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Super Quick Rhubarb Fool Tarts

Posted on June 24, 2015April 16, 2020 by flavourie

Following on from my last post about cheat ingredients where I shared my loved for ready made puff pastry, I’ve decided to carry on the theme for a little bit longer (if you let me indulge)! I’ve long been a fan of mid-week puddings, but even with the best will in the world having the time to knock something up can be difficult!

Ready made pastry cases are a boon, and the recipe below for a simple, tasty filling will make you look like a mid-week-dessert-creating-rockstar! And you’re welcome!

Ingredients (makes 6):

Packet of six ready made sweet shortcrust pastry cases
150g of rhubarb chopped into 5cm pieces (fresh or frozen, it doesn’t matter)
3 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla bean paste
2 tbsp of water
250ml ready whipped cream
Small handful of freeze dried strawberry slices
Fresh mint leaves to garnish

Method:

Place the rhubarb, sugar, vanilla bean paste and water in a saucepan, cover with a lid and heat over a medium heat until the rhubarb has softened and cooked through to be able to mash.
When cooked, check for sweetness and tartness balance and add additional sugar if needed, but don’t overdo it on the sugar as you need to have the tartness of the rhubarb coming through.
When cooked through, spoon out into a bowl and allow to cool, and mash with a fork.
In a pestle and mortar, grind down the freeze dried strawberries until they are a powder (this is a really satisfying thing to do!)
When the rhubarb mixture has cooled slightly, scoop out the ready whipped cream and gentle fold together. Don’t over stir otherwise the cream will collapse!
Spoon out generously into the pastry cases.
Garnish with a line of freeze dried strawberry powder and a sprig of fresh mint.

And…enjoy!

Tumbler Desert #1 – Peach & Strawberry, Amaretto & Cream

Posted on March 20, 2015April 16, 2020 by flavourie

It’s amazing what you’ll come up with when you really want something sweet for after a mid-week dinner but you want it to be quick, tasty and naughty enough that you feel as though you really have had a treat! It was in this vein of thought that I started creating various different “Tumbler Deserts” and I come back to them time again.

They are so easy you can make them alongside your dinner, and the flavour combinations and possibilities are endless, not to mention a great way of using up leftover fruit from the fruit bowl! The only rule I have for making Tumbler Deserts is that they have a variety of textures and taste: a bit of crunch, a bit of sweetness and a bit of unctious loveliness usually supplied by cream or custard.

They are called Tumbler Deserts because they are served up in a standard tumbler glass – simple! Below is a recipe for a Tumbler Desert I made for after last nights’ dinner. It made me remember how lovely they are, and decided that now was a good time to introduce the world to them! Every time I make one, I’ll post it up with a number – I wonder how many I’ll get to?!

Ingredients (serves 2):
Two small handful of amaretti biscuits
Small slug of Amaretto liquer
A single square of Green & Blacks Maya Gold (spiced orange and dark chocolate)
Half a punnet of strawberries
4 very ripe peaches
1 tsp of Vanilla Bean paste
2 tblsp of brown demerara sugar
Some water
Single cream
Method:
Put the amaretti biscuits in the bottom of each tumbler (a small handful per glass) and using the bottom of a rolling pin, crush them to a fine crumb (very satisfying!)
Put a small slug of Amaretto onto of the biscuits – be careful, not too much; just enough so that when you stir the biscuit and liquer together with a spoon it gently comes together but does not melt away.
Grate the Maya Gold over the Amaretti biscuit and liquer mix – as much as you like really! Set aside.
De-stone the four peaches and place them in a small non-stick pan along with the vanilla bean paste and the brown sugar.
Cover the saucepan and put on a medium low heat. Cook gently for about 7 mins until the peaches start to break down, but still hold their shape a little.
Make sure that the caramel that will be produced from the peaches and the sugar doesn’t catch. After about 7 minutes, add in a little drop of water to the pan to deglaze the caramel and stop it from burning and add the hulled and halved strawberries.
Turn the heat down a little, and cook for another 3 minutes uncovered.
Once done, spoon the peach and strawberry mix over the amaretto biscuit mix along with the caramelised juices.
Pour over the top some single cream which should float on top of the fruit mixture, and finish off with a final flourish of grated Maya Gold.
Serve immediately, and Enjoy!

