Cherry Bakewell pudding

I have always disliked the Kipling's Bakewell tarts, too sweet, no flavour, and I don't really like the thick icing that tops it. So how did I get to make a Bakewell tart you'll ask?
Well, I saw a brief explanation of what a Bakewell tart was on the 'Economy, Gastronomy' programme on BBC TV (great series by the way...), and I decided to implement the idea (my way of course).

I checked up on the internet and discovered that the name comes from a town called Bakewell in Derbyshire in the Peak District, and [Wikipedia] 'The name is believed to have come from a customer who decided that the tart was "baked well" thus the inn called it their "Bakewell" tart, a pun on the town of Bakewell and a well baked tart. Two shops in Bakewell offer what they both claim is the original recipe pasty :
- The Bakewell Tart Shop & Coffee House sells a "Bakewell Tart", while
- The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop sells a "Bakewell Pudding"'

I also discovered the difference between a Bakewell tart , a Bakewell cake and a Bakewell Pudding which according to Wikipedia is the following:
Bakewell tart: a shortcrust pastry shell, spread with jam and covered with frangipane.
Bakewell Cake: also known as a Cherry Bakewell is a variation of the tart where the frangipane is covered with a top layer of icing and a single half glacé cherry.
Bakewell Pudding: The recipe still used in The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop consists of a puff pastry shell with a layer of jam, covered with a filling of eggs, sugar, butter and almonds.

So here is My version of the cake:

INGREDIENTS
- The pastry: I decided to use puff pastry as I think it lighter than shortcrust pastry, also less sweet (I am definitely not a sweet tooth..). I used a ready made one (the best ones are the ones sold as squares in the frozen section, and yes you have to roll it yourself, but it's worth it).
- The frangipane: I used the recipe I am used to making for the French 'Galette des rois' (See my previous post) as I know it to be fluffy, moist and light:

• 150g ground almond
• 75g soften butter
• 80g sugar
• 3 eggs
• a few drops of orange blossom water
  

Mix the butter and the sugar until the mix whitens, then add the beaten eggs and the ground almond, mix well.

-The filling: I used a canned fruit filling, since getting hold of fresh cherries at this time of year and at a reasonable price is not an option here (and jam is way too sweet for me):
This filling is again, not too sweet and tastes nicely of cherries.
- The decoration: icing sugar and a few glace cherries.

RECIPE:
Lay the puff pastry in a tart mould, place in the oven at 180 degrees for 8-10 minutes (less if you use a metal mould as opposed to silicone), in order to pre-cook it (it prevents the pastry to go soggy with the filling.

Spread the filling at the bottom of the mould, then top and cover with the frangipane. cook for 10 min at 200degrees then 10 more minutes at 180degrees approx.

When the pudding has browned, take it out of the oven, sprinkle icing sugar on it and arrange a few glace cherries cut in half.

The texture was absolutely superb, the frangipane was moist with a delicately cracking surface under the tooth. It was not too sweet, and very easy to make, very flavoursome too. The puff pastry made it lighter and added to the texture, softly crackly. Nothing comparable to the awful Kiplings Bakewell tartelettes, and a recipe I will make again and again and again....

Bon Apetit!

Source: Info from Wikipedia articles, photos from myself, and recipe a British traditional favorite interpreted by myself.

Ode to Nutella

Just a mini post to make you hungry, a heart shaped puff pastry with a slap of Nutella on top.

Hungry yet?

Light Waffles

Waffles are a great treat on a par with crepes, and I decided to make some for the visit of a friend who loves sweet treets.
They are easy to make, but you need the waffle machine I'm afraid... However, the machine is convertible as a grill or croque monsieur maker, so it's worth having it.

Waffles are easy and quick to make, and these are lighter than normal ones as the milk is replaced by beer - yes beer!-. The beer is incredibly discreet, but it makes the waffles lighter and fluffier.

Here's my recipe for 4 people:
- 500g flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 50g powdered sugar
-1/2l water
- 3 eggs
- 100g butter, melted
- 1/2 beer or cider (or milk if you want to go traditional)

Mix flour, sugar, salt and make a well, pour in the middle the eggs yolks beaten and the water and start mixing with a fork, slowly eroding the well.
When mixed, add the butter and mix thoroughly for 10 minutes until the mix is smooth. the mix should be a bit elastic and slightly liquid.
Then add the beer and mix well, Incorporate the beaten whites. The mix should be rather liquid
Preferably leave for about 2 hours, but if you don't have the time ahead, just make the waffles directly.

