White Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis - Simply Irresistible !

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The poet, Paul Valéry, said that a poem is never finished, only abandoned. I have that same feeling about recipes. From time to time, I can’t resist making just a tiny edit or two to an old favourite, on the hunch that it will make the dish even better.

Simply irresistible

I have revisited the first dish I ever did on Alchemy in the Kitchen - Cherry Clafoutis - and I’ve made a few edits. One was the addition of chunks of good white chocolate - for me, the missing link in the evolution of clafoutis. 

I have also come down firmly on the side of de-stoned cherries for a number of reasons:

●       multiple taste tests don’t reveal the almond flavour that the stones are supposed to impart (a touch of almond extract does it better!)

●       de-stoned cherries leak their juice into the batter and even more juice evaporates, leaving a concentrated cherry flavour

●       there is less risk of a tooth-shattering surprise.

Hungry caterpillar? No, cherry-stoner!

Unfortunately I had to buy the cherries for today’s clafoutis rather than being presented with a strange and marvellous bouquet as before.  

Life is ...

As I needed a decent amount of natural light for the photos, I made the dish this morning. Although I’m not in the habit of having dessert for breakfast, clafoutis is best eaten warm from the oven, so I had no option but to sample it there and then (good excuse eh?) and I have decided it wouldn’t be out of place at a special brunch.

For 4 servings you will need......to preheat the oven to 170°C

A little butter for greasing 4 shallow ramekin dishes

50g ground almonds
25g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder
a  pinch of fine table salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50g runny honey
150mls fresh whole milk
½ teaspoon almond extract

300g ripe fresh cherries, stones removed (I prefer to leave the stalks on for presentation but take them off if you prefer).

75g good quality white chocolate, cut into 1cm chunks

Method

With the butter, lightly rub the inside of the ramekin dishes and set aside.

Measure the ground almonds and flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder and salt. Add the eggs and whisk to a smooth batter. Add the honey (I weigh it directly into the bowl to save on washing up) and whisk until combined. Finally whisk in the milk and almond extract to give a consistency similar to single cream.

Divide the batter evenly between 4 shallow ramekin dishes, making sure not to fill beyond the half-way mark, then divide the cherries and chocolate chunks evenly between the 4 dishes.

One for me, one for the clafoutis, one for me...

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar and serving with a jug of pouring cream. Mmmmm-mmmm-mmmmmmmmmm.

Note: Clafoutis sinks slightly as it cools – that’s just its nature

Note: Clafoutis vanishes quickly when cooked - that's just in its nature ...

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“Big Apple” Cheesecake – I can resist everything except temptation!

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Warning: You will want second helpings!

There was an old-fashioned sweetshop across the road from my school. On a shelf behind the counter stood a row of large glass jars filled with cola cubes, pear drops, black and white striped bulls eyes. My favourites by far were apple drops. I was powerless to walk past that shop without being lured in to exchange my pocket money for a paper bag of these sugar jewels.

I have grown up. I can resist apple drops. My guilty pleasure is cheesecake - but it must be WTC (you know what that means by now). One that definitely falls into the WTC category is this 'Big Apple' cheesecake.

I fool myself into thinking my 'Big Apple' cheesecake isn't quite as naughty as it appears because it has real fruit smoothie as an ingredient. I've used Innocent’s ‘kiwis, apples and limes’ smoothie because it is the apple-iest smoothie I’ve encountered.* “Innocent” it may be, but it would cause angels to hang up their halos!

Bourbon Biscuits... destined for a better future!

For 1 'Big Apple'  cheesecake (about 10 slices) you will need...

Chocolate Crumb Base

75g butter

200g bourbon biscuits, crushed (you could use Oreos)

1         First make the base: Melt the butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Then, add in the crushed bourbon biscuits, mixing well until all the butter has been absorbed. Empty the biscuit mixture into a loose-bottomed 21cm (8”) round cake tin and press gently into an even layer. Leave to cool.

Chocolately crumbs - the best sort!

Filling

1 X 125g packet lime jelly/Jell-O (sufficient for 1 pint of jelly or Jell-O)

100mls boiling water

Approximately 150mls of Innocent ‘kiwis, apples and limes’ smoothie (or other apple-y smoothie)

350g full fat cream cheese

100g caster sugar

150mls fresh cream

2         For the filling, cut the jelly into squares and place in a 500ml (1 pint) measuring jug. Add the boiling water and leave the jelly to melt, stirring occasionally. When the jelly has melted, add in just enough smoothie to bring the liquid up to the 250ml mark (you may have a little left over - that's for you to drink). Leave to cool, until the liquid becomes syrupy and nearly set.

3         Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth – an electric mixer is best for this job. Add in the cooled almost-set jelly, whisking continuously. Then whisk in the fresh cream. It will be alarmingly liquid at this stage but continue whisking for a minute or two and the mixture will begin to thicken slightly.

