Pear and Chocolate Charlotte

One of my favourite French desserts is a Charlotte, and I had a tin of pears which needed using and a recipe from a French neighbour for making a chocolate and pear one. It doesn't need cooking, just chilling.

I bought a Charlotte mould when living there, but you can use any deep cake tin.

It's simple to make and delicious.
Charlottes can also be made with bread.

You need:

a large packet of boudoir biscuits [sponge fingers] or make your own 

200ml cream

a sachet of vanilla sugar [about 1 tbspn]
large tin of pears in syrup

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Blackcurrant Clafoutis

 Am having a clear out of last year's fruit from the freezer, and found a bag of blackcurrants lurking in the depths. I have to say that they're not my favourite fruit - not sweet enough for me, but OH loves them. What to do with them? Didn't want another crumble or tart, so had a look in one of my cookbooks and found a recipe for an apple clafoutis - I was sure that blackcurrants would work just as well.
What is a clafoutis? A batter pudding/flan with fruit, usually cherries.
I 've seen many recipes for the batter, including one using yeast; I read through this one, then did it the wrong way round - beating the melted butter and sugar together instead of the sugar and eggs, but it didn't seem to have made any difference. I was a bit worried that the blackcurrants would be too tart, but in the sweet batter they were fine.

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Almondy Apple Dessert Cake

I'm always looking for new ways to use apples, and I found this recipe on Mary Berry's site. She calls it 'The very best Apple Dessert Cake'.
 It's a sponge cake mixture with an added tspn of almond extract, and you put half of the mixture in the bottom of a 20cm springform or loose bottomed cake tin, lined, then you put a layer of thickly sliced apples then the rest of the cake mixture. You sprinkle the top with flaked almonds and bake for about 45 mins.

You'll find the recipe here .

It's got a great almond flavour and a lovely moist sponge; I like the contrast between the cake and the apple layer, then the crunch of the almonds on top. We ate ours with some creme fraiche. I liked it cold, but my OH preferred it warm.

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Showing off Sugar (Muscovado Custards)

A few weeks ago, the nice people at Billington's sent me some sugar to play with. I say play with because it's not really the sort of sugar you'd put in your tea or coffee but is more suited to a baking extravaganza (or possibly sprinkling on your porridge).

Now I've bought Billington's sugar on occasion before, but not for any reason other than the fact that it was what I needed at the time. I mostly bake with golden caster sugar and most bags of muscovado or soft sugars end up at the back of the baking cupboard and rock solid next time a recipe calls for them.

Billington's sugars are unrefined and undergo minimum processing. The sugar cane is cut, shredded and juiced and that juice is then clarified and crystallised. Nothing added and nothing taken away (unlike some brown sugars which are apparently refined white sugar coated to add colour and flavour...).

As luck would have it, the very same week I picked up a copy of the March 2010 edition of Waitrose Food Illustrated which had a feature spread about different types of sugar and their uses, along with a few recipes. This recipe for Muscovado Custards caught my eye as it called for both the dark muscovado and molasses sugar which Billington's had sent.

Although I followed the recipe to the letter (and allowed a little extra cooking time) they didn't set completely. The only thing I can think is that my eggs were a touch on the small side? Despite them not setting, they certainly showed off the sugar to its best. They were rich with a real deep, earthy sweetness. The sort that lingers on the tongue long after the mouthful has gone.

Ingredients

300ml double cream

75g dark muscovado sugar

25g molasses sugar

1/4 tsp salt

4 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 150C.

Warm cream, both sugars and salt over a medium-low heat in a small heavy based pan until sugar has dissolved. Put to one side.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and then slowly whisk in the cream mixture and vanilla extract. Strain into a jug and then poor into ramekins. Now, the Waitrose recipe says to pour the mixture into 4 x 120ml ramekins. Given how rich the custards are, you could probably get away with using smaller ramekins and making 6, but would need to adjust the cooking time.

Put the ramekins in a deep roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin until it comes to about one third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Cook for 20-25 minutes until the custards are just set but still wobble slightly in the middle (they will set further on cooling). Remove from the tin and chill for at least 3 hours.

