Summer Berry Pie

Fantastic Mr Fox and I went to America (New York and Washington) on honeymoon in 2010 and then to Chicago, New England and Boston the following year. One side effect of this (and my love for the TV series Pushing Daisies) was that I developed a minor obsession with pies, fruit pies in particular. Unfortunately, pastry is not my strong point.

In a branch of Barnes & Noble (what's a holiday without a visit to a book shop?) I found a Williams-Sonoma Pie and Tart book by Carolyn Beth Weil. Now, I LOVED Williams-Sonoma kitchen store when I visited it (and I'm trying to forget that they now deliver outside USA...), so this seemed liked a perfect way to develop my pie repertoire. 

Last summer I tried a couple Georgia peach and strawberry-rhubarb, which were very good. I've also made the caramel cranberry almond tart (not a frangipane) that tasted brilliant even though I burnt it slightly (and it's on my remake list).  

Anyway, a flick through the book and I narrowed it down to blueberry pie or summery berry pie and Fantastic Mr Fox voted for the latter. 

The pastry for the pie is straightforward to make - but slightly odd because you don't chill it before rolling it out. It rolls out just fine. And also whereas most recipes tell you to rub the butter in until it looks like breadcrumbs,  this recipe suggests lumps of butter no bigger than small peas. 

So with the pastry made and rolled out you mix the fruit (I used radpberries, blackberries and blueberries) with sugar, cornflour (I used almost 4 tablespoons, substituting additional cornflour for instant tapioca), cinnamon and salt and then make the pie. Chill the pie and then bake it (to try and avoid a soggy bottom, I put a baking tray to pre-heat - but I was also using a ceramic dish). Then leave the pie to cool completely before serving to let it set (you can reheat). 

I made it on Sunday evening and it wasn't quite cold when I went to bed. This resulted in a major dilemma this morning: is pie a breakfast food? 

I think I slightly overbaked the pie and the filling was perhaps a little wet, but it was delicious - i really liked the cinnamon in it. I definitely want to make it again!

Happy baking! 

Raspberry buttermilk cake

It's been hot here recently - not as hot as  England has been, but enough to make our flat a little warmer than entirely comfortable, particularly with regards to sleeping. So, I've been a bit  reluctant to turn the oven on and further add to the heat. So about ten days ago I was debating whether to make this raspberry buttermilk cake from Smitten Kitchen or not - heat vs raspberry season. cake won. Let me tell you: it was well worth turning on the oven. 

The cake was straightforward to make using my Kitchenaid. It was a bit like the triple berry bundt cake. Mine took slightly longer to bake - I made it in a 8 inch tin, not a 9 inch one. The cake was delicious - it is also great warm. Mmm...

Happy baking! 

PS the recipe is here: 

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/05/raspberry-buttermilk-cake/

Not baking: Peach iced tea

With the weather continuing to be hot over the weekend, I was craving some nice peach iced tea. On Friday I searched for something at lunchtime and slightly to my surprise came up with some Lipton iced lemon tea in the wee tesco opposite  work, but that only made me long for some peach stuff. That was when I decided to make some. 

About four years ago, I went on holiday with a couple of friends (aka The Grand Tour) and we stayed a few nights with one of my friends' friend in Paris. He'd made us some iced peach tea which I duly refused because I don't like tea, but fortunately everyone insisted I tried this. I was an instant convert and swore I'd make my own. He used some peach tea and had fruit and mint in the brew, so I looked online for something similar and then tried to find peach tea in Sainsbury's. I hit the jackpot with peach and cherry blossom tea. 

I adapted the recipe at the end of the post.

I used two bags, a sliced almost ripe peach and 2 cups of boiling water. I let it brew for 5 minutes and then added 1/2 cup of sugar, but I'd reduce that 1/3 cup sugar in future, I think. I'd also be tempted to try Demerara or other brown sugar sine I like the taste. Anyway, I digress. Take the tea bags out and add 2 cups cold water. Let it cool then chill in the fridge and serve with or without out, with or without the peach slices. 

Original recipe here:

http://howto.yellow.co.nz/food-drink/non-alcoholic-drinks-and-beverages/how-to-make-iced-tea/

Not baking: espresso granita

So it's been really hot all over the Uk as summer finally arrives. I'm now dreaming of iced coffee and iced tea, so it seemed like a good time to make the espresso granita I saw a few weeks ago on Smitten Kitchen. 

We have a nespresso machine, so I used that to get my coffee for this. I used decaffinated as I'm trying to avoid caffeine at the moment. I also used demerara sugar (which I think is similar to turbinado sugar) because I prefer it over white sugar is espresso. 

I chilled it overnight and then froze it as per instructions.  Then when I got home from church followed by a food shop this morning and was rather hot and bothered, I decided to try some. I whipped a bit of (double) cream as per instructions and then tucked in. It was awesome! Dangerously awesome, in fact. I can see I'll need to make this again soon... 

