Transkei Mud Pudding from South Africa

This fridge tart is a South African classic. Easy to make, decadently delicious and great to serve at a barbecue as a dessert. It's got its name from the Transkei mud which is the same orangey brown colour.

It's quite rich but those with a sweet tooth will demand more.

1 Tin Condensed Milk - caramelised (boil the unopened tin in a large pan of water for 1,5 hours or alternatively just buy a can of caramel if you can get it
1 cup Double Cream
1 packet instant pudding (Butterscotch, caramel or vanilla)
1 packet Digestive Biscuits or Tennis biscuits if you can get them
Mint Chocolate or Pepermint Crisp
Here's what you have to do with the goodies.  Whisk the double cream and instant pudding until it has thickened.  Slowly add the caramel and mix thoroughly.  Grate 4-6 pieces mint chocolate into the mixture.  Layer a dish with biscuits and then the caramel mixture (try at least 2 layers of each).  Chill overnight.  Garnish with grated mint chocolate.  The easiest dessert to make ever and it always gets good compliments!
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com

Apple Strudel from Austria

Apple strudel is a delicious dessert which is very easy to make if you are prepared to cheat a bit.  While you can make your own pastry, I go the easy route and use shop-bought puff pastry.  However, I do use fresh apples instead of canned ones.  You can make one large strudel or several small ones.  While many countries in Central and Eastern Europe have the strudel as their main dessert, it supposedly originated in Vienna in Austria.

1 packet frozen puff pastry
4-5 apples peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup raisins
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.  Grease a baking pan.  Lay out the puff pastry sheet on the baking pan.  Place the apple slices down the centre of the puff pastry sheet.  Sprinkle the lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger over the apple slices.  Cover the apples with the raisins.  Fold the two sides over the apple mixture and turn the roll over so that the fold is on the underside.  Cut slits in the side facing up.  Alternatively you can cut the slits on the side pieces and fold it over in a criss-cross pattern.  Mix the milk with the egg and use this as an egg wash on the pastry.  Bake in the middle part of the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the strudel is golden brown.
Let it cool and then dust the top with icing sugar.  Serve with cream or vanilla ice-cream.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Ukraine.  She is the author of The Colorful Art of Pain, The Great Mountain to Mountain Safari and several novels.  All her books are available on Amazon in both Kindle and print format.

Lemon Meringue Pie from Britain

While the French might have been the first to experiment with meringue, the British definitely perfected the lemon meringue pie and took it with them as they colonised the world.  Nowadays you find lemon meringue pie all over the world, especially in coffee shops and cafes.  This recipe is a bit of a cheat one as you use biscuits as the pie crust and condensed milk in the filling.  But, it's easy enough to knock up quickly when unexpected guests arrive for tea,

1 packet of sweet biscuits
125g butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs separated
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 cup caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Melt the butter and crush the biscuits.  Add the crushed biscuits to the melted butter in a greased pie dish and mix together well.  Press down firmly as this will be your crust.  Refrigerate while you make the filling and the meringue.  Put the egg yolks, condensed milk, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and mix together.  Spoon it onto your biscuit pie crust.  In another bowl beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and if you turn the bowl upside down they don't fall out.  Carefully fold in the 1/2 cup of sugar.  Spoon the meringue onto the lemon filling.  Put into the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the meringue turns a golden colour.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format.

Melktert from South Africa

Melktert or Milk Tart is another South African classic.  When friends give you an hour or two's notice that they are popping around for coffee, there is nothing stopping you from quickly making this melktert and serving it warm when the coffee has finished percolating in the kitchen.  No South African tea or coffee party is complete without a melktert.  The traditional melktert has a crust of puff pastry, but as this is a spur of the moment type recipe, this is for a crustless melktert.

3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs separated
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.  Grease a pie dish.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and frothy and put to one side.  Now in another bowl mix together the melted butter, egg yolks and sugar.  Add in the flour, salt and baking powder and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the milk and vanilla essence and make sure that you get rid of any lumps.  Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites and pour the mixture into the greased pie dish that's ready and waiting.  Sprinkle the cinnamon on the top.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until the middle is firm to the touch.  Can be served cold or warm.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Not Telling and Defective.  All her books are available from Amazon in both print and Kindle format.  http://cindyvine.com

Pavlova from Australasia

Does pavlova come from New Zealand or Australia?  I'm not going to get into that argument so created one from Australasia.  They say if the topping is strawberries it's from Australia and if it's kiwifruit it's from New Zealand.  For the sake of peace I put both strawberries and kiwifruit on mine.  The meringue base is quite tricky and you might not get it right the first time.  But it is worth persisting until you get it right.

6 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300 ml whipping cream

fresh fruit

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Celsius and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Put the separated egg whites in a bowl and beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat until the whites form soft peaks.  You can use the egg yolks if you are baking pies at the same time.
Gently sprinkle the sugar into the egg whites, one teaspoon at a time. Don't just lump the sugar in the bowl and never stop beating the eggs until you finish the sugar. Your egg whites should now be glossy stiff peaks.
Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar on the meringue and fold in gently.. Add the vanilla and gently fold the mixture again.
Now gently spread the meringue onto the baking paper to make a circular base. Try and put extra on the edges of the meringue so it is slightly higher than the centre.
Bake the meringue for about 1 hour and a quarter.  Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly open to let the meringue cool completely. As the meringue cools, it will crack slightly and that is okay.

Only put the cream and fruit on just before serving otherwise it will make your meringue soggy which will make it collapse.

Cindy Vine is a South African living in Ukraine and is the author of Hush Baby, Defective and C U @ 8. All her books are available on Amazon in print and on Kindle.