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You don’t need to be a Masterchef to impress guests. These tasty recipes, from award-winning chef, Anna Polyviou, will leave your friends, family, loved one and even Instagram fans totally wowed.
Cooking for the family
The recipe: Coconut & Raspberry Ripple Fried Ice Cream, Salted Butterscotch Sauce
As head chef at the prestigious Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney, Anna has an impressive list of ‘wow factor’ recipes up her sleeve. And this Coconut & Raspberry Ripple Fried Ice Cream with Salted Butterscotch Sauce is a sure-fire crowd pleaser.
“It’s definitely got wow factor!” says Anna. “In fact, this recipe is actually a twist on the number one bestseller at the Shangri-La.”
Anna says usually fried ice cream is served as a ball, but she’s popped these tasty morsels on sticks. “The sticks are a bit different and they also allow you to fry the ice cream in front of your family and friends.”
A whole lot more impressive than toasted marshmallows.
How to whip it up? “Make the ice cream in advance using your mixer, whisk attachment and the frozen dessert maker bowl – freeze the bowl for 24 hours prior to using,” says Anna.
“Pop the ice cream into moulds and freeze. Then make the sponge, wrap the ice cream in the sponge, roll in coconut and freeze to firm. The ice cream has to be solid. When you are ready to serve, pop the balls out of the moulds and fry the ice cream in front of the family.”
Lunch with friends
The recipe: Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Butter and Sage Sauce
When we think ‘pasta’, we often think of the traditional custodians – generations of Italian families and friends making homemade pasta and passata and enjoying great food together, alfresco, with loads of laughter and conversation.
Anna agrees. “Homemade pasta says ‘made with love’ – it’s a comfort food for sharing over great conversation. I love it as a Sunday lunch with friends.”
And it’s a great recipe to dish up to a big group of guests. “Just cook a large quantity then pop it in the centre of the table for everyone to grab, rather than preparing individual meals for people,” suggests Anna.
Never made homemade pasta? It’s easier than you might think.
“Use a pasta roller attachment on your mixer, set your dials to the required pasta thickness and the mixer does the job for you,” says Anna. “I make pasta sheets, then fold them into squares like lasagne and add my mixture on top – it’s my twist on lasagne.”
For fresh table service, make the pasta dough in advance ready for your guest’s arrival. “Then pop in boiling water with olive oil so it’s fresh, hot and ready to roll,” says Anna
Hot tip: Get creative with your pasta attachment. “I’m a pastry chef so I use my pasta roller attachments to roll doughs, make crackers and my White Chocolate & Candy Popcorn Cannoli. There are loads of uses though.”
Impressing that special someone
The recipe: Anna’s Breaky Bowl Blueberry Sorbet
We all focus on romantic dinners, but what about the morning after?
“Think about it: You wake up in the morning after a great night [and] you want to impress,” Anna laughs. “You don’t want to give your partner a heavy dish; they’ll walk away feeling full and sick. You want something sexy that’s light, refreshing, vibrant and tastes amazing. For me, the Breaky Bowl Blueberry Sorbet is perfect. It’s fresh, it looks beautiful and it’s easy to make.”
Anna says this simple yet impressive breakfast was designed as a twist on yoghurt. “Normally people add granola, berries and yoghurt. But mixers with a frozen dessert maker bowl are perfect for creating impressive sorbets and ice cream. So I made my own blueberry and yoghurt sorbet twist, which also has olive oil and berry jam folded through.”
Prepare your sorbet two or three days in advance or, if you’d rather flaunt your impressive culinary skills, you can easily make it at breakfast. “Just have the liquid ready in the fridge and ensure the dessert maker bowl has been in the freezer for 24 hours,” suggests Anna. Then, pour the liquid into the bowl, churn it with your mixer and voila, your special someone’s sorbet will be ready in 15-25 minutes.
Wowing Instagram fans
The recipe: Berried Push Pops
Instagram feeds are loaded with foodie fanfare so if you want your tasty creations to pop, you need ‘wow’ factor.
“These work because they’re presented differently, are simple to make and they look amazing,” says Anna. “There’s actually two ways to present these – on the pop stick or in a dessert glass. But people love that you have to actually ‘push the pop’ through to get the dessert – it’s a bit different.”
Anna says she developed the push pop recipe when a load of friends unexpectedly showed up at her house and she wanted to serve them something cool and impressive. “I had a cheesecake in my fridge, so I separated the cheesecake base, berries and crust, remixed it in my mixer and served them as Berried Push Pops with ‘Push It’ by Salt N Pepper playing in the background. My friends thought they were the best thing ever! Everyone was taking photos of the push pops, dancing and having a ball – it was a great night.”
Anna Polyviou is an award-winning chef and Kenwood Ambassador.
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