4         Pour over the cooled biscuit base and smooth the top.

5         Leave to set in the fridge making sure it is level otherwise you’re going to have a lopsided cheesecake and people will point and laugh.

I’ve decorated this with white and dark chocolate shapes (made by scribbling with melted chocolate on baking parchment laid over a printout of the desired shape) – I have sprinkled some of the white chocolate shapes with crushed apple drops for an even bigger apple flavour.

*This isn't an ad for Innocent. I did not receive any compensation for the mention.

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Apple Fudge Dumplings with Cider Cinnamon Syrup – sinful !

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Sinful!

I wonder if Eve had this dessert in mind when she was caught scrumping apples from the garden of paradise. What was her sin exactly: Nicking the apples? Fencing the stolen fruit? Getting caught before she had a chance to turn her illicit bounty into apple fudge dumplings?

I’ve asked around and it appears most of my friends would have been booted out of paradise too, having partaken of orchard-raiding in their youth. The lure of this crime wasn’t so much the prize of stolen fruit as the thrill of the dare. Don’t judge – there was nothing decent on the telly and the internet hadn’t been invented.

Anyway, now that apple harvest time is upon us, it would be a sin not to make this simple treat. Have some good vanilla ice cream standing by for a match made in heaven.

For 4 apple dumplings you will need…
… to preheat the oven to 180˚C before you start to assemble the dumplings

Apple Fudge Dumplings

1 x 425g packet all butter puff pastry sheets (2 sheets)
4 apples (about the size of a tennis ball)
100g soft fudge, roughly chopped
75g walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
a little milk to seal and glaze
4 whole cloves
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar 

1.                  If necessary, thaw the pastry sheets according to the instructions on the packet.

2.                  With a sharp knife, cut a strip about 2cm wide from each pastry sheet and set aside before cutting each pastry sheet in two.

3.                  Remove the core from each apple using a corer or a sharp knife.

4.                  Combine the chopped fudge with the chopped walnuts or pecans and pack the centre of each apple with the mixture.

5.                  Now, place a stuffed apple in the centre of a pastry portion. Lightly brush the edges with milk and bring opposite corners together to enclose the apple. Pinch the seams to seal the pastry well or the fudge will escape as it melts. Repeat with the remaining apples.

6.                  Cut 8 oval-shapes from the pastry trimmings you made at step 3 to make 'leaves'. Brush the back of the leaves with a little milk and place two leaves on each apple. Secure with a whole clove 'stem'.

7.                  Using a sharp knife, poke two slits in the top of each apple to allow steam to escape and prevent the pastries from bursting open. Brush with a little milk and sprinkle with a little brown sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until golden and scenting your kitchen with autumnal aromas.

8.                  Leave to cool for about 5 minutes or so before serving with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or custard and a drizzle of the cinnamon cider syrup.

 

 

While the apple fudge dumplings are cooking make the syrup…

Cider Cinnamon Syrup

250 mls cider (or apple juice)
1 stick cinnamon, broken in half
4 tablespoons runny honey
25g butter 

1.                  Place the cider and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil the simmer until reduced by half. Add the honey and continue to simmer for a further 5 minutes. Then add the butter, stirring until incorporated, and continue to simmer for a further 5 minutes.

2.                  Strain to remove the cinnamon. Leave to cool. Pour over the apple fudge dumplings just before serving.

 

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Lemon, Honey and Basil Ice Cream - it'd be a crime to miss it !

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Some years ago a very pleasant trip to visit a friend in France took a rather strange twist that involved a very unique (and ever so slightly stolen) car, being fingerprinted by French police (who also offered great advice on where to dine in the vicinity), and a lemon. Long story.  I’ll tell you when you come round to visit.

I was given the lemon, as a souvenir of this strange adventure, which I took back to Ireland and made into ice cream. It was the first ice cream I ever made and was a convoluted process. Was it the most exciting ice cream I’ve ever tasted? No. But it served to send me on a quest for a lemony ice cream that would create for my taste buds a little of the excitement of that trip, and here it is.

Strictly speaking, this is a frozen yoghurt but because it is Greek yoghurt it is every bit as satisfyingly creamy as an ice cream. It is also dead easy to make. With such a high juice content, you really do need an ice cream maker for this. Note: This ice cream is for grown-ups.

For 4 - 6 servings you will need...
... an ice cream maker

Zest of 2 lemons, grated

Zest of 1 orange, grated

175mls fresh lemon juice

75mls fresh orange juice

10g fresh basil leaves

140g runny honey

550g Greek yoghurt

¼ teaspoon sea salt 

1                    Place everything except the Greek yoghurt in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat and leave to cool. Strain to remove the zest and basil leaves. Leave to cool, then chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

2                    When chilled, mix with the Greek yoghurt and salt and churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the mixture has thickened to ice cream, transfer it to a freezer container and place in the freezer for 24 hours. Although it is ready to eat straight away, the flavours develop further if you can bear to wait until the following day. Before serving, allow to soften in the fridge for 20-25 minutes.