Making the waffle:
Pour a small laddle in the waffle machine already heated up, close the upper part of the machine press well for 10 sec then turn the machine around, leave for 2 min, turn around again, and wait for2 minutes (Obviously the time will depend on your machine, read the manual if in doubt). Open and detach the waffel (it should be very easy, if not, grease the mould in the machine with a brush.
Repeat for each set of waffles!
It is traditional to powder the waffles with icing sugar, and top it up with chantilly crea (or whipped cream). Beyond that, everything is allowed, melted chocolate, jam, babana slices, ice cream, etc...

Bon apetit!

Variation on the Charlotte theme

I have been eating lots of pomegranates, and I have been using it too cook as well. This came naturally to mind as I use raspberries for this charlotte, usually. Instead, I peeled 1 pomegranate (you can buy the seed ready but you've been warned, it's not cheap and possibly not as fresh..), half crushed the seeds, added a little bit of sugar (to taste) and used it instead of the raspberries in a can.

To peel the pomegranate efficiently, chopp the top and the bottom, and cut lines through the skin with your knife from the cut top to the cut bottom at the places where you see the white line of the separation membranes. Separate the quarters created, and peeling the seeds off will be a child's play!

Also, instead of using the sponge fingers, I used the 4 trifle sponge bits remaining from when I last made tiramisu for 2. They make nice portions if you use 2 per persons, and they present really well.
- Dip a trifle sponge like you'd do for my normal charlotte and place it in the desert plate sugar face up
- add on top a layer of total yoghurt beaten with a little bit of sugar (not much) and the juice produced when you crushed the pomegranate.
- add the pomegranate crushed

Then repeat the operation so that you get a double decker. Prepare one per guest.

Keep in the fridge for at least an hour, the longer the better the results. For the decoration (see main picture on the right), I used one of these glazed german little Christmas marzipan stars that I bought ready made, but intend to make myself one day.

It goes down a treat and looks fantastic! (and you hardly spent any time or efforts on it!)
Source: my improvisation

Meringues

I seem to be into making sweet things these days, even though I do not have a sweet tooth. This time, I have tried myself at meringue, to use the egg whites from the tiramisu (although the whipped whites can also be incorporated in the mascarpone).

This recipe works every time, all you need a bit of patience, really...

PREPARATION TIME: 5 min
COOKING TIME: 2 to 10 hours
INGREDIENTS:
- egg whites
- 80g of sugar per egg white
optional:
- a bit of salt
- a few drops of lemon juice

PREPARATION:
Pre-heat the oven at 100-110^oC
Add the lemon&salt to the egg whites and beat a little with a fork.
Whip the egg white until very firm.
Slowly add up the sugar whilst still whipping until the mix becomes very white and very shiny.
Keep adding the sugar whilst you keep whipping.

Lay some baking paper in the oven and deposit quantities of the mix - the quantity depends of the size of meringues you want to end up with).

Cook for 2 hours at 100-110^oC then 2h at 90^oC.

If you want the meringues to be hard to the core, cook them at 90^oC for up to 10 hours.

SERVING:
If you want to serve these as a dessert, create them so that the centre is concave, and when you serve them, fill the centre with raspberries (tinned raspberries are fine, you can use the juice too) and cover with single cream.

TIPS:
- Cook the meringues immediately, do not make the mix wait. - egg whites can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, or longer (4 months) if in the freezer. Strangely enough, the older the egg whites, the better the meringues. - the egg whites must be at ambiant temperature when you whip them up - You can add almond flakes on the meringues, or cocoa, pine nuts. coconut powder, hazelnet powder... or you can also add some taste, like coffee, vanilla, orange blossom, liquor... - If you want your meringues to be super shiny, srinkle them with ice sugar before cooking them - If your meringues stick on the paper, you need to evacuate some humidity by leaving your oven door slightly open - If the over is too hot, the meringues will change colour (well, personally, I do like a bit of colour)
Source: my experimentation

Tiramisu Christmas log: Buche de Noel au tiramisu

The log is a very traditional french Christmas dessert. A lot people buy it nowadays, and it used to be made traditionally with butter cream, which although very tasty, is not the lightest of dessert after a meal.
These days there are many variations to be bought, based on other cakes, or totally new creations. French patisseries have gorgeous logs for sale, but I do tend to like a good homemade log.

