Posts tagged elderflower

Gooseberry Cobbler

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Gooseberry Cobbler

I

 feel ashamed to call this cooking. Assembling if you like. It must be one of the easiest puddings out there – hearty and warming. It doesn’t have a chance against a crumble I’ll be the first to admit but lets just say its the crumbles foreign not so pretty and less intelligent cousin. With a sad tinge of Autumnal chill to the weather this weekend and being the first day of October my expectations of an endless Indian Summer were dampened metaphorically and literally after ending up a little wet at work.

A few weeks back I returned home to my Wiltshire bolt and origins of the real pantry to a bounty of delicious homegrown gooseberries! Picked from the allotment and waiting patiently for my greedy hands! So cobbler it was….adapted from Delia Smith.

Serves 4

  • 500g gooseberries
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp elderflower cordial
  • 225g plain flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 110g cold, cubed butter
  • 170ml buttermilk
  • Pinch salt
  • Demerara sugar
  • Ice cream/custard to serve. Or my cinnamon creme anglaise
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Start by placing the gooseberries in a baking dish and scatter over the caster sugar and cordial evenly.
  3. To make the topping, place the flour, baking powder, salt and cubed butter in a food processor and blend together until you have a breadcrumb like consistency. Then at this stage add the buttermilk and pulse until you get a sticky dough.
  4. Rustically distribute large tablespoons of the topping over the gooseberries making sure you cover the majority of the fruit.
  5. Sprinkle over some crunchy demerara sugar and bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until the topping if golden, cooked and the fruit is bubbling up underneath.
  6. Serve warm with custard or ice cream. My cinnamon creme anglaise is recommended –  see here for full recipe

Jess - Gooseberry2Jess - Gooseberry3

 

Elderflower and Cucumber Collins

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Elderflower and Cucumber Collins

So it turns out I do like gin! This recipe will now be a reminder of finishing my finals and the end of uni. Its such an easy cocktail to quaff while relaxing in the sun as its so refreshing!

  • 40ml gin
  • 25ml elderflower cordial (or St. Germian elderflower liqueur if you have it)
  • 20ml lemon juice
  • Handful of diced cucumber
  • A few mint leaves
  • Soda water
  • Coarsely crushed ice
  1. Gently crush some diced cucumber and mint leaves to together to release their flavours.
  2. Add the gin, elderflower and lemon to a tall ‘tumblr’ (see what I did there) and top up with soda water to taste. Add some coarsely crushed ice and enjoy.

Elderflower Drizzle with Basil Icing

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Elderflower Drizzle with Basil Icing

A little experiment with elderflower yesterday. Lemon drizzle cake is a classic favourite but I thought I’d try it with some elderflower and a subtle basil flecked icing. Fell free to leave out the basil or replace it with something more dessert-familiar like mint. I think this cake needs a bit more testing to get the exact measurements to balance the flavours (see note at the bottom) but this was what I started with and it tasted great anyway!

  • 115g butter
  • 165g sugar
  • 165g self raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 lemon, zest
  • 4 tbsp milk
  • 150ml elderflower cordial (and a little more for the icing)
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp chopped basil (or mint if you prefer)
  1. Cream the butter and sugar. Then add the eggs, milk and lemon zest and sieve in the flour and baking powder. Mix.
  2. Spoon into a lined cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes at 180 until cooked.
  3. Once the cake is cooked and it comes out the oven, while still warm, prick the surface all over and pour over the cordial and allow it to sink in and absorb. Leave to cool.
  4. To make the glaze, mix the sieved icing sugar, the mint/basil and enough cordial to get a runny but thick consistency (about 1-2 tbsp)
  5. Pour over the cake!

NOTE: I scattered some rose petals for presentation but to be honest they are very pungent and can be overpowering (if using a weak cordial I suggest not using them). The amount of cordial can be increased but I was nervous about drowning the cake. The cordial I used was unfortunately quite weak so I would suggest increasing the volume if you find the taste too subtle. Use a homemade or good quality one such as ‘bottlegreen’ for a really big elderflower hit.

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