Happy freezing! 

PS recipe is here: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/06/espresso-granita-with-whipped-cream/

Rhubarb Strawberry Butter

Having never really come across the combination of rhubarb and strawberry before a couple of years ago, suddenly it's everywhere. Have I been blind or is this a North American thing that has only just reached us? In any case, it's something I want to embrace. 

A few weeks ago I saw a recipe for a rhubarb strawberry butter on Simple Bites that sounded good. I made an apple cider butter from the River Cottage Jams and Preserves book by Pam Corbin and it was amazing, so I thought I'd give this a whirl. 

I have to say that whilst it tastes nice, it did turn out to be a lesson in reading the recipe properly. North American recipes are very fond of canning as a form of preservation (that's making whatever you're preserving, putting in your jars and then boiling the jars in order to kill bacteria and achieve a vacuum seal). To me as a UK reader, this seems a lot of faff, but there really isn't much sugar in the recipe, so I felt obliged to can and bought appropriate jars (much to Fantastic Mr Fox's horror as I am usually unable to pass storage jars without buying some... You'd think it would result in a tidy kitchen, wouldn't you?). 

Anyway, it worked and I seem to have a vacuum seal on at least one of my jars (I only tested one), but it was more effort than normal - and since I failed to start early enough did keep me out of bed... I might make less another time and keep in the fridge or freeze it. 

I'd also cook it a bit longer - I think mine is more compote than butter... Tastes nice anyway! 

Recipe is here:

http://www.simplebites.net/preserving-spring-strawberry-rhubarb-butter/

Fantastic Mr Fox's birthday cake

It was Fantastic Mr Fox's birthday a couple of weeks ago, so of course I had to make him a cake. I spent a lot of time considering different cakes and had tentatively decided on a Battenberg Cake   when I remembered last year's Cake of the Summer. It was a triple berry bundt cake with a lemon icing from the Smitten Kitchen website and it was truly amazing. Once I had it in my mind, I couldn't buy make it again. 

I think last year I used black currants, raspberries and blueberries. This time round I used blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.  

The cake is pretty straight forward to make - I used my KitchenAid. I had a slight moment of panic about getting the cake out, but it was needless. The cake was delicious and I expect to be making it again soon!

Happy baking!

PS The recipe is here:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/06/triple-berry-summer-buttermilk-bundt/

Peach cobbler muffins

When I heard about the Back in the Day Bakery cookbook online, I was pretty sure I would like it. And it was soon added to my ever expanding cookery book collection. I've made a  few things to date: maple cinnamon, granola, hummingbird cake, brown sugar banana bread and pecan chocolate espresso coffee cake. The results so far had been good - especially the hummingbird cake and the coffee cake.  The only snag from my point of view is the fact that the recipes are in cups, which being Scottish, I find much more intimidating than weights. On the plus side, I do love using my pretty bird cups. 

Anyway, I had some ripe peaches, so I decided to make some peach cobbler muffins for breakfast. I mixed the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately last night to make it speedy. The results were pretty good - the cinnamon is a nice touch. They were pretty easy to make, too! Although I would be tempted to halve the recipe -in my  standard muffin tin, I got 17 muffins rather than 12... I have to add that not all my muffins rose well - perhaps I over mixed them??? 

Happy baking! 

Not baking: raspberry blancmange

I had never tasted a blancmange, but I have long been familiar with them at second hand through children's novels. Not the more contemporary ones (which are probably nothing of the sort for today's readers), but the older ones from the first half of the 19th century. These featured food extensively and one of the more esoteric delights (as far as I am concerned) was blancmange. But Annie Bell's Gorgeous Desserts features a few (as well as lots of jellies) and last summer I bought a jelly mould in the sale, so I thought the time had come. 

I made a raspberry blancmange featuring raspberries, double cream, a bit of sugar and gelatine. I figured that it was almost bound to taste nice, even if the set didn't work (my fears are the legacy of trying to convert a recipe for leaf gelatine to powdered gelatine for my dad with no guidance and a resulting very rubbery panna cotta...). 

You whizz raspberries with icing sugar and strain them, soak the gelatine and then heat the cream, stir in drained leaf gelatine, followed by the raspberry purée.   Then you pour it into a greased jelly mould and leave to set in the fridge overnight. Simple! 

Much to my surprise, I managed to in mould the blancmange (with some difficulty), but in more or less one piece! 

I served it with a roasted strawberry sauce from simple bites I'd made previously (very easy and good for solving the problems of too many strawberries about to turn).

It was good! And easy! I recommend it!

Happy non-baking!

PS if you also love children's novels and food, you might enjoy 'Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer' by Jane Brocket

PS Strawberry sauce recipe:

 http://www.simplebites.net/frozen-treats-roasted-strawberry-sundae-recipe/

Not baking: Warm Puy lentil and pea salad

I first came across Nigel Slater when I was a graduate student. Towards the end of my time, I lodged with a family and so wanted to cook quick meals. A visit to a local book shop and I emerged with two paperbacks: Real Fast Food and Real Fast Puddings. The first is based around food groups - fish, meat, eggs, vegetables, bread. It's still a go-to book for fast ways to cook delicious meals with what you have to hand, including breaded scallops, pasta dishes and two of my favourite uses of bulgar wheat. In fact, last time we went on a self catering holiday, this is the book I packed.  The second is based around seasons and includes the recipes I use most often for toffee sauce, chocolate sauce, custard, Christmas crumble (mincemeat, bananas, apples...Mmm...), sauce from Christmas pudding (my favourite use of left overs) and lots of non-banana bread recipes for ripe bananas. 

However, one of my favourite recipes is for a salad. Now, I'm not the keenest salad eater around. I never liked it as a child - mostly because I didn't like lettuce. About ten years ago, I started eating various salad leaves and things (mostly for my health), but I'm still usually slightly reluctant. However, this salad is different - it's warm for a start. You cook puy lentils in water and heat up some frozen peas in olive oil (not water). Then you drain the lentils and add to the peas and mix in some lemon juice. I like this with goat's cheese, but it's also nice with chorizo (and cheese!) or probably salmon or chicken. A delicious, near instant supper that's good for you!

Happy cooking! 

Honey wholemeal chocolate chip cookies

When I checked my (personal) emails at lunchtime on Friday, I had an email from Simple Bites with a recipe for these cookies: http://www.simplebites.net/honey-whole-wheat-chocolate-chunk-cookies-and-not-getting-organized/

They sounded so good and so easy that I promptly decided I should make them at the weekend.  

You make them in the food processor, in three stages and then roll balls of mixture to make the cookies. You flatten these and leave them to chill in the fridge while you heat the oven. Nothing to it. 

The cookies themselves are good - with a pleasing wholemeal flavour, giving the impression these are somehow healthy...

Perhaps not my favourite chocolate chip cookie of all time, but a good recipe to have in your repertoire. 

Unfortunately, my only photo is pre-bake since i forgot to take a picture before we ate them all.... 

Happy baking! 

Apple oat shortcake (apple flapjack slice)

When I lived in Oxford over ten years ago, I used to occasionally go to the Alternative Tuckshop. I was very partial to the chicken and Swiss cheese ciabatta, but they also had really lovely apple flapjacks. These were the flapjacks that persuaded me that it might be worth messing with the classic. However, fifteen years later I've yet to try and recreate them. One day... 

However, when I recently bought Annie Bell's Baking Bible I saw it had apple oat shortcake, which the author says is an attempt to combine apple pie and flapjack and I immediately thought back to the beloved apple flapjacks of old. So, they had to be the first thing I made from the book. 

So, this bake has a shortbread base that you make and bake (I used a wee bit of wholemeal spelt in this), before adding a layer of Bramley apples, sultanas (the recipe suggests currants), sugar and lemon zest and then top with flapjacks made with lots of lovely golden syrup before baking.

Did I mention my love of golden syrup?but it has to be Lyle and Tate and from a tin, not a bottle. I usually heat my spoon in hot water so the syrup will slide off. Mmm.... Golden syrup... 

Back to the shortcake, though. It tasted lovely. However, there is a lot of moisture from the apples, so do leave it till it is completely cold before you cut and move it. I thought it was cool enough last night, but it was a nightmare to move. Much easier this morning, though. 

All in all, very tasty and worth baking. If you don't have the book you can find the recipe here:

http://www.allaboutyou.com/food/recipefinder/apple-flapjack-recipe-10402

Happy baking! 

Homemade granola

I forget how I first found http://smittenkitchen.com/, but I've been following the blog for a while now.  So when I discovered that there was going to be a book, I was bound to buy it.  I had to wait an extra few months for the UK version, but it finally arrived. 

Now, since my honeymoon in America in 2010 and a rather memorable breakfast featuring granola near the Seaport museum in New York, I've had a soft spot for granola.  I recently bit the bullet and tried making my own and it's really very easy.  But it does generally have a fair bit of sugar and fat of one kind or another.  So, I was interested to see that Deb had a recipe for chunky granola with walnuts and cherries that had less fat and a bit less sugar. 

Making your own granola is pretty quick and easy. The time consuming task is chopping nuts up (unless you use flaked almonds that is) and the tricky part is not overlooking it, which I'm not sure I've entirely mastered. However the results have still been great. 

