Episode 3 of Koekedoor was based on the old-fashioned dessert trolley, and was inspired by judge Mari-Louise Guy’s childhood days of growing up in Lutzville, and Sunday family lunches at the local hotel. It was an elimination round, and one of the nine contestants had to leave at the end the programme.

Once again the episode consisted of three sections, each with their own challenge:

1. Tuisgebak/Home Bake

The challenge was to make a favorite bread pudding, a family favorite made with left over bread, and to which nutmeg, vanilla, and home-made custard are added. Despite bread pudding being such a stalwart, the contestants added ingredients to jazz up their bread puddings:  Anja made a chocolate chip bread pudding with croissants, and orange; Corli made a raisin and citrus bread pudding; Kanya made individual bread puddings in vintage cups, which she named coffee cinnamon and chocolate bread pudding cappuccinos, using a recipe which her mother-in-law loves; Martie made bread puddng with date stuffing and date brandy sauce; Sanet made ciabatta-bread pudding with pecans, with brandy added in the sauce, as had Tara and Martie; and Suretha chose Van der Hum to add an old-school kick to her rendition of the dish of days gone by.

Martie’s bread pudding from heart cut-outs didn’t pan out well, a disaster for her.  Tara’s bread pudding with the pecan nut streusel and brandy sauce brought comfort home.  Wessels went way back, using a recipe from the Victorian-era British cookbook by Mrs Beeton, changing it here and there to be more luxurious.  Wilandi’s bread pudding differed from that of the others, by using rye bread for her pudding and making a vanilla sauce which her grandmother used to make, for which the recipe comes from an old church community recipe book.

2.   Fyngebak/Advanced technique challenge

An indulgent peaches and cream Tiramisù Charlotte was the centre piece of the dessert trolley, and was baked by judge Mari-Louise, a masterly creation. The contestants had to make the ladyfinger biscuits (savoiardi), bake a buttermilk cake, make a cream and peach filling, and bake biscuits which looked like peaches, traditionally served at Italian weddings.  With only a recipe to follow, but not having seen the cake, they had to create the peach Tiramisù cake.

3.  Pronkgebak/Flaunt It Challenge

For the last challenge of this episode, the contestants had to draw straws for ingredients, and create any pudding or dessert from a church congregation recipe book, in which the ingredient is the hero. Ingredients included syrup, lemons, brandy, ginger, and cinnamon.  The contestants had to take the everyday ingredients into the spectacular centerpiece for the pudding trolley or dessert table.

Anja made a yoghurt panna cotta, cutting out the cream to make it less rich and not too sweet. She used vanilla and rosewater as flavourants, combined with a dark chocolate sauce, adding yoghurt to make it less rich. Corli made a chocolate and pistachio ice cream brownie cake, not without disaster. Kanya made a Dacquoise with yoghurt blanc-mange which she called a ‘waltz‘ (Blanc-mange is a very old-fashioned recipe, and was the belle of the ball at the time).  She gave it a French touch and made it modern.

Martie made a Bundt cake (baked in a ring shape) with fruit compote and white chocolate ganache. Sanet added a surprise twist to trifle, going all out with a vanilla velvet cake, Italian meringue, white chocolate mousse, and red wine poached pear jelly.  Suretha took an economic recipe ‘Skuimpudding‘, a dessert or bazaar pudding made with evaporated milk and a packet of jelly which is whipped until it is foamy (below). True nostalgia. She served it in a glass jar, showing the layers and decorated it with a circle of meringues. Quite over the top with something quite homely.  Tara made a spectacular dessert with the things she love – ginger-brownie-cheesecake with muscadel-poached pears, which was a highlight, containing fresh, preserved, and dried powdered ginger (right).

Wessels brought a memory of a sticky toffee date pudding (right), which he had tasted in the Lake District in England, to the stage. Wilandi’s  Tarted Up Malva pudding turned the South African sweet icon into a modern version, adding a ‘soetkoekie’ cookie base and strawberries poached in port.  She made chocolate half-spheres, using dark chocolate and pomegranate for the decoration.  Mascarpone instead of cream added a contemporary note.

The judges provided feedback after the three episode challenges, and the best performances were judged to be those by Sanet, Wessels, and Tara, who was named the episode winner.

Suretha, Anja, and Martie were at the bottom of the ladder, and it was Martie who was sent home at the end of the episode.

Note:  I was unable to watch the episode on Thursday evening, and am very grateful to Errieda du Toit, the content manager of Koekedoor, for the notes and photographs which she let me have.

Koekedoor, kykNET, channel 144 on DStv. Thursdays 20h30 – 21h30.www.kyknet.dstv.com Twitter: @Koekedoor

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog  Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein