I was sitting here at my computer after after just having browsed through my new Good magazine and a little book that’s been sitting on my desk for some time caught my eye. It’s the Davis Dainty Dishes book from 1922. I picked it up and flicked through it. I was not too hopeful at finding something that was actually edible or even slightly appetising in it. I’d looked before you see and it seemed to be filled with things like this.

I mean .. apart from the fact that this dish is composed of celery that has been boiled with lemon and then the liquid turned into gelatine and smothered in mayonnaise; I am a little wary of the mutant giant asparagus that they seem to have placed nicely around the edge.

Then there is this.

I can’t say this appeals really. It just seems wrong on so many levels.

Then there is this aberration of nature. Kiwis everywhere will be crying out in outrage at the sight of this one.

I left the list of ingredients there for you all to have a look at. This is not a Pavlova. Who ever wrote that recipe in 1922 ought to be completely ashamed of themselves. Although it’s quite interesting from a historical point of view. I’m guessing that the definition of a pavlova was not so firm at that point in time.

I did however see something that caught my eye and that was poached eggs. I wondered why they would be putting a recipe for poached eggs in a gelatine book and I had horrible visions of eggs poached and then suspended in a glistening gel with chopped parsley floating around in little clouds.

On reading through the recipe, I discovered that it was a recipe for a novelty dessert which looked like poached eggs. This is known as a trompe l’oeil in art - to make something seem other than it really is, a form of optical illusion. In reality it’s like a very simple vanilla milk gelee with apricots. Kids love food that looks like something else so Isaac and I decided to make these together. 

This might be a fun way to pass some time with children on a rainy day for those of you that have winter at the moment. Because of the amount of gelatine in these they set up very quickly in the fridge.

Out came the aprons and we whipped up these “poached eggs”.

“Poached Eggs”

• 1 1/2 cups of milk or yoghurt (I used low fat/high calcium milk)
• 2 Tblspns condensed milk or white sugar
• 1 tspn of vanilla paste with seeds
• 1/2 cup of boiling water
• 2 Tblspns powdered gelatine
• 1 can of apricot halves

Mix your gelatin with the boiling water and stir until it is all dissolved.
Combine your milk, condensed milk and vanilla paste in a bowl and whisk lightly to mix.
Add the dissolved gelatine into the milk, stir to mix.

Pour into an 8 inch square cake pan and place in the fridge to set for roughly an hour. Your vanilla seeds will all sink to the bottom and look like pepper on the egg.

Once your milk gelee has set then run a hot knife around the edge of the pan. Place an oven tray on the top - flip them both over and give a few sharp jolts to turn your set mixture onto the tray. Make sure you have hold of it firmly! Alternatively you can sit the base of the pan in some warm water for a few moments to loosen the gelee, then turn out.

With a circular cutter roughly 3 inches across (we used egg poaching rings) - cut out shapes from the set mix.

Slide a wide spatula under each one carefully and put on your serving plate.  Be careful, they do have a tendency to stretch a little as you slide them off your spatula. Place an apricot half on each one, sprinkle with some sugar just before serving (looks like salt)

If you wished you could go as far as to make a creme anglaise for hollandaise and place your egg on a slice of pound cake toast, then top with a sprinkling of angelica parsley. It could in fact be quite an elegant dessert, except that it looks like an egg.

Isaac loved making these with me and took even more delight in telling his father he was going to be having poached eggs for dessert. They really do look like eggs on first glance. Have fun!

I’ve been looking to buy the jars for Isaac and I to do this for a long time now. It’s been very difficult to find jars that are just right. I’ve wanted to make a pie in a jar with Isaac for quite a while, ever since I saw this idea on Our Best Bites.

Who can resist a pie in a jar? That’s right up there with kittens and baby chinchillas on the cute scale. Poking pastry into small jars is just right for small fingers, and there does not need to be any heat involved if you make your fillings in advance to be popped inside the crust.

Silvermoon from Dragon Musings was having a Kids in the Kitchen Blog event so that was the required motivation to get this little project underway. Although I have to admit I would have made these pies regardless. I think having a single serving pie in the freezer is a great idea.

Don’t just think sweet pies. Think small savoury pies too, filled with chunks of steak and mushrooms, chicken and bacon, smoked fish with creamy bechamel topped with mashed cheesy potato. Sweet pies like rhubarb and strawberry, apple and cinnamon, apricot and apple or blackberry and peach can be heated and a cold scoop of icecream plopped on the top of the jar and just eaten as is.

These can go right from freezer to oven, no defrosting if you choose preserving jars of some kind. A small savoury pie can be a perfect afternoon tea when kids arrive home from school, team it up with a drink and some fruit and you have a filling snack to keep them going until dinner. If you can keep a few jars about, when you have pastry scraps or fruit languishing in the fruit bowl you can turn them into a teeny pie very quickly. They might make interesting conversation too for guests for a casual lunch or dinner.

Isaac and I made Apple, Strawberry and Rhubarb pies, I just happened to have some strawberries and rhubarb in the freezer so that seemed ideal. I tossed in a cinnamon stick, a little cornflour and some brown sugar to sweeten the filling slightly. The filling was all ready just for him to spoon into the pies.

You’ll notice there are a lot of photos in this post, I could not help myself, they were just so cute!

Fruit Pies in a Jar

• 1 packet of ready rolled puff pastry
• pie filling of your choice - cooked
• wide mouth preserving jars
• tiny shape cutters or a sharp knife to decorate with.
• Milk to brush the tops.

Choosing your jars is important, they need to be as wide at the mouth or wider than the rest of your jar to get the pastry in nicely and the pie out easily. You may like to eat the pie right from the jar, we did. I found these little jelly jars at my local shop, they are only small, just 4 oz but perfect for a single serve.

Line your jar with the pastry. We cut a disk for the bottom and the top and a strip to go around the inside of the jar, and pinched them together.

Put in your filling - do not fill all the way to the top leave a little room for movement.

Use a fork around the edge to press the pastry together and decorate with pastry scraps. Brush with a little milk and dust with icing sugar if cooking immediately.

Bake in a hot oven 220C/428F for 10-15 minutes.

If you are going to freeze it and put a lid on it, do not take the pastry all the way to the top.

Isaac had the most fun designing a variety of tops and patterns for the pies using a tiny star cutter. He got the hang of it very quickly and was soon quite confident making the little pies.

He came up with a lot of variations.

We brushed them with the milk and dusted them with a little icing sugar.

I popped them into the oven and we watched them through the oven door.

The best part was that he got to eat one for afternoon tea! I believe his exact words were “This pie is awesome!”. The interesting thing was that he ate the rhubarb, before he has always complained about it being sour. But I guess when you make things yourself, they always taste better.

It would be easy to make some small apple crisps and crumbles, you could even do mini cobblers if you were feeling creative. This was a lot of fun to do and I will continue to keep the little jars full in the freezer, ready just to put in the oven at a moments notice.

This was the one that Isaac picked out to eat.

Of course, there was a pie for the supervisor too.

Things Isaac learned making pies:

• 1.It’s hard to get pastry to do what you want and stick in the right place.
  2.You have to press hard when you are using a cutter.
  3.It’s easier to poke the shape out of the cutter than to try to pull it out.
  4.Pastry is sticker than playdough
  5.Rhubarb tastes good when you cook it yourself.
  6.You have to work out where to cut your shapes to fit them into a piece of pastry
  7.You can stop the pies burning if you tell Mummy she better check them again, because you noticed they were cooked and she didn’t.

Yummy pies! A great cooking project for kids and it’s nice to have some teeny tiny pies in the freezer.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Thanks Deeba and Aparna for choosing such an interesting challenge, I’ve never made any of these components before - except for the pastry cream, I really enjoyed putting it together!

Before I get started on the Tiramisu don’t forget about the Giveaway - tomorrow is the last day for entries to win either the Edmonds Cookbook or the eggcups.

To make the Tiramisu we had to make each individual component. Starting with the Mascarpone and Savoiardi, then Zabaglione and pastry cream.  I chose to make mine a traditional version since I had not made it before, minus the alcohol. I knew Isaac would be tasting this and I thought the coffee would be enough to keep him climbing the walls for about 24 hours on it’s own.

The Mascarpone

The mascarpone was surprisingly simple,  it’s one of those things that you would get better at the more often you made it. Cheese making is one of those things that you need to get a feel for I think.

The Mascarpone recipe is here over at Baking Obsession. The recipe is nice and clear and was easy to follow. I had no issues making it at all. I do think that using a stainless steel bowl was helpful since the cream came up to temperature easily, and also plenty of layers of cheesecloth - because the mixture is still very liquid when you pour it in after cooling.

You get roughly 3/4 of your cream turning into beautiful fresh and creamy mascarpone and all it takes is a little lemon juice and a thermometer. I’ll be doing this rather than buying mascarpone in future, it was much less expensive and really not that difficult to make.

The Savoiardi - Lady Finger Biscuits

The next step was the Savoiardi. I’m going to give you the recipe here, because I think it’s fantastic and I want to make sure I have it at my fingertips for the future.

(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2” to 3” long) ladyfingers.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon.

Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5” long and 3/4” wide strips leaving about 1” space in between the strips.

Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar. ( I could not get any excess to fall off at all - so I left it there and it was fine.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until they puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

I absolutely loved these, so easy to make and they took no time at all. Much more flavourful than store bought and a more pleasant texture. I’ll be making these on a regular basis.

The Zabaglione

Honestly, I could have sat down and eaten the whole lot, I’m surprised I actually managed to restrain myself. It did in fact make it into the Tiramisu, but it did require some serious self discipline on my part. This is worth just making on it’s own really. But of course you would need to make a much larger quantity.

2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

The Crème Patisserie

I just used my standard Crème Patisserie recipe from here to make this, with the milk increased slightly to 3/4 of a cup.

Chill until completely cool.

Whipped Cream

1 cup/235ml chilled cream
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

Whisk together until stiff peaks form - do not overwhip.

Putting it all together

2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8” by 8” should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Now to start assembling the tiramisu.
Working quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

I have to admit I did not feel all that confident putting it together, the cream mixture, while it tasted absolutely delicious seemed very loose to me. So I decided since I was making a tiramisu that would stand alone (it was not going to be in a glass) I would freeze it for a little bit instead of putting it in the fridge to firm up.

Traditionally Tiramisu is served in a glass and not as a cake, so I am sure usually it would be fine just chilled in the fridge and not in the freezer.

I made a handful of chocolate leaves for the top, I went down to the vege garden and pulled off a few leaves from the raspberry canes to paint chocolate on to; they have a beautiful shape and the veins on the foliage are well defined. I was pretty happy with the leaves, although not perfect I thought they were pretty good for a first attempt.

Well I did have all good intentions about leaving it to chill so that I would get a nice shot of the tiramisu all firm and lovely - but .. I could not wait to eat it. Not the kids, me; I was desperate to try it.

So when it looked close to firm enough I whipped it out of the freezer and cut a slice, so it’s still a little on the soft side in this shot but.. it was fantastic, creamy mouthfuls with a rich coffee flavour and I had a second helping without telling anyone.hmm I guess they know now….

This dessert was a bit of a mammoth undertaking to make each part of it from scratch, I am not sure that I would do the same again if I had to make a Tiramisu, just because of the time involved. But it was completely utterly delicious!

Don’t forget the Giveaway!

Ciao for now!

PS - the little straws around the edge are cappucino filled chocolates

PPS- Isaac helped me cut them to the right length - hence the ..errmm rustic nature of them.

That is an Apricot Tart with Honey and Almonds; for those of you that do not speak french - like me. This is a long standing recipe in our house; one that I just love. I don’t make it all that often, not because there is anything wrong with the recipe, but because I like to wait for apricots to be at their best, fat and ripe and in season. You can make this with canned apricots,which are a good substitute, just not quite the same as fresh.

I know most places in the northern hemisphere will not have apricots just yet, but perhaps you can tuck this away for the longer sunny days when the apricots are juicy and ready to be picked. It’s not far away now for you, even though I know many of you are still in your winter woollens and have snowy views out your windows.

It does take a little time to make this tart, but it’s absolutely worth every minute spent on it. A creamy almond crème patisserie filling dimpled with plump apricots in a crisp light pastry. What more could you want on a summer day?

Before I give you the recipe - just a reminder about the Giveaway, I’m really enjoying seeing the comments and suggestions for a recipe - I really don’t mind how creative you are with your suggestions - test my cooking skills and be adventurous!

Apricot Tart with Honey and Almonds

Pastry cream

• 2/3 cup of whole milk
• 1- 2 inch piece of vanilla bean
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 Tbspns sugar
• 1 Tblspn of cornflour/cornstarch

One quantity of sweet shortcrust pastry -see pastry recipe here

Filling ingredients

• 1/2 cup of whole blanched almonds
• 1/3 cup of icing sugar
• 1/4 cup of butter - room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 tspn almond extract
• pinch of salt
• 6 to 8 apricots halved and stones removed

• 3 Tblspns of honey - to drizzle over

Pour milk into a small saucepan, scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and toss in the bean as well. Bring up to a simmer. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks, 3 Tblspns of sugar and the cornflour. Gradually add the hot milk to the yolk mixture in a small and steady stream whisking continuously.

Add the mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently until it thickens.

It should look something like this.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface and cool in the fridge.

Roll out your pastry to fit your tart tin chill until firm, I often toss mine in the freezer for about 20 minutes to speed things up.

Preheat the oven to 220C/400F bake your tart crust blind until golden.

For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it just means to place some baking paper on top of your pastry and fill it with beans or pie weights and bake for roughly 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5. This is just to ensure that the pastry is crisp and does not absorb the tart filling when you pour it in. It’s a really common method to use when you are baking a tart that has a wet filling.

Cool your pastry crust.

Preheat oven to 180C/350F

Finely grind your almonds and icing sugar in the food processor.

Add this into your cooled pastry cream, stir in your room temperature butter and the egg, extract and salt.

Pour into your cooled crust and arrange your apricots halves on the top

Bake until set and golden- this takes roughly 40 minutes. You might find you need to tent the edges of the crust with foil if they are looking a little brown.

Drizzle with honey while warm, serve at room temperature.

This is a really lovely tart and one that looks so pretty. If you are using canned apricots do drain them well, you do not want a lot of additional moisture from the apricots going into the filling.

I can imagine this working well with peaches,pears or plums as well.

We are getting into late summer here. Sunsets are earlier and the winter clothing stocks are coming into the shops and they are finished with the end of summer sales. I’m starting to keep my eyes open for mushrooms in the forests that are near our house and Isaac is making the most of his waterslide while he still can.

That means apricot season is almost over here, and I’ll put my apricot tart recipe away until next summer when the stone fruit is hanging on the trees and the apricots are ripe again.