I used cherries (mixture of sour cherries from a health food store, which were super nice and super expensive, and morello cherries from Sainsbury's that for some reason had been soaked in apple juice) and pecans. I also used maple syrup, which I think was Deb's original suggestion but which has been anglicised to golden syrup (why? I mean I love golden syrup, but it's not maple syrup, is it?). 

I like my granola with yoghurt and fruit (banana, pear, berries (when summer arrives), stewed apple), but it is also good just with milk.

Happy baking!

Awesome Bakewell tart

I'm going to see a friend from church tomorrow and I thought I'd make her a Bakewell tart.  This is the third time I've made this tart - and all within about a month.  The first one I made because Fantastic Mr Fox is very partial to Bakewell tart and I hadn't made one for him in ages.  I was going to take most of it into work as I often do with baking), but then I tasted the tart and decided it was so awesome that my poor colleagues weren't going to get a look in...  It was that good.  The second time I made it I managed to take it out to a group of friends - and Fantastic Mr Fox was very disappointed that not much came back...
 
This recipe is from British Baking by Peyton and Byrne (http://www.peytonandbyrne.co.uk/peyton-and-byrne-at-st-pancras/index.html).  I make several trips a year to London for work and almost always go by train, so I've long been calling into St Pancreas to visit the Peyton and Byrne café for sustenance for the return trip, or into one of the British Library cafes they run for a restorative coffee after the trip down (particularly if I got the 5:40am train...).  The biscuits and cakes all look amazing - they vary from good takes on standard cakes to more unusual offerings including Jaffa cakes.  I am particularly partial to the chocolate hazelnut cookies, although I would also give an honourable mention to the gingerbread men and the heart-shaped jammy dodgers.  So really it was only a matter of time before this book joined the others on my bookshelf...
 

 
I used homemade jam previously, but having used up my stash (hooray!  Usually I don't - I enjoy making jam more than I eat jam...), I bought some jam from the lovely Craigie's farm near the Forth Road Bridge (http://www.craigies.co.uk/) because I was pretty confident it would be good and be worthy of this tart. 

The pastry in the recipe is quite unusual - it is described as being biscuit like and it is in more ways than one.  You start with soft butter and make the pastry via a creaming method (I used my KitchenAid mixer).   I made the pastry each time with partly plain flour and partly wholemeal spelt flour (trying to increase the whole grains in my baking).  The pastry was prone to breaking up and I had to do a patchwork job to line the tin, but it seemed to work.  This may be because the wholemeal spelt flour changed how much moisture was needed or may be due to my ineptitude with pastry (it's not my favourite thing to make).  The pastry is definitely the biggest job - partly because you need to chill it twice, although you don't bake it blind.  However, the chilling time does give me a chance to do a quick wash of the mixer bowl ready to make the frangipane (I added a few drops of almond extract).  Once the tart is lined and chilled you just need to put in the jam. Then you add some fresh berries (I used frozen raspberries) and top with the frangipane and then sliced almonds and bake.  I baked it on a preheated tray, just to make sure that I avoided a soggy bottom (given the lack of blind baking) and it all turned out beautifully. 
 

 

All in all, relatively easy (though a bit time consuming) and a delicious product. 
 

 
Happy baking!
 
 

Baking against the odds and the lemon cake everyone needs in their repetoire

So, I bought Annie Bell's Baking Bible the other week and decided to bake the apple oat bars.  All set and ready to go when I realise the only ingredient I don't have is ground almonds...  Back to the drawing board....

Next up, I decide that I ought to use up the jar of lemon curd that's been lurking in the kitchen for a while waiting for me to make one of my favourite easy cakes.  If only I could open it...  Even rubber gloves didn't help.  Unfortunately Fantastic Mr Fox was out and so my usual jar opening option was available.  Still, via the magic of the internet I get some advice and the jar opens.  Then my (digital) scales give up the ghost part way through the process and I have to revert to my analogue ones (I knew I had spare scales for a reason).  But finally I got the cake made.  

So is the cake worth proceeding in the face of battles with my kitchen?  Oh yeah....  Basically, it's a sponge but made with lemon curd - you put half the jar in as you cream the eggs and butter and dot the rest on the top of the cake to get a deliciously moist  lemony sponge with ingredients you have to hand.  As part of my continuing efforts to get healthier, I used some wholemeal self-raising flour this time (about a quarter of the total flour).  Absolutely one of my favourites and I usually make it all in the food processor - fast results and the dishwasher does all the cleaning up.  What's not to like?  

You can find the recipe (from Xanthe Clay) here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3318608/Readers-recipes-something-simple-for-the-weekend.html  

And here's the finished cake - showing you that I'm not good at photography, lining cake tins or necessarily timing cakes (the lemon curd can catch easily).  Or showing you that even if you don't get those things perfect, you can still have a delicious cake.  




Happy baking!