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Hello!

Once again, huge thanks to @pandamama, @chefsteve and @offoodandart for hosting this!

If you haven’t heard yet, @cookwithus is an awesome themed weekly cooking contest. It’s quickly becoming my go-to for inspiration when I find myself staring blankly into the vast abyss most refer to as the refrigerator. Over the last few weeks, I’ve also met a bunch of brilliant foodies with an incredible knowledge of cuisine from all over the globe all competing for the coveted @cookwithus prize. You guys. If you love food, or you want to learn or practice your skills in the kitchen, this is where you go. For real real, not for play play.

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So, how to tackle this week’s challenge. I’ve penciled the weekly themes into my calendar and find myself planning what I’ll make waaay in advance.

The last few weeks have been a way for me to explore prettier presentations of recipes I know, so I can improve my food photography, with a few twists of the familiar here and there, but generally what I’ve created has been something I eat all the time.

When I saw the Microwave challenge, I was a little disappointed in myself. I'd already entered my number 1 microwave recipe- a chocolate mousse cake- for my very first entry.

What on earth do I make now?

I admit, I briefly considered skipping this week and focusing my attention on the cupcake challenge for next week… but life had other plans for me...

See, on Saturday morning I decided to quit smoking. Terrible habit, I know. It’s about damn time.
The biggest trouble with letting go of addiction is the anxiousness of withdrawal. I’m a fidgety person by nature, so to overcome this challenge I set myself, I needed to channel the fidgets into something constructive.
Nothing calms my nerves and keeps my hands busier than a good cook in the kitchen. Microwave popcorn wasn’t going to cut it.

To break this habit, I needed a challenge- a real one. Thanks to @cookwithus, the challenge was right there:

Make something in a microwave.

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I was going to make something, all right. And then I was going to make 3900 more things or risk my boyfriend going on an extended holiday to escape my madness.
In short, I’ve spent pretty much all of the last 4 days testing, tasting and adjusting a dessert with as many elements as possible- every single one of them in the nuker.

While this isn’t one of those recipes I recommend you take on for dessert tonight, it comes highly recommended should you be stuck in your house with hours to kill and a habit to kick.

This is the final product.
Buckle your seatbelts, folks. This ain’t no 15 minute dessert.

Because it’s so labour intensive, I’ve marked how far in advance you can make each element, so if you are moved to take on this ridiculous dessert, you’ll have plenty of time.

As for what it is, I’m still torn between calling it a ‘Beet-on Mess’ or a ‘Wavelova’- *Votes in the comments down below!

Anyhooo...this recipe serves 6.

Here's how to make it:

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Beetroot Powder.

(Up to a month before)

• 1 large beetroot
• Wax Paper

####Method:

1. Wash and peel beetroot
2. Slice into thin even slices (mandolin is your best bet here)
3. Place wax paper over a plate and spread beet slices evenly, ensuring they don’t touch.
4. Nuke on high for a minute and remove to test. They should be brittle, but not discoloured. Blast at 20 sec intervals until completely dry. (They are delicious as beet chips, sodium and fat free even!) Allow to cool.
5. Crush into smaller pieces to fit into a food processor or coffee grinder (I find the coffee grinder yields a finer result) pulse and scrape down the edges regularly until a fine dust forms.
6. Sift into an airtight container until ready to use (this stuff is great in smoothies. Highly recommend!)

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Microwave Meringue

(Up to a week before)
Oh my goodness, Egg in the nuker???
You heard me. Crisp, crunchy meringues. 4 minutes start to finish. We’re working miracles up in here!

• 1 Egg White
• 300 grams Confectioner’s sugar (A little extra if it’s humid)
• ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of Salt

Method

1. Sift Sugar and Salt into bowl and make a well in the center.
2. Separate egg and add the white and vanilla to the sugar.
3. Mix with a spoon until thickened and then knead until it forms a pliable dough. (Think playdoh!)
4. Roll into balls about the size of a raspberry, or a marble…or a small grape?
5. Place a sheet of kitchen paper on a plate and put one ball on each corner of the paper (you’ll think you can fit 40 more on there, they look really lonely just for on the plate- but honey, they GROW!)
6. Microwave on high for 90 seconds before checking. If they’re crisp on the outer edge, they’re ready (they will continue to cook after you remove them. If still soft, return to nuker in 10 sec intervals until ready. Watch these like a hawk or you’ll have a tiny ball of lava in the microwave. (I learned this lesson. I wish I hadn’t.)
7. Eat one. It’s a miracle! Why on earth have I spent dozens of hours praying for these things to dehydrate????
8. Allow to cool before storing in an airtight container until use.