And I have a very simple and rather fast recipe for you, a tiramisu log. A great success in the family. It was born from teamwork with my mum, she provided the rolled biscuit recipe, and I provided my tiramisu recipe, that I learnt from a Turkish friend, who herself obtained it from her italian boyfriend who was a cook.

...Anyway, it's very easy, and very tasty!

For the rolled biscuit you need:
- 4 yolks
- 4 egg whites
- 75g+1tsp cassonade (raw, unrefined sugar, with a 'blond' colour)
- 50g butter
- 25g sugar
- 75g flour

Beat the yolks with the cassonnade until the mix is white and creamy. Add the flour and mix well.

Beat the egg whites

Add the melted butter to the mix, and incorporate the white delicately.

Place cooking paper on the oven plaque, with the sides covered. Mark the corners with your thumbs. Pour the mix in, make sure the corners are filled. Cook between 12 and 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade (thermostat 4).

Take the biscuit out when it has raised and is slightly golden and still supple. cover it with a moist cloth. Let it cool down a little. Remove the cloth.

Sprinkle cassonnade on a large baking paper sheet and turn the biscuit over it quickly. Humidify the baking paper the biscuit cooked on, and separate it from the biscuit slowly and delicately. use a round patisserie knife if you need to.

Now, whilst the biscuit was cooking, you prepared the filling:
- 2 tubs of mascarpone
- 2 tblspn of sugar
- 100% cocoa powder
- 1 fresh espresso
- water
- a swig of Amaretto (or else if you don't have this alcohol)

Mix the mascarpone with the sugar
in a shallow dish, mix espresso, alcohol and water down. Sprinkle on the biscuit evenly to avoid making it soggy, or it would make it too fragile for the next phase.

Spread 2/3 of the mascarpone the biscuit, and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Then proceed to roll the biscuit delicately:


To make as if it was the stump of a cut branch you can cut the end of the log and place it on top for decoration, so that it looks like a real log. I am generally not too fussed about details like that, as it means wasting a bit of this precious time I so lack. And anyway, the eaters don't care very much, they are already very happy with it as it is. But it is up to you indeed and how much you want to impress your guests!

When it is rolled, cover the log with the rest of the mascarpone and make marks with a fork.

Then sprinkle it with the cocoa powder so:
Keep it in the fridge for 1 hour or more before eating! Done

Bon appetit!

Christmas in the south of France...

Source: my mother and I, as a creative and happy team

Cheese biscuits

Another easy,fast and successful recipe. This time it is cheese biscuits..

Ingredients:
4 laughing cow portions
90g butter
200g flour
1 tsp raising agent

Making it:
Soften the butter then mix it with the laughing cow until you get a smooth paste. then add the flower little by little and mix to a very thick dough that you will flatten with a rolling pin. Then cut shapes in dough, and place them on an oven tray. place in the oven heated at 180 degree during 12 minutes.
Tips:
These keep long enough in a metal tin.
You can add herbs in the dough such as thyme, or even salt and pepper etc..

Alternatively you can add a bit of sugar and vanilla to obtain sweet biscuits....

Enjoy!

Hey, I never said these were healthy!!...

Source: www.linternaute.com

And for those who asked, here is a photo of the iconic processed cheese:

Angelique's mum's biscuits

I'm not a sweet tooth, but I do enjoy some sweetness from time to time. Today I am writing about a recipe I was given but my friend Angelique's mum. She keeps young children as an occupation, so she always makes sure that she has lots of cookies in the jar...
These biscuits are very versatile, easy to make, fast to cook and prepare, and super fast to eat...

PREPARATION: 10 min

COOKING TIME: 6 min
QUANTITY: a biiiiiig tin of biscuits

INGREDIENTS:
- 450 g of flour
- 150 g of powdered almond or coconut
- 150 g of sugar
- 1 tea spoon of baking powder
- 2 beaten eggs
- 250 g of soft butter

MAKING IT:
Mix the whole lot, then spread it to a sheet of 1/2cm thick, and use shapes to cut the biscuits (I used my lemon squeezer! anything shapy will do really...).

Put in oven for 6 mins.

Dry for 15 mins on an oven grill outside the oven.

TIPS:
If you fancy, you can add flaked almonds, cristallised ginger, hazelnuts, aniseed etc... in the dough for variety.
If you keep them in a tin, you can have them with your tea for quite while.

And you know what they say? Et voila!