Posts tagged cream

Gruyere and Onion tarts

April 6, 2013 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

This recipe (that is religiously made every year on Christmas eve in the Wardlaw house), is courtesy of Delia and has always been the most deliciously simple combination. For some reason we didn’t make it this Christmas eve, so feeling cheated I found myself whipping out a batch for a warming lunch in this Christmas provoking weather….

Filling

2 eggs
75ml single cream/creme fraiche
½ tsp mustard powder
75g Gruyere cheese, grated
25g butter
2 onions, finely chopped
Cayenne pepper

Pastry

175g flour
75g butter
50g cheddar cheese, grated
½ tsp mustard powder

For the pastry, rub the butter and flour together and add the cheese, mustard and cayenne pepper. Add enough water to bring together to form a dough and then wrap and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease some small tart tins. Roll the pastry out thinly and line the tins. Bake the cases blind with baking beans and parchment for about 15-20 minutes until turning a pale brown. Remove the beans/parchment for the last 5 minutes to cook the base. Leave to cool in their tins while you do the filling.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and sweat the onions until soft and beginning to turn a golden colour. Do this slowly to get a good flavour (about 20-30 minutes). Set aside.
Mix the eggs, cream and mustard powder together in a jug adding a pinch of cayenne according to taste.
Fill the tart cases with the onion and grated gruyere and fill with the egg mixture. Scatter over a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes until set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before tucking in.

I made a tomato salsa to top mine by finely chopping a mixture of coloured cherry tomatoes, some bruised thyme leaves, salt and pepper and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Leave to infuse and serve at room temperature atop your tarts with a green salad.

Carrot Cake Ice Cream

April 5, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

What could be better than combining the forces of a good cake and its slutty partner in crime ice cream? This recipe is adapted from the Babel Restaurant in South Africa, Babylonstoren, whose ‘cookbook-come-brochure’, is to die for. As a spicy ice cream, they suggest serving it with chilli grilled pineapple slices, but hey, whats wrong with serving it with a slice of carrot cake….?

500ml double cream
180ml milk
180ml caster sugar
5 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod
125g carrot, boiled and grated
5ml ground cinnamon
2ml ground nutmeg and ginger
125g walnuts/pecans toasted and roughly chopped

Start with the custard base. Heat the milk in a saucepan with 90ml of the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod until just coming to the boil.
Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl (a wide shallow bowl helps) with the remaining 90ml of sugar until combined.
When the cream is hot, tip a third of it in a slow stream into the egg yolks whisking continuously and vigorously to prevent it scrambling. Make sure it is all combined then add the rest and whisk together for a few minutes.
Tip the mixture back into the saucepan and place over a low heat stirring with a wooden spoon continually until the mixture begins to thicken and it coats the back of the spoon and leaves a mark when you run your finger through it. keep the heat low and keep stirring to prevent getting scrambled eggs….
Strain through a sieve into another wide shallow bowl. Whisk in the ground spices.
Peel about 2-3 carrots (depending on their size) and boil whole in water for about 5 minutes, until soft. Cool under cold water and then grate into the custard base and mix to distribute. Leave to cool and then place in the fridge.
Meanwhile, toast the nut in a dry frying pan for a few minutes or in a hot oven for 5 minutes and leave to cool.
When the custard is cool, churn in an ice cream maker for about 15-20 minutes until thick and beginning to freeze. Once it begins to thicken during churning, tip in the toasted nuts. Place in a container and freeze.

Apricot and Vanilla Pannacotta with Rosemary Shortbread

March 22, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

There’s something about using herbs like thyme and rosemary in sweet desserts which I always think feels really sophisticated. Getting the right balance is essential as an overpowering flavour such as rosemary, while forgivable with lamb, will not be so delicious if overused in a dessert. It goes so well with the sweet, juicy plump apricots here and I created this recipe after being inspired by an apricot bar by a company called Baked. However, this recipe is more suitable for a after dinner dessert!

Serves about 5

Apricot Jam

200g dried apricots
350ml water
100g caster sugar
60g honey
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped

Combine the ingredients in a pan including the vanilla pod once the seeds have been removed.
Simmer gently for about 40-45 minutes until the apricots are plump and soft. Remove the vanilla pod and discard
Puree in a processor until you form a thick sticky jam. Store in a jar int he fridge and use for the pannacotta recipe or one croissants and toast!

Pannacotta

250ml double cream
250ml whole milk
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped
50g caster sugar
Splash vanilla extract (optional)
2 ½ gelatine leaves
Aprioct jam

Combine the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in a pan and gently heat to dissolve the sugar.
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft.
Get ready 5 ramekins, wine glasses, shot glasses or tumblers or whatever you want to serve your pannacotta in. Fill the base with a thin layer of apricot puree and smooth out evenly. There will be more jam than needed but add as much as you like.
Just before the cream mix begins to bubble, remove from the heat, and remove the vanilla pod. Squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine leaves and whisk into the hot cream.
Begin gentle, pour over a generous layer of the cream mixture onto your apricot puree. Leave to cool before leaving to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Serve with the rosemary biscuits and topped with some cinnamon sugared almond flakes if you like!

Rosemary Shortbread

125g butter
175g flour
50g caster sugar
½- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Rub the flour butter and sugar together or combine in a food processor until you just begin to get a dough
Add the rosemary and continue to mix to form a dough.
Cut into biscuits shapes and bake on a lined baking tray for about 10 minutes (depending on size) until just turning the palest of gold and they are still soft. Watch them carefully as they cook quickly.
Leave to cool before removing from the tray.

Pannacotta with salted caramel

January 1, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This was everything you’d could want in a dinner party dessert for a special occasion such as New Years eve where this little treat made a welcome appearance. It’s creamy, sweet, satisfying and elegant and will fill that sweet spot when you think there is just no room left after, perhaps an evening full of decadent dinning and some good fizz. Naturally as the choice for the hidden surprise I had to add salted caramel due to my love of salt and its increasing popularity as the foodie trend of 2012! Served alongside some mini tartlets filled with hazelnut or ginger mascarpone topped with diced pear and shards of honeycomb, I think its safe to say these were crowd pleasers…..

Pannacotta (serves 6)

250ml double cream
250ml milk
1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
2 ½ gelatine leaves
50g caster sugar

Salted Caramel

200ml single cream
125g caster sugar
2 tsp runny honey
2 tsp water
Large pinch of maldon salt

Begin with the salted caramel. Place the cream in a saucepan and warm gently on a low heat.
Meanwhile, heat the runny honey in another saucepan for a few minutes. Add the water and the caster sugar and allow to dissolve.
Once dissolved, let it bubble for about 5 minutes and it will begin to turn golden. Watch it closely, giving it a swirl every so often.
Continue to bubble until golden and caramel coloured. Do not let it get too dark or it will begin to burn and taste bitter.
Once it reaches the right golden colour (being VERY careful as it will splutter at you) stir in 1/3 of the warm cream and stir. Add the rest of the cream and stir, keeping it on the heat and bubbling for about 2 minutes until syrup-like and smooth.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool (this can also be used for smothering over ice cream to heart attack inducing levels or to line a pastry case for a twist on banoffee pie. It also goes really well with salted peanuts, peanut butter or chocolate)
Now begin on the pannacotta. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, warm the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla seeds (pop the pod in as well) on a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring up to the near boil and then remove from the heat. Remove the vanilla pod.
Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine leaves and whisk into the the hot cream until dissolved.
Get your serving glasses or ramekins (glass works well as you can see the layers) and spoon about 2 tbsp of cooled salted caramel into each base. Top with the panncotta mixture, carefully to avoid it disturbing the lower layer but this is not a problem if you do.
Place in the fridge and leave to set for a minimum of 3 hours

Mini sweet pastry tart cases filled with a hazelnut mascarpone and a ginger mascarpone cream, topped with diced pear and honeycomb…..

Bramble Mousse

September 26, 2012 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Lovely and light, this mousse is the most quintessentially seasonal finish to a rich wintery Sunday roast beef. With the seasons blackberry harvest stashed protectively in our bloated freezer, I permitted myself a rationed supply for this little beauty…..

(Makes about 10 small glasses)

500g cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
250g blackberries (save a few whole ones for decoration)
50g soft brown sugar
280ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks
A few mint leaves for decoration
125g ginger biscuits
50g unsalted butter, melted

If you are want to serve your mousse on a biscuit base, begin by bashing the biscuits in a bag with a spoon until you have fine crumbs and combine with the melted butter. Spoon into serving glasses and chill in the fridge.
Combine the apples, sugar and blackberries in a heavy based saucepan and heat gently to release the juices. Cook for about 15-30 minutes until the mixture breakdown and becomes mushy and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Place into a food processor and puree until completely broken down to a smooth paste.
Use a fine sieve and a metal spoon to remove the pips. This takes some elbow grease……you need to get all the pulp through the sieve into a clean bowl so you are left with a pure fruity nectar and now teeth tainting seeds!
Now fold the fruit puree into the whipped cream until well combined.
Spoon over the top of the biscuit base or into plain clean serving glasses and top with a few whole blackberries and a mint leaf!