food

Alien — Chestburster Cake and Edible Alien Eggs

This week's inspiration is the classic 1979 film Alien, so join us as Jack and Laura cook up some amazing dishes inspired by the film, including alien eggs and an edible chestburster cake!

food

Alien — Chestburster Cake and Edible Alien Eggs

This week's inspiration is the classic 1979 film Alien, so join us as Jack and Laura cook up some amazing dishes inspired by the film, including alien eggs and an edible chestburster cake!

Supplies

  • 8 eggs
  • 2 teabags
  • 8 avocados
  • 4 strips of bacon
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 4 slices of stale white bread
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
  • Optional: 12 gelatin sheets, tonic water (1L), a drop of blue food colouring

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Boil a pan of water and gently place the eggs into the water to simmer for 9 minutes.
  3. Remove the eggs and gently crack the shells evenly, trying not the break the membrane. (Do not remove any of the shell)
  4. Boil enough water to cover the eggs add the teabags as you reduce to a simmer.
  5. Add the eggs and cook for 2 hours.
  6. Line two baking trays.
  7. Lay out the bacon strips on one and the chicken breasts on the other. place into the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the chicken cooked then leave both the cool.
  8. Dice the tomatoes finely.
  9. Blitz the bread with the bacon in a food processor.
  10. Tip the breadcrumbs out over a baking tray, drizzle with oil and season then bake for 5 minutes until crisp.
  11. Toss the breadcrumb mixture with the diced tomatoes and scatter over a large plate.
  12. Slice the avocado from the top, around the stone but just short of the bottom, then slice the other way to give four quarters held together at the bottom.
  13. Grab the stone between your fingers and carefully pull away from the flesh.
  14. Scoop out a little flesh from each quarter to make room for the egg.
  15. Scatter the scooped flesh over the bread crumbs.
  16. Tear up the chicken and do the same.
  17. Arrange the eggs in the avocados and place them onto the breadcrumbs.
  18. Whisk together the oil and the lemon juice with a little sea salt.
  19. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.
  20. OPTIONAL: Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water. Bring the tonic water to a simmer. Take off the heat, squeeze the liquid from the gelatin and add it to the tonic water with the blue colouring. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Line a baking tray with clingfilm and pour over the tonic water. Leave in the fridge to set for a few hours. Use the set jelly as a base to serve the crumbs and egg on.

Supplies

  • A packet of strawberry jello
  • A pound of strawberries
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  • 3/4 cup sunflower oil
  • 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
  • 1 3/4 cups caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of red food coloring
  • 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 bananas

Steps

  1. Follow the instructions on the jello packet to make the jelly in a bowl.
  2. Mash up a couple of strawberries and stir into the jello for texture.
  3. Pour into a tray and let it set in the fridge for later.
  4. Preheat an oven to 350°F.
  5. Whisk the egg in a bowl with the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and sunflower oil.
  6. Dump the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and food colouring into the bowl and mix together.
  7. Whisk for a minute until combined and smooth.
  8. Pour into a lined baking tray.
  9. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until risen and cooked - test with a knife and it should come out clean.
  10. Crumble the cake as desired.
  11. Hull the strawberries and chuck them into a food processor with the icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.
  12. Blitz the strawberries into a smooth coulis, then strain through a sieve.
  13. Grab yourself a good alien chestburster model!
  14. Attach the model to a plate or someone's chest?!?
  15. Arrange the sponge and scoops of the jelly in a small 'crater' Pour plenty of the strawberry coulis in and around the crater.
  16. Halve the bananas lengthways and crosswise and arrange as ribs around the crater.