Daring Bakers November 09 Challenge: Chestnut Ricotta Filled Cannoli

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Cannoli are known as Italian-American pastries, although the origin of cannoli dates back to Sicily, specifically Palermo, where it was prepared during Carnevale season, and according to lore, as a symbol of fertility. The cannoli is a fried, tube-shaped pastry shell that is faintly flavoured with an interesting combination of cocoa powder, cinnamon and Marsala wine. Once fried they are filled with a creamy sweetened ricotta cheese and usually accompanied by chocolate, candied fruit and/or nuts. However, there is no reason why cannoli can’t also be filled with pastry creams, mousses, whipped cream, ice cream. Wine may sound an off ingredient to add to a dough but it is not only added for flavour, but also to relax the gluten in the dough which makes it easier to work with.

We were allowed to flavour our ricotta filling any way we wished and I decided to add chestnut puree to mine, as I love the flavour of chestnuts and they feel suitable festive for this time of year. The chestnut ricotta turned out very light and plesently creamy. It a very fresh young cheese meaning it wasn’t too rich which was ideal when paired with the fried dough. The chestnut flavour tasted wonderful against the faintly cinnamon cocoa flavoured dough and I also topped the cannoli with a few dark chocolate chips to finish.
Once the cannoli dough is made and rested it is rolled out until very thin before squares or circles are cut out and rolled around special cannoli moulds and then deep fried. I didn’t have any cannoli moulds, nor could I find any in the two kitchen shops I visited. I decided to try improvising my own by using the middle thick cardboard tube from the end of my clingfilm. It seemed the right sort of size and very study and I was able to get four good tubes from it. I felt quite pleased with my ingenuity and hoped it would work. I wrapped my dough around the tubes and dropped them into the hot oil. They dropped to the bottom of the pan then rose to the surface and started to sizzle – hurrah it worked – or so I thought. The dough stayed around the tubes for about 5 seconds before suddenly puffing up and springing free from the tubes into weirdly shaped blobs. Well darn. Strangely enough they also puffed up and became hollow, like very fragile fried profiterole shells. I’ve no idea why this happened but it did offer me a solution of how to fill my cannoli so it wasn’t a total loss.

I also fried the offcuts in little strips which I sandwiched together with more of the chestnut ricotta. These worked really well as they were easier to eat than my cannoli puffs. I enjoyed this challenge as I have never made…well attempted to make my own cannoli before. Both the cannoli shells and the chestnut ricotta filling were delicious. I’ll give it another go when I find some proper cannoli moulds. Thanks Lisa for choosing such a fun challenge. Click here to see Lisa’s perfect looking cannoli and for a list of other Daring Bakers.

Chestnut Ricotta Filled Cannoli
Cannoli Dough

250g plain flour

28g caster sugar

1 tsp cocoa powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp vegetable or olive oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

60ml sweet Marsala (or any white wine)

1 egg white

2 litres vegetable oil or any neutral oil for frying

Ricotta Filling

500g ricotta cheese, drained

50g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

110g chestnut puree

35g dark chocolate chips

Method – Cannoli

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.
Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until very thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (that will fit around your moulds). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.
Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them oiled). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.
In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 190C on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.
Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.
Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a cloth and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven glove or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.
Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

For the Ricotta Filling

Line a sieve with a cheesecloth or sheet of kitchen roll. Place the ricotta in the sieve, over a bowl, and cover with a saucer. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Once drained, beat the ricotta until smooth and creamy (mine didn’t go smooth, but it was creamy). Beat in the icing sugar, vanilla and chestnut puree and mix until smooth. Cover and chill until required.

To Assemble

Fill a pastry bag with the ricotta cream. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.
Press or dip the ends of the cannoli in the chocolate chips. Dust with a little extra icing sugar and serve straight away.
Leftover cannoli can be kept in an airtight container lined with kitchen roll. Do not fill the cannoli until required or else they will go soft.
Makes 22-24 cannoli
NOTE: The canolli shells can also be baked at 220C for 7-10 minutes until golden. However, they won’t be as nicely blistered compared to if they had been fried.

Bite Size Fruitcakes & Chocolate Truffle Squares for Afternoon Tea

As promised, here are the recipes for the other sweet treats I made for the afternoon tea party I had recently to accompany the macarons I made for this months Daring Bakers challenge. There was a selected of savoury sandwiches (including cucumber sandwiches with the crusts removed!), along with some of my favourite buttermilk scones served with clotted cream, jam and fruit, some bite size fruitcakes topped with marzipan flowers and some honeyed chocolate truffles served on tuile biscuit squares.

It made quite a spread and when rounded off with cups of freshly made tea and enjoyed in the company of friends and family it made for a most enjoyable afternoon. I do think it’s a shame that the tradition of afternoon tea has almost disappeared from our daily lives, but I for one vow to try and enjoy them at every possible occasion.

Bite Size Fruitcakes
You can’t have a traditional afternoon tea without the presence of fruitcake. As I was aiming for elegant food, I decided to experiment with baking the fruitcake mix in cannelé moulds in order to make them bite size. This worked a treat and when topped with a little marzipan flower I think they turned out rather dainty. You could eat a couple while still leaving room to sample other things and baking them individually meant they cooked very evenly and stayed wonderfully moist.

This is a scaled down version of my favourite fruitcake recipe. However, don’t feel you have to stick to it religiously. If you run out of one or more of the fruits, dried cranberries, peaches, pears, prunes or dates also work well. If you don’t want to use brandy then you could use a spiced fruit tea or apple juice instead.

Bite Size Fruitcakes
Fruit Mix
60g raisins
60g sultanas
60g currants
25g dried apricots
35g glace cherries
Zest of ½ lemon
Zest of ½ orange
1 tbsp brandy

Cake Mix
75g plain flour
½ tsp mixed spice
15g ground almonds
55g soft brown sugar
55g butter
2 tsp black treacle
1 egg
Zest of ½ lemon
Fruit mix (above)

Method – Fruit Mix
Weight out the raisins, currants and sultanas into a bowl. Sort through the fruit a handful at a time, removing any stalks still attached to the fruit (these won’t be nice to crunch on).Cut the apricots and cherries into small pieces and same size as the raisins. Grate over the zest of the orange and lemon.Drizzle over the brandy, give everything a stir and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for at least 4hours or preferably overnight to allow the fruit to absorb the brandy and plump up.

Cake Mix
Have two cannelé trays (around 35 moulds) ready to hand (you could also use mini muffin trays). Preheat the oven to 140C.Measure the lemon rind, flour, mixed spice, ground almonds, sugar, butter, treacle and egg into a very large bowl and mix together until smooth. (It will be quite stiff)Add the soaked fruits and mix everything together using a spatula, making sure the fruit is evenly distributed.Spoon the mixture into the cannelé moulds using a teaspoon. Fill almost to the top and press down gently to ensure no large air pockets remain trapped at the base.Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are starting to come away from the sides of the pan and a small skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.Allow the cake to cool in the moulds for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to cool.
Top with small marzipan flowers or discs if desired.
They keep well for a week in an airtight container. (They can be kept longer than this as fruitcake keeps for a long time but due to their small size they can start to dry out after a week).
Makes 35 bite size fruitcakes

Honeyed Chocolate Truffle Squares on Tuile Biscuits
I had to include something rich and chocolaty for the chocoholics in my family and these little truffle squares were ideal. You can flavour the chocolate truffle any way you wish but I decided to use a little blossom honey to add a floral note and a touch of sweetness. Adding a small amount of liqueur, the zest of an orange or some strong espresso would also be good. As the truffles were being served with the rest of the afternoon tea treats, I decided to make some small tuile squares on which to serve them. This made them easier to pick up and eat, as the truffles can turn slightly soft if they are left out for more than half an hour and I didn’t want people getting chocolate over their fingers – not ideal for an elegant tea party!

If you don’t want to make the tuile biscuits, dusting the truffle squares in cocoa powder will make them the perfect petit fours to serve with coffee after a dinner party.

Chocolate Truffles
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
100ml double cream
1 level tbsp blossom/runny honey

Method
Heat the cream and honey in a small saucepan or microwave until hot, but do not allow to boil.
Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the cream. Stir gently until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a small 15cm square shallow tray or container, which has been fully lined with clingfilm.
Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating for 2 hours.
Once chilled, remove the chocolate truffle sheet from the tray with the help of the clingfilm. Use a long sharp knife to cut the truffle into 1cm squares. Clean your knife with a sheet of kitchen roll between each cut to get neat squares.
Chill the squares until required.
To assemble, place each truffle square on top of a tuile square and serve immediately.

Tuiles
(Recipe from the Daring Bakers January challenge)
Ingredients

30g softened butter

30g sifted icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 egg white

33g plain flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Gradually add the egg white, white continuing to beat.
Add the flour, a teaspoon at a time until you get a smooth batter/paste. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut out a small square from card to act as a stencil, making sure its about 1cm larger than your chocolate truffle squares. Place the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula or small knife to spread over a thin layer of the paste before carefully removing the stencil. Leave some room in between your shapes.
Bake for about 4-5 minutes until crisp and golden. Watch them carefully as they can burn quite easily.
Meanwhile, prepare the next batch of tuile paste squares on a new piece of baking paper, ready to bake once the first batch is cooked (this saves time).
When the tuiles are baked, lift the baking paper off the baking sheet and replace with the next batch of tuile paste squares and bake as before.
Continue until you have enough squares.
They will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.

Daring Bakers October 09 Challenge: Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

There are two distinct types of macaroon/macaron. Usually the term “macaroon” refers to a chewy cookie made of coconut and egg white, often on a base of rice paper, but French “macarons” are either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites and are sandwiched together after baking. The filling usually consists of ganache, buttercream or jam. The flavour combinations are almost endless and for our challenge we were allowed to make them any flavour we wished.

Until this challenge I had never made macarons before. They had been on my ‘to bake’ list for many months but I had always put off doing them as I felt daunted by how elegeant and dainty they were and had heard they were difficult to make. So it was with nervous excitement that I set about this challenge.

Macaroon making is a little time consuming but not actually as difficult as you may think. Although, to achieved picture perfect macarons does require a lot of skill and mine could certainly be improved upon. One thing you must do is have your egg whites at room temperature. This ensures they beat up properly, as the meringue base texture is an integral component to macarons.

As this was my first time making macarons I decided to keep things fairly simple. I made the a basic vanilla macaron mixture which I then decorated and filled in two different ways to create two different flavours of macaron. I topped half the batch with some freeze dried raspberry pieces and filling them with raspberry jam and the other half I filled with chocolate ganache and topped with a dusting of cocoa powder. I’ll let you in on a secret – you can buy freeze dried raspberries but they are quite expensive, but they often come as part of a berry mix in some types of breakfast cereal – just fish them out and save yourself some pennies!

Everything was going well until I tried to remove the macarons from the paper. They had stuck fast and the thin sugar shells were so delicate that they shattered when I tried to ease them off. In a panic I sourced the internet for help and found some very helpful advice from Tartlette (who makes the most amazing looking macarons!). She suggested dampening the base of the paper in a little water, which would dissolve just enough of the sugar crystals to allow you to remove the macaron safety from the paper. This worked a treat and I’m so greatful to Tartlette for her advice. Just don’t leave them on the damp paper for longer than about 5 seconds or else the macarons will start to go soggy.

I was really quite proud of my little macarons. They look so dainty and elegant that I decided to host an afternoon tea party with my family and grandparents, complete with scones, finger sandwiches and a tier or miniature cakes, in order to show them off (recipes to follow). They had a thin delicate sugar shell with a moist, slightly chewy almond middle. I found the raspberry one a little sweet for my tastes, but I loved the chocolate one. The bitter dark chocolate was the perfect partner to the sweet crisp macaron.

Thanks Ami S for such an elegant challenge. Click to see other Daring Bakers macarons.

Macarons – vanilla & raspberry and chocolate & vanilla macaron varieties
(Recipe by Claudia Fleming from The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern)
Ingredients

225g icing sugar

190g ground almonds

25g granulated sugar

5 egg whites (must be at room temperature)
(I added 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Method
Preheat the oven to 93C. Combine the icing sugar and ground almonds in a medium bowl. (If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a half the icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery).Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.Sift a third of the almond mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond mix in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. Pipe 1inch/2.5cm sized mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners or parchment paper.Bake the macaron for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 190C. Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly coloured.Cool on a rack before carefully peeling off the paper and sandwiching together with your choice of filling. (If they appear stuck to the paper, don’t pull them. Cut around the macarons and brush the underside of the paper with a little water. Leave for 5 seconds for the paper to go damp before easily peeling off the paper. Don’t leave too long or your macarons will go soggy).
Makes 25-35 macarons depending on size.

I made all vanilla macaron shells but made two differently flavoured macarons from them. I topped half the batch with some freeze dried raspberry pieces and filling them with raspberry jam and the other half I filled with chocolate ganache and topped with a dusting of cocoa powder.

Swirled Pumpkin & Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

Autumn has well and truly arrived. The leaves have turned wonderful shades of russet red and golden amber, the daylight in dwindling and there is a distinct chill in the air. Autumn also marks the start of some of my favourite foods – squashes and root vegetables. Probably the most famous squash around this time is the pumpkin. When you say ‘pumpkin’ most people instantly think of the large orange pumpkins that are sold in supermarkets and destined to be turned into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. However, there is an almost numerous variety of pumpkins and squashes available, in a whole assortment of weird and wonderful shapes and colours so do try and hunt out some different ones.

Thanks to my obsession with food, when I recently heard the word ‘pumpkin’ I instantly thought of all the tasty baked pumpkin goodies I have recently seen appearing on blogs worldwide. One of the most popular choices this year seems to be pumpkin swirl chocolate brownies, as presented here by Liz, Joe and Esi. I decided it was high time I experimented with a sweet baked pumpkin treat myself (something which is not that common here in the UK) and loved the idea of combining it with chocolate. I have had a chocolate self saucing pudding recipe on my ‘to bake’ list for some time and decided to try and incorporate the two. This gooey looking pudding is the result!

I made my own pumpkin puree by cutting a pumpkin into chunks and then steaming it until tender and mashing it with a potato masher. This particular self saucing pudding is a little different to others I have tried, as it doesn’t contain any butter, only a little oil and no egg in the chocolate batter, so along with the added pumpkin puree you don’t need to feel too guilty eating it – just don’t look too closely at the sugar content. I added spices and a little cayenne to the pumpkin batter which added to the overall flavour but was not an obvious flavour. You mix the two batters separately and then swirl them together. I love how striking the two contrasting colours were, it was almost a shame to cover the surface with the sauce ingredients and flood it with water, but the resulting glossy chocolaty sauce was worth it.

Most self saucing puddings result in the sauce seeping to the bottom of the dish with the cakey batter on top. This did happen with my pudding but not all the sauce made it to the bottom. I think this was probably because the pumpkin made my batter heavier than a standard batter, resulting in a quirky bumpy pudding with pools of glossy sauce still flooding the surface, not quite what I planned but no less delicious.

I was thrilled when I took my first spoonful of the pudding to find the pudding underneath still nicely marbled pumpkin and chocolate and surrounded by plenty of the thick glossy chocolate sauce. This is not a light and fluffy pudding but if you like sticky, fudgy, stick-to-your-ribs type puddings then this is the one for you! Its definitely a comfort food and best eaten straight away, as the pudding starts to soak up the sauce if left until cold. This makes it go rather stodgy, but still oddly comforting. Some sauce does reappear if gently heated in the microwave. So although not one of the prettiest puddings I’ve made, it was certainly very tasty.

On a different note, you will notice that from now on I will be adding a watermark to my photos. This is because the lovely Elise from Simply Recipes alerted me to the fact that there is some guy completely ripping off/plagiarising my blog posts, blurb, recipes, photos, the lot!! I hope that he will cease to use my work once the photos come with a watermark – this is not ideal but I hope it will stop him! He’s doing it to other people too so be vigilant and look out for your friends!

Swirled Pumpkin & Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding
For the pumpkin batter
120g self raising flour
¼ tsp cayenne or chilli powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g mashed cooked pumpkin
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon

For the chocolate batter
150g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
100g caster sugar
160ml milk
1 tbsp neutral oil

For the sauce
70g light soft brown sugar
20g cocoa powder
1 tbsp cornflour
400ml boiling water

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and have a deep 9inch/23cm baking dish to hand.
To make the pumpkin batter simple add all the ingredients into a medium bowl and beat everything together, using an electric mixer, until all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
In another clean bowl, add all the ingredients for the chocolate batter and beat until smooth. (Both batters will be quite soft).
Spoon large dollops of the pumpkin and chocolate batters into the baking dish, alternating each variety with every spoonful. Use a skewer or small knife to swirl the batters together to create a marbled effect.
To make the sauce, mix the brown sugar, cornflour and cocoa powder together in a small bowl. Scatter the sugar-cocoa mixture evenly over the surface of the pudding batter.
Boil the kettle and pour the 400ml of boiling water over the surface of the sugar-cocoa mix.
Carefully transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. The batter should start to rise up above the surface of the liquid as it thickens and seeps below to form a sauce. The batter protruding from the sauce should feel firm and springy to the touch when ready. (Some of the sauce will remain on the surface)
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Best eaten straight away, as the pudding absorbs most of the sauce if left until cold. (This makes it go rather stodgy, but oddly comforting.)
Serves 8

Apple & Blackberry Cake: Spiced Bramley Apple Cake with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting & Coulis

It was my Grandmothers birthday a few weeks back and like me, she is a fellow fruit and foraging fanatic. This summer we have spent many a happy hour together, half engulfed by bushes down country lanes, picking plums and blackberries and enjoying days out at nearby pick-your-owns, digging up our own leeks and potatoes. When her birthday approached this year I was determined to bake her a special birthday cake making use of some of the fruits we had gathered together. As our most recent excursion had been blackberring I knew they would have to feature somewhere and decide to pair them with their best flavour companion, apple.

I have been working on my own recipe for apple sandwich cake layers, on and off, for some time now and have recently reached what I considered to be my ideal apple sponge cake. I decided that this would be the perfect time to give it its debut. It makes use of lots of freshly made Bramley apple puree and, naturally where I’m concerned, spices. The resulting cake is wonderfully moist but without it being dense or stodgy. It smells incredible during baking, sweet, warm apples and a mix of fragrant spices, reminiscent of cider warming on the hob at Christmas.

The blackberry cream cheese frosting was a bit of a wild card. I had an idea of adding lots of blackberry puree into the frosting, but I wasn’t at all sure it would work without turning into a runny goo, but I knew if I didn’t try, I would never know. I thickened the puree with a little arrowroot which stopped it being so ‘wet’ while ensuring its colour remained bright and glossy. I’m thrilled to say it worked well. I used half the coulis in the frosting which turned a gorgeous shade of purple, and spread the remaining half over the top of the finished cake as a glaze, which added an extra hit of intense blackberry flavour.

This finished cake was absolutely packed full of apple flavour - fresh and slightly sharp, that seemed to explode in your mouth, followed by an undertone of warming spices. The frosting was thick, creamy and smooth with a distinctive tang of fresh blackberries and such a striking natural colour! When paired together, the resulting cake with its moist spiced apply sweetness, velvety frosting and fruity twang is nothing short of heavenly.

The cake was meant to be a triple layer cake, but one of my cake layers suffered an accident, so I ended up only making a double layer cake – I was initially disappointed, but on the plus side this meant we had some leftover frosting to serve with the cake, which can never be a bad thing. So happy birthday Grandma! Thank you for so many happy fruit filled memories.

Spiced Bramley Apple Cake with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting & Coulis

(Recipe by me)

Spiced Apple Cake

400g plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

220g butter

200g light soft brown sugar

4 eggs

Apple puree (see below)

Bramley Apple Puree

4 Bramley apples

200ml water

150g caster sugar

Blackberry Coulis

700g blackberries (400ml blackberry juice)

70g caster sugar

1 tsp arrowroot

Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting

250g icing sugar

200g cream cheese

100g butter

Half the blackberry coulis (above)

100ml double cream for decoration

Method – Bramley Apple Puree

Peel and core the Bramley apples and cut into small chunks. Place the apple into a saucepan and add the water.

Heat and allow to cook until softened and starting to break down and turn mushy. Stir in the sugar and allow to cook for a further 5 minutes until all of the water has evaporated and the apple is thick and pulpy. Remove from the heat and mash gently with a fork until a smooth puree is formed. Set aside to cool.

Spiced Apple Cake

Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease three 8inch/20cm sandwich pans and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar until well combined and soft. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the prepared apple puree (the mix will look very runny at this point, but this is ok).

Scatter the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices over the surface of the batter. Fold the dry ingredients into the batter using a large spatula or spoon, until no flour streaks remain.

Divide the batter evenly between the three cake tins (they will be very full).

Bake for 30-35 minutes until risen, lightly golden brown and springy to the touch. (The batter will rise to the top of the tin during baking, but will sink back down slightly on cooling).

Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 15 minutes before unmoulding onto a cooling rack, peeling off the base paper and leaving to cool.

Blackberry Coulis

Rinse the blackberries under cool running water to remove any dust or dirt. Place the berries into a large pan and crush them slightly to release some of their juices. (There is no need to dry the berries first, as any water that remains on the berries will help start the cooking process).

Heat the blackberries and bring the mixture to the boil as the juices are released. Allow to boil for 15 – 20 minutes then remove from the heat.

Position a large bowl under a sieve and push the fruit through the sieve to remove the pips, catching the juice in the bowl below.

Rinse out the pan and pour the blackberry juice back in. Stir in the sugar and bring the mixture back to the boil.

Boil for 10 minutes until the juice has reduced by nearly half.

Dissolve the arrowroot in 2 tsp of cold water and add to the pan, stirring well. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has thickened and become slightly jelly like.

Remove from the heat and pour the coulis into a bowl and leave to cool before refrigerating until cold before using.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and well combined. Sift over the icing sugar, a third at a time, beating well between each addition.

Fold in half of the cooled blackberry coulis, reserving the rest for later.

Cover and refrigerate for an hour, to firm up, before using.

To Assemble

Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate and spread over a quarter of the blackberry cream cheese frosting. Top with another cake layer, another quarter of the frosting and top with the final cake layer.

Use the remaining half of the frosting to generously cover the top and sides of the cake.

Whip the double cream until soft peaks form. Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe a border of cream around the top outside rim of the cake and another middle ring of you wish.

Using the reserved blackberry coulis, drizzle it over the top of the frosted cake, inside the piped cream border. Gently spread it out into an even layer to cover the whole top of the cake. (I found putting the coulis into a squeezy bottle helped).

Decorate with extra flowers or candles as you wish.

Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Store any leftovers in the fridge and eat within 3-4 days.

Serves 12-16

(Makes an 8inch/20cm triple layer cake – I only ended up with a two layer cake as my third layer had an unfortunate accident with the floor!)

Apple & Blackberry Pie

It has been a good year for blackberries and over the past couple of weeks I have collected quite a stash from the hedgerows. You have to have nimble fingers to avoid the sharp pointy thorns with which the berries are guarded, but the odd prick and scratch is worth it to get your hands on these flavoursome berries.

I have frozen the majority of the blackberries, in readiness for the next time a berry dessert, cake or coulis is required, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to bake some into a delicious pie - an apple and blackberry pie! These two fruits are so quintessentially English and autumnal that even the words “apple and blackberry” bring a smile to me face. When paired together inside a pie the blackberries release their moody purple juice, staining the apple a beautiful purple colour, allowing the flavours to intermingle with delicious results.

You don’t need to be too precise about how you pile in the fruit or add the pastry top. I actually think the more higgledy-piggledy the better, as it means the pastry bakes into golden bumps and lumps as the fruit inside cooks and softens, giving it a very homely appeal. The way the juice and fruit tumbles out as you cut into it is so heart warming. I love it served warm with custard, but it also tastes good cold, when it’s become a little firmer and can be cut into nice thick slices.

Apple & Blackberry Pie
Ingredients
400g sweet shortcrust pastry
2 large cooking apples (Bramley)
225g blackberries
30g ground almonds or breadcrumbs
70g caster sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 egg

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Have an 8inch/20cm fluted tart tin ready on a baking tray.
Cut the pastry into two pieces, one piece larger than the other, around two-thirds and one-third. Wrap the smaller piece of the pastry in clingfilm and place in the fridge until required.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the larger piece of pasty to form a circle large enough to fit into the fluted tin. It should be about 4-5mm thick.
Line the tin with the pastry and press gently into the edges. Lay a large piece of clingfilm on top of the pastry and fill with baking beans or rice, to act as a weight. Gather up the clingfilm together to form a pouch.
Blind bake the pastry case for 15 minutes until beginning to go golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and gently take out the pouch of baking beans.
Crack the egg into a mug and lightly whisk to combine. Brush the partly cooked pasty case with the egg wash, all over the base and sides (save the egg wash for use again later). Return it to the oven for 8 minutes more to become golden. Then set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, gently wash the blackberries to remove any dust and place them into a large bowl. Peel, quarter and core the apples and cut then into 3-4mm thick slices and add to the blackberries.
Mix the sugar and mixed spice together before sprinkling over the fruit. Use your hands to toss them all together, to evenly coat the fruit in the spiced sugar. It’s ok if some of the blackberries get squashed and ‘bleed’ their juices into the apple, I think it actually makes it more attractive.
Scatter the ground almonds or breadcrumbs over the base of the pastry case (this helps prevent the pastry from going too soggy from the fruits juices).
Pile the sugared fruit into the pastry case, it should rise into a mound above the rim of the tart as it will soften and sink down during cooking.
Remove the remaining pastry from the fridge and roll out into a large circle. Drape it over the top of the fruit and press it down onto the rim of the pastry base to seal. Use any offcuts to form little pasty shapes or decorations for the top.
Poke three small holes in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to escape during cooking. Brush the whole thing with the leftover egg wash and scatter over an extra tablespoon of sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes at 200C before reducing the temperature to 180C and baking for 25-30 minutes more, until golden brown.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before attempting to remove it from the tin.
Serve hot or cold with cream, ice cream or custard (or all three!)
Serves 8-10

Daring Bakers September 09 Challenge: Vol-Au-Vents with Homemade Puff Pastry

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

In order to make vols-au-vents you need puff pastry (aka pâte feuilletée) and it was making our own puff pastry that was the main focus of this months challenge. Puff pastry is in the ‘laminated dough” family, along with Danish pastry dough and croissant dough. A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter, called the “beurrage” that is enclosed in dough, called the “détrempe.” This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly. A process known as “turning.” This turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. Unlike Danish or croissant dough, puff pastry contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise in its characteristic thin, crisp and flakey layers.

We were then instructed to make vols-au-vents with our puff pastry, which we were allowed to make the size and shape of our choosing. I decided to stick to circular vols-au-vents in two sizes. I made smaller ones which became raspberry and lime cream tarts and larger ones which were baked around a stuffed mushroom which I enjoyed for dinner.

The dough, although a little time consuming, was quite straightforward to make. It was rather fun attacking the large lump of butter with a rolling pin and beating it into a flat oblong before encasing it in the dough. It certainly helped release any pent up stress! Once rolled, cut and assembled I thought they looked rather like buttons, especially with their prick marks to prevent the bases from rising.

I was thrilled when the sides rose up straight, tall and turned beautifully golden. They were also very light and crisp with many buttery flakey layers that made a great freshly-baked-crispiness crunch as you bit into them. Once filled with a lime cream and topped with the last of this seasons raspberries they tasted divine and were much enjoyed by my family.

You are not meant to re-roll puff pastry as it disrupts all the perfectly aligned layers, but I couldn’t bear to throw my scarps away and so made a few cinnamon palmiers with the offcuts.

Thanks Steph for such a great challenge choice. Don’t forget to visit the blogroll to see other Daring Bakers vol-au-vents.

Vol-Au-Vents with Homemade Puff Pastry

This recipe makes about 1kg of puff pastry, but you can halve it quite easily.
Ingredients

500g plain flour

1 tsp salt (use less if making a sweet filling)

300ml ice cold water

455 g very cold unsalted butter
1 egg, beaten for glaze

Mixing the Dough
Put the flour and salt in the food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)
Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of clingfilm and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.
Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

Making the Turns
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich.
Brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter. You have completed one turn.
Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough
If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.
The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day.

Assembling and Baking
Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 3-6 mm thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.
Use cookie cutters to cut out circles of dough. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides.
Use a smaller cutter to remove the centre from half the circles, to leave you with a ring of pastry. Place a ring of pastry on top of each pastry round and dock the base with a fork (but not the ring).
Transfer them to a baking tray and lightly glaze them with a beaten egg, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise).
Once assembled, refrigerate vols-au-vents on the baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 200ºC. (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)
Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 180ºC, and continue baking until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more depending on their size.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature for cold fillings or leave warm for hot fillings.


For the Stuffed Mushrooms
2 portobello mushrooms
1 small red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp pesto

Heat the oven to 190C.
Slice the onion into strips and fry in the oil along with the thyme until just starting to soften. Add the vinegar and fry for 1 minute more before removing from the heat.
Arrange the onions in the base of an unbaked vol-au-vent case, which has been cut big enough to incorporate the mushroom (I used a saucer for a cutter).
Place the mushrooms on top of the onions, with the underside facing upwards.
In a small bowl, rub the pesto into the breadcrumbs and divide among the mushrooms, pressing it into the underside cavity.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry has risen around the mushrooms and turned golden brown and the mushroom is softened and juicy. Serve immediately.


For the Raspberry and Lime Filling
300ml double cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime
150g raspberries
Redcurrant or raspberry jam for glazing

Place the cream into a bowl. Finely grate the rind off the lime and add it to the bowl of cream along with the juice. Add the sugar and whip until soft peaks form. (This should be very quick as the limes acidity speeds up the process).
Spoon the cream into the cooled vol-au-vent cases and top with the raspberries.
Heat a little jam until runny and lightly brush over the top of the raspberries to glaze them.
Serves 6-8 dependant on size