Showing posts with label simple desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple desserts. Show all posts
One of my husband's favourite desserts has to be Custard Pie or Tarts. When I am grocery shopping, I will oftimes pick him up a couple of custard tarts to enjoy. He loves them. They are tall and thick and well coated with nutmeg.
I can't say I am overly fond, although I could not give you a reason why. I like custard, and I like nutmeg, I am just not that fond of Custard tarts . . . its a texture thing I think . . . they are pretty solid . . . I like my custard a bit creamier.
I do like this Magic Pie however. It is basically a lazy man's custard pie, except that it has a lot more going for it.
One . . . its very easy to make. Its as easy as stirring a few things together.
Two . . . it's not just plain custard, it is filled with lots of coconut and almonds. I love both of those.
If something has coconut and almonds in it, I am on board! Love, LOve, LOVE!
It uses things like flour, sugar, dessicated coconut, flaked almonds,eggs, milk, vanilla and melted butter, which you simply whisk together and pour into a buttered dish.
If you can measure things accurately and whisk, then you can make this pie. Its so simple, really. Just whisk, pour and bake. That's when the magic happens.
It kind of makes a crust, and a creamy coconut filling. Then there is that nutty topping.It puffs up really high in the oven.
You might be tempted to think . . . "UH OH" . . . when you first see it, but never fear . . . all is well . . .
It sinks back down once you have removed it from the oven and it sits for a while. Don't be afraid when you see how much it puffs up.
It really does puff up quite high. Also don't be afraid when it sinks back down. Its supposed to do that.
I like to dust it and prettify it up a bit with a light dusting of icing sugar when I go to serve it. It just adds a special extra something.
Its a bit like adding a bit of blusher to a plain gal's face, or a touch of lippy. Just brightens things up a little bit. You can leave it off if you don't want to of course.
This is an update of a recipe which I first baked some 8 years ago now. I wanted to take some nicer photos of this and I felt it was a recipe which was worth repeating for you.
You can see the original post here.
On that occasion I served it with some tinned spiced peaches . . . which was and is very good, today however . . .
I served it with some fresh raspberries and blueberries, because I happened to have them in. The tartness of the fresh berries goes very well with the sweetness of this tart . . .
And because I happened to have some in the refrigerator, I added a dollop of clotted cream to the top, which made it all the more irresistable.
This really makes for a lovely dessert all round. Rich, creamy, sweet, filled with texture and beautiful to look at. You can't ask for more than that in a dessert. I would serve this to company.
Serves 8
Printable Recipe
So called because, just like *magic*, presto chango!!! A pile of ingredients separates into three perfect layers! Delicious coconut custard pie that is fabulous served with cream or fruit, or both! I have converted to American measurements as best as I can.
75g plain flour, sifted (1/2 cup plus one scant TBS)
220g caster sugar (1 cup plus 1 TBS plus 1 tsp)
60g dessicated coconut (1/2 cup, slightly heaped)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g of butter, melted (1/2 cup plus 2 tsp)
40g of flaked almonds, divided (scant 1/2 cup)
500ml of whole milk (2 cups)
To serve:
Fresh or tinned fruit and or cream
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gas mark 4. Butter a deep 9 1/2 inch pie or flan dish well and set aside.
Whisk the flour, sugar, coconut, eggs, extract, butter and half of the nuts together in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring until completely amalgamated. Pour into the prepared dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes.
Serve cut into wedges along with some cream or fruit, if desired.
If you are looking for a simple and easy dessert to make this weekend, that is also moreisly delicious, look no further. This one fits the bill on all those counts. Very scrummy indeed!
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I got a really good deal at the grocery shop the other day on some plums. A whole punnet for only 25 pence! How could I resist! We love plums! They were as hard as a rock, of course, but that is not a problem if you plan on cooking them, in a crumble or a cake . . . but I had something else in mind.
When you can't get good fresh plums in season however, this is an excellent way to prepare them. Poached plums. Beautifully tender plums, with a lovely vanilla scented
and flavoured syrup spooned over top, with just a hint of lemon.
They are equally as good served with a dollop of tangy Greek Yoghurt or Creme Fraiche.
