24 December 2011
Just Dessrts - Manawatu Standard Saturday 24th December 2011
The year is rapidly drawing to a close and we have had a successful time selling our Christmas cakes both white and dark, our range of preserves and our ever popular gingernut shards. For those of us who are still doing last minute Christmas shopping and therefore have not yet devoted enough time to thinking through the Christmas or New Year’s day menu I have some simple suggestions below.
One of my new additions to the kitchen, Alice, has been discussing desserts for Christmas dinner as her family has established a tradition of a dessert competition. The judging criteria are flavour, complexity of technique and serving presentation. The whole affair is very competitive and there seems to me to be a slight element of sabotage.
Alice has been pouring over Heston Blumenthal’s books and we have been fortunate enough to sample such delights as strawberry rhubarb jelly served over roasted rhubarb (six different variations!) garnished with crisp, transparent, pale pink rhubarb shards, almond and coffee vacherin (meringue) and frozen chocolate, chilli mousse. Such delights as Heston’s unbelievable black forest gateau and his fromage blanc, apple milk caramel and vanilla ice cream were beyond our technical ability.
Today for our photography Alice has created a far simpler dessert designed for those of us who wish to put something together at the last minute. A recipe as such is not required.
Ingredients
Pre rolled puff pastry sheets
Egg wash
Caster sugar
Filling:
Strawberries
Icing sugar
Whipped cream
Icing made from icing sugar and a drizzle of water or orange juice
Raspberry coulis to garnish
Method
Stamp out puff pastry stars and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg being careful not to paint of the edge of the pastry, dust with castor sugar. Bake in a preheated oven 180°C approximately 15minutes until golden brown. Reduce temperature to 150°C and continue to bake until pastry is cooked all the way through. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. When cold split and fill with whipped cream layered with halved strawberries, rolled in icing sugar. Make a thin icing with icing sugar and water or orange juice, drizzle over the top of the stars. Plate up and garnish with a drizzle of raspberry coulis and strawberries.
Raspberry Coulis
Ingredients
1 punnet raspberries
Icing sugar to sweeten
Method
Push fresh (or thawed frozen) raspberries through a sieve, leaving seeds behind. Sweeten puree with icing sugar to taste. This coulis has a very fresh flavour and freezes successfully.
Another simple idea using raspberries is to make this delicious raspberry granite from frozen raspberries.
Place about 500grams frozen raspberries or strawberries in the food processor with 2 or so tablespoons of cater sugar- enough to sweeten. Pulse this frozen mixture until you have a coarse “crush”, taste and immediately refreeze this granita style ice. Serve raspberry granite within three hours otherwise the granita becomes too firm.
As a contrast in texture, serve shortbread fingers:
Ingredients
120g softened butter
60g castor sugar
150g flour
30g cornflour
Cream the softened butter with castor sugar. Add the flour and cornflour and combine together. I use the food processor and sometimes flavour the shortbread with grated orange or lemon rind. Roll shortbread out more thinly than usual and cut into long finger-like shapes (approximately the size of your second finger). Cook at 150°C until cooked, being careful not to let this thinner-than usual shortbread colour too much. Once cooled, remove from oven and sprinkle with caster sugar.
Peaches are just coming into season now and this classical dessert is not difficult but you do require excellent quality fresh peaches.
Peaches in Melba Sauce
Ingredients
220 g raspberries
4 peaches
2-3 tbsp icing sugar
Method
Skin, halve and stone the peaches.
Make the melba sauce by crushing the raspberries in a bowl, or liquidize the fruit. Stir in 2-3 tablespoons icing sugar to taste – but keep the sharp taste of the fruit. Press the puree through a sieve. If it is too thick, thin it with white wine or a little sugar syrup; if it is too thin, thicken it with a little arrowroot. Pour it over the peaches, chill them and spike them with slivered almonds or pistachio nuts. Serve with a home-made vanilla ice cream for a true peach melba.
A handful of red currants can be added to the raspberries.
If you have access to redcurrants peaches are delicious if poached in red currant juice and I shall try this summer poaching the fruit in some crab apple juice I have in the freezer .
For something a little richer try this chocolate tart from Simon Hopkinson’s book Roast Chicken and Other Stories, published by Edbury Press.
Chocolate Tart
Ingredients
For the pastry:
175g butter
65g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
225g plain flour
For the filling:
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
40g caster sugar
150g butter
200g dark, bitter chocolate broken into pieces
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C
To make the pastry, put the butter, sugar and egg yolks in a bowl (or food processor) and work together quickly. Blend in the flour, and work to a homogenous paste. Chilli for at least 1 hour. Roll out the pastry as thinly as you can and use it to line a 20.5cm tart tin. Bake blind in the oven for about 25 minutes or until pale biscuit in colour, but thoroughly cooked through. Remove.
Increase the heat of the oven to 190°C. To make the filling, put the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat vigorously together, preferably with an electric mixer, until really thick and fluffy. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Pour on to the egg mixture while just warm. Briefly beat together until well amalgamated, and then pour into the pastry case. Return to the hot oven for 5 minutes, then remove and leave to cool. Serve with thick cream and garnish with raspberries tossed with a little castor sugar.
Thank you for sharing my life with me throughout the year.
I wish you all a happy Christmas and a safe holiday.
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