*Roly Poly Rhubarb Pudding*
Serves 8 Kind of like a rolled rhubarb dumpling baked in a delicious sauce. Serve with lashings of custard or cream for a delicious treat! For the dumplings: 280g plain flour (2 cups) 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 2 1/2 TBS butter 7 fluid ounces of milk (7/8 cup) For the filling: softened butter for spreading 95g caster sugar (1/2 cup) freshly grated nutmeg 3/4 pound rhubarb, chopped (2 cups) For the Sauce: 190g caster sugar (1 cup) 4 tsp plain flour 1/4 tsp salt 240ml hot water (1 cup) 1 TBS butter freshly grated nutmeg Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a deep 9 inch square baking dish and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into little bits and drop it into the flour. Rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the milk to make a soft dough. Tip out onto a floured board. Knead a few times and then pat out to a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick. Spread the top with softened butter. Sprinkle the sugar over top and pat down. Sprinkle with some freshly grated nutmeg and then cover with the chopped rhubarb. Pat it down a bit then roll up as for a jelly roll, pinching the edges shut. Cut into 8 slices with a sharp knife. Place each slice, cut side down into the prepared baking dish. Whisk together the sugar, flour and salt for the sauce. Whisk in the hot water. Cook on high in the microwave for about a minute. Take out and whisk. Cook for a further minute, until boiling. Pour this over top of the rhubarb rolls in the dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the heated oven, until the rolls are cooked through and the whole thing is nice and bubbly. Serve warm, spooned into bowls, along with some custard or pouring cream. |
Showing posts with label Desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Desserts. Show all posts
I think you would have to be living under a rock to not know what is taking place this coming Saturday, the 19th May, 2018. That is the day when Ms Meghan Markle is marrying Prince Harry. I, for one, am thrilled to death at this lovely young couple.
I am a Royalist anyways, and I am just so pleased that both William and Harry have been allowed to marry for love, just like most normal people do.
I love weddings, and I really love royal weddings, for the beautiful occasions that they are so I have set myself with the challenge of only baking/cooking beautiful things over these next few days in honor of this most wonderful occasion! Beautiful food for a beautiful occasion!
For surely an occasion such a wedding deserves to be celebrated with beautiful food!
These are wedding photos of my own five children, and to me they were every bit as wonderful an occasion as any Royal wedding would be, from left to right, our Eileen and Tim (2012), Sara and Bruce (2016), Anthony and Anne (1999), Amanda and Tom (2003), and Kayla and Doug (2004).
This first recipe is Greek in origin, in honor of Prince Harry's Greek heritage through his grandfather HRH Prince Phillip, who was a Greek Prince.
Let us hope and pray that Meghan and Harry enjoy a long and happy marriage like his grandparents have enjoyed.
This is actually a very simple recipe, which only looks complicated.
It is gorgeously delicious as well, and basically is just a really fancy vanilla and cinnamon custard pie, where the crust is actually ruffled throughout the custard.
The recipe was adapted from one I found on the Martha Stewart page, with a few changes on my part.
The original pie consisted of layers of filo pastry, ruffled and layed out in a circular pattern in a buttered cake tin, then buttered, dusted with cinnamon, and baked until golden . . .
After which a simple vanilla custard is spooned over top and it is baked again to set the custard.
I have cut the recipe in half and then chosen instead of one huge circle of filo pastry leaves, to make smaller ruffled rosettes, layed out in the pan and baked until golden brown.
I also chose to whisk the cinnamon in with the custard prior to ladling it over top of the baked rosettes, so that the cinnamon flavours are throughout the custard and not just on the pastry.
The end result was something quite beautiful . . . and not only in looks, but also in flavour . . . with just a slight cinnamon infusion, along with the vanilla.
I used vanilla paste . . . so you get lovely little flecks of vanilla and cinnamon throughout. I think Meghan and Harry would really love this.
Its beautiful and its delicious . . . with each mouthful bringing you the light crunch of the filo pastry mixed with that rich creaminess of the custard.
A final dusting of icing sugar and a bit more cinnamon was the only addition needed for service.
Ruffled Milk Pie
Yield: 8
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 15 M
Loosely based on a recipe from Martha Stewart. This Greek custard pie is delicious, with crispy bits from the filo pastry throughout a rich egg and vanilla custard.
Ingredients
- 70g butter, melted (5 TBS)
- 3 large free range eggs
- 7 sheets of filo pastry
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 95g fine granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) of whole milk
- icing sugar and ground cinnamon to dust
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch round cake tin. Line with baking paper and butter the baking paper. Set aside.
- Take out one sheet of your filo pastry. (Make sure the remainder is covered with a sheet of baking paper and a damp tea towel. Damp NOT wet.) Brush lightly with melted butter. Working from the long side, pleat the pastry like an accordion, making 1 inch wide pleats. Its okay if it breaks a bit. Roll the strips loosely into rose shapes. I found the best way to do this was to roll it around my fingers, placing one finger between each round if that makes sense. Repeat with all of the sheets of pastry, placing them into the cake tin, with one in the middle and the remaining six around the edges.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes while you make the custard.