Taste-tester verdict: "Gasp!" but in a good way. 

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Rebooting Sour Cherry Rocky Road - the Silver Lining!

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It's not Valentine's Day anymore. It has been rebooted as Generosity Day - it's the day you make Sour Cherry Rocky Road, cut it into bite-sized bits, and take it to wherever there are people you love (or simply like).

Sometimes ...  often  ... ok ... practically all the time, life doesn’t go according to plan. The road ahead usually has a few lumps and bumps lurking, ready to trip us up as soon as we cast our attention elsewhere...

... Like last month: I dropped my ice cream maker (my priceless €1 machine – maker of strawberry and rose petal ice cream); totalled my food processor (Note to self: remove the sheath from the blade before attempting to use the machine); and annihilated my electric whisk – don’t ask!  

... Like last week, when my sister Catherine made pizza from scratch... It took a detour on the way to the oven and belly-flopped onto her cat... the bad-tempered one... with the six-inch claws and the kleptomaniac tendencies (cat, not sister!). I foresee a shredded sofa and further apologies to the neighbours as the evil creature wanders home with yet another gold trinket clenched in its teeth...

... Like this morning, when a daydreaming commuter – yay, not me for a change - scurried onto an escalator clearly marked OUT OF ORDER - and stood there with an expression of utter bewilderment as he went nowhere fast and hundreds of cackling commuters sailed past him on the one that was actually working...

The good news is that life’s little wrinkles can often work out for the best. Most lumps and bumps can have a silver lining... like when I drop my heavy cookery notebook on my foot (bump, lump) and a little scrap of cardboard falls out. It’s my sister Veronica’s incredible Rocky Road recipe (silver lining).

In general I HATE marshmallow, I HATE desiccated coconut, and I’m not particularly fond of milk chocolate either. However when these ingredients get together with crunchy salty nuts and chewy sour cherries and go skinny dipping in dark chocolate, magic happens. I will happily eat this version by the kilo – leading to further lumps and bumps if indulged too often.  

Here is Veronica's original recipe...

When simple ingredients go skinny dipping in melted chocolate, magic happens!

This translates as...

300g milk chocolate (decent stuff, not cooking chocolate)

200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

90g mini marshmallows (or large marshmallows, snipped into pieces with a scissors)

80g white chocolate, roughly chopped

80g dried sour cherries (dried cranberries are good too)

75g salted jumbo peanuts

75g salted almonds

50g desiccated coconut, toasted* 

1                    First, line the base of a 30cm x 20cm baking tin with baking parchment.

2                    Then, break the milk chocolate and dark chocolate into pieces and place together in a medium heatproof bowl over a pot of barely simmering water (the base of the bowl mustn’t touch the water or the chocolate can turn grainy). Stir occasionally until melted.

3                    Add the rest of the ingredients to the melted chocolate and stir until everything is well coated. Transfer to the baking tin and leave to cool. When the chocolate is set, remove from the tin and cut into pieces - bitesized or boulders – that bit is up to you.

* I toasted the coconut in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. This task only takes a few minutes but requires a close eye because as soon as you look away, the coconut will burn in an instant.

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Spiced Apple and Almond Cobbler – Tempting!

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"Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."

-Samuel Butler

Mmmm, I do love Autumn. It is the season when some of my favourite fruits are at their best: plums and damsons, blackberries, apples – all delicious in a pie, or its even easier, lazier cousin, the cobbler. Today, I’ve gone for spiced apple and almond version.

You’ll notice the slightly unusual ‘cake tin’ I’ve used – a 24cm frying pan. If you don’t have an ovenproof non-stick frying pan, you can cook the filling in a regular non-stick frying pan then turn it into a lightly buttered baking dish of similar proportions and spoon the almond batter on top. 

Anyway, first to the recipe…

To conjure up a delicious Autumnal cobbler for 8 you will need…

For the filling

750g apples, prepared weight (peeled, cored and each cut into 8 wedges) Drop the prepared apple wedges into a bowl of cold water with a little lemon juice added, until ready to use. This stops them going brown.

30g butter

50g Demerara sugar, or brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 whole cloves, ground to a powder using a pestle and mortar (or your imagination)

1½ teaspoons cornflour

a little cold water

For the Topping

150g plain flour

100g butter, cubed

75g ground almonds

50g Demerara sugar, or brown sugar

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½  teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of salt

175mls milk

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

icing sugar to dust

First prepare the filling: Melt the butter over a medium heat in a non-stick frying pan suitable for use both on the hob and in the oven, and large enough to contain all the apples.

