PLUM (OR NECTARINE) TART (can be gluten free)

The nectarine version.

The recipe for this popped up in my FB feed and comes from one of Nancy Birtwhistle's books, the one about gardening.  

The plum version before baking.

There is no pastry involved so some would ask - how can it be a tart?   I spent a happy few minutes looking up the definitions of cake, tart, torte and gateau and came to the conclusion that although it was definitely not a cake, a flan or a pie I still had no idea!  In any case it went down well for dessert at a BBQ one very hot June evening.

The plum version when cooked.

The first time I made this it was definitely a bit overdone - the plums looked a bit crozzled and it was a devil to get out of the tin.  Only when I made it the second time did I realise that I had baked the first one at 160° fan instead of 160° C.  A casualty of the debilitating heat - it had reached 39°C during the day and my concentration withers exponentially over 30°C!

The nectarine version - much less crozzled.

For the second time I used nectarines, didn't cram quite as much fruit in, and kept the slices away from the sides of the tin, which definitely made it easier to turn out, baked it at the right temperature and kept my eye on it.  With its apricot glaze it had that patisserie glamour.  It tasted great too.

Stoning the fruit can be a bit fiddly.  An old fashioned grapefruit knife came in handy for getting the stone out of some of the firmer fruits.  Changing the ordinary flour for gluten free flour (e.g. Doves Farm) will make it a gluten free dessert and a handy recipe to have instead of pavlova.

Ingredients

For the cake base

zest of 1 lemon

2 tsp lemon juice

30ml whole milk

125g softened butter or baking spread (I used Le Fleurier)

125g caster sugar

1 egg

125g plain flour or gluten free flour

125g ground almonds (or half and half ground almonds and ground rice)

For the topping/fruit

10-12 ripe plums or 3 large nectarines

2 tblsp apricot jam

Method

Butter the base and sides of a 23cm loose bottomed tart tin.

Put the milk and lemon juice into a small bowl or jug, mix together and set aside

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, lemon zest and sugar.  Add the egg and beat well until well combined.

Fold in the ground almonds (or almonds and rice), then the flour followed by the thickened milk.

The mixture will be quite thick so transfer it to the prepared tin and level with the back of a spoon or small palette knife.  Smooth the surface as much as possible then put the tin in the freezer while you prepare the fruit.

Cut each plum or nectarine in half and remove the stone.  Cut into quarters and slice thinly.  Plums  should make 8 slices each, nectarines 12 slices.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 140° fan / gas mk3.  

Remove the tart case from the freezer and arrange the slices of fruit neatly in circles on top of the cake base.

Stand the tart tin on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 1 hour.  The fruit should be tender and the cake base lightly golden and cooked.

Remove from the oven to cool slightly.  Remove the tart from the tin and place on a serving plate.

To make the glaze, warm the apricot jam in a saucepan with 1 tblsp water.  Brush over the fruit.

Serves 8-10.

LEMON DRIZZLE BUNS

For a friend's birthday I gave her a pretty tin of eight home made lemon drizzle buns.  She and her husband are not regular consumers of cake so lemon drizzle seemed like a safe option.  They could have a bun each for birthday tea and freeze the rest to be enjoyed later.

The fashion for cupcakes seems to have passed but these could easily be called cupcakes, or fairy cakes, and decorated with buttercream or icing and sprinkles if you like.  When I was a little girl my mum often made things like this and they were always called "buns".  She rarely had a lemon in the house, except at Christmas, so would have added a few chopped glacé cherries or currants - in which case they would have been called cherry buns or currant buns (sometimes called Queen cakes).  Even more occasionally she would have swirled some simple icing on the top and maybe a few hundreds and thousands left over from the Christmas trifle, especially if aunts and uncles (and assorted cousins) were coming to tea which would have warranted something a bit more fancy than usual.

My mixture actually made nine buns so one served as "quality control" and consequently I can confirm that they were lovely.  My friend sent me a message the next day to say she and her husband really enjoyed them and none of them made it to the freezer!

Simple buns never go out of fashion.

Ingredients

For the buns

115g baking spread or softened butter

115g caster sugar

2 eggs

115g self raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

zest of 1 lemon

For the drizzle 

juice of 1 lemon

2 tblsp granulated sugar

Method

Put 10 paper cake cases into a muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 200° C / 180° fan / gas mk 6.