It is this final step where my custards didn't seem to want to play - they needed longer than the 20-25 minutes stated in the Waitrose recipe and then they didn't continue to set when cooling. They set nicely around the edges but two of them simply didn't set in the middle at all. So if I make this recipe again, I'll make sure my large eggs are just that - large - and that I cook them for a little longer, keeping my eye on them for when they set.

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Mince Pies

I learnt a couple of new things about mince pies yesterday from a wonderful lady called Jean who led our festive Dickens guided tour around the City of London yesterday afternoon. Firstly, instead of being round as we know and love them, way back as early as the 16th century, mince pies used to be oval shaped - like a cradle. Secondly, superstition has it that you should eat a mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas to bring you good luck for the forthcoming year. Now that shouldn't be a problem for me (unless the idea is that you need to just eat 1 each day for the good luck rather than 3 or 4 ...).

By this time of the year I've usually whipped out dozens of trays of mince pies for work, neighbours, friends and of course for us at home. But for some reason this year I've not really got around to it and can only claim a couple of dozen so far... I'm planning on making up for it over the next couple of weeks though!


There are many mince pie recipes out there, but I make them the way my Mum taught me when I was growing up - super simple with lovely light, flaky pastry. Some people use sweet pastry, but for me this is sugar overload with the already sweet mincemeat, so instead this recipe uses a basic shortcrust pastry made with white flora as opposed to butter which can be a touch rich. The advantage of course being that I can easily eat 4 in one sitting!


Ingredients

8oz plain flour
4oz white flora
3-5floz cold water
Mincemeat (homemade if you have it or good quality vegetarian shop bought
Milk or beaten egg to glaze
Icing sugar to dust


Method

Mix the flour and white flora together to form the consistency of breadcrumbs (this is really easy if you have a food processor, just be careful not to over mix). Then add the water a little at a time to form a soft dough. Depending on the flour you use you will need between 3floz and 5floz - I used Dove's Organic flour today and it needed about 3floz. Wrap the pastry in cling film (taking care not to handle it too much as this makes it dry and tough) and pop in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Grease your mince pie tins (just the same tins as you use for fairy cakes). If you prefer deep-filled mince pies you could use muffin tins or alternatively use some of those mini tins to make mouthful sized mince pies.

Once the pastry has chilled roll it out on a floured work surface to about 1/2cm thick. If you don't have a rolling pin you can always improvise with an empty wine bottle that you have washed and removed the labels from!

Use a 7 1/2cm or 8cm wide round fluted cutter to cut 12 discs. Gently place the discs into the mince pie tins and press down gently in the centre. Put a good heaped teaspoon of mincemeat in each one. Then use either a 6cm wide round fluted cutter to cut full tops for your mince pies or, if you have them, use Christmas shaped cutters like stars, Christmas trees and holly. If you choose the round tops, cut 2 small lines in the centre of each one to let the steam out whilst they're cooking.

Brush the tops with a drop of milk or, for a more golden topped mince pie, a beaten egg. To make your mince pies vegan use soya milk to brush the tops or if you don't have any, nothing at all (they'll still taste just as good!).

Pop the tray into an oven pre-heated to 200C for 15 - 18 minutes until the pastry is cooked and lightly golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin and then gently remove to a wire rack. If you can resist eating them there and then whilst they're still warm, leave to cool completely and then dust with a touch of icing sugar.

This recipe makes 12 normal sized mince pies.

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Cooking with Mother (Blueberry & Almond Tart)

I spent last weekend at home in the beautiful county of Derbyshire to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday with him and some of my family. There is always lots of talk of food when I'm with my mum and plenty of cooking too and this weekend, given its celebratory nature (!), was no exception. But by late afternoon on Saturday, although we'd been shopping for fresh ingredients for our main course for dinner, we hadn't decided on a dessert. We'd toyed with the idea of a rhubarb and almond tart as there's plenty rhubarb growing in the garden but just hadn't really got around to starting anything...

