Last minute Golden Crimbly Cake...

Ta dah...my last minute Christmas Cake...isn't she pretty!!

Most Christmas (Crimbly as one would say colloquially in Blighty) are made months ahead and are well treated and ‘fed’ the occasional spot of whiskey or brandy…this little delight is made only a couple of days before…or today, Christmas Eve, or even tomorrow Christmas Day…the smell would be delightful coming from your toasty little oven.

Here is the recipe adapted from a Saveur article a few years ago about Truman Capote's short story called “A Christmas Memory” a delightful read for when you have a mo and a nice hot cup of tea. This cake is almost a combination of steamed pudding and regular fruit cake…very moist and heavy with fruits…YUM. The quality of the cake will depend almost solely on the quality of your dried fruits so try to find really nice plump ones, maybe at your local health food store or food co-op.

Assembling the ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

A goodly combination of dried fruits adding up to 2 1/4 cups/about 1lb …I used cherries, pineapple with low sugar (has more pineapple flavour) candied citron…YES I found this at the Belfast Coop, never had candied citron before but it is very nice...subtle, not so lemony and quite floral…(you could easily substitute candied lemon and orange peel), sultanas/white raisins and crystallized ginger but your favourite combination will do.

½ cup very strong, hot tea…or an alcohol of your choice, the recipe called for Grand Marnier, I prefer tea as that is more traditional for an English Christmas Cake.

¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice…about 1 good sized lemon.

To start the ball rolling put all the dried fruits together and toss in the tea and lemon juice and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours at room temperature to allow the fruits to plump and infuse.

Multiple Other ingredients:

¾ cup/4oz broken nutmeats…I used pecans

½ cup/2oz unbleached white flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon garam masala…a lovely Indian spice with a little kick…if don’t have this or don’t want to try it please use cinnamon and mace

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup/1oz white breadcrumbs

2 eggs whisked and at room temperature

½ cup/4oz (weight not volume) sour cream

½ cup/4oz sugar

1 stick/4oz butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract

1 teaspoons grated lemon zest

And so we begin: Pre heat oven to 350F

1. Toast nutmeats in a low oven for a couple of minutes until fragrant.. be careful not to burn…they go very quickly when they go, leave to cool completely before you use them.
2. Generously grease and flour a 6 1/2” (mine is 3” deep) diameter baking pan, 4 cup capacity, and cut a circle of parchment/greased proof paper to put in the bottom of the pan to help you extricate the cake at the end.
3. Sift flour, salt and spices together and put in a bowl with the breadcrumbs…stir together.
4. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Gradually beat the eggs into butter and sugar mix, dribble by dribble until all incorporated.
6. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
7. Fold in dry ingredients in two batches plus lemon zest.
8. Fold in fruit and liquid mix until well blended, I actually found my mixture looked somewhat curdled because of the amount of liquid ingredients but don’t worry…it will all come together in the baking.
9. Spoon into chosen baking receptacle cover with another round of parchment/greased proof paper and pop into your pre heated oven for about 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the very depths of the cake comes out clean…I didn’t cook mine quite long enough…I took it out at 1 ½ hours so I have added an extra 15 minutes for yours.

10. Leave in baking pan for about ½ hour before unmolding.

11. Cool before eating with a nice strong cup of tea or an adult beverage of your choice.

Before she goes into the oven...bad photo sorry!!

The inside of the cake...looking a little squishy in the middle so make sure yours is cooked all the way through.

Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy Baking!!!

A FOOL for Valentine's Day!!!

Is this a Fool or a Whim Wham...that is the question!

After reading through various books and tearsheets I realized that Fool and Whim Wham are somewhat interchangeable although Fool leans more to crushed fruit and luscious whipped cream gently folded together and Whim Wham tends towards custard, cream and crushed fruit with the excellent added addition of almond macaroons. I have to admit I swooned towards the Whim Wham but, of course, I wanted to use Fool in the title as it works so well with the whole concept of Valentine's Day!!! Tee Hee

Here is the recipe, which honestly is not at all unlike the trifle recipe below...the jelly/jello being the noteable absence.......please make in order...

