Pistachio Salambos with Orange Blossom Pastry Cream

Although many people seem to believe that choux pastry is tricky to make, I think it is much simpler than other types of pastry such as puff which is time-consuming to make and shortcrust which requires a lightness of touch. When making choux pastry, as with all baking, you must measure the ingredients accurately and follow the recipe; with a little care and attention, success should be guaranteed.

 

With shortcrust pastry, which is made by the ‘rubbing-in’ method, you have to be careful not to overwork the dough which can result in a tough pastry. Choux pastry is made in a completely different way - by heating water and butter until the butter melts and then working in the flour before beating in the eggs.  The pastry can then be piped or shaped before being baked in the oven. As it cooks, the relatively large amount of water that it contains turns to steam, causing the pastry to expand. The result is light and airy with a crisp exterior; perfect for filling with  a range of fillings including whipped cream and crème pâtissière.

 

Choux pastry can be used in both sweet and savoury recipes, but most people will be familiar with it as the basis for profiteroles, éclairs and the French celebratory dessert, croquembouche. Choux pastry can also be used to make Salambos. These are profiterole shaped little balls, covered with caramel and filled with crème pâtissière or pastry cream. I absolutely love these self-indulgent little pastries which make a great alternative dessert for a special occasion.

 

Here I have dipped the baked choux buns in a rich caramel and then rolled them into chopped pistachios. I filled my Salambos with a pastry cream delicately flavoured with orange flower water. Pistachio and orange as a flavour combination is a marriage made in heaven and here the orange flower water works perfectly with the pistachios accentuating their sweetness but imparting a gentle floral note that has an air of the exotic about it.

 

The Salambos look stunning and taste delicious and are much simpler to make than they first appear to be. I love this recipe, but have also made different versions using hazelnuts and chocolate flavoured pastry cream, which was delicious.

 

Ingredients:

Crème pâtissière:
500ml milk

1 vanilla pod, halved, seeds scraped out

4 large egg yolks

100g caster sugar

40g cornflour

40g butter

½tsp orange flower water

Choux pastry:

60g cold butter, cubed

120ml water

1tsp sugar

40g plain flour

45g strong white flour

2-3 large eggs, lightly beaten

To finish:

100g caster sugar

50ml water

50g unsalted pistachio nuts, finely chopped
 

Method:

Crème pâtissière:

1. Place the milk, halved vanilla pod and seeds in a medium sized saucepan and bring up to boiling point over a moderate heat. Separately place the egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour into a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk together using a small balloon whisk until pale and creamy.

2. When the milk has just come up to the boil, remove from the heat and pour in a steady stream onto the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time. Return the custard mixture to the saucepan and heat for 3-4 minutes over a low heat, stirring all the time until a thick custard forms.

3. Remove from the saucepan from the heat and add the butter, whisking until it is completely incorporated. Add the orange flower water and whisk again. Pour the crème pâtissière into a clean bowl and directly cover the surface with some cling film to prevent a skin forming. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until required.

Choux pastry:

4. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

5. Place water, butter and sugar into a medium sized saucepan over a moderate heat. Allow the butter to melt and the mixture to just come up to the boil. Remove from the heat and immediately tip in the flour, mixing with a wooden spoon until everything is well combined.

6. Place the saucepan over a low heat and beat vigorously until the mixture comes away from the side of the saucepan into a ball of dough (about 1 minute). Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes and allow to cool slightly.

7. Gradually add the eggs to the mixture in the saucepan, again beating vigorously so that they are mixed in thoroughly. (NOTE: you may not need all the egg, so add a little at a time). The mixture should fall from the spoon, but should be relatively stiff and still hold its shape.

8. Place the mixture into a disposable piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Pipe out 20-24 little blobs about the size of an unshelled walnut, spacing them well apart as they will expand as they bake.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes and then turn off the oven but do not remove the choux buns. Let cool in the oven for a further 30 minutes and then remove and allow to finish cooling completely.

To finish:

10.Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan and heat together over a moderate heat until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir but instead, gently swirl the saucepan from time to time. Increase the heat and allow the caramel to turn a rich golden colour. Remove from the heat immediately.

11. Carefully dip the top of each cooled choux bun in the caramel and then roll in the finely chopped pistachios so that the nuts become embedded in the caramel. Set aside to cool and to allow the caramel to harden.

