Media queen Roch-Le Bloem’s fave festive desserts

Festive celebrations are made for delicious food, great company and spending all the time we have with loved ones. With time, however, being seen as one of life’s biggest luxuries, Eastern Cape media enthusiast Roch-Le Bloem shares her top 3 “5X5 desserts”. Yes, it’s fully prepared in under 5 minutes and by using 5 or less ingredients, to show the rest of Mzansi how to make the most out of our festive time in the kitchen.

Bloem (26) holds an honours degree in Media, Communications and Broadcast Journalism, and is a well-known radio personality with Algoa FM, and also making waves as a TV producer and presenter of “So Fab With Roch” at Bay-TV. She has been in radio for five years and had to work her way up to her current position as a radio personality at Algoa FM, anchoring her own show every Saturday from 12:00-15:00.

Despite her crazy work schedule, she is also the co-founder of a non-profit organization, Cycle Sisters, which aims to gift sanitary towels to disadvantaged young women and girls.

Bloem is clearly a woman of many talents and MC’ing happens to be one of them. By being a MC at various events around the Eastern Cape, she gets to live out her purpose of making a change within the community. She’s become a mentor to many young women that are looking to find their purpose, specifically within the media industry.

Living by her motto, “You are only as good as your last show”, she dreams of a hot seat at a national radio station assisting other media lovers to follow their dreams, in the nearby future.

As a busy media personality, she has limited time to create her favourite festive desserts, but here are three of her favourite “5 X 5 desserts” – using only five ingredients with less than five minutes prep time.

Instant chocolate mousse (Chocolate Chantilly)

Recipe by: Herce This & Heston Blumenthal.

Ingredients:

• 9, 35 ounces (265 grams) bitter sweet (70% cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped.
• 1 cup (240 ml) water
• 4 tbsp sugar (optional)

Method:

• Place a large mixing bowl on top of another slightly smaller one; filled with ice and cold water (the bottom of the large bowl should touch the ice). Set this aside.
• Put chocolate and water (also sugar and /or liquor if you’re using any) in a medium-sized pan and melt the chocolate over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
• Pour the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl sitting on top of ice and water, and start whisking with a wire whisk (or an electrical hand-held mixer) until thick. Watch the texture as you whip and make sure not to over whip as it will make the mousse grainy. If the mousse becomes grainy (which is possible at your first try), transfer back into the pan, reheat until half of it is melted, pour back to the mixing bowl and whisk again briefly.
• Divide into four serving cups and serve immediately.

5-minute Sugar-Free Very Berry Ice Cream

Recipe by: Not enough cinnamon

Three ingredients and 5 minutes are all you need to make this easy sugar-free berry ice cream! No ice cream maker needed – this vegan frozen treat can be made in a food processor or blender!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups frozen mixed berries
• 1 cup coconut milk or your favorite milk
• 1/2 tbsp powdered stevia(Natural sweetener/sugar) or more for taste – you can also use honey or maple syrup

Pineapple Pie

Recipe by: Mother Thyme

A quick and easy recipe for a creamy pineapple pie that only takes about 5 minutes to make and only needs 5 ingredients.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1- 20 ounce (28 to about 566 grams) canned crushed pineapple (don’t drain)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 – 3.4 ounce (56 to about 963 grams) packages vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 store bought graham cracker pie crust
• Cool whip (cream)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl mix crushed pineapple, sour cream and vanilla pudding mix.
2. Pour into pie crust and spread evenly.
3. Chill.
4. Before serving top pie with cool whip.

Recipe Notes: Make this light using light sour cream, a low fat graham cracker crust, light cool whip and sugar-free vanilla pudding mix.