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Rose Gel

(Up to 3 days before)

• 1 tsp Corn Starch
• 2 Tbsp Confectioner’s sugar
• ½ Cup of water
• Juice of ½ Lemon
• 1 Tbsp Rose Water
• 1 Tsp Beetroot Powder

Method:

1. Sift corn starch and confectioner’s sugar into a small microwave-safe bowl.
2. Add a little of the water and stir to form a smooth paste before stirring in the rest of the water
3. Microwave on high in 1 minute intervals until thick and a pale straw colour.
4. Stir in the beet powder, rose water and lemon juice and check consistency-it should fall of the spoon in a slow ‘gloop!’ (Like the last bit of shampoo)
5. Allow to cool at room temperature before chilling in the fridge (the gel, not you. I was pretty close to putting my head in there at one point, though.)

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Candied Beet and Sesame Tuille

(Up to 2 days before- the flavour develops and sugar crystallizes as time goes by)

• 1 Small Beet, sliced thinly with a mandolin, and then into match sticks (julienne tools help brilliantly here, I couldn’t find mine)
• ¼ Cup of Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cacao powder
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tbsp White Sesame Seeds
• Pinch of Salt

Method

• Sift cacao powder into a small microwave-safe bowl with sugar and salt.
• Add a little water to smooth out any cacao lumps before adding the rest of the water and vanilla
• Add beet strips and cook on high at 30 second intervals until syrup is bubbly and sticky- this takes about 5 minutes, but keep a very close eye on your nuker. A couple of seconds too long and the inside of your microwave will look like a Tarantino movie. (If anyone was wondering, beet and cacao make the exact colour of blood, but will stain your face and everything you love, don’t try to scare your boyfriend with a nosebleed... you’ll have a pink upper lip for approximately 3 showers, an intensive exfoliation and a 20-minute lemon juice mask.)
• Lay beet strips on a silicone mat or greased baking tray to cool, spreading so it makes a thin layer, but pieces are still connected with caramel. Sprinkle with Sesame Seeds and leave to cool. (Don’t touch it with your hands! You’ll have blisters on your fingers that’ll make you cry more than you should because everything is worse on withdrawals.)
• Once cool, store in airtight container until ready to use.

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Beetroot Mousse

(1 day before)

• 50 grams Marshmallows
• 10 Grams butter
• 80 Grams White Chocolate
• 100 ml Cream
• 2 Tbsp Beetroot Powder
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of Salt

Method:

1. Break up chocolate and halve marshmallows and microwave with butter at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth and melty
2. Stir in sifted beet powder, vanilla and salt and leave to cool while whipping cream.
3. Whip cream to form stiff peaks and fold into marshmellow mixture.
4. Pour into molds or one large bowl if making quenelles and chill in fridge until set- at least an hour.

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Chocolate Drizzle

(Make just before assembly)

• 100 grams Dark Chocolate
• 1 Tsp Coconut oil
• Pinch of Salt (I used Pink Himalayan)

Method:

1. Break chocolate into chunks, add coconut oil and salt and nuke on medium heat at 30 second intervals until chocolate starts to melt. The residual heat from the bowl will be enough to melt it completely as you stir.
2. Place on a bowl of hot water to keep it liquid until ready to use.

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Soft Whipped Cream

(Just before serving)

• 100 ml Whipping Cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Add vanilla to cream and whip until soft peaks form.

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To Assemble:

• Dragon Fruit Spheres
• Passion Fruit Pulp
• Purple Basil Leaves
• Extra Beet Powder for dusting

Once I had all the elements done, I plated and replated it several times. Partly because I was trying to find balance between all the elements, and partly because I needed to keep my hands busy...

The end result works in the same way red velvet cupcakes made with beet works- The beet tuille and powder lends a lovely earthy note to the rich dark chocolate. I added blobs of passion fruit and beautiful speckled semi-spheres of dragon fruit to add contrast, acidity and freshness, complimenting the perfume of the rose gel.

The crack of the chocolate drizzle adds an entirely different textural element to the brittle crunch of the meringue, broken into rough chunks and scattered on the plate. A little whipped cream lends relief to the indulgent beet mousse and ties it all together like it would on a pavlova. A couple of sprigs of purple basil and a few freshly sprouted beet leaves pay homage to the vegetable I put through the ringer for this dessert...all topped off with a sprinkling of beet powder, I reckon to compensate I'll make beet salad tonight!

So that's my mad rambling dessert, hope you enjoy!