12. Remove the chilled pastry cream from the fridge and beat it with a wooden spoon to loosen it a little. Place the pastry cream into a disposable piping bag filled with a ½cm plain nozzle. Use the nozzle to make a small hole in the underside of each Salambo. Insert the tip of the nozzle and carefully pipe a little pastry cream into each little pastry bun until they are just filled. Serve piled on top of each other.

Makes 20-24 individual Salambos.

 

Cashel Blue Cheese, Bacon & Onion Quiche

The one thing that no one could ever accuse me of is being a fussy eater. Ever since I was a young child, I have always been more than prepared and often very eager to try new foods and flavours. However, I will admit that for a long time I refused to try blue cheese, being slightly put off by its strong smell and unusual look.

My grandmother was always quite a fan of it and would buy it from time-to-time and eat it for lunch along with a slice of brown soda bread and an apple. Back in the 70s and early 80s there were far fewer varieties of cheese available to buy in the shops, and the only blue cheese that my grandmother bought with any regularity was processed Danish Blue, which packs quite a punch in flavour terms, but lacks the subtly and complexity of flavour that many artisan and farmhouse cheeses possess. This was the very first blue cheese that I ever ate and although I did like it, it wasn’t until I first tried the Roquefort that I truly fell totally in love with blue cheese and would actively hunt out different varieties to try. Gorgonzola and Stilton became firm favourites but it was my introduction to Cashel Blue made by the Grubb family in County Tipperary, here in Ireland, that made me realise that Irish cheeses could be just as good as the classic cheeses.

 

Whilst I often like to eat Cashel Blue as it is with a few oat biscuits, I also think that it is a great cheese to use in cooking and regularly employ it in a whole range of recipes. The weather has been beautiful for the past week, so I decided to use some in a simple quiche - a dish which I always associate with good weather!

 

I blind-baked some shortcrust pastry and sautéed off a finely chopped onion with some bacon lardons and scattered these into the pastry shell. I then made a luxurious custard enriched with ream and eggs and poured this on top of the bacon and onion before scattering over a generous amount of Cashel Blue.

 

The resulting quiche tasted absolutely heavenly. If you like Blue Cheese, you HAVE got to make this quiche! The sweetness of the gently sautéed onions and the slight saltiness of the bacon really accentuated the flavour of the cheese which had gently melted into the rich custard, but still retained its essential characteristics. Everything was just so well balanced, with each ingredient complementing the next so that all were shown at their very best. In this regard, I recommend being a little less generous when seasoning the custard with salt than you normally would be as you must remember that both the cheese and bacon have a certain inherent saltiness in them. Do, however, be generous with the freshly ground black pepper! 

Ingredients:

Pastry:
200g Plain flour
100g butter, cubed

1 egg yolk

1tblsp water:

Filling:

Large knob of butter

1 large onion, chopped

100g bacon lardons

1 sprig of thyme

150ml cream

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

100g-125g of Cashel Blue cheese, crumbled
 

Method:

Pastry:

1. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and add the butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and water. Use a fork to bring everything together into a dough. Tip out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly and BRIEFLY until smooth. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes to give the pastry a chance to relax.

2. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas mark 4. Lightly sprinkle some flour on the base of a 23cm round and fluted, 4cm deep tart tin with a removable base to prevent the pastry sticking as it bakes. Place tart tin on a baking tray.

3. Roll the pastry out into a circle until it is about 3mm-4mm thick and large enough to line the tart tin. Lightly prick the pastry with a fork and line with a sheet of crumpled non-stick baking parchment. Fill this with dry beans and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, removing the baking parchment and baking beans for the final 5 minutes of baking. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the filling. Leave the oven on but reduce temperature to 160C/Fan Oven 140C/Gas Mark 2.

Filling:

4. Heat the butter in a medium sized frying pan. Add the bacon, chopped onion and sprig of thyme and cook gently over a moderate heat until the bacon is cooked and released some of its fat and the onion is a light golden colour, but not caramelised (about 10-12 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. Remove the sprig of thyme and discard.

5. Meanwhile place the eggs and cream in a mixing jug/bowl and whisk together well using a balloon whisk. Season with a SMALL pinch of salt and a more generous amount of black pepper.

6. Scatter the sautéed bacon and onion over the pastry case and carefully pour in the custard (you can do this whilst the tart tin with baking tray is sitting on the oven shelf to minimise spillages). Sprinkle the Cashel Blue and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown and the custard is just set in the middle but still retains a slight wobble. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, before serving at room temperature.

 

Serves 6.
 

   

Rhubarb & Orange Friands

This recipe is a perfect example of how useful and adaptable certain basic recipes can be. These Rhubarb & Orange Friands are made using practically the same recipe as the one I used to make my Lemon & Raspberry Friands a few weeks ago. Friands are incredibly simple to make and, as already stated, infinitely adaptable to incorporate whatever nuts or fruits are in season.

 

I have been experimenting with custard based recipes recently and this has meant that I have had quite a few egg whites left over after using the yolks to make the custard. Although I could have used the egg whites to make meringues or pavlova which always go down a treat in my house, I decided to use some of them to make these friands instead as I had a hankering to make something that included rhubarb. Unlike many recipes that use egg whites, here they do not need to be whisked before incorporated into the other ingredients – everything can just be mixed with a wooden spoon! This recipe is truly simple and the only watch point is to make sure that you prepare your tins well before adding the batter and baking the friands.

 

I absolutely love rhubarb. It seems to thrive in my garden which is great and despite the fact that I pick it regularly, there always seems to be loads of it. I planted two rhubarb crowns about ten years ago and despite a couple of disappointing years initially, it has otherwise been a completely trouble-free crop! In fact, it seems to thrive on neglect and yet it still keeps producing.

 

I pre-roasted the rhubarb with the finely grated zest and the juice of an orange for approximately 12 minutes in the oven until it had just softened. This is a wonderful way to cook rhubarb as it retains its shape without turning into a mushy mess.

 

I was initially torn between pairing the rhubarb with orange or with ginger, both of which are combinations I really like, but, in the end, decided that I would go for the orange option as I was in the humour for something a little zesty.
 

Ingredients:

Roasted rhubarb:
200g rhubarb

50g caster sugar

Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 orange

Friands:

165g butter, melted and allowed to cool slightly

125g ground almonds

100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting the tins

250g icing sugar

6 egg whites, lightly beaten

Finely grated zest of ½ orange

To finish:

A little icing sugar for dusting (optional)
 

Method:

Roasted Rhubarb:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/Fan Oven 180C/Gas mark 6.

2. Chop the rhubarb into 4cm lengths and place in a single layer in a roasting dish. Add the orange zest and juice and bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.

Friands:

3. Lightly grease the inside of each hole of the friand tin with a little of the melted butter and place in the fridge for 5-10 minutes so that the butter has a chance to harden up. Set the rest of the butter aside for use later. Remove the tin from the fridge and dust the inside of each hole with a little plain flour, shaking out any excess.

4. Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds and mix with a wooden spoon until well distributed.

5. Add the egg whites to the flour mixture along with the orange zest and mix with a wooden spoon to combine. Add the melted butter and mix in thoroughly.

6. Spoon the mixture evenly into the holes of the friand tin so that each is about ¾ full. Place 3 or 4 pieces of the cooled roasted rhubarb on top of each friand. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until well risen, light golden brown and a thin skewer inserted into one comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before removing gently to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Lightly dust with a little icing sugar prior to serving, if desired.

 

Makes 12.

Easter Simnel Cake

Rich fruit cakes seem to have gone a little out of fashion in recent years, with modern tastes tending towards lighter cakes. Where once rich fruit cakes were the norm for celebration cakes, now you see a variety of different cakes such as carrot cake, chocolate biscuit cake etc. being used instead for weddings and other special occasions.

 

I love ALL cake, but I do have a special place in my heart for a good fruit cake and I always make one for Christmas every year. I recognise the fact that not everyone is a fan of them, but I honestly believe that is because so many of them are dry and heavy and tend to sit on the stomach.  Also in order to develop their flavour, rich fruit cakes should be made a few weeks in advance and allowed to ‘mature’ to allow the flavours to develop. It is also advisable to ‘feed’ a maturing rich fruit cake from time-to-time by pricking it all over with a fine skewer and sprinkling over a couple of tablespoons of your chosen spirit (I favour brandy).  Provided you store the cake in a cool dark place, securely wrapped in a layer of greaseproof and then a layer of aluminium foil, the cake will not go stale. This is due to the sugar, dried fruit and, of course, the alcohol which all help to preserve the cake.

