Christmas Pudding for Stir Up Sunday!

Today is Stir Up Sunday – the official day to stir together a delicious mix of dried fruits and spices to make your Christmas pudding. Every year the last Sunday in November, the last Sunday before the start of advent, is the official day to make your xmas pud. It is a tradition that has been going on for decades, possibly centuries, and one I hope continues for many more to come. I love the thought that today people all over the country are today making a pudding for their friends and relatives to eat and enjoy on Christmas day. It’s the kind of unity and homely food based tradition that I love.

Christmas pudding is not too dissimilar to Christmas cake. Your soak your fruits in alcohol before using them, like a Christmas cake, but then combine this mix into a spiced breadcrumb and suet batter. I always made my own breadcrumbs from crumbling up some gluten free bread and use frozen grated butter in place of the suet (which is usually coated in wheat flour). This fruity, spicy mixture is placed into a pudding basin and part boiled, part steamed for several hours to create a densely fruited, rich, spicy and incredibly moist fruit pudding. It has all the flavours of Christmas cake only in a squishier, softer and more intense form. The pudding mix doesn’t look all that appetising before it’s steamed, but it transforms into a lovely dark and sticky pudding after its steaming session. You get the added bonus of it filling the house with a fabulous rich and spicy Christmas scent as it happily simmers away.

 

Like Christmas Cake, the pudding is kept for several weeks to allow the flavour to mature and develop. Then on Christmas day the pudding is heated, doused in Brandy and set alight! The lights are quickly turned down and people ‘ohhh’ and ‘arrrrh’ as wispy blue flames dance around the pudding creating a spectacular end to the Christmas meal. There can’t be many foods that people look forward to intentionally setting on fire! The only other one I can think of is Baked Alaska and that’s more of a gentle torching rather than dousing it in a flammable liquid and setting it alight! However, the actual flames last mere seconds, so no harm comes to the pudding itself, its too moist to get scorched or burnt.

The pudding requires 5 hours of boiling/steaming, but don’t let that put you off. As long as you check the water level a couple of times during cooking, it can be left to its own devises. It’s quite relaxing pottering around the house and listening to it gently simmering, filling the kitchen with the warm spicy note of Christmas. I always like to line the base of the pan I steam it in with some paper. This protects the pudding from the direct base heat of the pan and stops it making too much noise from the pudding basin hitting the side of the pan as it simmers. It’s a great way to make use of some of the tedious junk mail and unwanted catalogues that always get pushed through the letterbox at this time of year.

 

This year I decided to place a thin slice of orange at the base of my pudding, which I hope will give a pretty top when turn out. I’d only got the one orange and when I came to slice it I found it was rather a unique orange in that the inner segments formed more of a random mosaic pattern than the usual triangular segments! While not quite the effect I was after, I think it will certainly look pretty on the pudding so I used it anyway. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Right now it’s wrapped up tight and awaiting its final steam on Christmas day.

Gluten Free Christmas Pudding

Ingredients

230g raisins
125g sultanas
50g glace cherries (check they are GF)
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
100ml Brandy (I used Amaretto)
20g chopped pecans
50g grated frozen butter
30g gluten free brown breadcrumbs (crumbled from 1 slice of GF bread)
50g gluten free plain flour
90g dark soft brown sugar
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground star anise (or clove)
½ tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Method
The day before (or up to 3 days before), chop the cherries in half and place into a bowl along with the rest of the dried fruits. Grate the orange and lemon zest over the top and pour in the Brandy. Give everything a good stir, cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside for 24 hours (or up to 3 days) to allow the fruits to plump up and absorb some of the Brandy.
The next day, place all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Add the soaked fruits, scraping in any leftover juices. Mix together lightly with a wooden spoon or spatula until everything is evenly combined.
Place a small disc of parchment paper in the base of a 1½ pint pudding basin. Place a thinly sliced disc of orange in the base (optional).

Fill the basin with the pudding mix, pressing down lightly. Place another disc of parchment on top and cover the top of the basin with a sheet of foil that you have folded a pleat into the middle of, to allow the pudding to rise during steaming.
Tie a long strip of string around the top rim of the pudding and then secure it over the top of the basin from one side to the other to form a string handle. (This will help you retrieve the pudding from the pan later without burning yourself).
Lay sheets of newspaper (or junk mail) in the base of a large saucepan. (This protects the base of the pudding from the direct heat from the stove and stops it rattling around inside your pan.) Place the pudding on the papers before filling the pan with boiling water from the kettle, until it reaches halfway up the side of the pudding basin.
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to the merest of simmers, cover with the lid and leave to simmer gently for 5 hours. It should be barely bubbling.
Every 2 hours lift the lid of the pan to check the water level. Add more boiling water if it’s looking low.
Once the 5 hours is up, lift the pudding out of the pan with the help of the string handle. Place on a cooling rack, remove the foil and leave until cool. Leave it in the basin and with the parchment disc still on top. Once cooled, wrap the whole pudding, basin and all, tightly in clingfilm and store in a cool dark place until required, the longer the better.
On Christmas Day, steam the pudding again for 2 hours to heat through thoroughly. Turn out onto a serving plate that has a rim. Carefully warm a ladleful of Brandy, then set light to it with a match or lighter and quickly pour it over the pudding to flambé. Serve with Brandy butter, Brandy cream or custard once the flames have extinguished.
Makes 1 pudding, to serve 6 – 10 people

Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts

Tis the season for pumpkin and spice and all things nice. In the UK we have never really got into pumpkin based desserts like they have in America and most of the pumpkins sold in UK supermarkets around Halloween are grown purely for the purpose of carving into lanterns and are far too bland and watery for eating. Luckily it is now possible to buy tins of densely packed pumpkin puree which is rich in both colour and flavour and perfect for baking.

With that in mind, I decided to try my hand at making baked pumpkin doughnuts. Seeing as it’s been National Chocolate Week this last week (how did I miss that?!) I also included a few dark chocolate chips in the batter.

Pumpkin loves spices and so I used a mix of freshly grated nutmeg and mixed spice in the pumpkin batter as well as generously coating my still warm doughnuts in cinnamon sugar. The raw batter had the taste and aroma of a spiced gingerbread, only slightly more earthy. The pumpkin lent its own special mysterious sweet earthy flavour which was only enhanced by the spices.

Baked doughnuts are sturdier and a little more cakey than their yeasted, fried counterparts but when eaten warm, with their spiced sugar coating and little pockets of gooey melted chocolate chips they were fabulous. I loved the bright golden glow from the pumpkin and they were light and moist, reminiscent of a good carrot cake.

I discovered, like scones, they are best eaten on the day of baking or else freezing. I kept a few overnight and the next day they were denser and the cinnamon sugar has dissolved into the doughnut. They were still very moist and tasty, but needed a short blast in the microwave to refresh them. So I’d recommend either freezing them or else eat them all on the day you bake them – what a hardship!

What’s your favourite way to eat pumpkin? Oh and if you can’t find tinned pumpkin puree, a cooked and mashed sweet potato would be just as good, just don’t mash it with butter or milk!

Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts with Cinnamon Sugar

(Recipe adapted from The BiteSized Baker blog)

Pumpkin Doughnuts

150g brown rice flour

25g tapioca starch

15g potato starch or white cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp mixed spice

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

75ml sunflower oil

100g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g (½ can) canned pumpkin puree (or mashed sweet potato)

110ml milk

40g dark chocolate chips

Cinnamon Sugar

50g caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 175C. Grease two 6 holed doughnut pans and set aside.

For the cinnamon topping, combine the sugar and cinnamon together on a plate and set aside for use later.

For the doughnuts, in a medium bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, do not over mix the batter.

Using a piping bag, fill each doughnut ring with the batter, until it reaches nearly to the rim.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the doughnuts are lightly golden and look set. They should have a little spring when pressed. Leave to cool for 2 minutes before running a small knife around the edge and carefully lifting out of the pan. They will be a little fragile when still warm so be careful.

Toss the still hot doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar and place on a cooling rack. Alternatively leave until cool before topping with the glaze of your choice.

Delicious eaten when still warm. For best results, eat or freeze on day of baking.

Makes 10-11 doughnuts

Gooseberry, Raspberry & Almond Crumble

A few weekends ago I went to a PYO (Pick Your Own) fruit farm and enjoyed a happy but rather prickly hour picking my own gooseberries and raspberries. After munching on a few I decided I wanted to bake something with them and decided on crumble.

Gooseberries and raspberries look so pretty together, their contrasting red and green colours look so striking and as they are both in season together, it makes sense that they would taste good baked together too.

I lightly cooked the gooseberries first, just so they started to soften as they were a lot bigger and firmer than the raspberries. I love the flavour of almond with fruit and so added a little almond extract to the fruit and sugar base and then some ground almonds to the crumble topping. I was actually surprised how fragrant and inviting this made the crumble smell while it was baking. Warm sweet fruit and heady almond is a match made in heaven in my opinion.

I also added a few gluten free oats to the topping, as I like the little bit of texture they add. You can leave them out or replace them with some flakes almonds if you can’t tolerate gluten free oats.

The finished crumble was fabulous. The juices had escaped from the gooseberries and mingled with the jammy raspberries to form a delicious sweet and sticky pink syrup with a lovely subtle almond flavour. The gooseberries themselves were a mix of sweet and intense sharpness. I found the ones that had burst seemed to take on some of the sugar and were nicely sweet and syrupy, while the few that remained intact released a burst of tart fruity sharpness when bitten into. I know plenty of people who would have found this too sharp, but I loved it. It also helped prevent the pudding from being too sweet. I love tart sharp flavour – I have been known to eat raw cooking apple! If you like your sweets to be sweeter simply taste a gooseberry and add more sugar before baking.

It was the perfect fresh and fruity summer dessert and the zingy colourful fruity was definitely the star of the show.

Gooseberry, Raspberry & Almond Crumble

Fruit

450g gooseberries

40g caster sugar *see note below

½ tsp almond extract

150g raspberries

Crumble Topping

75g brown rice flour

15g tapioca starch

30g ground almonds

30g gluten free oats

50g butter

45g light soft brown sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Place the gooseberries into a pan along with 2 tbsp of water and cook gently until they are just starting to soften and a few are beginning to burst. You don’t want to cook it until you have puree.

Remove from the heat and stir in the caster sugar and almond extract.

Spoon the gooseberry mixture into a baking dish approx 5x8inches, and scatter the raspberries over the top.

Make the crumble topping by mixing together the flours, oats, almonds and brown sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mix.

Rub the butter into the flour using the tips of your fingers, lifting them up above the bowl and letting the mix fall back into the bowl as you rub.

Continue until you have a mix of small clumps and fine crumbs of crumble.

Scatter the crumble over the top of the fruit and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Also tastes great cold or served with custard if desired.

*Note: some gooseberries can be very sharp and sour tasting. Taste a gooseberry when they have been lightly cooked and mixed with the sugar. If it is too tart for your liking, add 20g+ more sugar to taste.

Mint Choc Chip Frozen Yoghurt

Growing up I don’t think I was really aware of having a favourite ice cream flavour, but now, looking back I think it would probably be mint choc chip. We didn’t have it that often as my two siblings always preferred chocolate, but I have very fond memories of being able to choose a mint Feast ice cream from the ice cream van or the rare occasions when mum would present a mint Viennetta ice cream slice rather than a homemade dessert after dinner.

Mint is quite a unique flavour and I think that fact it was usually always dyed a pale green colour helped with the attraction. Nowadays my ice cream preferences have become a bit more sophisticated with hazelnut or coconut and lime being some of my favourite (and hard to find) flavours.

Last weekend I ended up with two large tubs of yoghurt, having forgotten I’d already bought some, and in a moment of nostalgia I decided to turn one tub into mint choc chip frozen yoghurt.

I added brandy to the mix, not for flavour, but because I had read that adding a little alcohol to homemade ice cream will help prevent it from being too icy or freezing too solid, as it has a lower freezing point than water. I think vodka would be ideal, but as I didn’t have any brandy did the job perfectly. The resulting frozen yoghurt was smooth and creamy and certainly seemed to melt a lot quicker than previous ice creams I’ve made – this could be good or bad depending on how quickly you want to eat it.

Eating this ice cream brought back fond summer holiday memories of hot sandy beaches and playing with the water hose in the back garden. I also found the mint flavour really refreshing on a hot afternoon. One thing I discovered is that it is very important to chop your chocolate into very fine pieces. I left a few chunky bits in mine, thinking I was being generous and it would be nice to hit a big bit of chocolate, but in reality the chocolate was very firm and hard and I actually much preferred the smaller flakes of chocolate against the soft frozen yogurt, much better than the occasional big chunk that I had to crunch and chew.

Does anyone else have any ice cream flavours that bring back memories of their childhood?

Mint Choc Chip Frozen Yoghurt

Ingredients

500g Greek yoghurt

1½ tsp peppermint extract

50g caster sugar

1½ tbsp brandy

1/8 tsp green food dye paste

60g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Method
Set your ice cream to freeze*

Combine the yogurt, caster sugar, peppermint extract and brandy together in a bowl. Mix until the sugar has dissolved. Taste and add a little more sugar if you prefer it sweeter. (The mint and sugar should take more pronounced that you would usually like, as the flavours lessen on freezing.)

Take one tablespoon of the yogurt mix and combine it with the green food dye paste until the paste is smooth and well combined. Then stir this concentrated green yoghurt mix back into the rest of the yoghurt until you have reached your desired strength of green. (I like using the pastes as these are more concentrated and don’t add any extra liquid to your mix).

Pour the yoghurt mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to manufactures instructions. When it is starting to thicken and holds its shape and the finely chopped chocolate and leave to continue freezing and mixing until thick and softly set.
Transfer the ice cream to a plastic Tupperware container and place in the freezer to stiffen up for around 1 hour. If left longer, you may want to leave it to soften for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Note* If you don’t have an ice cream maker, simply pour the yoghurt mix into a plastic container and place in the freezer. Take it out every half and hour and give it a bit of a whisk to ensure an even freezing, until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

Crustless Lemon Tart with Mango, Basil & Elderflower

Not too long ago I bought a large net of lemons intending to make a hot baked lemon pudding cake, but then boom, we are suddenly in the middle of the hottest weather we have experienced in 6years and the idea of baking and eating a hot dessert was no longer appealing.

I still wanted to enjoy some weekend baking but it had to be quick, simple and fresh. I decided to use my lemons to make something zingy and chilled. I find citrus so refreshing in hot weather. Instantly I thought of a lemon tart, but didn’t want the hassle of having to make and bake my own gluten free pastry. Instead I decided to simply make the filling and bake these into little dishes, which I could then eat chilled. This also meant minimal preparation and amount of time the oven had to be on.

I based the recipe on one of Delia’s for a lemon tart. This called for cream which I didn’t have, so instead I used yogurt which I thinned with a little milk. This worked really well and gave the finished ‘tart’ a fresh and clean taste, rather than making it too rich and creamy.

The lemon mix only needs lightly whisking together and it’s ready. I chose to bake it in a water bath as without the pastry crust, and in individual servings, I felt it was at risk of over baking from the dry heat in the oven. This worked well and resulted in a thin firmer top with a delicious, softly set, almost crème brulee like zingy lemon filling.

To make the dessert extra special I served it with some tiny cubes of super sweet fresh mango that I first marinated in basil and homemade elderflower syrup. The basil may sound like a strange addition, but it just added another clean fresh note, without being too obviously basil. Mint would be a great substitute too. The floral mango and elderflower went perfectly with the fresh and zingy lemon.

The desserts were fresh, light and zingy. If you can image stirring lemon curd into a set custard that’s the kind of flavour and consistency you get, only slightly lighter. The perfect sweet treat to enjoy after a light dinner on a hot day.

Crustless Lemon Tart with Mango, Basil & Elderflower

Ingredients

80-100ml lemon juice

Zest of 2 lemons

2 eggs

60g caster sugar

50ml milk

40g Greek yoghurt

To serve

½ ripe mango

2 basil leaves (or mint)

3 tsp homemade elderflower syrup (or lemon syrup or Limoncello)

Cream or Greek yoghurt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Lightly whisk together the eggs and sugar, you want them combined, but not fluffy.

Add the lemon zest and juice and stir to combine.

Mix the yoghurt and milk together and then add to the lemon mixture.

Mix until smooth and combined.

Divide the lemon mix between two pudding dishes (approx 12cm diameter) or 3 ramekins.

Place the dishes or ramekins into a deep sided baking tray. Add boiling water from the kettle carefully into the tin, so that it reaches half way up the sides of the dishes.

Place into the oven for 15-18 minutes.

They should be softly set on top and still slightly wobbly in the centre when baked.

Remove from the oven and take the dishes out of the water bath. Leave to cool for 1 hour before chilling in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Meanwhile, slice one mango cheek into thin fingers, remove the skin and cut into cubes about 5mm square.

Place into a small bowl along with 2 finely shredded basil or mint leaves.

Drizzle over 3tsp elderflower syrup and stir until evenly coated.

Chill in the fridge until required.

To serve, place a large spoonful of the marinated mango onto the chilled lemon dessert. Serve with a blob of lightly whipped cream or thick Greek yoghurt.

Eat and enjoy

Serve 2-3 depending on dish used

Note: Recipe can easily be doubled or quadrupled as required

To make your own elderflower syrup

Elderflower grows wild in huge bushy patches almost everywhere. Make sure the flowers are pure white and fragrant. If they are yellow, they are past their best.

Pick the flowers off a large bunch of elderflower and place into a saucepan with 1 pint of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and leave until cool.

Strain the water through a fine sieve or muslin to remove the elderflowers. Weigh the amount of water you have left and add the same quantity of caster sugar.

Stir together and bring back to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and then allow to bubble until thick and syrupy.

Transfer to clean seteralised jars that you have first heated in the oven.

Store in the fridge

Great in drinks, over ice cream or yogurt or drizzled over fresh fruit or cake

Cherry Brandy & Chocolate Surprise Cheesecake

Do you ever have some days or weeks where you are craving a certain food or flavour and you just can’t get it out of your head? Last weekend for me that was cheesecake. I just had a craving for it that wouldn’t go away. Normally my dessert of choice is something cakey or spongy, but last weekend I wanted rich, creamy indulgent cheesecake!

Being coeliac sadly means I can’t pop down the shops for a quick cheesecake fix, but have to make one myself. However this has its advantages. Not only do I love baking, but baking it yourself allows you the freedom to be as simple or wacky as you want with the flavours, plus at the end you end up with an entire cheesecake to devour, rather than a single slice wahhhha!

As I went cream cheese hunting I instead discovered a different sort of soft cheese called Quark. This cheese is almost like a cross between cream cheese and ricotta and feeling adventurous I decided t use it as the base for my cheesecake. This proved to be a very good idea as the Quark was thicker and creamier than normal cream cheese, which I’ve found can sometimes go a little runny when I’ve baked with it in the past. Like ricotta, the Quark is made with strained milk, meaning it’s a lot healthier than cream cheese too, all the more reason for a bigger slice!

I had a jar of Morello cherries in syrup that I had been wandering what to do with and so decided to make a cherry studded cheesecake. Cherry Brandy flavoured ice lollies used to be one of my favorites. I’d buy them from the ice cream van outside school and feel ever so grown up as it had ‘brandy’ in the title (can you still get these?) I decided to soak the cherries overnight in Brandy to give them a bit of more a kick.

Chocolate always goes well with cherries and so I made a chocolate biscuit base for my cheesecake, which also added a nice colour contrast. While preparing my cheesecake I suddenly decided to create a hidden middle layer of chocolate cheesecake, encased in the cherry cheesecake. This created a fun surprise when the cheesecake was sliced, as from the outside all you could see was the pale cherry. Chocolate and cherry are also a fabulous flavour pairing.

As I still had some cherry juice leftover I made a quick cherry jelly using a little of the agar agar powder I have been experimenting with recently. This finished the cheesecake off nicely and gave it a wonderfully glossy mirror top.

I was really pleased with my finished cheesecake and it certainly satisfied my cheesecake cravings. Morello cherries steeped in brandy, a hidden chocolate layer, a rich chocolate base and a glossy cherry glaze and combined into a velvety smooth and creamy cheesecake. What’s everyone else been craving recently?

Cherry Brandy & Chocolate Surprise Cheesecake

For the cherries

100g drained, pitted Morello cherries in syrup (reserve the syrup)

40ml Brandy

For the base

90g gluten free shortbread or digestive style biscuits

50g butter

20g caster sugar

10g cocoa powder

For the cheesecake

400g Quark or soft cream cheese

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

10g cornflour

50g dark chocolate

For the cherry jelly

130ml cherry syrup reserved from earlier

20g caster sugar

½ tsp agar agar powder

Method

The day before, remove the cherries from their syrup, cut them in half and place into a small bowl. Pour over the brandy, stir and cover with clingfilm. Set aside for 6 hours, or preferably overnight to allow the cherries to steep and absorb the flavour of the brandy.

The following day, line a 6inch/15cm deep springform tin with baking parchment. Wrap the base and sides of the tin with a large sheet of foil, you want it cover the whole base and up and sides of the tin in one piece. Repeat so you have two layers of foil wrapped around the outside of your tin.

For the base, blitz the gluten free biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and blitz again briefly.

Melt the butter, pour it over the cocoa crumbs and pulse briefly until and crumbs resemble damp sand.

Tip the biscuit mix into the base of your lined tin and press down into an even layer. Place the tin in the fridge to chill while you prefer the filling.

Preheat the oven to 175C.

For the filling, beat the Quark or cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs and sugar and beat again until well combined.

Now remove one-third of this mixture and place it into a separate bowl. Melt the chocolate and add this to the removed third of the cheese mixture, stirring it together until well combined. Set aside.

Sift the cornflour over the remaining two-thirds of mix. Then pour the soaked cherries and their brandy liquid into the cream mixture and fold in to incorporate. It will turn a light pink colour and be quite runny, this is fine.

Pour half of the cherry cheesecake mixture over the chilled biscuit base, spreading it into an even layer.

Place small spoonfuls of the chocolate cheesecake mix over the top of the cherry cheesecake until it is all used us. Gently try and smooth the chocolate cheesecake into an even layer, but don’t worry too much about making it perfect.

Then pour the remaining cherry cheesecake mix on top, covering the chocolate filling inside. Tap the cheesecake on the counter 2-3 times to remove any trapped air.

Place the foil wrapped tin into a larger deep baking tray.

Fill the tray with boiling water so that it reaches halfway up the sides of the cheesecake tin.

Carefully transfer this to the 175C preheated oven to bake for 50-60minutes. The cheesecake should be set around the edge but still a little wobbly in the centre when gently shaken.

Once baked, quickly remove the cheesecake tin from the water bath and return it to the switched off, but still warm oven. Leave the oven door ajar and leave the cheesecake to cool down gradually for 45-60 minutes.

For the jelly, start this once your cheesecake has been cooling in the oven.

Add another 130ml of cherry juice to a small pan along with the sugar and agar agar. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Bring the mixture to the boil for 15 seconds, then remove from the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes.

Remove your partially cooled cheesecake from the oven and carefully pour the hot cherry glaze over the top. It must still be hot, or else it will have set into a solid.

Carefully transfer the cheesecake to the fridge and allow to chill for at least 4-6 hours before serving.

Makes 1 x 6inch/15cm cheesecake

Devnaa Indian Sweets Tiffin Box: A Review

Now, this may look like a fancy box of chocolates – but don’t be fooled. These are not just your ordinary box of truffles and caramels, oh no. These are so much more indulgent and exciting than that!

Devnaa is a relatively new company who make gourmet boxes of sweet Indian treats, specially developed to represent the infamous tiffin boxes of India, used to transport food. They also make Indian inspired bars and drinking chocolates too. The box itself looks very artisan, but lift the lid, peel back the paper and the most intricate box of beautifully decorate chocolates are revealed. However, these are not actually ‘chocolates’ as we known them, but a range of specially designed and delicately spiced classic Indian sweets, which have been enrobed in chocolate and beautifully decorated.

Bite into one of these and you won’t find ganche or salted caramel, instead your get to experience a pistachio barfi delicately flavoured with cardamom and rosewater and encased in dark chocolate and finished with chopped pistachios. Or, how about a coconut barfi enrobed in milk chocolate or one of the other fabulous combinations including vanilla, saffron, orange, strawberry and chai!

I’m not much of a chocolate lover – shocking I know. On the odd occasion I have been given a box I usually eat one or two and then put them in a cupboard and forget about them. Not so with these divine creations. I was so excited when I opened the box that I ate two just after breakfast. I just couldn’t resist trying them immediately.

My first choice was Cinnamon Chai. A signature chai blend of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and close infused barfi which is enrobed in milk chocolate. Wow, it was divine. You could taste all the spices, the cardamom in particular, but nothing too strongly overpowered anything else. The spices were delicate and fragrant and worked so well with the coating of smooth milk chocolate. The barfi itself had a creamy, yet slightly crumbly texture and wasn’t overly sweet, which let the spices really shine through.

I couldn’t resist trying another one and selected the Velvety Vanilla. A Madagascan vanilla barfi with hints of saffron and cardamom, covered in white chocolate. This was fabulous too. Again I loved the cardamom flavour and how you could see speckles of it throughout the barfi. The saffron flavour was subtle but still noticeable and also gave a light golden hue to the barfi. So good, I sat there in my PJ’s grinning over my box of Indian treats.

All the barfi sweets were amazing and I’d much, much, much sooner be presented with a beautiful box of these than a box of regular chocolates (even the expensive ones). I adored their soft melt-in-the-mouth texture, how the spices were delicate and yet still shone through, how the centres were made from delicious barfi rather than chocolate or truffle based and the presentation is stunning. Plus, this particular box (Signature Indian Sweets Collection) is entirely gluten free! (although some of their other Inidan Sweet boxes do contain gluten so ask before buying).

So friends and family take note, next time its my birthday, Christmas or you are just feeling generous…keep your chocolates and jewelry, I’ll have a box of these please! I might even let you try one too.

Deconstructed Pavlova – Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Mini Meringues & Textures of Strawberry

I have recently been reading about a vegetarian gelatine alternative called agar agar, which is derived from boiling several kinds of seaweed together. It’s dried and sold in powder form, flakes or bars and has similar properties to gelatine, in that it can set things into a gel or jelly.

I was intrigued and ordered some of the powder form online to have a play. As the weather was bright and sunny, I decided to try and replicate a recipe for buttermilk panna cotta, using the agar in place of the gelatine. Using buttermilk rather than cream appealed to me as it sounded lighter and fresher than regular panna cottas.

Seeing the first English strawberries starting to appear in the shops, I couldn’t resist buying a large punnet of them. I decided to pair them with the buttermilk panna cotta in order to create a light and summery dessert. As I was in an experimental mood and had set aside a whole day to play with my new agar ager, I decided to have some fun and use the strawberries in three different ways. Some I kept fresh and whole, others I sliced thinly and dehydrated until crisp and the rest I pureed, mixed with some agar and set the mixture into a jelly, which I then cut out small dots/circles of to decorate the plate. Strawberry 3 ways!

Thinking through the dessert I decided I needed to add some chew or crunch element to compliment the other softer textures. Mini piped meringues seemed a good idea and I was struck with how my dessert now resembled a deconstructed pavlova.

I was a little anxious my buttermilk panna cotta wouldn’t set, as I wasn’t sure how to much to use. As it turns out I actually used far too much, as my panna cotta was more like a firm jelly, than a softly set cream. It still tasted nice, but wasn’t the texture I hoped for.

I have decided not to give any recipes for the dessert, as although I was happy with the presentation and the flavours, I felt the textures of both the panna cotta and meringues could have been improved. The panna cotta was much too firm and the meringues were more chewy than crisp.

The flavours were lovely when eaten together. The buttermilk panna cotta was fresh, and only lightly sweet, the strawberry elements had ripe fruity flavours that actually tasted like strawberries and the meringues had a lovely crisp outer crust and very very chewy interior.

I tried really hard with the presentation and was happy with how the dish looked. It just needs some tweaking to perfect the recipes. I need to read up about how to correctly substitute powdered agar agar for gelatine.

Anyone else got experience of working with agar agar?

Celebrating 6 Years of Apple & Spice with Apple, Caramel & Almond Tart with Peanut Praline

Wow I can’t believe this is my blogs 6^th anniversary. I never thought I would keep it up when I started all those years ago. There has been some distinctive changes in my life throughout the span of this blog, but my love of food and baking has remained steadfast.

A few weeks ago, I almost considered finishing the blog. I was finding I had less time to bake and blog and when I did get round to baking at the weekend, I felt I should be making the recipes for either the Daring Bakers group or The Cake Slice group that I am a member of. It felt there was always a recipe I should be baking and my own ‘to bake’ list kept growing larger and larger without me ever getting the chance to bake any of them. I have come to the decision to give up the baking groups and instead focus on the recipes I want to bake and eat. After all, surely that’s what my blog should be about, the kind of food I like to bake and eat.

I’d like to say a big Thank You to Paloma of The Coffee Shop who has taken over the management of The Cake Slice group, that I set up and have run for the past 5 years. Thanks Paloma, you are doing a fabulous job.