One bite and I was back in Austria where we holidayed one year . . . each morning they served us these lovely poached plums for breakfast, along with yoghurt and meusli. It was a gorgeously delicious and healthy breakfast.
One bite and I was back in Austria where we holidayed one year . . . each morning they served us these lovely poached plums for breakfast, along with yoghurt and meusli. It was a gorgeously delicious and healthy breakfast.
Poaching fruit is the perfect thing to do with supermarket fruit that you know will annoyingly rot before it actually ripens. Actually hard fruits are just wonderful done this way. It gives them new life. We like this with vanilla ice cream, but a dollop of Greek yoghurt or Creme Fraiche is always lovely too. You also don't need to keep the spices at just vanilla. Try using some bruised cardamom pods, cinnamon or cloves along with the vanilla!
8 plums, washed, cut in half and stoned
1 litre of water (4 cups)
190g caster sugar (1 cup)
a strip of lemon peel, no pith
the juice of half a lemon
1/2 a vanilla bean, split lengthwise
a strip of lemon peel, no pith
the juice of half a lemon
1/2 a vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Place the water, sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice in a deep skillet,
just large enough to hold all the plum halves in a single layer. Bring
to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the vanilla bean,
scraping out the seeds into the mixture. Simmer for about 5 minutes,
then add the plums cut side down. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Flip
them over and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes, just until they have
surrendered their firmness and absorbed some of the syrup. They should
be just tender to the tip of a knife. Scoop the plums out immediately
to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Cool the syrup down
as well. Spoon the fruit into dessert bowls and spoon some cooled
syrup over each serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a
dollop of Greek Yoghurt or Creme Fraiche. Store any leftovers in the
refrigerator.
I am so happy that lighter days are here and grateful for sunnier days as well. My food pictures turn out so much nicer!
You could be looking at your Christmas Dessert this year. I kid you not. I know . . . not a trifle, nor a pudding, not even a fruit cake. Instead it is a delicious cross between an apple cake and an apple pie and a cheesecake.
But it is none of those things . . . it's a Torte. A delicious Apple Torte!
With a shortbread-like buttery sweet pastry crust . . . you simply press into the pan. Easy peasy, no rolling out . . .
The crust is spread with raspberry jam and then you pour on that rich velvety cheesecake filling . . . which is as simple as beating together cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla . . .
This is probably the faffiest bit . . . four apples, peeled, cored, sliced and tossed together with cinnamon sugar . . . the faffy bit is laying them on top of the cheesecake filling in an attractive manner.
But that's not really much of a hardship, when you think of the end result. Try not to eat too many cinnamon sugar apple slices while you are doing it, lol. Me, I have a hard time resisting them. Sweet and crunchy and so cinnamony!
A sprinkle of slivered blanched almonds and its oven ready. I slivered my own this time instead of using flaked. It's Christmas after all and a little extra effort is worth the time it takes.
It bakes really quickly, 10 minutes at a high oven temp and then half an hour at a moderate oven temp. At the end you are rewarded with a delicious Christmas Dessert that will have everyone scrambling for seconds. All you need on top is a dollop of softly whipped cream. You can sweeten it if you want, but I am so anglicised now I prefer it plain.
*Apple Torte*
Serves 10 to 12
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready a 9-inch round spring form pan. Set aside.
Cream together the butter, vanilla and sugar for the base. Add the flour and mix until you have coarse crumbs. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of your pan. Spread the raspberry jam over the bottom. Whisk together the filling ingredients until smooth and pour over top of the jam. Toss the apple slices with the sugar and cinnamon. Arrange gently over top of the filling. Sprinkle with the slivered almonds.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Bake for a further half an hour until the apples are tender. Cool in the pan before removing sides.
Serve cut into wedges with or without a dollop of whipped cream if desired! Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Try to let it cool completely before slicing it. I think its even better left in the refrigerator overnight before slicing which also makes it a great dessert for Christmas dinner because you can do it the day ahead. It will slice perfectly on the day! Happy Holidays and Bon Appetit!
My husband is a very old fashioned man with very old fashioned tastes. If I want to make him extremely happy all I have to do is to make him a Rice Pudding. He adores rice pudding more than any other dessert execept for maybe apple pie and custard.