Dry the apples in a clean tea towel and add to the pan. Cook gently for about 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until beginning to soften. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and cloves and continue cooking until the sugar has melted and all the apples are coated with the mixture.

Mix the cornflour with just enough water to make a runny paste. Stir this into the apple mixture until any juices that have escaped into the pan have thickened up. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside while you make the topping.

Sugar and spice and all things nice...

For the Almond Batter you will need…

… to pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.

Put the batter ingredients - except the milk, slivered almonds and icing sugar -into a food processor and pulse until combined into a crumbly mixture like fine breadcrumbs. (If you don’t have a food processor, place the flour and butter in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined.)

Add the milk and pulse (or mix) until it comes together into a thick but smooth mixture.

Dollop large spoonfuls of batter onto the surface of the apple mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the slivered almonds, and place in the pre-heated oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and dust with a little icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature with good vanilla ice cream.

Dolloping...

Come and get it!

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A 'dyschefull' of Apple Snowe - a hauntingly delicious dessert from medieval England

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England was on its very best 'green and pleasant land' behaviour for our recent visit - all blue skies and sunshine. We spent Sunday morning visiting the ancient bones of Henry VIII’s ship, the Mary Rose, in Portsmouth (wow, by the way – what a feat of marine archaeology!). However, there was a wailing and a gnashing of teeth when himself missed out on a change of plan and had to forego his much anticipated, post-sightseeing ye-olde-traditional-English-country-pub-Sunday-roast-dinner-with-all-the-trimmings.

He was like a dog with two tails when we got an unexpected invite to a delicious traditional-English-homecooked-Sunday-roast-dinner-with-all-the-trimmings… on the following Tuesday… in the garden of a gorgeous 350 year-old cottage, (complete with ghost, or so it is rumoured).

Leaving with very contented stomachs, we were further delighted to receive a bag of organically grown apples plucked from the two heavily-laden trees in the garden – one, deliciously zingy, rosy-cheeked eaters; the other, tart, green-skinned cookers. For some reason, Apple Snow sprang to mind immediately. This is a dyschefull the Tudors - perhaps even the bold Henry himself - would have enjoyed in one form or another. Maybe it was a favourite of the ghost…

My version is soft meringue mixed with apple purée – an apple mousse if you will. You can serve it virtually fat-free as in this recipe, or fold in swirls of whipped cream and yet more apple purée  A drizzle of honey or maple syrup over the top won’t hurt if the apples you use are a little on the tart side. Scoop it up with shortbread fingers or langue de chat biscuits.

Note: As the meringue is so lightly cooked, it should not be given to pregnant women, infants, or anyone with a compromised immune system.

Drop the prepared apple slices into water with a generous squeeze of lemon juice to stop them going brown

First, to make the apple purée you will need…

900g apples, uncooked weight, sliced (this was 8 medium apples, after peeling and coring. I dropped them into cold water with a generous squeeze of lemon juice to stop them going brown until I was ready to use them.)

50g caster sugar or honey

the zest (in slices) and juice of a lemon (you should have about 4 tablespoons of juice)

the zest of an orange

2 whole cloves

1 stick of cinnamon

3 drops almond extract

Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan with a lid, over a medium heat. Cover the saucepan and cook the apples until soft (about 10-15 minutes) checking occasionally to make sure they haven’t boiled dry (if necessary, add a small amount of water, apple juice, or cider). When the apples are soft, remove the lid and if there is a lot of juice, continue cooking until any visible juice has evaporated.

Remove from the heat, cover, and leave to cool. Taste and add a little more sugar or honey if necessary.

Next, for the meringue you will need…

… a sugar thermometer and an electric whisk or stand mixer (or good strong muscles in your arms)

2 egg whites room at room temperature

60g caster sugar

3 tablespoons cold water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the egg whites in a bowl and whisk until fluffy and the mixture flops into soft peaks when you remove the whisk.

Place the caster sugar, water, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and place over a medium heat until the sugar crystals have dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil the mixture until it reaches the ‘soft ball’ mark on your thermometer (or 118°C or 235°F).

Carefully remove the saucepan from the heat and drizzle the hot syrup slowly into the bowl of egg whites, whisking all the while. (Avoid drizzling the hot liquid directly onto the whisk unless you want to enamel your kitchen with molten sugar and quite possibly burn yourself into the bargain). Continue whisking until you have incorporated all the syrup, the mixture is thick and smooth and white and glossy, and a clean finger touched to the mixture tells you that the temperature has dropped to about room temperature (3 - 5 minutes).

The assembly job…

Next, remove the strips of zest, cinnamon stick and cloves from the cool apple mixture and pass it through a coarse sieve. Whisk the resulting apple purée into the meringue and chill until needed. It will keep for about 48 hours, covered, in the fridge.

When ready to serve, swirl into pretty glasses or bowls, and serve with shortbread biscuits or langue de chat. 

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