- Warm the milk gently in a saucepan just to the boiling point. Whisk in the sugar, cinnamon and the vanilla. Beat the eggs lightly in a large glass measuring beaker. Slowly whisk in the hot milk/sugar mixture, adding only a bit at a time until the eggs have tempered and them whisking in the remaining milk. Spoon over the filo ruffles in the cake tin, evenly.
- Return to the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the custard has set. Let cool slightly before serving. Dust generously with some cinnamon and icing sugar to serve.
I can hardly wait to see Meghan's dress. I am sure it will be totally stylish and very classical. She is a woman with a beautifully classical fashion sense. I hate all of the kafuffle going on in the press these past days with that background drama, etc.
For goodness sakes . . . just let these young people be happy. The press are the ones with no class in my opinion. Go. Get married Meghan and Harry, and live happily ever after . . . we wish you well. We will be enjoying it all from the front row seats of our cosy home!
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I know that today is not Mother's Day here in the UK, they always celebrate that in March, however I have a foot in both worlds, and all of my family lives in Canada. I always celebrate Mother's day in May, which is the way it has been for my whole life. Its also not a day where I celebrate my own being a mother, but rather a day when I celebrate having my own mother, who is thankfully still with us and the STATE of motherhood, which includes anyone with maternal feelings. Are we not ALL mothers? I think so . . . anyone who cares for and loves others is indeed a mother in my books.
This is a photograph taken of my own mother when she was about 19 or 20 I believe. My mother has always been beautiful to me, and that has not changed. It is more to do with what's inside than the outside. My mother taught me all I needed to know about graciousness, honesty and integrity. She taught me the value of hard work, and has been a great example to me of strength and determination, having survived a lot of things that would break most people, such as the breakdown of a marriage. But even that she did with dignity. She and my father remain very good friends, which has made it all a lot easier for us, their children, to love them both equally. She is a double cancer survivor, having survived both breast and lung cancer. She is like the Every Ready Bunny. She might get knocked down, but she pulls herself up and then keeps going and going. I wish I did not live so far away from her. For years and years I lived close enough that we could always be there for each other and it pains me that, here in the Winter of her life, I find myself so far away. I will be calling her this afternoon of course. These phone calls are very precious to me, and I hope to her. I call her twice a week now, and those talks are like small gifts to each of us, and even more so as she is now battling dementia. Good days and bad days. I cherish and value the good days.
If I lived closer this is the dessert I would make for her. Its simple and delicious and just enough for someone with a smaller appetite, and even for those with larger appetites, it is so rich that a little bit is all you really want!
They are beautifully flavoured rich little pots of a thick cream custard . . . .
Flavoured with tart lemon and sweetly fragrant vanilla . . .
I always add a bit of raspberry jam to the bottom of the pots, because . . . I love jam, and it goes very well with the lemon.
I like to serve it with fresh raspberries . . . their ruby redness goes so lovely with the rich yellow of the lemon custard . . . and of course their fresh tart/sweet flavour adds another layer of complexity to the dish.
Altogether they are very beautiful . . . the three . . . the jam, that rich lemon vanilla creamy custard, the fresh berries . . .
I like to dust them lightly with icing sugar . . .
Its like adding a touch of lippy. What woman would go out the door without a light touch of lippy.
Not me, that's who!
You will want to make these early in the day so that they can have several hours in the refrigerator to chill. But they are very quick and simple to make other than that.
*Lemon Pots De Creme*
Serves 6
To serve:
Fresh berries
icing sugar to dust
Pour the cream into a saucepan. Add the lemon peel.
Scrape in any caviar from the vanilla bean and throw in the spent
bean. Warm gently to a simmer, then let sit to infuse for 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready 6 ramekins or small souflee dishes, and a roasting tin large enough to place them in with a bit of space between. Boil the kettle. Spoon 1 TBS of raspberry jam into the bottom of each ramekin. Place them into a large roasting tin.
Beat the egg yolks with an electric whisk until they are light and lemony coloured. Whisk in the sugar, 1 TBS of the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Strain the cream into a clean bowl and then slowly whisk it into the egg/sugar mixture, taking care to temper it with a bit of the warm cream first so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs. Make sure all are whisked well together. Boil the kettle.
Pour the egg custard into a large measuring cup and then divide the custard between the prepared ramekins, carefully pouring it over top of the jam, taking as much care as possible not to mix the two together. Pour boiling water into the roasting tin to come up halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the tin with foil and then bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly set.
Remove from the pan and let them sit for half an hour before placing them into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
When ready to serve top each with a few raspberries and a light dusting of icing sugar. Enjoy!
When I was a child I could hardly wait for Rhubarb Season to roll around. My mom would make us our favourite rhubarb pies. They were so tasty, served warm with vanilla ice cream all melting down into that buttery crust and the sweet/tart juices of that beautiful fruit . . .
But that was not the bestest part. The bestest part was eating it raw.
Oh what a treat that was. Mom would carefully wash and trim each of us
a stalk and then we would each be given a little bowl of sugar. We
would sit there at the table and dip the ends of the rhubarb into the
sugar and then suck and munch away . . . a jaw aching, mouth puckering
right of spring. It was soooo good.