Put all of the cake ingredients into a medium sized bowl and beat well with a hand held electric whisk, or a wooden spoon, until well blended.

Divide the mixture evenly between the bun cases filling each one to about two thirds full.  Using an ice cream scoop with a lever action can help to make them all about the same.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and springy.  While they are in the oven make the drizzle by mixing the sugar and lemon juice together.

While the buns are still warm, prick holes in the top and spoon the drizzle over.  Remove from the tin to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 8-10 buns.

RHUBARB FOOL

This gorgeous old fashioned dessert has a wow factor well beyond its simplicity.

The recipe has its origins in a book by Simon Hopkinson called "roast chicken and other stories" and I found it on a blog called "The Rhubarb Fool". 

The simplicity lies in the cooking of the rhubarb which is just baked in the oven with sugar until tender and processed in a food processor to a slightly lumpy purée. This is swirled into softly whipped double cream to give a marbled effect rather than blended to a homogenous pink.

We were having six guests for dinner on a June evening and it was Nick's idea after he spotted red rhubarb in a local supermarket.  I normally balk at the price of shop bought rhubarb but it does look so pretty for a special occasion.  This rhubarb was mostly a deep red with a little green on the stems which produced a very soft pink colour when cooked.  There was plenty of it so I put a layer in the bottom of each glass before topping with the actual fool mixture.

I happened to have some vanilla sugar on the go, long forgotten at the back of the cupboard from the last time I used an actual vanilla pod, which was a few years ago.  Otherwise I might have stirred a teaspoon of vanilla extract into the rhubarb before baking, or might have used plain caster sugar.

The recipe suggests swirling the reserved juice into the cream along with the purée but instead I served it separately as I was also making a chocolate torte and thought it would also be nice drizzled over that.

I decorated each one with a tiny sprig of mint.

Ingredients 

1.3 kg rhubarb 

500ml double cream

350g vanilla sugar or caster sugar

Grated zest of 1 orange (optional)

small sprigs of mint for decoration (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170° fan / gas mk 5.

Wipe, trim and roughly chop the rhubarb.

Tip it into a baking dish or roasting tin, spreading out into an even layer.  Sprinkle over the sugar and orange zest and stir in.  Do not add any water and cover with foil so that it bakes and does not roast or become brown.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until soft and tender.  Drain through a colander over a jug to retain the juice.

Allow to cool before transferring to a food processor and blend to a slightly lumpy purée.

In a large bowl, whip the cream until softly thick, i.e. not stiff but holds its shape.

Spoon a layer of puréed rhubarb into the bottom of eight glass dishes.  Fold the remaining purée into the whipped cream to give a marbled swirl effect and divide this between the dishes.

Decorate with a small sprig of mint (optional) and chill on a tray in the fridge for at least two hours or until needed.  Serve the reserved juice alongside.

Serves 8

GAZPACHO SOUP and how to peel tomatoes

With Nick away for a week I was looking forward to catching up with spring cleaning and other jobs.  Unfortunately the weather had other ideas.   We are having a prolonged heatwave here in the middle of France.  It's debilitatingly hot so I got much less done but I did get several invitations to eat out. 😄 Some of the invites clashed but I accepted as many as were physically possible and on one day had lunch with a couple of friends and dinner with a large group of others celebrating a move of house.  (The term for this is apparently a "house cooling", which is ironic considering the extremely warm weather!)

At both of these the meal began with Gazpacho, something I have eaten often but never made and is perfect for the hot weather.  It’s delicious and refreshing.  With another invite on the cards and all the stars aligned I decided it was time to have a go at making it myself and offered to bring the starter.

There are dozens of recipes out there in the ether, and on my bookshelves, and I consulted several, including one by Mary Berry from "Mary Makes it Easy" and one by David Herbert from "The Really Useful Cookbook".  I also took on board my friend's adaptations for the soup she served at lunch.  

Of the two gazpachos I had in one day, one of them clearly had bread in it and the other not.  I thought my soup turned out a bit too thick so next time I would probably halve the amount of bread and see how it goes.  I might even leave it out altogether (but still add the water) and see which version I like the best.

Most of the recipes said that the tomatoes should be peeled.  I have never peeled a tomato in my life before and whilst it's not difficult, it's rather tedious and a bit fiddly.  Hence I've given the recipe two stars in how faffy it is!