MACAROONY PART:
2ozs ground almonds
2ozs fine sugar (I actually grind the sugar and almonds together in a coffee grinder to get them finer than they come from the store...the almonds don't go oily if you combine them evenly with the sugar and don't grind for too long).
2 egg whites...whisked to quite dry/stiff peaks
1 teaspoon rose water (not necessary if you can't find it but it does add a certain 'je ne c'est quoi')
Very simply gently blend all ingredients together so as not to deflate the whisked egg whites then drop in small mounds onto a greased baking sheet and cook in a slow oven ie about 275F for about 30-40 minutes until somewhat browned and 'dry'....the net result should be a very crunchy cookie/biscuit to crumble in with the Fool, allow to cool completely before you use them so they are nice and crisp.

CUSTARD/english custard/creme patisserie/pastry cream:
FINALLY, I have found a pastry cream that actually sets when cold, I tried about 3 other recipes that SAID the custard would set when cold but they didn't...this one WORKS!!!, and really well but you have to be vigilant!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of regular flour
1 tablespoon of cornstarch (cornflour for the Brits)
1. Combine the milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. In a bowl beat the egg and extra yolks with the remaining sugar until thick.
3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture and beat until well mixed and smooth.
4. Beat half the hot milk into the yolk mix until combined and smooth.
5. Then pour this into the remaining hot mixture in the pan.
6. HERE IS THE VIGILANT PART, keep your eyeballs peeled and whisk moving like the clappers!!! Bring the custard to a quick boil, whisking, whisking, whisking and as soon as it thickens..., take off the heat and whisk until it starts to cool....put pan in a bowl of cold water and continue to whisk until cold...you don't have to do it non-stop, but pretty often to prevent a skin from forming....when I was little if there was a skin on the custard it made me gag,

so don't go there!!!

WHIPPED CREAM:

Preferably organic and about 12 fl. oz of such with a little added sugar to taste and perhaps a teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence

FRUITY PART:

I chose raspberries for my Fool, a package of frozen organic ones which I put into a bowl, sprinkled with sugar and let steep and macerate whilst I proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

You can do strawberries or most traditionally gooseberries if you can find them.

ASSEMBLAGE:

In a tall glass layer the whipped cream, then the custard, then the crushed fruit, then the crumbled macaroons til the glass is elegantly full....add a macaroon to the top...consume!!

DID YOU KNOW??

In Medieval Europe lovers gave one another sprigs of YARROW at the beginning of a Valentine's Day dinner which if they wilted by the end of the repast, meant the love affair was doomed, DOOMED I tell you....now where do you get yarrow at this time of the year in Maine??

(This information courtesy of Gourmet Mag Feb 2008)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! A trifle, I say, for 2009!

Lady fingers.... this was my first attempt at making them and they came out a little thin but they tasted great...crisp, light and so Ladyfingery!

Here are the Ladyfingers broken up in the assigned trifle bowl ready to be 'dressed' with chopped crystallized ginger, unfrozen organic cherries, a squeeze of lemon and 'jelly' made from concentrated cheery, or even cherry, juice thickened with 'Natural Desserts' all natural unflavoured jel dessert instead of animal gelatin, as is usual, so our trifle is vegetarian.

The finished trifle...a layer of jelly and fruit and cake, a layer of homemade creme patisserie (pastry cream/custard that 'sets' when cold) and a layer of whipped cream with a little sugar and crystallized ginger scattered in a random but considered fashion. Ta Dah!!! Delicious!!!

THE RECIPE FOR A CHERRY AND GINGER TRIFLE
(READ THROUGH THE RECIPE FIRST BECAUSE SOME OF IT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN A SPECIFIC ORDER!!)

Ladyfingers from 'The Martha Stewart Cookbook' Makes about 36...you need extra to eat, of course, other than those you are putting in the trifle......

