Archive for the ‘Dessert’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Plum cake with lemon and buckwheat

5 October 2017

IMG_5809

Autumn is here, majestically, and there are just a few more chances to eat plums before apples and pears, like cuckoos displacing another’s eggs, occupy our fruit baskets until spring.

In this season, plums signal cake — a streak of autumn riding on the rays of summer; the rhythmic reassurance of an oven heating after months of outdoor grilling and barely any cooking.

And to the point, I already have at least one October plum cake on these pages somewhere. It is a fine plum cake, but there can never be too many, and as a genuine ritual it bears validation.

Like many of my cakes, this one is easy. It is loosely based on a basic pound cake recipe, simply transmogrified by those plums, some lemon zest, and a scattering of buckwheat. An astonishing combination.

IMG_5723

Plum cake with lemon and buckwheat

240g butter
Juice and zest from one lemon
1 lb (450g) plums (one or a combination of greengages, Victoria plums, Italian plums, quetsches but not the plump watery supermarket varieties that have no taste)
200g light brown sugar plus one or two tablespoons for the plums
4 large eggs
100g flour
50g buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g ground almonds (or almond flour)

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Line with parchment paper and butter generously a 25cm (9″) round cake form.

Let the butter soften at room temperature.

Zest and juice the lemon. Set aside.

Wash, cut, and stone the plums. Toss the quarters with the lemon juice (not the zest!) and one or two tablespoons of sugar. Set aside.

Beat the softened butter and sugar thoroughly with a wooden spoon until creamy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well between each egg. Once all the eggs are incorporated, add the flours together with the baking powder, then the ground almonds and the lemon zest.

Gently add the plums to the batter and stir to combine. Scrape into the prepared cake tin, slide into the oven, and bake for about 40 to 50 minutes. The cake will be done when a knife/toothpick/skewer comes out clean (the juicier the plums, the longer it may take).

Let cool a little or completely before serving. As always, thick yogurt or clotted cream are fine companions.

Posted in At the market, Baking, Dessert, Easy, Fall, Seasonal | 5 Comments »

Tahini chocolate chip cookies

30 June 2017

IMG_1317

I had never made chocolate chip cookies. I am not sure I had ever even eaten a chocolate chip cookie. I exaggerate, of course, but only slightly. I have never found chocolate chip cookies very exciting. But hint at the addition of tahini, and I suddenly find myself ensnared in a cookie baking extravaganza.

You are enraged by my disparagement. But listen. Tahini transports that rather pedestrian cookie to a different place, another time, other scents, new flavors. Suddenly, I am traveling, just with the whiffs from my oven, all in that first bite.

IMG_1324

I understand your skepticism, why take advice from a self-declared chocolate chip cookie non-believer? Because, whether you love chocolate chip cookies or not, these are special.

Even David Lebovitz says so: ‘[They] were some of the best chocolate chip cookies that have ever come out of my oven…’ — See?

Salted tahini chocolate chip from Danielle Oron via David Lebovitz
Note: Plan ahead, the dough should rest overnight before baking

230 g dark chocolate (1 3/4 cups once cut into chunks)
115 g (8 Tbsps) butter, softened at room temperature
120 g (1/2 cup) tahini
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
90 g (1/2 cup) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
150 g (1 cup plus 2 Tbsps) flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
Fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt to sprinkle on the cookies at the end (optional)

Chop the chocolate into rough chunks (about 1/2 or 1/4 inch).

Make sure the butter is very soft. In a bowl or stand mixer, beat together the butter, tahini, and sugars until light and fluffy (a good 3 to 5 minutes).

Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract and continue to stir until the egg is well incorporated (another few minutes).

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and sea salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter/egg/sugar, mixing lightly until just combined. Add the chocolate, mindful not to overmix. Cover the dough and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight (or up to one week if it’s more convenient!).

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

With a spoon or with your hands, form a small ball for each cookie. Place the balls on the baking sheet, at least 8 cm (3 cm) apart (the cookies will spread!).

Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on their size. Best to watch them like a hawk and remove the cookies from the oven as soon as they turn golden on the outside but are still pale and soft in the middle (I overcooked my batch!). Immediately sprinkle with few flakes of salt, if using.

Let cool before eating. The cookies will keep for a few days at room temperature in a cookie jar.

 

Posted in Baking, Children, Dessert, Year-round | 2 Comments »

Rhubarb almond cake

5 May 2017

IMG_9436

This is simply the best rhubarb cake, and possibly the best use of rhubarb in any form, in my opinion. (Hmm — on second thought, rhubarb ice cream is high in contention.)

The strands of rhubarb on top are striking, but this cake is much more than a pretty picture. It has excellent crunchiness on the outside; soft, near-cheesecake quality in the center; while the rhubarb’s tartness plays off a subtle sweetness. It is not exactly easy, but it’s certainly worth the — slight — effort.

Rhubarb almond cake recipe from Bon Appétit with just a few tweaks

225 g (1 cup) butter (plus a bit more for the pan)
175 g + 3 Tbsps (3/4 cup and a bit) sugar
450 g (1 lb) rhubarb stalks
150 g (1 1/4 cup) flour
100 g (3/4 cup) blanched almonds (or almond flour)
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
Zest from 1/2 lemon
2 large eggs
60 ml (1/4 cup) plain thick Greek-style yogurt

Bring the butter to room temperature *Note: The batter needs to be beaten for a good length of time, so it is best to use a food processor. However if, like me, you do it all by hand, make sure the butter is very soft before you start, it will make things much easier.*

Preheat oven to 150°C (350°F).

