May 12, 2013

Baking | Cherry & Plum Crisp … Happy Mothers Day #stonefruitlove #summer

“He who likes cherries soon learns to climb”
German Proverb

Cherry & Plum Crisp … could there be a simpler way to celebrate summer? It’s a wonderful way to make Mothers Day special too. I am thrilled to find stone fruit lining the shelves in the local bazaar already. The first week of May and I was pleasantly surprised {read giddily ecstatic} to find the plumpest, juiciest and sweetest of cherries here already!

“Straight from the Himalayas for you” announced the ever charming vendor, knowing pretty well I see through his charm. Knows pretty well too that I cannot resist stone fruit. Year after year we play the same game. In the end the love of stone fruit rules!

Cherries This year the crops been better. Sweeter too. Deep, red and SWEET, pitting means a blood red splattered kitchen. Coloured hands, dripping juice and the temptation to gobble up mouthfuls mark this beautiful season.

The hotter and hotter it gets, the more unbearably the mercury rises, the sweeter the fruit get.The irony of life. The good and the bad go hand in hand and all proverbs fall true. No pain without gain, lose something to get something … and life goes on!

Cherry plum summer crisp The same rings true with being a mother too. Agony and ecstasy? I constantly turn to one of my favourite authors Erma Brombeck for comic relief. Be it for mothers or otherwise, she always has something uncannily true, something that hits a home run each time.As for mothers, there are quotes and more quotes from time immemorial. Everyone has their two penny bit about mothers. For some reason every word makes sense. It doesn’t even matter which side of the fence you’re on!

Back to our bake. Nothing much to it.Crisp, cobblers, crumbles are no rocket science. Let your palette guide you. Throw in what you like. My recipe is really a rough guide to get you to enjoy summer and make the most of the abundance of summer fruit.

Go the cherry plum plum way, or just do a cherry crisp. Do a mixed Gluten Free Stone Fruit Crisp, or then get bake up a yummy Stone Fruit Almond Crumble.

Crisps are baked with the fruit mixture on the bottom with a crumb topping. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, bread crumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal. Crumble are the British version of the American Crisp.

My love of stone fruit is indescribable! Once you’ve had the thrill of a simple crisp or crumble, maybe you can do a Rustic Peach & Plum Galette, Mini Peach Cherry & Blueberry Galettes, Chocolate Plum Clafoutis, Cornmeal Drop Biscuit Peach Cobbler. Then again you could go the no bake way and make Peach Ginger or Plum Vanilla Granita, Tropical Fruit Verrines or a Fresh Cherry Fro Yo!

Summer is for stone fruit. So much and more you can do. ENJOY!!

Recipe: Cherry & Plum Crisp

Summary: A cherry and plum crisp that is simple and delicious. A celebration of summer!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

350g sweet cherries, pitted
200g plums, pitted, chopped
75-100g brown sugar {depending on how sweet or sour the fruit is}
50g almonds, chopped {optional}
Few drops almond extract
10g cornflour
Topping
25g oats
50g flour
30g almonds
50g butter
Fresh cherries to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place 6 ramekins on a baking sheet.
Filling
Place the fruit in a big non reactive/glass bowl with all ingredients and toss well to mix. Divide between 6 ramekins, pressing down gently to level out.
Crisp Topping
Place all ingredients except butter in bowl ofd food processor and pulse briefly in short intervals until a breadcrumb like mix is achieved.
Divide the topping between the ramekins to cover the surface. Gently press into place.
Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top. If the top begins to get too brown, tent with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Serve warm or at room temperature. We are happy to have them chilled too!
Serve with cream, vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit.

Don’t miss a post
Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

August 14, 2012

Baking | Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes … Happy 100th Birthday Julia

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
Julia Child

Those lines by Julia Child defined my spirit of blogging from day one. To celebrate Julia’s 100th birthday on the 15th of August, 2012, I chose and adapted this beautiful everyday dessert - Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes from Baking With Julia. There was an energy about her, the chef who changed the way America cooked and baked. Food bloggers worldwide woke up to a new identity after Julie & Julia. People looked at us differently, suddenly recognising the band of foodies who passionately belted out deliciousness online day after day.The ever sweet Suma @ Cakes & More sent me Dorie Greenspans amazing book Baking With Julia as a gift. The book is packed with sweet and savoury recipes from the PBS series that Julia hosted, and doubles up as a baking encyclopedia too. The commentary is warm and friendly, puts you at ease instantly as Dorie talks to you through each recipe. Baking With Julia now shares place of honour on my bookshelf with both volumes of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking!Bread is what I wanted to bake, a Fougasse, but I didn’t plan well in time as the dough needed to sit for 24 hours to get bubbly and squeaky! I love the way Dorie writes that because even the bread dough has ‘emotions’! My next natural choice was a simple everyday dessert. With plums in the fridge, these little Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes were but going to happen!I changed the recipe a little bit, and pretty soon realised that I might have to ‘grin and bear it‘ soon. The batter was runnier than required. Into it went some almond meal, and since the eggs were small I went for 3 knowing pretty well that 2 whole + 1 yolk should do the trick! Should have used ramekins, threw caution to the wind and used dessert rings. I knew I was in trouble when the plums on top sank right in; with them my heart!!I fixed it though, topped the cakelets with more plum halves {and slices} halfway through baking, safe in the knowledge that maybe an invisible Julia peered over my shoulder. This is the untold joy of baking with a good book. It keeps you company, the characters pop up all over the place giving you tips, hints, telling you all is well, yelling at you when not! My time in the kitchen is always virtually in good company!I am fortunate to have some good company in reality too – a little plum thief that I have raised. Coco, our cocker spaniel took a shine to plums when she came to our home in the summer of 2011! Nothing’s changed! She didn’t notice me looking at her, and soon nicked a ‘plum prop’ and made a meal out of it, the little blighter! It was really tart!! She has great taste and will be any Mums delight! Loves her greens {beans, spinach, purslane, peas – raw or cooked}, loves her protein {eggs, cottage cheese, chickpeas} and even loves fruit {banana, mango, kiwi , plums, peaches, cherries, strawberries!}That’s just how well my time in the kitchen is spent! I love it! Creating food is almost an obsession and I love the culinary adventures that great chefs like Julia Child encourage. “This is really good you know!” exclaimed the 16 year old aka the dieting diva. {She couldn’t resist my ‘maybe you’d like to try some’ nonchalant reference to a plum cake in the oven !} “YUM! Can I have another?” was the more excited response from the junior teen who was hoping for a yes but got a NO instead! The little cakes were indeed delicious. Well balanced, beautiful light crumb and just right with the sweetness too. The plums gave up their juices and became delectable part of the cake. Topped with vanilla ice cream or even some low fat unsweetened cream … mmm! Dorie suggests a chocolate sauce … that must taste divine!

Recipe: Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes

Summary: Tiny little delicious dessert cakes that celebrate summer, stone fruit and plums! They are light and delightful, the almond meal adding beautiful texture to the crumb! Recipe adapted minimally from Marsel Desaulniers, Baking With Julia. {Makes 8 3″ cakes}

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw sugar {khand}
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 small eggs
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
1 scant cup flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 large ripe plums, halved and pitted
Whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or dark chocolate sauce if desired

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Grease 8 3″ dessert rings or 12 2″ ramekins with melted butter {I used clarified butter} and place on a foiled lined rimmed baking sheet.
Sift the flour, almond meal and baking soda. Reserve in a bowl.
Combine raw sugar and 2 tbsp of brown sugar in a bowl with butter. Cream for 2-3 minutes on medium high speed.
Add the eggs, vanilla bean and cream on high for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the flour mix and beat in on low speed until just combined, followed with the buttermilk. Mix in on low speed until uniformly mixed, 30 seconds.
Divide batter equally between prepared rings / ramekins, sprinkle over the remaining brown sugar and bake in oven to 15 minutes. Once the top is somewhat set, quickly place half a plum, cut side up into each cup. Continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes until light golden brown and done {toothpick inserted into middle should come out clean.}
Cool the tray on the rack for at least 15-20 minutes, then gently ease out using a blunt bitter knife. Serve warm or at room temperature as is, or with low fat unsweetened cream or vanilla ice cream.

Don’t miss a post
Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

August 11, 2012

Baking | Plum Tart with Walnut Frangipane … on my list to do before summer went!

“What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree?”
Logan Pearsall Smith

Some days are good while others not so. Generally days which begin with successfully seeing the kids off to school in the morning are good ones {meaning no nonsensical arguments at the crack of dawn, uniforms located in time, and the bus boarded on the stop and not being chased by a car of ‘see we missed the bus again’ teens}! On one such good day I made it this Plum Tart with Walnut Frangipane!Fruit in season must be the biggest thrill of my life. I am a locavore to the core. Fresh produce makes my heart sing. This has been a good summer, a season flooded with stone fruit. {Did I tell you that I’ve switched over to raw sugar in my baking? If you live in India, do see if you can get bhura or khand at your local grocer.}I love baking with plums because they turn into a beautiful deep red once baked. One thing I HAD to do this season was to bake with plums. I’ve done loads of cherries and peaches this year, but no stand alone plum bake! I still have a few recipes bookmarked yet something different played in my mind when I entered the kitchen that day…

… the result was this tart! I love substituting plain flour with a little bit of something more healthy, maybe a nut meal or cornmeal, maybe buckwheat flour … then wait with fingers crossed hoping that it doesn’t fall to bits! Whichever way it goes, I know that the family will sit and enjoy the bits even if it fails, scooping the crumbs up etc! That alone keeps me ticking!Somethings happened to my time management. There’s never enough in a day so the tart happened over two days. Baked the shell and made the frangipane on day one’ Happily enough, the next morning was a breeze. Dropped the kids off to the bus, raced back home and within 20 minutes I had a tart baking in the oven! I love baking with frangipane. Do you?

Frangipane, sometimes spelled frangipani, is similar to a pastry cream, and some may refer to it as specifically an almond pastry cream. Actually, frangipane can be any cream or custard-like substance with nuts. What makes it different from the average pastry cream is that it is often used as a filling in pies and is baked. This results in a very different crusty exterior to pies or tarts, and is a quite rich and delicious alternative to standard fruit pies.

Have baked loads with it, both free form and in a tart tin – pears, figs, fig and buckwheat, strawberries, plum, even a plum frangipane clafoutis, but the frangipane has always been an almond based one. This time around I went the walnut way just because I had a stash of walnuts from my last trip to Old Delhi. I added some walnuts to the base too, hence the dark colour.The shell wasn’t a very ‘crisp to bite’ one and thankfully it wasn’t very crumbly which was my biggest concern. It’s a rich shortcrust like base, and compliments the frangipane well. The plums were tart as Indian plums usually are so the extra sugar on top. Use firm ripe plums so that they hold shape. Paint them with slightly warm honey or apricot jam and they glisten.Don’t be tempted to cut the tart while very warm as it might crumble. Give it some time to firm up, an hour maybe if the weather is warm. We like our pies and tarts cold in summer, so ours was popped into the fridge for a couple of hours. Best enjoyed with a drizzle of unsweetened low fat cream IMHO, though great without too as the teens declared {both quite diet conscious now}.

Recipe: Plum Tart with Walnut Frangipane

Summary: A delicious summer tart with plums and walnuts. Walnuts add colour to the base and frangipane too. It’s a make ahead one, and you can even make the shell and frangipane a day ahead!

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes plus cooling time
Ingredients:

Walnut Tart Shell
150g plain flour
40g cornmeal {makki ka aata}
50g walnuts
15g raw sugar {I used khaand}
100g unsalted butter, cubed, chilled
1 egg yolk
1-2 tbsp chilled water {if required}
Walnut Frangipane
100g walnuts
50g raw sugar or brown sugar {I used khaand}
70g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
15g flour
Topping
500g plums {about 10-12} pitted, quartered
2tbsp Turbinado or raw sugar for sprinkling on top
2-3tbsp honey for glaze, melted

Method:

Tart shell {can be baked a day before}
Place the plain flour, walnuts, cornmeal and sugar in bowl of processor and grind in short pulses to fine meal.
Add chilled butter anf process briefly until a breadcrumb like micture is achieved. Add the egg yolk and process until it just starts clumping together. When pinched with the finger tips, it must hold together. If it doesn’t, then ad 1/2 tbsp of water at a time.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and pat together firmly into a dough ball. Do not knead or over handle else the pastry will become hard.
Roll out on lightly floured surface or parchment paper to line tart tin. Gently lift on rolling pin and place in tin. Don’t worry if it breaks slightly. Just patch it up, push into place and chill while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 190C
Bake the tart shell in the middle shelf for 15-20 minutes until lightly coloured. Check towards the end so it doesn’t get too brown as it will bake again with the filling. {I didn’t bake blind as I didn’t have the time, but it worked out fine}
Remove to cooling rack, leave in tin.
Walnut Frangipane {can be made a day ahead, or while the oven is preheating}
Place walnuts, sugar, flour and vanilla bean in bowl of processor and pulse until you get a fine meal.
Add the butter and egg and blend together until smooth. Reserve in a bowl. {Refrigerate if making ahead}
Assemble
Preheat the oven to 180C
Spread the frangipane uniformly over the cooled base.
Place plum quarters covering the frangipane, pressing down gently in place.
Sprinkle over the raw sugar {or Turbinado}, and a few slivers of pistachio if you like.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the frangipane is puffed, golden brown, and firm to the touch. Immediately paint over the fruit with the warm honey, and sprinkle more pistachio slivers if you like.
Cool the tart on a wire rack for at least 30-45 minutes {firm to touch} before slicing.