Summer Bakes: Petits fours, Disco Biscuit & Plummy Crumbles
Hello!!!!!
Ok, so I know I said in my last post that I'd be back with more really soon and I totally failed at that but I did have a pretty good excuse!!....says me....the excuse maker!
I got married at the end of June and basically for the six month lead up I wasn't even allowed look at a picture of cake, let alone bake it, or, God forbid, eat it, with the one exception of a batch of macarons for my hen party afternoon tea.
Literally the day the wedding was over, all those good intentions went completely out the window and the honeymoon was two weeks of bread, cake, ice cream, pasta, biscuits and everything yummy Greece had to offer and believe me, it didn't stop when we got home! So now I am officially on a post honeymoon diet...lame! But don't worry, I have been back in the kitchen and have actually racked up quite a few bakes in the past few weeks! Starting off, there was a very plummy Crumble, followed by some totally boogielicious Disco biscuits and a finale of some très chic Petits Fours.
Plum, apple, cinnamon crumble
This first bake came by way of a very kind gesture from our next door neighbour who has a plum tree in their back garden. It had ripened and they dropped in a bag of the sweetest little plums you've ever tasted just in time for my dad's birthday!! I was racking my brain to figure out what to make for his birthday desert. My sister-in-law had the birthday cake covered with her world famous chocolate biscuit cake, so I wanted to make something nice and summery to accompany her master piece!
Along with the yummy plums I added two cooking apples, cinnamon, ground ginger, some agave syrup and a splash of water. I chucked everything but about a quarter of the plums in a big pot, brought it to the boil and then turned down and left it to simmer for about 20 mins or so until it was fairly broken down but still maintaining a bit of it's shape.
While the fruit was cooking away I made my absolute favourite crumble topping, which happens to come from 'The World of the Happy Pear' (blue) book. It combines oats (I use the jumbo oats), ground almonds (I substituted with flaked almonds to give more of a crunch), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, agave syrup (or honey/maple syrup) and coconut oil (melted...you could also use sunflower oil). Pour whichever oil you're using into a big bowl, pour all the other ingredients on top and then mix together until completely combined.
Once the fruit was done I poured it into an oiled baking dish, scattered in the remaining plums (halved), covered with the crumble topping and baked in the oven for about 20-25mins until golden brown on top with lovely plummy lava bubbling up around the edges.
It smelled and tasted like summer on a plate, served with a dollop of salted caramel ice cream on the side. Yum yum yummy yum!!
Gingerbread Disco Biscuits
At the same time my eldest brother was home from Japan for the week, which meant, for the first time in a very long time we were able to celebrate my dad's birthday as a whole family. Blessed!!
With my big bro being so far away he never really gets to taste my bakes, except at Christmas, so I couldn't let the occasion pass without making him something special to keep him going on his long journey back to Japan. Seeing as he was responsible for half my gingerbread men going missing before I could put them onto my Christmas wreath (see the last post), I figured he might appreciate some he could enjoy guilt free with a bit of a funky twist.
Going along with the idea that 'If it's not broke, don't fix it', I went with the same gingerbread recipe as at Christmas time from the BBC Good Food website. The recipe includes Dark Muscovado sugar, golden syrup, slightly salted butter, plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and one egg.
Firstly combine the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan...I actually didn't have enough dark brown sugar so had to mix it with some light soft brown sugar as well. They still tasted great, just a little lighter coloured than if I used only dark sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to bubble away for a few mins, stirring until the butter is melted and everything is well combined. Set aside and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, then pour in the cooled syrup and the egg and mix all to combine. When it comes together kneed a little bit until it's smooth and streak free. It will be pretty soft at this stage. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 30 mins to firm up and heat the oven to 180°C.
When you're ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge and let it come back to room temperature before rolling out to about the size of £1 coin (it's the measurement the recipe gives and since a €1 coin is skinnier than a pound coin I can't really convert...so, in other words, just go with your gut!...or your purse!).
Next came the fun bit. I finally got the chance to use the deadly cookie cutters my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas last year!! They're so much fun. You get a torso with a head and then various shaped arms and legs to make whatever groovy Disco fever characters you want. As you will no doubt agree, they're pretty much the coolest cookies around, and if you don't agree, just look at this...
I rest my case!! (mic drop baking equivalent...rolling pin drop)
Once you have all these cool dudes cut out, spread out on a couple of baking trays and bake, up to two tray at a time, for about 10-12 mins, swapping over half way through baking. Mine only took 8 minutes as our oven is really hot so keep an eye just in case.
I left mine bare as, firstly, I didn't really have time to decorate and secondly, I'm really really bad at it! But if you fancy you can deck all your disco buddies out in some super fly outfits using icing sugar, food colouring and a little bit of water to make a thick icing that can be piped onto your biscuits without running off the sides. Go on and get your groove on with these tasty bites!!
Petits Fours:
Brown Butter & sea salt Madeleines &
Chocolate & Hazelnut sablés
This summer I decided to extend my dainty desert repertoire with two new classic french petits fours recipes. Namely, Madeleines and Sablés. The Madeleines recipe came from the BBC Good Food April 2017 issue: Brown butter and sea salt Madeleines. From my research, as far as I can tell, all Madeleine recipes require brown butter or Beurre Noisette and the addition of sea salt works well as it cuts across the sweetness of the sugar and honey in them.
I did attempt chocolate and coffee Madeleines a few years ago which turned out really nice but I didn't have the correct tin for them so they didn't really look right and to be honest, a lot of the appeal of the Madeleine is the lovely shell effect. The chocolate coffee ones also used beurre noisette along with cocoa powder and instant espresso powder and half dipped in tempered dark chocolate.
To make the sea salt Madeleines, start by making the Beurre Noisette. To do this put 200g butter in a small saucepan and heat until it starts to sizzle. It will start to foam up, let it cook until the foam subsides and the butter changes to a nutty brown colour. Take it off the heat and leave to cool completely.
Next beat the eggs, golden caster sugar and honey together, mix in the flour and salt and finally add the beurre noisette. The mixture will be quite runny and looks a bit like pancake batter. At this point I jumped back to the choc/coffee Madeleine recipe which comes from the book Pâtisserie at Home by Will Torrent. It's a book I picked up years ago in TK Maxx, not knowing at the time that it would be the best pâtisserie book I would own that didn't come directly from France. The recipes are clear and detailed so you're never left wondering if you're doing it right and my bakes have almost always turned out spot on.
Getting back to the Madeleines, Pâtisserie at Home advises at this point to cover the batter with cling film and refrigerate for 30-40 mins. This will firm up the batter a little bit and make it easier to spoon into the buttered baking tin (brush the baking tin with the left over beurre noisette to stop it sticking while baking). Once you've spooned or piped the batter into the tin, refrigerate again for 20 mins to form a skin on top.
Going back to the BBC Good Food recipe, heat the oven to 210C/190C fan and bake for 8-10 mins until puffed up and golden. Turn out onto a cooling rack, they should come out pretty easily, and let cool slightly.
Dust with some icing sugar if you like and serve the warm Madeleines with some cold crème fraîche. They are also lovely cold with a cup of tea and a chat with some good friends.
Chocolate and hazelnut sablés
This recipe also came from that same book I've just been prattling on about; Pâtisserie at Home and includes ground and chopped hazelnuts with cocoa powder, cocoa nibs and melted chocolate.
For these Sablé biscuits the method is a bit different but still gives you that lovely crumbly texture at the end. To start we cream together 75g icing sugar and 150g butter until pale and fluffy. Scrape in the seeds of a vanilla been and the zest of one orange and beat again until well combined.
Beat in two lightly whipped eggs, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and then fold in 200g sifted plain flour, 50g ground hazelnuts and 2 tbsp's cocoa powder with a large metal spoon until just combined. Be careful not to over mix or you'll get dense, chewy biscuits instead of light, soft, crumbly ones. Bring the dough together, wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for about an hour.
When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170C, take the dough out of the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thickness...I've never been any good at measurements and couldn't be bothered looking for a measuring tape to measure 5mm/1/4 inch, so I just guessed. These biscuits have no raising agent in them so they're not going to puff up very much, so figure whatever size bite you want to take and roll out to that thickness.
Stamp out little bite sized circles (remember, they are Petits Fours after all so they're meant to be dainty!! I used an espresso cup), lay them out on a baking sheet either lightly dusted with flour or covered with baking paper, and bake in the preheated oven for 10 mins. The oven at home gets super hot so I generally have to take 10C off the temperature stated and keep a close eye . My sablé's were done after 8 minutes.
Remember that all ovens differ so it's best to watch the first batch carefully and not just rely on the time given in the book.
When the sablés are done, take them out of the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking tray. When the cookies are baked, they will still be quite soft so be careful not to over bake them as they will firm up when they cool. Once they are cool, next comes the really fun part of decorating!! You need 250g tempered dark chocolate, 3tbsp's roasted chopped hazelnuts (I got them in Tesco already roasted and chopped so saved a lot of hassle) and 3 tbsp's cocoa nibs. Dip one side of the sablé in the chocolate, lay it back on the baking paper and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts and cocoa nibs and then try your very, very best to wait until completely dry before digging in. This will require a ridiculous amount of self control, so if you do crack and gobble one down while they're still warm, no ones going to think the lesser of you! If you do, however, have super human self control, they will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
All the elements come together to make these sablé's just lovely. Alone, the ground hazelnut gives them a slightly dry, crumbly texture, while the mixture of icing sugar and cocoa powder makes them gently sweet. The tempered chocolate adds moisture, the hazelnuts give crunch and the cocoa nibs give little blasts of bitterness. It's a party for the senses and super easy to gobble down half the batch in one sitting! Consider yourself warned!
Voilà , C'est tout pour aujourd'hui. I do have something of a showstopper coming up and thought it deserved its very own post so I'll be back soon...I really mean it this time!!!
À bientôt!