 

Whether I am making a rich fruit cake or a lighter version, wherever a cake includes dried fruit, I always pre-soak the fruit in a little alcohol or some fruit juice. The helps the fruit to plump up and produces a lovely cake that is not dry. It’s very easy to do… just weigh out all the dried fruit, put it into an oven proof bowl and add the chosen soaking fluid and give everything a good stir. Cover the bowl with some aluminium foil and place in a low oven (e.g. 100C) for about 30 minutes. Remove, give another good stir and allow to cool completely before using.

 

This is a great cake and lighter than a traditional rich fruit cake, which makes it perfect for Easter which brings with it a sense of hope and the prospect of warmer weather and longer days.

 

Traditionally simnel cakes were made by young girls in service who would bring the cakes home to their mothers for Mothering Sunday, having been gifted the ingredients by their wealthy and often titled employers, but it is also a cake that is often associated with Easter and in my opinion it makes a nice change from all the cakes and foods containing chocolate that seem to prevail at this time of year.

 

A layer of marzipan is baked into the centre of the cake and after it has cooled it is topped with another layer of marzipan and 11 balls of marzipan, said to represent the faithful apostles. You sometimes, see the cake topped with 12 balls to include Judas, but I am quite a traditionalist in this regard and only use 11!
 

Ingredients:

Marzipan:
250g ground almonds

200g caster sugar

60g icing sugar, sifted

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ tsp almond extract

Cake:

150g raisins

125g sultanas

75g currants

50g chopped candied orange peel

25g glacé cherries, halved (optional)

50ml Cointreau (or orange juice)

175g butter

175g light brown Muscovado sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

175g plain flour

½ tsp ground mixed spice

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Finely grated zest of ½ lemon

To finish:

2tblsp apricot jam

1 large egg, beaten
 

Method:

Marzipan:

1. Place the ground almonds and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl and add the sifted icing sugar. Mix together so that everything is well distributed. Add the beaten egg and almond extract and work into the almond mixture using a wooden spoon to create a ‘dough’ with a softish consistency.

2. Turn out on to a clean work surface lightly dusted with a little icing sugar and knead for 1 minute until the marzipan is smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate until required.

To pre-soak the fruit:

3. Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, candied orange peel, glacé cherries and Cointreau in an oven-proof bowl and give everything a good stir so that the dried fruit is coated in the liqueur. Place in the oven at approximately 100C for 30 minutes, checking on it after 15 minutes and giving it a stir. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Cake:

4. Preheat oven to 140C/Fan Oven 120C/Gas Mark 1. Grease and line a 23cm round, deep cake tin with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

5. Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, cream together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well after each addition. Sift the flour and mixed spice together and fold into the creamed mixture along with the grated orange and lemon zests. Add the dried fruit and stir into the cake batter, making sure that everything is well distributed.

6. Take one third of the marzipan and roll out to a 23cm circle about ½ cm thick (This will be the centre layer of the cake). Set aside for the moment and return the rest of the marzipan to the fridge.

7. Spoon half of the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin, smoothing the surface with the back of a metal spoon. Place the prepared marzipan circle directly on top of this, pressing down slightly. Spoon the rest of the cake mixture on top, again smoothing out the surface.

8. Bake in a preheated oven for 90-100 minutes until slightly risen, a deep golden brown and a thin skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (As with all cakes that require a long time baking, check after more than half of the baking time has elapsed and if browning too quickly cover with a little tin foil to protect it).

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes, before removing from the cake tin. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

To finish:

10. Heat the apricot jam with 1 tablespoon of water in a small saucepan. Bring up to bubbling point and allow to simmer for 90 seconds. Pour the hot jam through a sieve into a small clean bowl, discarding any solids that collect in the sieve. Allow to cool a little before using.

11. Brush the top of the cooled cake with the sieved apricot jam and set aside.

12. Take one half of the remaining marzipan and roll out into a circle large enough to cover the top of the cake. (You can also create a lattice pattern as I have done). Place the circle on top of the cake. Use the remaining marzipan to create 11 small balls and arrange on top of the cake around the edge.

13. Brush the marzipan with a little of the beaten egg. Using a cooks blow torch lightly heat the marzipan until it just colours. Alternatively place the cake on a baking tray and colour under a preheated grill for a minute keeping a close eye on it.

Serves 10.