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs seperated

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2/3 cup sifted cake flour (or 2/3 cup regualr flour minus 1 tablespoon if you don't have cake flour...I never do!)

confectioner's/icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 300F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip.

1. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar until mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a trail on the surface of the egg mixture when the whisk is lifted out.

2. In a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and pinch of salt until stiff but not dry.

3. Fold the egg whites ever so gently into the yolk mixture alternating with the sifted flour...be careful not to overmix...fold until all flour and whites are just incorporated. The batter must remain as light and fluffy as possible.

4. Spoon the batter into the pastry bag and pipe onto parchment in lengths of 4" x 1 1/2" wide.

5. Using a fine sieve dust the fingers thickly with confectioners/icing sugar.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes, they are done when they are slightly beige in colour and firm but tender.

7. Cool on wire racks before using in the trifle.

THE CUSTARD

FINALLY, I have found a pastry cream that actually sets when cold, I tried about 3 other recipes that SAID the custard would set when cold but they didn't...this one WORKS!!!, and really well but you have to be vigilant!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon of regular flour

1 tablespoon of cornstarch (cornflour for the Brits)

1. Combine the milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.

2. In a bowl beat the egg and extra yolks with the remaining sugar until thick.

3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture and beat until well mixed and smooth.

4. Beat half the hot milk into the yolk mix until combined and smooth.

5. Then pour this into the remaining hot mixture in the pan.

6. HERE IS THE VIGILANT PART, keep your eyeballs peeled and whisk moving like the clappers!!! Bring the custard to a quick boil, whisking, whisking, whisking and as soon as it thickens..., take off the heat and whisk until it starts to cool....put pan in a bowl of cold water and continue to whisk until cold...you don't have to do it non-stop, but pretty often to prevent a skin from forming....when I was little if there was a skin on the custard it made me gag, so don't go there!!!

THE JELLY PART

Now here is the confusing part...to a Brit jelly means Jello not jam. I decided to use a vegetarian jelling agent and found a great one at the local Food Co-op by 'Natural Desserts'...it works really well and FAST....starts to set-up whilst it is still hot so beware of that as you go along. I used one packet and set one US pint of 'jelly' with it ie 16 fl oz not 20 fl oz for a British pint...so I took about 10 fl oz of concentrated cherry juice and added 6 oz water to make up the liquid...I made the juice stronger than the instructions said for more flavour in the jelly......but don't make the jelly YET....read the rest of the recipe to know what to do in what order.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER IN ORDER.

1. Make the Ladyfingers, let them cool and break them up into the bottom of the chosen GLASS trifle bowl...you want to be able to appreciate the layers.

2. Make the custard and let it cool without letting it get a skin...YUCK!!!

3. Assemble the unfrozen cherries, as many as you like, and chop the crystallized ginger, and sprinkle with a little lemon juice for ZING, and scatter them over the Ladyfingers.

4. NOW make the jelly, whisk a little til cool and starting to thicken and then pour over the Ladyfingers, cherries and ginger.

5. Let the jelly set.

6. Spoon the custard over the jelly bit.

7. Whip lashings of cream...the best you can find, preferably from Jersey cows and either 'dollop' over the custard or pipe as I did.

8. Garnish with more chopped crystallized ginger.

CONSUME!!!!

The combination of jelly, fruit, custard and whipped cream is divine and sublime if done well, when I was growing up in Manchester, England Mum made trifles from a packet and they were pretty grim but not this one...it is subtle and cloud like and not horribly sweet...you can make any flavour combination of fruit and jelly(o) you like...be inventive....some people do raspberry jelly and bananas, strawberries and strawberry jelly(o)....some people like to sprinkle cream sherry on the Ladyfingers before you put on the fruit and jelly(o)....some people use jam instead of jelly(o). Let me know what you come up with...I just liked the idea of cherry and ginger, and there you have it!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR!