Posts tagged dessert

Bramble Mousse

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Bramble Mousse

 

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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Place into a food processor and puree until completely broken down to a smooth paste.image
  4. 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!
  5. Now fold the fruit puree into the whipped cream until well combined.image
  6. 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!

Goose egg- Mint Ice Cream

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Goose egg- Mint Ice Cream

 

This sounds weird but really I just had some boisterous goose eggs knocking around the kitchen. This recipe, courteous of Skye Gyngell, calls for 6 egg yolks, so I replaced 4 of them with 2 large goose yolks. This ice cream has a refreshing and cleansing flavour which is not too sweet. Laced with ribbons of our garden mint which was in desperate need of a a ‘hair’ cut, this is a perfect summery ice cream alone of with something fruity….

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Custard Base

  • 600ml whole milk
  • 1 vanilla pod, split ans seeds scarped out
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 100g caster sugar

Mint flavour

  • 220g caster sugar
  • 500ml water
  • bunch mint
  1. For the base, pour the milk into a pan and add the vanilla seeds from the pod. Warm gently and bring to the a simmer and then remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for 20 minutes.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and thick. Reheat the infused milk and then slowly pour over the yolks, whisking continuously to prevent it scrambling. Return the smooth mixture to the pan, and over a very low heat, stir with a wooden spoon. Stir all the time until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leave a mark when you run your finger over it. Keep the heat low or the mixture will curdle.
  3. When thickened, remove from the heat, sieve and leave to cool.
  4. For the mint flavour, put the sugar and water in a pan and dissolve on a medium heat. Add half the mint and bring to the boil. Then simmer on a lower heat for 15 minutes to infuse, then leave to cool. When cool, remove the mint.
  5. Add ¼ of this mint syrup to the cooled custard base. The rest can be used as a cordial or in other recipes.
  6. Pour the custard into an ice-cream maker and churn until thick and silky, about 30 minutes for most. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, transfer the mixture to the freezer for a few hours. Then, put it into a food processor and pulse a few times or manually whisk to prevent ice crystals forming in the custard. Return to the freezer again. Repeat this process a couple of times to prevent the ice forming before allowing to completely solidify.
  7. Chop the rest of the mint finely, and add to the ice cream before placing into a container and freezing until solid!

Peach and Amaretto Mini Meringue Pie

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Peach and Amaretto Mini Meringue Pie

A simple beautiful dessert!  This I actually made the other day with some leftovers- a mini tart case, a lonely peach and an abandoned egg white…….I stewed the peach with some sugar and amaretto and popped it in the tart case before suffocating it in a glossy, sweet and airy meringue mix. Quick blast in the oven and it was ready to devour!

Lime and Coconut Pannacotta with Lime Melts

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Lime and Coconut Pannacotta with Lime Melts

Next weekend I’m helping cater a sit down Birthday lunch and this is the dessert……so……..naturally I had to greedily sample the recipe for myself before inflicting the sweet, creamy and fresh mouth watering dessert on the poor awaiting guests. The sampling was hard. I may have to do it again tomorrow too.

If you’re fed up with the rainy English weather, this will help you melt away into the tropical Caribbean…

  • 250ml double cream
  • 250ml coconut cream/milk
  • 2 ½ gelatine leaves
  • 55g caster sugar
  • 1 lime, zest and juice of ½
  1. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water
  2. On a low heat, warm the double cream, sugar and lime zest and juice in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves, and the mixture is thin and smooth and bring up to near boiling point
  3. Just before the boil, remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk/cream. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and whisk into the hot cream until dissolved.
  4. I served mine in ramekins to remove the hassle of having to turn them out but if you want to do this then fill into a greased mould (makes about 4 large or 5 small ones)
  5. Once the mixture has cooled, chill in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight!

Lime Melts

  • 6 oz unsalted butter
  • 110g Icing sugar
  • Grated zest of 3 limes
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 200g flour
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • ¼ tsp salt
(I have converted this from American cups to grams so hopefully it works out, although use your instinct to get the right consistency of the dough which should be like shortbread)
  1. In a food processor, cream the butter and 40g of the icing sugar until fluffy. Add the lime zest, juice and vanilla and cream again
  2. Sieve the flour, cornflour and salt into the bowl and process until combined
  3. Split the dough in half and roll into logs of the size biscuit you want and wrap in parchment
  4. Chill for 1 hour
  5. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with parchment. Slice the dough into rounds and place on the baking tray
  6. Bake for about 12minutes until barely golden and then leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
  7. While still warm, sieve the remaining icing sugar into a sealable bag and place the cookies inside. Toss in the sugar-filled bag until coated.
(The logs also freeze well!)
 

Hazelnut Frangipane Tart

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Hazelnut Frangipane Tart

This tart is, I must admit, courtesy of the infamous Skye Gyngell, whose seasonality, simplicity and quality of recipes I admire. This is the most moreish and sophisticated dessert that will leave you on cloud nine with no leftovers. Its delicious….what more can I say apart from I recommend you make two to save yourself the anguish of realizing how quickly the first one was eaten. I served mine with a sweet rhubarb puree and creamy vanilla ice cream.

Shortcrust Pastry

  • 125g butter
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 tbsp water

Filling

  • 300g shelled hazelnuts
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 300g unsalted butter, cubed
  1. Begin with the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour to form a breadcrumb like mixture
  2. Add the water and mix with a knife to form a dough (you will probably need more water but add it little by little to prevent it becoming too wet)
  3. Knead lightly on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  4. Grease and line a fluted tart tin with a removable base (25cm diameter and 2.5cm deep tin)
  5. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to about 3mm thick into a large round. Lift the pastry onto the rolling pin and drape into the tin.
  6. Press the pastry into the well greased tin and up the sides and prick all over with a fork. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
  7. Preheat the oven to 190°C and when the pastry case has rested, line with parchment, fill with baking beans and blind bake for about 15-20 minutes and a further 5 minutes without the beans until the case is precooked and golden.image
  8. To make the filling, roast the hazelnuts in the oven for about 5 minutes until warmed to release their flavour. To remove the skins, wrap in a tea towel and roll lightly and they should come away easily.image
  9. Tip the nuts into a food processor with the sugar, eggs, lemon zest and butter. Pulse to combine.
  10. Fill the precooked case with the filling and bake for about 35-40minutes until golden and set, but still soft in the middle. Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much.
  11. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar with a rhubarb and vanilla puree and ice cream.image

Rhubarb and Vanilla Compote

  • 700g rhubarb
  • 15tbsp dark brown soft sugar
  • ½ vanilla pod, halved and seeds removed
  1. Cut the rhubarb into 2cm chunks on the diagonal and place in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the sugar and the vanilla seeds and the pods.image
  2. Heat gently to begin with until the sugar begins to melt and the rhubarb releases its juices. Then cook covered for about 15minutes
  3. Remove the lid and bubble gently for a further 15minutes until the rhubarb is broken down and sauce like. Discard the vanilla pod and serve warm with the tart.