Butter a cake tin (9″ in diameter), sprinkle some sugar and tap out the excess.

Wash the stalks of rhubarb, slice them in half lengthwise (in four parts if the stalks are very thick). Reserve about 8 of the prettiest strands to decorate the cake. Chop the rest of the rhubarb into 1 cm (1/2 inch) pieces.

In a food processor, pulse the flour, almonds, baking powder, and salt until the almonds are finely ground. *Alternatively, if using almond flour, mix all those ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.*

In another bowl or electric mixer, beat together 225 g butter and 175 g sugar. And beat. And beat. If possible, beat for at least 4 minutes to get the lightest dough. Add the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating the first before adding the second. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the batter (or add the vanilla extract), as well as the lemon zest. Beat again vigorously for a good 3 to 4 minutes.

Slowly (without any more beating from this point) incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter, and finally the yogurt. Once everything is combined, add the chopped rhubarb. The batter will be quite thick. Scrape it into the buttered cake pan, smooth the batter as best possible, arrange the reserved strands of rhubarb on top, and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Place the cake in the oven and bake for 70-80 minutes until the cake is set and a knife comes out clean. It will have browned nicely on top.

Let the cake cool completely before removing from the tin.

This cake gets better overnight and it keeps for a few days well wrapped at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Related recipes

Rhubarb ice cream  **  Rhubarb compote

Rhubarb raspberry crostata  **  Rhubarb rosemary jam

Rhubarb rosemary syrup

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in At the market, Baking, Dessert | 3 Comments »

Baked apples

26 January 2017

img_8978

January is the time to huddle close, meet friends, have a pint, a meal, a whiskey nightcap. But after months of cooking and feasting, dim winter days call for easy comforts. Delicious meals that require barely any effort. Hardly a thought. Simple dishes that can be effortlessly adapted with whatever languishes in a pantry in the aftermath of holiday baking marathons.

Baked apples for instance. The basics are simple, the variations many: wash an apple, core it, stuff it, bake it, eat it warm with a dollop of cream.

IMG_9213.jpg

Any apple will do. Some hold their figure while others erupt into shapeless volcanoes; anything is fine by me. For the stuffing the elements might be dried fruits — for example raisins, chopped dates, cranberries; chopped nuts — pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds; some sweetness and spice — brown sugar, dark sugar, honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, lemon zest, ginger, allspice, cardamom. A splash of fortified wine. For serving, a generous spoonful of cream.

img_8904

Baked apples recipe

One whole apple per person
Currants (or raisins, cranberries, chopped dates or apricots)
Pecans (or walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds)
Dark muscovado sugar (or brown sugar, honey, maple syrup)
Ginger and cardamom (or cinnamon, allspice, lemon zest)
Sherry (or Marsala, Madeira)
Clotted cream (or crème fraîche, ice cream, yogurt) for serving

Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C)

Wash and core the apples (leaving them whole)

Toss the nuts, dried fruits, sugar, and spices together. Stuff each apple with the mixture. Sprinkle with a dash of wine if using. Send into the oven for 25 to 40 minutes, until the apples are soft through.

Let cool just a little and serve warm with a spoonful of cream.

img_8932

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in At the market, Basic, Buying local, Dessert, Easy, Fall, Seasonal, Spring, Winter, Year-round | 2 Comments »

Quinces poached with honey and bay

20 October 2016

img_7273

For someone who has named her blog after the fruit, I have far too few quince recipes on this site! So if you have made too much quince jelly, if you have no time for quince paste, if you are still waiting for the lamb and quince tagine promised some six years ago (blame this, like so much else, on Thomas), here, finally, is a recipe for poached quinces.

img_7293

Poached quinces recipe
Recipe inspired by Alice Waters’ poached quinces in Chez Panisse Fruit and Skye Gyngell’s baked quinces from A year in my kitchen

2 cups golden/caster sugar
4 medium quinces (about 2 lbs)
3 Tbsps flavorful honey
1/2 vanilla bean
One bay leaf (I used a fresh one)
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 untreated lemon

Make a syrup with the sugar and 6 cups (1.5 liters) of water. Bring to a boil and simmer briefly until the sugar has dissolved.

Meanwhile, wash, peel, core, and slice the quinces lengthwise into quarters then eighths (this must be done at the last minute as quinces tend to turn brown very quickly).

Slice one half of the lemon very thinly, and juice the other half.

Add to the simmering syrup the honey, the vanilla bean after scraping out the seeds into the syrup, the bay leaf, the cinnamon stick, the lemon slices, the lemon juice, and finally, the quince slices. Cover the liquid with a round of parchment paper and place a weight on top if possible to ensure that the pieces of quince are submerged in the liquid as they cook. Let the quince simmer for approximately 45 minutes until they are tender.

Once cooked, carefully strain out the pieces of quince and place them in a bowl or canning jars. Return the syrup without the quinces to the heat and simmer down for a good 20 to 30 minutes to concentrate the liquid (there must be enough left to cover the fruit!).

If preserving, sterilize the canning jars in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes and close the jars immediately after pouring the reduced hot liquid on top of the fruit.

If using immediately, pour the hot liquid over the fruit and let cool to room temperature.

In both cases serve with thick Greek-style yogurt.

img_7271

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in At the market, Dessert, Fall, Homemade and preserves, Seasonal | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »