish in the cacciucco as there are ‘c’s in its spelling!
 

Tuscan fish soup

Serves 6-8
 

130 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 white onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery heart, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, 4 finely chopped, 1 peeled and squashed
3 red chillies, finely diced
Handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, plus 1 tablespoon extra
200 g baby octopus, cleaned
200 g small cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into small pieces
200 g baby calamari, cleaned and cut into small pieces
125 ml dry white wine (ideally the same one you will be drinking with the soup)
800 g tinned tomatoes, passed through a mouli or squished with your hands
2 kg small whole fish, such as leatherjacket, rock cod, red mullet, cleaned (leave the heads attached for extra flavour) or 1 kg fillets of larger fish, such as john dory
500 g black mussels, scrubbed and debearded
500 g clams (vongole), cleaned
4 raw king prawns in their shells, cut in half lengthways
4 medium scampi in their shells, cut in half lengthways
4 slices ciabatta

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep heavy-based saucepan or flameproof casserole over medium heat and cook the onion and celery, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for about 6 minutes, until soft. Add the chopped garlic, chilli and parsley and sauté for a further 2 minutes, taking care not to let the garlic burn.
    
2. Add the baby octopus, cuttlefish and calamari to the pan, stir gently and sauté until the water they release has evaporated (9–10 minutes). Turn the heat up slightly, add the wine and continue cooking until it evaporates. Stir in the tomato, turn the heat down to low–medium and cook gently for 10 minutes. 
    
3. Meanwhile, cut the fish into 3–4 cm pieces. Add all the fish to the pan, spoon over the sauce and cook for about 7 minutes. Add the mussels, clams, prawns and scampi. When the mussels and clams open, sprinkle with the extra chopped parsley, shake the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.
    
4. Toast the ciabatta bread, rub with the squashed garlic clove and serve with your beautiful cacciucco.
   
   

The Art of Traditional Italian by Lucio Galletto - Photography by Ben Dearnley 

Lucio Galletto, of Lucio’s Italian Restaurant in Sydney, is not only a successful restaurateur, he is also a beloved patron of artists and their art. This love of art is showcased at his restaurant, where the walls are covered in artworks from many leading contemporary Australian artists. All of them are from his private collection, given to him over the years by his artist friends.  

Lucio grew up in a village on the Ligurian coast of Italy. His parents had a restaurant and it was while working there that Lucio decided that sharing food with others was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. And it was there that his passion for art was born: ‘Before I loved art, I loved artists because when I was in Italy they were the window to the world.’ 

Lucio’s passion for food and art come together in his new cookbook, The Art of Traditional Italian, an exciting collaboration between Lucio and his friends.

‘For me, the art of cooking has always been inseparable from the art of hospitality, and over more than 30 years at Lucio’s we have welcomed artists to our restaurant and proudly hung their works on our walls. So when we started gathering recipes for a new cookbook, it seemed only natural that art would share the pages with food. The artists were each given a chapter or other element of the book, and were then free to respond to the recipes and stories in any way they liked. The results exceeded anything I could have hoped for.’ 

Original artworks from ten of Australia’s finest artists – John Olsen, Luke Sciberras, Hilarie Mais, Garry Shead, Salvatore Zofrea, Euan Macleod, Joshua McPherson, Peter Godwin, Jason Benjamin and John Beard – accompany Lucio’s favourite traditional Italian recipes. It is a tribute to Lucio’s generosity and friendship with the artists that they generously created the artwork and donated it for display in the book.

We've put together a small selection of the artworks and food from this fantastic collaboration in The Art of Traditional Italian below. 

Artwork by John Olsen 

Artwork by Luke Sciberras

Artwork by Salvatore Zofrea

Artwork by Gary Shead

Artwork by Euan Macleod 

Artwork by Joshua McPherson

Artwork by Peter Godwin 

Artwork by Jason Benjamin 

Artwork by John Beard

The Art of Traditional Italian by Lucio Galletto - Photography by Ben Dearnley

Lemon curd and meringue is one of the great sweet duos. And the pillowy meringue and tart filling are encased in a gluten-free case, making this a great treat for everyone! Xanthan gum is available from health-food stores and some supermarkets, as are rice flour and chickpea flour (the latter is sometimes labelled besan or gram flour). Any leftover dough can be frozen for several months.

Gluten-free lemon meringue pie

Makes 1 large pie or 6 small ones

250 g lemon curd
pure icing sugar, for dusting

MERINGUE
120 g caster sugar
2 egg whites

GLUTEN-FREE SWEET PASTRY
150 g rice flour, plus extra for dusting
150 g chickpea flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
100 g ground almonds
100 g pure icing sugar
160 g chilled unsalted butter, diced
2 eggs

Method

1. For the pastry, sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor bowl. Add the butter bit by bit, pulsing it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the eggs one at a time and pulse until a smooth dough forms.
    
2. Remove the dough from the food processor and roll into two balls. Slightly flatten each ball with a rolling pin to make a 2 cm thick disc. Wrap the discs in cling film and place one in the freezer and the other in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
    
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Lightly dust your bench with rice flour. Roll out the disc of chilled dough to a 2 mm thickness and use to line one large (about 26 cm) round tart tin or six small tart tins. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and place a sheet of baking paper on top, then fill with pastry weights, dried beans or rice.
    
4. Place the tart shells in the oven and blind bake for 15 minutes to set the dough. Remove the paper and weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden and dry. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
    
5. Meanwhile, for the meringue, increase the oven temperature to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper, then scatter over the sugar and warm it in the oven until the edges are just melting, about 3 minutes – keep a close eye on it, so you don’t end up with caramel.
    
6. Whisk the egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the warmed sugar and mix on the highest speed for 5 minutes until the mixture is very stiff and glossy and the sugar has completely dissolved.
    
7. When the pastry has cooled, fill with cold lemon curd. Using a piping bag or spatula, pile a healthy amount of meringue on top of the curd. Place under a very hot grill or blast with a kitchen blowtorch until the meringue is firm and lightly caramelised. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm slightly, then dust with icing sugar and serve.
    

Kitchen by Mike by Mike McEnearney - Photography by Alan Benson

Design plays an essential role in our daily lives. You don't have to be a designer to design your life. But it doesn't hurt to have some professional help. It took designer Vince Frost more than 25 years as a professional to appreciate the power of the design process as a means for improving his life. 'If my design process brings value to me, perhaps it can bring value to others. Or, more radically, bring others to recognise their own value.' 

Vince's new book, Design Your Life is full of classic design principles as well as interviews with inpirational people and advice from Vince for how you can incorporate these principles into your own life. This book will not solve your problems. You have to do that yourself. But this book will inspire you to work better at living better. See more at Design Your Life.  

Design Your Life by Vince Frost

The Art of Traditional Italian by Lucio Galletto is a feast for the eyes and the tasebuds! Artwork by Gary Shead and Pork cutlets with rosemary - Photography by Ben Dearnley

Gaytime goes nuts and a devoured Birthday suit, two of Christine Manfield's magnificent creations from Dessert Divas - photography by Anson Smart

Dee Nolan's A Food Lover's Pilgrimage to France showcases Europe's gorgeous countryside and its food, here Cervelle de canut - photography by Earl Carter