Plum Clafoutis

It has been eight months since I wrote in my blog but now I am back and keener than ever! By no means have I been avoiding the kitchen in these eight months, however. I am happy to say (as there would be something seriously wrong if I had 'gone off' cooking!) that I am still brimming with culinary passion :)

This afternoon I made my first ever clafoutis, making some use of our glut of garden plums. The recipe I used is from Michel Roux's Pastry book and thus has a pastry crust (much to my surprise, as a clafoutis neophyte!). I was extremely pleased with the way my pate briseée turned out (it is delicate, flaky and beautifully short even on the base - I was also pleasantly surprised to find it relatively easy to work with) and the baked custard element of the clafoutis was utterly delicious, flavoured generously with vanilla and a splash of brandy. However, all of that was slightly overpowered by the wince-worthy tartness of our homegrown plums :/ I think that if I had used the traditional cherry or another, sweeter soft fruit (such as peach, pear or apricot) it would have been a real star, so I would still thoroughly recommend this recipe :)

full recipe coming soon...

Lemon Squares

Do you like lemon curd? I love lemon curd. However, it has to be as sharp and zesty as possible, otherwise you end up with a clacky mouthful of buttery egg. 

These squares are utterly delicious. Their dainty size and citrussy freshness makes them ideal for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up but the butter-rich shortbread base and the set-but-still-squidgy lemon curd layer makes them incredibly moreish.

I must admit, I was a little disheartened when I removed them from the oven - the lemon custard had baked set and was reminiscent of an omelette, with air bubbles and sporadic brown freckles over the surface. All it took was for me to slice the traybake into squares, to reveal the creamy middle layer, and I knew it was going to be good. And that is what renders these squares eye-wideningly scrumptious.

N.B. - when storing these, make sure you separate the layers with some greaseproof paper because if the shortbread base of one square comes into contact with the sticky topping of another, you end up with soggy bottomed squares - a sorry waste!

Lemon Squares (makes 30 pieces)

from Cakes & Slices - Murdoch Books

125g (4 1/2 oz) butter, softened 

75g (2 1/2 oz) caster sugar

155g (5 1/2 oz) plain flour, sifted

4 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

250g (9oz) caster sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice (I used a fair bit more to make them really zingy!)

1 tso grated lemon zest

30g (1oz) plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 F/Gas 4). Lightly grease a 8x12 inch rectangular shallow baking tin and line the base with baking parchment, leaving the paper to hang over the long sides.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Fold in the flour with a metal spoon until roughly combined. Press into the tin. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and firm. Leave to cool in the tin. 

Beat the eggs and sugar for two minutes, or until light and fluffy. 

Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Sift together the flour and baking powder and gradually whisk into the egg mixture.

Pour onto the base. Bake for about 25 minutes (mine didn't take this long) or until just firm and slightly golden. Leave to cool in the tin. Once cool, cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar just before serving, if desired.

N.B. - this full recipe will make around 30 squares, contrary to what my photograph shows - I halved the quantity, put it into a smaller square tin and it yielded 16 pieces, so do not be confused!

Grapefruit & Blueberry Panna Cotta

I have always found the mystique of gelatine somewhat threatening in the kitchen. As with all recipes that involve rapid stirring of a liquid that has to be brought to an exact temperature to avoid globulation (?!), I have always avoided panna cotta recipes. For this reason, I have only ever eaten supermarket versions...until now.

What made me do it? The packet of gelatine leaves perched redundantly on the top shelf of my kitchen cupboard. It looked sad and fruitless and wholly unexplored. Even if it meant failure and despair, I had to give it a shot.

I got the idea for grapefruit and blueberry from a fruit smoothie I made a while ago. It was deliciously zesty and fresh - another point to this much underrated citrus. Thankfully, it made the perfect antidote to the rich and creamy element of the panna cotta (however, I used half cream to half Greek yoghurt and semi-skimmed milk, which tasted every bit as dreamy as all-cream, just tangier and sprightlier).

This pudding is truly sublime. The smooth, set cream is delicate and fragrant, yet also greatly comforting. Then you get a hit of sharp and zingy blueberry compote, bringing everything together into one big happy smiling dancing mouthful. And. It is so easy. I know it's a cliché, but if I can do it, anyone can. I urge you to give it a go, and to try out different flavours. Yum : )

Grapefruit Panna Cotta (serves 2, or 4 mini ones)

150 ml double cream

75 ml unsweetened natural yoghurt

75 ml milk

1 3/4 leaves gelatine

juice of half a grapefruit

25 g caster sugar

Immerse the gelatine leaves in the grapferuit juice in a dish and leave for 5-10 minutes.

Heat the cream and milk gently in a saucepan, until it almost reaches simmering point.

At this point, reduce the heat and add the sugar, stirring until it has completely dissolved. Then take the pan off the heat.

Place the gelatine leaves, one by one, into the cream/milk mixture and stir rapidly until dissolved. Continue stirring gently while you gradually add the grapefruit juice (don't worry if some of the grapefruit flesh goes in, because this just means you will get lovely little jewel-like pockets of juice throughout your panna cotta!).

Once everything has dissolved and the mixture is smooth, divide it between your chosen containers (ramekins or moulds are best if you wish to turn the panna cottas out onto a plate, but a glass tumbler looks really pretty and elegant if you just wish to serve them as they are, with a layer of blueberry compote on top).

Put them in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

Blueberry compote 

half a punnet of blueberries

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp grapefruit juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp water

1 tsp port (optional)

1 tsp grapefruit zest, grated

Put the fruit juices, half of the water, and the sugar in a saucepan and heat so that the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and add the blueberries and grapefruit zest.

Let the mixture simmer and the blueberries will start to pop and ooze their juice.

Keep simmering gently, uncovered so that it evaporates and goes almost syrupy.

Add the port, if you wish, and the rest of the water. Turn up the heat and let it boil for about 5 minutes.

Let it cool and serve it over or on the side of the panna cotta.

Enjoy!

Apple, Bramble and Ginger Crumble

Fruit crumbles are the closest thing you can get to a cuddle from a pudding. I loved them when I was a wee girl and I love them still. On top of that, you can call them healthy without crossing your fingers behind your back!

I like to make mine even more wholesome by using wholemeal flour, brown sugar, and putting some oats and chopped nuts into the crumble topping.

This is the first time I have used frozen fruit when baking. I needed apples and blackberries - the supermarket and my fruit and veg cupboard were lacking cooking apples, and blackberries are out of season and extortionate. So, frozen it had to be. I must say, I would do so again - for the berries anyway. The apples are decidedly better when fresh because the frozen ones had a bit of a weird tang. Let's call it a nuance and smile :)

Nigella Lawson suggests using ground almonds in with the fruit, in order to soak up excess liquid and to give that wonderfully smooth, deep almondy flavour and texture. I did exactly that and I will never look back. It's lovely.

Apple, Bramble and Ginger Crumble


2lb Bramley or Granny Smith apples
1lb blackberries
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp demerara sugar
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
75g ground almonds
1 tbsp lemon juice


Put the apples, lemon juice and granulated sugar in a pan with a enough water to just cover the base of the pan.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the apples just begin to soften on the outside. 
Arrange the apple mixture in an ovenproof dish along with the blackberries. Scatter the demerara sugar, ginger and ground almonds over the top, and give everything a good shake to settle and disperse.

Top with your favourite crumble topping, and bake at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas Mark 4, until the crumble goes light brown and the fruit is releasing juice and begins to bubble.