We eventually gave ourselves a kick start by making a batch of sweet pastry in the food processor, which we stuck in the fridge whilst we waited for further inspiration... It came in the form of frozen blueberries from the depths of the freezer and a jar of Mum's delicious homemade Bramble Jelly - a Blueberry & Almond Tart!

Mum makes fantastic jams, chutneys and marmalade (I can't vouch for the marmalade as I am not a fan, but Andrew tells me it's divine), my favourite being her blackcurrant jam - the 2006 batch. I'd never had her bramble jelly before and I noticed that I wasn't offered a jar to take home from the depths of the jam cupboard in the garage...no guessing why - she's keeping this one all for herself and who can blame her! It's quite simply delicious.

When it came to rolling out the sweet pastry, it wasn't having any of it. So in the end we gave up and just squished and pushed the pastry into the tart tin, plugging the tears and holes as we went along, before popping it into the freezer to chill. After blind baking it for around 20 minutes in the aga and another 5 minutes or so without the baking beans, we left it to cool slightly before slathering bramble jelly in the base of the pastry case, pouring over a generous amount of frangipan mixture and then adding our now defrosted blueberries.

By this point I think we (or at least I) had consumed a couple of glasses of Leffe and a glass of champagne so there is no chance of me remembering how long we baked it for but I do remember eating it. It's up there with my pear and almond tart that's for sure. The pastry was light, buttery and crumbly, without disintegrating completely when trying to pick it up on a fork, and the almond-y frangipan goodness worked well with the sweet bramble jelly and the slightly sharp, juicy blueberries. I'll be stocking up on frozen berries and nice jam ready for any unexpected guests this summer!

Ingredients
1 quantity of sweet pastry (8oz plain flour, 4oz butter, 1oz icing sugar and 2 eggs)

4oz ground almonds
4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
1oz plain flour
2 eggs

Jam (we used Mum's bramble jelly, but any good quality jam, like Bonne Maman blueberry, would be fine)
Blueberries

Method

Make the pastry and chill for at least half an hour, then roll out to line a tart tin (I used a 12 inch high sided fluted tin) and chill again. Blind bake for around 20 minutes (without the beans for the last 5 minutes or so) at 180 - 200 C (depending on your oven). Make the frangipan by mixing all of the ingredients (except the jam and blueberries) together.

Spread as much jam as you like over the base of the part cooked pastry case (you'll need a good layer), then pour over the frangipan mixture and dot blueberries all over the mixture, pushing them into the mixture a little. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the tart is golden brown and the frangipan is set.

Enjoy a large slice with good company (or alternatively hide yourself away with the whole tart and eat the lot).

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The Best Pudding in the World Ever!

This pudding was inspired by a recipe in a Spanish cookbook which I read in the bookshop recently... We are great fans of anything containing almonds, marzipan and amaretto (liquid marzipan as it's known in our house!). So a dessert which combines all 3...well, we couldn't contain ourselves!!! It's rich, sweet and simply delicious. It really doesn't need anything to accompany it but Andrew isn't his mother's son for nothing and he chose a good glug or three of cream to go with his dishful.

I'd suggest eating this pud on an evening when you're having a salad for dinner. Whatever you do, leave plenty room because you'll need it...

Ingredients

6 dried figs
50ml amaretto liqueur
unsalted butter
250g brioche (thickly sliced)
4 egg yolks
250ml double cream
200ml milk
50g caster sugar
100g marzipan

flaked almonds

(I'm afraid my measurements might not be 100% exact as I didn't write them down as I went along...but it's not really the sort of pudding that needs the measurements to be precise...if you like more figs for example, just add more!)

Method

Roughly chop the dried figs and put them into a pan with the amaretto liqueur and simmer for 5 minutes or so, until the amaretto has evaporated and the figs have plumped up (you can use more if you like or, for a non-alcoholic version try apple juice in place of the amaretto).

Butter both sides of the slices of brioche and tear or cut into large cubes. Mix the brioche, figs and cubes of marzipan and put into a buttered ovenproof dish (my dish was approximately 6 x 8 inches). Mix the liquid ingredients (eggs, milk, cream) with the sugar and pour over the bread mixture. Cover and leave to one side until you are ready to bake.