This is how I made mine.

Ingredients

1kg tomatoes, the riper the better, or about 6 large tomatoes

½ a large cucumber (unpeeled)

1 red pepper, de-seeded

55g white bread, no crusts (see notes above and maybe try 30g or just a chunk)

250ml water

2 cloves of garlic, peeled (3 cloves if you like your soup very garlicky)

½ a red onion, peeled

2 tblsp good quality olive oil

2 tblsp balsamic vinegar

1 tblsp tomato purée

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

extra olive oil and chopped cucumber for serving

Method

Put the chunks of bread into a bowl with the water and set aside to soak while you deal with the veg.

To peel the tomatoes

Cut a cross in the bottom of each one (i.e. the opposite end to the stalk) and put into a large Pyrex or similar bowl.  Cover with boiling water and leave for 45 seconds.  Transfer to a similar bowl containing cold water (tap water temperature is fine).  Using a small pointed knife such as a paring knife pick up the point of one section of the peel where you cut the cross in a tomato and drag the peel downwards away from the tomato to remove it.  

Prepare all the veg by washing or wiping, peeling where appropriate and chop medium small.

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl, including the soaked bread, and stir well.  Transfer in batches to a food processor or blender and blend until it's as smooth as you would like it.  (You could of course use a stick blender in a suitable container.)  Mine had tiny chunks of veg in it.  Other recipes say to keep going until the soup is smooth.  To quote James Martin "it's entirely up to you"!

Transfer the blended soup to a large jug or container and chill in the fridge for several hours.  I added a few ice cubes before serving to chill further.

The soup looks very nice served in a large glass jug at the table, pouring out into small soup bowls or glass bowls.  Add a drizzle of olive oil to each one and a few bits of veg, chopped small for garnish.  I added chopped cucumber but you could use green pepper, avocado, tomato or, as some recipes suggest, chopped hard boiled egg (this sounded a bit odd to me!).

Serves 8-10 small portions, 6-8 slightly larger.

(I brought the leftovers home with me and the soup was still good two days later, which suggests that it could easily be made and left chilling in the fridge the day before you need it.)

AMUSE BOUCHE

An amuse bouche is an appetiser served before a meal usually with a drink or apéritif.  Usually it would be  blinis, dips or toasts, but sometimes something in a small glass called a verrine.  These are often layered up with  cream cheese, chopped veg or salad, chilled soup or even a mini prawn cocktail.

Some friends served a delicious amuse bouche a while ago (in little plastic pots) that she had bought locally and ever since I have been on the lookout for the right kind of glass or verrine.  When I spotted these glass espresso cups on a stall at a brocante it occurred to me that they would be perfect for an amuse bouche.  With a full set of ten for 3€ they were a bargain.  They could even be used for actual espressos if I was entertaining quite a crowd!  You can of course use any kind of glass of the right size but preferably glass not china so that you can see all the layers.  Mismatched glasses look very pretty too.

My first experiment was layers of whipped goat's cheese with crème fraîche, topped with chopped cooked green asparagus and finally chopped dice of smoked salmon mixed with a little lime juice, decorated with some snipped chives and an asparagus tip. For the second attempt I swapped the asparagus for chopped cucumber and decorated with a slice of cherry tomato.  

They were not quite as refined as the shop bought alternatives - a little more rustic or homely looking - but delicious!

I think I could improve the look by whipping the cheese and crème fraîche to give it more volume and  make it lighter in texture.  Piping it into the glass would make it a bit tidier.  But there was nothing wrong with the taste.  The friends I used as guinea pigs were very "amused"!

Ingredients 

2 tblsp whipped goat's cheese or other cream cheese

2 tblsp crème fraîche

1 tbslp chopped cooked asparagus stems (or chopped cucumber)

1 tblsp chopped smoked salmon

1 tsp lime juice

snipped chives

asparagus tips or cherry tomato slices to decorate

Method

Beat together the whipped goat's cheese and crème fraîche and divide between the glasses.  Mix the smoked salmon and lime juice together.  Layer the asparagus and smoked salmon on top of the cheese mixture, snip some fresh chives over, add the decoration and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serves 4.  Serve with a small teaspoon or coffee spoon alongside, small enough to get to the bottom of the glass!

SAUCY LEMON PUDDING

Don't be put off by the rather uninspiring photo! This pudding is delicious!

There are plenty of recipes on the internet for it and this one comes from the Olive Magazine website.  It popped up in my news feed at the right time when I needed a pudding and although easy is a little vague.  The instructions tell you to mix the batter in a food processor, to whisk the egg whites until firm but not stiff and fold the two mixtures.  You can (at the time of writing) see the recipe here.

I dutifully processed the batter in my Magimix, whisked the egg whites separately and…..then what?  I thought tipping the egg whites into the food processor would beat all of the air out of them so I spooned the batter mixture into the egg whites instead.  That seemed like use of a food processor for its own sake and it would have made more sense to mix the batter in a bowl by hand or with an electric whisk then fold in the egg whites.  Then , when I went back and looked at the videoclip in the recipe ……. that's exactly what was shown! 😁 The written recipe did not match the video instructions which made a lot more sense!

If you serve the pudding more or less straight from the oven you get a sponge with a runny custard underneath it.  If you serve it a bit later the custard sets the way custard does but it’s no less delicious for that and perfect with a little cream (or ice cream).  The next time I make it I would use a different dish and take a better photo.  Watch this space!

Ingredients

200g golden caster sugar (or white)

50g butter

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon plus extra to make up to 100ml

50g plain flour

3 eggs, separated

250ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Butter a baking dish or soufflé dish.  Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.

Put the egg whites into a medium bowl and beat with an electric hand held whisk until firm but not completely stiff.

Put the butter, sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl.  Beat with the whisk until paler and creamy.   Add all the other ingredients and beat until you have a smooth batter.

Gently fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon until well combined then pour the mixture into your baking dish. 

Sit the dish in an oven tray half filled with hot water and bake for 40-50 minutes until set and a light golden brown.  

Dust with icing sugar and serve hot so that the sauce underneath is runny.  It will set as the pudding cools but is equally delicious.

Serves 4.

VEG DRAWER SOUP and the death of a soup maker

This very basic vegetable soup has always been one of my favourites.  It uses all the bits and pieces in the veg drawer that could very easily be destined for the compost heap but instead you get a very tasty virtually free lunch.  You can use more or less any veg you have as long as it has something that will thicken the soup such as potatoes or any root veg.  My selection is influenced by the very first vegetable soup I ever made, years ago, to a recipe by Nigella Lawson.

Unfortunately during the cooking programme my soup maker seems to have died.  When it got to the blending stage there was just a weak humming noise.  😞

I bought both of my soup makers in 2021, firstly a Morphy Richards in the UK just after Christmas then one in France a few months later, almost identical but quite a bit cheaper in a sale.  The French one has been used a lot over the years so I suppose for what it cost I've had my money's worth.

When we next go to the UK by car I will probably bring the Morphy Richards one back to France as it doesn't get used very often, only a handful of times per year.  In the meantime, I can use the broken French one on the "chunky" function, mainly used for soups like minestrone, which cooks the soup just the same but doesn't finish it off by blending.  On this occasion I just fished my stick blender out of the depths of the kitchen drawer and used that to finish the soup.  The deep shape of the machine made the blending very easy, probably easier than in a saucepan which would be wider, and much easier than transferring to a separate blender or food processor.  Just one extra piece of washing up, the stick blender wand, so it will do for now.

I notice that I can get a very similar new one for about 50€ on Amazon but would rather not spend the extra money as long as the heating element is still working and cooking the soup.

Update  I made a red pepper and tomato soup yesterday on chunky, got my stick blender ready, and thought I would try the "blender only" function on the soup maker, just in case.  It worked!  Maybe it just needed a rest!

Ingredients

4 small carrots

2 small potatoes

1 leek

a handful of radishes

1 large tomato

1 stick celery

1 chunk of cauliflower

3 broccoli stalks, woody outer layer removed

dry sherry and grated nutmeg (optional)

cream or crème fraîche for serving (optional)

Method

Wash, trim and roughly chop enough veg to fill the soup maker to the bottom line.

Add 1 vegetable stock pot and water to the top line.  Cook on smooth (or cook on chunky and finish with a stick blender).

Stir in a splash of dry sherry and a sprinkle of nutmeg before serving, and a swirl of cream in the bowl.

Makes 4 generous bowls of soup.