The Food Diaries

The Glitterati: chocolate & passion fruit tarts with silver and gold leaf sprinkles

I make no apologies for the multiple variations on the dark chocolate/passion fruit combo that appear in my diaries - it is just an irresistible combination. This recipe is also perked up with a little sparkle, a good match to the end-of-year party season.

First make your passion fruit jam. Scoop out the pulp of around 10 passion fruits into a small saucepan. Add 150g sugar and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the consistency thickens (think honey). Pour into a jam jar and refrigerate. This will keep for some time.

Next up make the chocolate ganache. Heat 200ml double cream to just boiling. Pour the cream over 200g dark chocolate, which have been broken up into pieces in a bowl. Stir around till the chocolate has blended smoothly into the cream.

To assemble: spread the passion fruit jam along the bottom of 8 individual pre-baked all-butter short crust tarts. Pour the chocolate sauce (make sure it is still quite well melted) over the jam till the tarts are nearly full. Once set sprinkle with silver and gold leaf sprinkles.

Serves 8.

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RASPBERRY & YOGURT PASSION FRUIT CUPS >

Raspberry & passion fruit yogurt cups

This recipe is per serving: In a small glass place two crushed amaretti biscuits and drizzle with some Amaretto. Pour in some Greek yogurt which has first been mixed with some shredded coconut, 3/4 of the way up the glass. Drizzle liberally with passion fruit jam*. Carefully place a layer of 5-6 raspberries on top and chill briefly before serving.

* Passion fruit jam: Scoop out the pulp of around

10 passion fruits into a small saucepan. Add 150g sugar and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the consistency thickens (think honey). Pour into a jam jar and refrigerate. This will keep for some time.

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STRAWBERRY BITES >

PASSION FRUIT TRUFFLE CUPS >

Poilâne is a long-standing bakery in Paris (and more recently London) which specialises in a type of sourdough bread made from stone-ground “grey” flour in wood-burning ovens. It is particularly delicious when toasted and topped with grilled Crottin de Chavignol goat’s cheese. The bread is now shipped all around the world - and in London is available at many Waitrose branches outside of their Elizabeth St store.

Probably one of my top 5 favourite pastries (ever) is their apple tart (made from a twist of puff pastry base with large chunks of lightly caramelised apples) - which is more than worth the detour if either in Paris or London. Probably a good thing it is a trek away….

Oh, and how does a pastry qualify for top 5 status? If at your first bite you have a strong sense that something had been missing in your life but until just that moment you had no idea what - then you’ve hit the top 5 jackpot.

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NORDIC BAKERY CINNAMON BUNS >

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Strawberry and passion fruit curd tarts

Fill pre-baked mini shortcrust pastry tart shells in the following order: a dollop of passion fruit jam* to coat the bottom, some good quality, passion fruit or lemon curd (store-bought or try making your own if you have some time), piped over-top using a pastry bag, a dollop of whipped cream, a couple thin slices of strawberries and then drizzled with more passion fruit jam.

These will explode with flavour in your mouth!

* Passion fruit jam:

Scoop out the pulp of around

10 passion fruits into a small saucepan. Add 150g sugar and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the consistency thickens (think honey). Pour into a jam jar and refrigerate. This will keep for some time and can be used to drizzle on cakes, meringues, etc.

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MINI BANOFFI PIES >

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Carrot Cake

This is the moistest carrot cake I have ever eaten. A winner. Note that a full recipe will need a dish the size of a roasting dish to bake in the oven and will feed many people (I can get 36 squares). So unless you are having a party half the recipe is plenty.

In a very large bowl mix together 3 cups flours, 3 cups sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbs baking soda, and 1 tbs cinnamon. Add 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I prefer rapeseed), 4 eggs, beaten and 1 tbs vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, 1 1/2 cups shredded/dessicated coconut, 1 1/2 cups puréed cooked carrots, and 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple.

Now combine the two mixtures together and pour the batter into your preferred baking tin (large enough to fill up to 3/4) which has either been buttered or lined with baking parchment. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 180 degrees celsius till a knife comes out clean. Let cool completed before icing.

Here is a basic recipe for cream cheese icing. Note that you will need to double the quantities if using the full recipe above. Cream together 250g cream cheese and 90g butter, both at room temperature (this is important, otherwise your icing will be lumpy). Slowly mix in 3 cups icing sugar. Add the juice of half a lemon.

To make the carrots I used dried apricots and pieces of mint.