Tumbler Desert #2 – Plum Peach & Orange with Custard and Whipped Cream

Posted on March 20, 2015April 16, 2020 by flavourie

It’s time for another Tumbler Desert everyone! Yes, you thought I’d forgotten about them, but deserts are thin on the ground whilst I’m working through my 6 week 5:2 reboot programme!

Ingredients (serves 2):
Two small handful of amaretti biscuits.
Small slug of Cointreau liquer.
A single square of Green & Blacks Maya Gold (spiced orange and dark chocolate).
4 peaches (round or donut) destoned and quartered.
4 ripe plums, destoned and quartered.
Zest of 1 orange.
1 tsp of Vanilla Bean paste.
2 tblsp of brown demerara sugar.
Fresh cream vanilla custard (good quality shop bought one like Avonmore is a great cheat ingredient!)
Whipped cream.
Method:
Put the oven on 180 degs celsius.
Place the quartered fruit on a baking tray along with the orange zest (I use a veg peeler for this recipe so you can take out the orange zest after the fruit has cooked – that way you get the lovely orange taste without it going bitter after it cools).
Sprinkle over the sugar and pour over the vanilla bean paste.
Place in the oven and cook until the fruit is lovely and soft and the juices have been released.
Once cooked, take out of the oven and remove the strips of orange zest.
Put the amaretti biscuits in the bottom of each tumbler (a small handful per glass) and using the bottom of a rolling pin, crush them to a fine crumb (very satisfying!)
Put a small slug of Cointreau onto of the biscuits – be careful, not too much; just enough so that when you stir the biscuit and liquer together with a spoon it gently comes together but does not melt away.
Spoon in a good measure each of the fruit mixture and include some of the liquid too.
Spoon over the top a couple of dollops of vanilla custard, and a generous plop of whipped cream over that.
Grate the Maya Gold over the whole lot – as much as you like really!
Serve immediately, and Enjoy!

There should be plenty of fruit mix left over. If you chill this, it will make a lovely alternative breakfast mixed in with some low fat natural yoghurt and a sprinkling of flaked almonds.

Wild Blackberry and Vanilla Jam

Posted on March 20, 2015April 20, 2020 by flavourie

Finally, after a little bit of rain the wild blackberries (or brambleberries) are starting to swell and close to being perfect for picking! I always pick too many, so after soaking and drying I bag up and place in the freezer.

Try this simple but tasty jam which you can make from frozen berries for a little bit of luxury to spread on your toast or homemade scones, mix in with your yoghurt, spoon over ice cream or swirl into a comforting bowl of warm rice pudding! The vanilla gives this jam a luxurious velvety flavour.

Ingredients:

1kg of frozen wild blackberries
500ml cold water
125ml of fresh lemon juice
880g of sugar (normal white sugar is fine here, no need for jam sugar as blackberries are naturally high in pectin)
1 vanilla pod, slice in half lengthways and the seeds scraped out.

Method:

Place the berries, lemon juice and water into a large non-stick pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer the fruit mix uncovered for about 20 minutes.
Add all of the sugar and stir continually over the heat until the sugar is fully disolved.
Add in the vanilla seeds and the halved pod.
Bring the mix back to the boil and leave to boil uncovered stirring occasionally.
Cook the mix for anything from 15 minutes to 30 minutes until you get the right consistency.
The jam should coat the back of a spoon and feel sticky to the touch. Under cook it and it will not set in the jar when cooling and overcooking will make it set hard in the jar and become inedible.
When the jam is at the right consistency dig out the two halves of the vanilla pod and discard.
Sterilise your jam jars – this recipe will fill about 4 of the “Bonne Maman” jam jars.
Fill the jars with your jam when it is hot and fill.
If you properly sterlise your jars, there is no need to add the silicone seal.
These jams will keep in your fridge for about 4 months quite happily.
Label up your jam, and decorate as frivolously as you dare….and Enjoy!

Super Quick Rhubarb Fool Tarts

Kate Ryan