We have a rather large rhubarb patch out back here in the garden. We
brought up the rhubarb that we had had down in Kent when we moved up
here 8 years ago, and we added it to the patch that was already here. Its never really done well here however, producing only spindly stems. Its rather early in the season of course, so for this pudding toay, i took advantage of the early pink Yorkshire forced rhubarb we can get in the shops this time of year. It has a beautiful colour.
These first tender pink and ruby coloured spring shoots are so
delightful, and a wonderfully welcome taste after the long cold wet winter we have had. When I was married before, in what seems like eons ago, we used to summer on PEI most years. I used to walk along the beach near my es-husbands American relatives cottage in Malpeque and pick wild rhubarb, which grew there in abundance.
As with most fruits, the wild stuff was smaller in size, but larger in flavour. I wonder why that is? Have we slowly grown the flavour out of things? Or is it just the flavours are more concentrated in a smaller fruit . . . in any case this early pink rhubarb very much reminds me of that Malpeque rhubarb.
Today we had company for dinner and I made a sort of a roly poly rhubarb pudding for dessert, with a rich buttery scone type of batter, spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar and nutmeg and then scattered with the chopped pink stalks of this delightfully tart fruit.
Rolled up and then cut into slices like a
jelly roll, they were placed in a buttered pan, and topped with a sweet, lightly
spiced sauce and then baked. It was oh so wonderful, served up warm and
covered with lashings of warm homemade custard. You could also serve it with pouring cream.
I tried to tempt Todd with a stalk rhubarb and a bowl of sugar once . . . so he could dip it, like a natural pixie stix, but he wasn't having any of it! Lets just say it didn't appeal!
*Proper Custard*
Makes about 3 cups
This is also known as creme anglaise. Be sure not to let the mixture boil once the eggs are added, or you wil end up with a curdled mess. You only need to heat it up enough to cook the eggs. The custard is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
8 egg yolks
75g caster sugar (a generous 1/3 cup)
300ml whole milk (1 1/4 cup)
300ml double cream (1 1/4 cup)
1 vanilla pod, split
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until well blended. Place the milk and cream in a saucepan with the vanilla. Scrape the insides of the vanilla pod into the mixture before you add it. Bring the mixture just to the boil.
Pour a little of this mixture into the eggs to temper them, and beat it together well. Pour this back into the pan and whisk together. Return to the heat and using a whisk, lightly stir until it begins to thicken. DO NOT BOIL.
As the egg yolks warm, the cream will get thicker and create a custard. Keep stirring until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve. Leave to cool a bit before using. Serve warm or allow to cool completely,stirring occasionally.
If you only make one dessert this spring, it really should be this one. You won't regret it! Bon Appetit!
I really love simple things . . . time and time again, I am reminded that it is the simple things in life which truly are the best . . . things like the sound of rain falling on the roof when I am laying all toasty warm in my bed, or the smell of roses, or the sound of the dawn chorus when I wake up in the morning. All simple things, and all things which money can't buy and that we, more often than not, take for granted.
Its the same with food . . . it is often the simple things we eat which bring us the most pleasure. Things like the crisp and sticky skin of a perfectly roasted chicken, tasting of salt and pepper and, well . . . chicken. Properly baked potatoes with crispy skins and fluffy insides, broken open and topped with a pat of butter along with some salt and pepper . . .
A crisp grilled cheese sandwich, golden brown and cut into fingers, dipped into hot tomato soup on a rainy day . . . the smell of beans baking in the oven, or . . . and this is the best of all, the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread, and then a slice of it still warm, with cold butter melting into it . . .
See??? Simple things . . .
Slices of sweet and rich brioche bread, soaked in a mix of cream, eggs and sugar, and then gilded until golden brown in a buttery hot pan . . .
Ddshed up and served warm on china plates . . . topped with dollops of ice cold clotted cream . . . rich Cornish clotted cream . . . scattered with fresh berries and dusted with icing sugar . . .
the heat of that golden eggy brioche melting that cold clotted cream until it runs in milky buttery rivulets . . . deliciously down over those golden buttery crisp edges of bread . . .
pooling into delicious little puddles . . . rich and creamy . . . so good with the sweet/tartness of those cold fresh berries . . .
Oh yes, it IS definitely the simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure, especially when you are sharing them with the people you love. You really can not beat them . . . you really can't . . .
*Pain Perdu with Clotted Cream & Berries*
Serves 4
Melt a knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan until it begins to foam. Add the slices of soaked brioche and cook first on one side until golden brown and then on the other. (while you are cooking them, you can be soaking the others. Repeat the soaking and cooking until it is all golden brown, keeping the browned slices warm in a low oven until you are done.
To serve divide the toast between four plates, topping each with a dollop of clotted cream and a handful of raspberries. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
This is fabulous, even made with ordinary bread. Just make sure you choose a bread with a soft crust. Your family will love it, wether you choose to have it for breakfast or for dessert. Either way, its the bomb! Bon Appetit!
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