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Mini Banoffee Pies

First, make up a portion of dulce de leche by placing a 400g can of sweetened condensed milk in a deep pan and filling it up to 3/4 of the height of the can. Slowly simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. Don’t forget to top up with water regularly, otherwise the can could explode! When ready open the can and allow the contents to cool before using. For those who are risk averse you could also transfer the contents of the can to a glass mason jar with the lid tightly shut. This also then allows you to watch the progress of the caramel!

Place a slice of banana in each of about 20 pre-baked mini sweet pastry cases (I get mine at Marks & Spencers). Now fill with the dulce de leche. To garnish, top with another slice of banana, some whipped cream and some grated dark chocolate.

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MINI MADELEINES >

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Strawberries & Cream (with amaretti biscuits) - it’s time for Wimbledon

Keeping it simple today. When local English strawberries are at their peak there is very little they need adding to them.

A sprinkling of sugar, a dollop of creme fraiche or clotted cream, a couple of crushed amaretti biscuits, and a splash of amaretto.

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HOME-MADE BISCOTTI >

POACHED PEARS IN WINE >

It’s nearly time for Wimbledon…..

The best (and easiest) banana cake recipe

The great thing about overly ripe bananas is that you can use them as an excuse to mix up some banana cake (or bread - the term is often used interchangeably). By the way, I wouldn’t bother with a recipe which calls for anything less than 3 bananas - this ensures a dense and moist cake which truly tastes of banana. Eleanor (a family friend from Ottawa) passed this recipe onto my my mother, who passed it onto me, and it is to this day my ultimate banana cake recipe.

In a mixer beat together 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/2 tsp salt. Add 2 tbs milk, 3 mashed bananas, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp baking soda. Add 1 1/2 cup flour gradually. Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes at 180c.

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Alphonso Mangoes with Mini-Madeleine Cakes

The exquisitely fragrant Indian Alphonso Mango season is cruelly short: April-May. This means that outside of this time period I barely give a second glance at a mango fruit. Go out and find one today (Indian supermarkets, fancy supermarkets) and then you’ll see what I mean. Do not delay, otherwise you will miss another year of these incredible fruits that melt in your mouth, dense and sweet in flavour. I buy them by the box, wrapped like jewels in tissue paper, and eat them every day. Simplest is best of course, but if you want to fancy it up why not serve it with a dollop of clotted cream sprinkled with chopped pistachio and the most delicate of French cakes, the shell-shaped Madeleine. Recipe below.

In an electric mixer whisk together three eggs and 200g sugar till pale and ribbony (this may take a few minutes). With the beater on now add the zest of 1 lemon (or lime), a pinch of salt, 1tsp vanilla and 70ml milk. Sift together 280g flour and 2tsp baking powder and gradually add to the bowl. Gradually add 150g very soft unsalted butter (even slightly melted is fine). Once well mixed together, transfer to a plastic container and leave in the fridge for an hour. Using a couple of spoons half-fill madeleine molds (I like the silicon variety as they do not need to be buttered and floured to make them non-stick). Bake at 180c for between 12-15 minutes (till golden). The dough keeps well in the fridge for a few days (ready for a fix).

Madeleine should be eaten straight from the oven (like risotto, they wait for no one).

Pear and ginger oat crumble

Fill a little ramekin with chopped fresh pear (1-2 depending on the size of the container). Drizzle with 1tbs of ginger syrup (I like to make my own - just bring 1/2 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water to boil and add fresh chopped ginger and then let steep). Sprinkle a few tablespoons of oat crumble topping (see recipe below) and bake in at 175c till golden and bubbling. Serve it on its own, or with creme fraiche, clotted cream, custard, or vanilla ice cream. Serve 1.

To make the crumble:in a food processor or bowl place 40g flour, 40g ground almonds, 40g oatmeal, a little salt, 90g cubed cold butter, and mix till it starts to crumble. Add 6tbs sugar, 1tsp cinnamon and 1tsp vanilla.

This keeps well in the freezer till the next crumble emergency!

Pave du Roy Gateau - An old French classic, now revived (with the added benefit of being flourless and optionally dairy-free too)

I first started making this cake as part of the Cordon Bleu Pastry degree cycle. I then brought the recipe home and made it as a special treat for a good friend’s 80th birthday (a certain Monsieur Lamorlette). Little did I know it had been a cake quite popular in his childhood (which had somehow lost fashion in between time), so resulted in a flood of memories for him. It reminds me of the power of taste (and smell in particular) in drawing back memories of the past (a la recherche du temps perdu - see Marcel Proust)

How I made it:

Slice off thin pieces of rind from 1 large orange and cut into thin strips (julienne). Blanch in boiling water a couple of times (to remove the bitterness). Bring to a boil 130g sugar with 130g water, set aside half in a bowl and then add the orange rind to the remainder and simmer till the rind is glossy and candied. Drain the rind (adding any remaining liquid to the reserve syrup), chop finely and set aside.

In a mixer beat together 1 egg, 2 yolks and 75g sugar till light and white. Sift in 15g cornstarch and 15g cocoa powder and mix delicately. Fold in 60g ground almonds. Whip up 2 egg whites till you see hard peaks forming and then add 20g sugar and beat briefly till the egg whites become glossy. Mix in a couple tablespoons into the cake batter to soften it and then fold the remaining egg whites. Bake at 200c in a 7-inch round cake tin (line the bottom with parchment paper) for between 25-35 minutes depending on your oven (till a cake tester comes out clean and the cake sponges back to the touch). Turn onto a grill and let cool.

Whip up 3 egg whites till you see hard peaks forming and then add 30g sugar and continue beating till glossy. Melt 100g dark chocolate. Fold in 2 egg yolks and 50g butter (or cooking margarine for dairy-free) into the melted chocolate. Fold in the egg whites.

To assemble: flip the cake over if you haven’t already done so (so that the flat bottom is now on top) make a small mark on the edge/side of the cake with a knife (so the cake can be easily re-aligned later), then cut the cake in half lengthwise and set the top layer aside. Mix 40ml of Cointreau or Grand Marnier with the remaining sugar syrup and dab the inside of the cake with syrup quite generously using a pastry brush. Spread some of the chocolate mousse on top (about 1/3), sprinkle with all the orange rind evenly across the top. Place the top layer of the cake (align it up!), and then dab with the remaining syrup and cover the entire cake with the remaining chocolate mousse. Decorate the sides with chocolate vermicelli (or chocolate shavings if you can be bothered making them - and the rose made of spun sugar even less!). Dust with cocoa powder using a sifter.

Serves 6-8. You can increase the quantities for a larger cake pan.

You can make the sponge cake a day ahead and leave the assembling (with the sugar syrup and chocolate mousse) anytime on the day you will be serving it.

A trio of Pierre Herme mini-Macaroons - new on the Spring menu

Mosaic (bottom left) - Vanilla macaroon biscuit, pistachio and cinnamon cream, with griottines cherries

Fragola (bottom right) - Macaroon biscuit, balsamic vinegar cream, strawberry compote

Mogador (top) - Macaroon biscuit, milk chocolate and passion fruit ganache

Poached Pears in Wine - an elegant dessert

This is one of my favourite recipes which I’ve adapted from the standard poached pear recipe.

Take 6 pears, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and cored and place in a large saucepan with 3/4 bottle of red wine, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Using a little cheesecloth packagae (or I like to use these fabulous do-it-yourself teabags which you can either find in Japanese food shops or health food shops) place a small handful of black peppercorns and cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and a slice of lemon peel. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a delicate simmer. Cover with parchment paper and cook till the pears become quite deep in colour (turn them over occasionally). This can take a couple of hours at least.

To serve: slice the pears and arrange on 6 plates. Drizzle over the sauce (reduce first if a tad too liquid), and serve with some pistachio shortbread and a small scoop of clotted cream or creme fraiche.

This recipe can be prepared ahead of time. They keep quite well if stored in the refrigerator.

Pistachio Shortbread

How I made it:

Cream together 100g butter, softened with 1/4 cup sugar. Add 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 cup pistachio, grilled and finely chopped. You can bake it directly in a baking tin (pat the dough to the edge of the tin and smooth on top). You could also cut into shapes using a cookie cutter or simply into rectangles. You could also just do what I did and line a small tart pan with cling film, fill with the dough, then remove from the cling film once it has been shaped and place directly on a cooking tray. Don’t forget to add little holes (or a pattern) on top of the dough to ensure it rises evenly. Bake at 180 for around 20-25 minutes. Cut into pieces straight out of the oven.

Note: I made 6 very large biscuits with the above ingredients - but it should normally make about 12. You could easily double the recipe as the shortbread will last quite a long time in an airtight tin.

I’ll be serving mine with poached pears in wine.

Passion fruit jam (with lemon curd tarts):

Scoop out the pulp of around 10 passion fruits into a small saucepan. Add 150g sugar and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the consistency thickens (think honey). Pour into a jam jar and refrigerate. This will keep for some time and can be used to drizzle on cakes, meringues, etc.

How I served it:

At Ottolenghi (where this recipe comes from) they serve it drizzled on lemon curd meringue tarts. Here’s my easy at-home recipe for last minute desserts.

Fill mini butter pastry cases with lemon curd (I bought both ready-made at M & S). Place a dollup of passion fruit jam on top and serve.