He is not overly fond of lemon desserts but when I saw this recipe for a Lemon Rice Pudding in a book I have called The Vicars Wife Cookbook by Elisa Beynon, I really wanted to give it a go. It sounded really nice and it was dead simple.
She won a cookbook deal in a Waitrose competition way back when I was still working at the Manor, and this book was the result of that. I have had the book for quite a while now and I am ashamed to say, this is the first time I have cooked a recipe from it. This pudding is an adaptation of the one in this book.
I really need to spend some time going through the book and seeing if there is anything else I might want to cook from it. It has never really been one of my favourites. Sadly today I discovered that she actually passed away in 2015. Its a really tragic and sad story. She was only 45.
Back to the pudding it is everything that a good rice pudding should be . . . it is rich and toothsome . . . comforting and the lemon flavours are an exciting twist to an old favourite. Even Todd who does not normally like lemon desserts said it was delicious.
It couldn't be any simpler to make. Short grained rice gets stirred together with whole milk and single cream (half and half). . . some sugar and lemon zest . . . and then baked long and slow in a low oven, giving it a stir every now and then. I used Paella rice because that is what I had and it worked very well.
At the end of it cooking it still looks quite thin, but you stir some lemon curd into it, either homemade (if you have it) or a good quality store bought one . . . and it magically thickens up so that it is just the right thickness. this is rich and lemony. I only had one taste and I could tell that this will even be fabulous served cold from the refrigerator. Todd practically licked the bowl clean!
*Lemon Rice Pudding*
Serves 4 - 6
Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark2.
Stir the rice, cream, milk, sugar and lemon zest together in a 1.2 litre/1 1/4 QT shallow baking dish. Place into the oven. Bake for 1 1/4 hours, stirring in the skin ever half hour. It will not look overly thick at the baking time, but don't worry about that. Stir in the lemon curd and more sugar if you think it needs it. Let stand for a few minutes and then serve. Not sure how it works but the lemon curd thickens it up very nicely.
If you are looking for a really simple, and delicious pudding to make for your family or friends this weekend, this will surely fit the bill on all counts! Rich and comforting. Bon Appetit!
This is not a pudding in the North American sense of the word, but . . . in the British sense of the word, it is the perfect Pudding. Over here pudding is just another word for dessert and this old fashioned cake with it fabulous Lemon Nutmeg sauce makes the perfect pudding!
The cake itself is a simple cake . . . quickly beaten together, with a mild lemon flavour . . .
On it's own its a very plain, simple, yet moist and delicious cake. Very good . . . but when you spoon over the warm sauce . . . it becomes quite remarkable!
This is a Lemon Nutmeg Sauce . . . again very simple to make and very simply flavoured . . . with fresh lemon zest and juice, freshly grated nutmeg . . . and mmm . . . gorgeous dairy butter.
Together the two . . . the cake and the sauce . . . become a pudding that will quickly elevate itself to the top of everyone's favourites list!
Look at that gorgeous sauce . . . golden, rich and studded with lovely flecks of nutmeg. I always grate my own nutmeg. It is so fresh and tasty!! I keep a container of whole nutmegs in my cupboard. They were a gift to me from a friend, who sadly is no longer with us, many moons ago. I think of him with fondness every time I use it.
*Cottage Pudding*
Serves 6
1/4 tsp lemon extract
156ml milk (2/3 cup)
pinch salt
300ml boiling water (1 1/4 cups)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 or 9 inch square baking tin really well. Set aside.
Cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, salt and lemon extract. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the creamed mixture in three lots, alternating with the milk, beating well after each addition. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
While the cake is baking make the sauce. Stir the sugar, salt and dissolved cornflour/water mixture together in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly over medum heat until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Turn down to low and simmer for five minutes. Blend in the butter, lemon zest, nutmeg and lemon juice. Keep warm.
To serve cut the cake into squares and spoon some of the warm sauce over top.
On its own the cake is delicious, but with the sauce this pudding/dessert is fabulous. Proof positive that the simple things in life really are the best. Taste doesn't have to be complicated to be good! Bon Appetit!
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