Bake at around 160C for 30 minutes. Then sprinkle a handful of flaked almonds over the top and bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve warm.

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Not Mr Kipling's Cherry Bakewells...

My husband has an odd (in my view) obssession with Mr Kipling's Cherry Bakewells...those full-of-transfats-sweet-sickly tarts topped with thick icing and half a glace cherry (which he picks off and doesn't even eat!). Only when he's ill though. Which I guess makes them some sort of comfort food for when he's feeling under the weather. As you may have guessed from my tone, I'm not a fan... Even worse despite the name association, these little tarts are such a far cry from the traditional 'tart' which originates in Bakewell (Derbyshire) - Bakewell Pudding.

Usually I will humour him and buy him a pack, but last weekend when he was stuck indoors recovering from an operation and uttered those little words "cherry bakewells" I decided enough was enough. Instead I put my mind to baking some little homemade almond and raspberry tarts. I couldn't find a specific recipe in the books I had to hand so set about making some sweet pastry whilst I figured out the quantities I needed to make an almondy filling for the tarts.

They turned out just lovely...

I'm even thinking that this weekend might see a variation on this recipe to include some lemon zest and juice in the filling and lemon curd in the bottom of the tarts instead of raspberry jam!

Ingredients (for 18 tartlets)

Sweet Pastry
4 oz butter

8 oz plain flour

2 oz caster sugar

4 egg yolks

Filling

jam (I used raspberry)

4 oz butter

4 oz caster sugar

2 eggs

4 oz ground almonds

1 oz plain flour

flaked almonds

Method

Make the pastry by combining all of the ingredients - I do this in my food processor but the 'traditional way' is to rub the butter and flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and then add the sugar followed by the eggs and mix until the pastry comes together. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge.

Roll out the pastry and cut into rounds to fit your bun tin (I used my deepest bun tin which is probably half way between a normal bun tin and a muffin tin). Be careful not to tear the pastry like I did or you'll end up with sticky jam welding your little tarts to the bun tin! Fridge them for at least 20 minutes.

To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, then the ground almonds and flour. Put a teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each pastry case and then top with a big spoonfull of the filling mixture (the pastry might shrink a little and the filling will rise so don't fill too full).

Bake for around 10 minutes at 180C, sprinkle some flaked almonds on top of each tart and then bake for another 5 minutes or until set and golden brown.

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Lemon Tart

On a rainy day on holiday in France during the Rugby World Cup a couple of years ago I did a lot of cooking and baking. We got through over 5 packs of butter between two of us in less than 2 weeks... Needless to say I couldn't get into any of my work clothes on my first day back in the office after the holiday!

One recipe that I had time to perfect (and share with the lovely couple who we rented our holiday home from) was my lemon tart. Lemon tart is probably my most favourite dessert (apart from Mum's Pear and Rum Flan which one day I know she'll make for me again when she finds the recipe...), but whilst it can be glorious - sweet crisp pastry filled with with smooth, tangy, lemony goodness - it can also fall far short of the mark. Having time to perfect my recipe with good rugby on the TV meant I didn't mind so much that it was raining outside...

Ingredients

Sweet Pastry
150g unsalted butter
100g icing sugar
350g plain flour
2 eggs

Filling
275g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
190ml double cream
juice of 2 lemons (or 3 if they're not so juicy)
zest of 2 lemons

Method

Make the pastry by combining all of the ingredients - I do this in my food processor but the 'traditional way' is to rub the butter and flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and then add the sugar followed by the eggs and mix until the pastry comes together. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge. Roll the pastry and line a loose bottomed fluted tart tin and put that back in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

In a clean bowl, mix the eggs, egg yolks and sugar. Then add the cream, lemon and zest.

Preheat the oven to around 190C and bake the pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking beads for about 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beads and bake for another 5 minutes or so. Reduce the oven to 150C and pour the filling mixture into the pastry case. Bake for 35-40 minutes until set.

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