Anyway, back to Apple & Spice and all things deliciously apple-y! Every blog anniversary I have always made an apple inspired recipe to celebrate.
1st year – Spiced Apple Cake

2nd year – Individual Apple & Oat Crumbles

3rd year – Overnight Spiced Apple Stack

4th year – Fruity Tea Loaf

5^th year - Roasted Apple & Custard Pots

This year I made Apple, Caramel and Almond Tart with Peanut Praline. A sweet pastry tart with a layer of dulce de leche caramel, topped with almond frangipane and decorated with slices of fresh tart apple and finished with peanut praline. Yum!

I really wanted to make an apple tart this year and love the flavour of apple and almond together and so decided to make an almond frangipane to go underneath my apple slices. This got me thinking that it would be even better if there was a hidden layer of something underneath the frangipane, which let me to dulce de leche caramel. Apple, caramel and almond – what’s not to love?!

You may notice that the apple slices have been arranged horizontally, rather than the usual vertical fan formation. This allows you to build up layers to create an effect that almost resembles a rose or flower.

Once baked the tart looked and smelt lovely, but I still felt it needed something extra and my eyes settled on a bar of peanut brittle. A quick attack with a rolling pin and I had some peanut praline crumbs to sprinkle over the top of the finished tart.

The tart was delicious, even if I do say so myself. All the flavours worked together so well and the peanut praline crumbs really made it. Adding a little nuttiness and crunch against the sweet and fruity tart.  I love how you can see all the layers in each slice.

I fed it to a couple of work colleagues, one of whom told me in advance not to be offended if she didn’t like it as she wasn’t a dessert person. She ended up asking me for the recipe, and I don’t think (I hope) that she was just being polite. It’s got a few components but is quite easy to put together and tastes like you have been slaving away for hours. Do give it a go, it’s sure to impress.

Apple, Caramel & Almond Tart with Peanut Praline

Gluten Free Sweet Pastry

200g gluten free plain flour blend

90g butter

1 egg

40g icing sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1-2 tbsp water

Apples

3 Granny Smith apples

Juice of ½ lemon

Almond Frangipane

55g ground almonds

55g caster sugar

55g butter

10g plain flour

1 large egg

½ tsp almond extract

Caramel Filling

1 small tin dulce de leche

To Finish

1 tbsp caster sugar

10g butter

Apricot jam to glaze

30g peanut brittle/praline

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Have a 7-8inch fluted tart tin to hand. Preheat your  oven to 200C.

Mix the flours and xanthan gum together in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, add your butter, (it should be soft, if not blast it in the microwave for a few seconds) along with half the flour mixture, the egg, sugar and 1 tablespoon of the water. Beat with a spoon or spatula to form a paste. (Yes I know this goes against all traditional pastry making!) Add the rest of the flour and bring the mixture together to form a dough, switching to your hands at the end. Add a little more water if it seems dry. Knead the dough gently for 1 minute to ensure everything is well combined.
Roll out the pastry between two large sheets of clingfilm to the size and shape of your tart tin, plus an extra 1-2 inches for the sides.
Peel off the top sheet of clingfilm, and use the base sheet to help you flip the pastry into the tin and press it down gently. Trim off the excess and patch up any cracks with the off-cuts of pastry.

Prick the pastry lightly with a fork and place on a baking tray.

Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes until just starting to brown.

Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce your oven to 180C.

For the Apples

Fill a large bowl with water and add the juice of half a lemon

Peel and core the apples. Slice into 3mm thick slices and add to the lemon water while you cut the rest. (This stops them browning)

For the Frangipane

Soften the butter and then cream it together with the caster sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and almond extract and beat again. Add the flour and ground almonds and beat again to incorporate.

Assembly

Spread some of the dulce de leche caramel into the base of your tart. Add blobs of the almond mixture on top and smooth over to create an even layer.

Drain the water from the apples and pat them dry.

Arrange the apple slices in a fan formation on top. Start at the edge and work you way into the middle, overlapping each slice. Arrange them curve side out towards the edge, rather than the usual fan formation. This ends up creating more of a rose/flower effect to the apple slices.

Melt the 10g butter and brush over the apple slices. Sprinkle over the tablespoon of sugar.

Bake in the oven at 180C for 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Glaze with a little warmed apricot jam. Crush the peanut brittle into crumbs and scatter over the top of the tart before serving.

Makes 1 x 7-8inch tart