Recipe CII - Cherry Pithivier

There are three countries in Europe renowned for their desserts and pâtisseries: the Austrians for their café cakes, the British for their puddings and pies, and the French for their imaginative desserts. This is where the French and the British overlap. If it were British, the Pithivier would be called the Bakewell Pie, as opposed to the tart and pudding versions, as it looks like a fruit pie but is with puff pastry, and it also contains frangipane.

Making cakes is not an exact science, and these measurements are open for your interpretation. My grandmother (bless her) used to just slop handfuls into mixtures until the flavour was just right.

Ingredients:

2 rolls of puff pastry, unless you want to waste a morning making your own

A cupful of cherries (I de-pipped mine, but you are welcome to leave them in - but inform hour guests!!)

Half a packet of butter, diced int blocks and allowed to reach room temperature

3 tablespoons of fine sugar

3 times the amount of crushed almonds

1 full egg and 2 egg yolks in different containers

A small amount of cherry schnapps

2 bowls of differing sizes (e.g. 10 and 12 inches / 25 and 30 centimetres in diameter) to cut out the shape of the pastry

1 sheet of oven-proof paper

Instructions:

Switch on the oven to 200°C.

Roll out the first dough sheet, and using the larger of the two bowls, gently cut around the outside. Do the same with the second sheet and smaller bowl.

Place one of the sheets they came in on a large plate (a pizza plate is a good one) and put the larger dough circle on it, followed by the second sheet and the smaller circle. Put them in the fridge while you do the next bit.

Get the butter and sugar, and using your fingers, mix them up until they are well- integrated and the mixture is fluffy and light. Add the cherry schnapps, and slowly add the flour, one egg yolk and the whole egg. Blend in until it goes the colour and texture of a scrambled egg.

Fold in the almonds bit-by-bit, making sure the mixture thickens without becoming too dry.

Put some oven-proof paper onto a baking tray. Take the pastry out of the fridge. Place the smaller of the circles on to the oven-proof paper. Smear the almond mixture over it, leaving about one inch (2.5 cm) free at the edge of the circle. Put the cherries evenly into the mixture. You could stir them in, but this way ensures you get an even spread. Around the outside of the pastry, brush some of the egg yolk on.

Place the larger of the circles on top and press together with your fingers without flattening it. Use the remainder of the egg yolk to brush over the top.

With a knife, pierce the very centre of the pastry and then make swirling, radiating lines with it.

Place it in the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C, then turn it down to 175°C for a further 30 minutes.

Leave it to cool, but while it is still warm, serve it with some thick cream or ice cream and a nice cup of coffee or tea.

This is what the inside of the second one I made looks like. The first one I haven't cut open yet because it's for tomorrow and you can only have some if you're able to get to Luxembourg!

Recipe LXXX - Czech-style Braised Red Cabbage with Roast Pork, Brussels Sprouts and Carrots

On 28th December, I will be returning to my true home, the place I feel most like me, the place that loves me like a favourite aunt, Prague. I will only be there for six days, but the knowledge I will return to Base Camp is what keeps me going every day through the dark hours. The Czech Republic is one of Europe's best-kept secrets when it comes to food. I decided to recreate one of the dishes that will fill my stomach when I arrive.

Ingredients for the cabbage:
1 red cabbage
1 piece of fennel, sliced, but not too small
10 peppercorns
2 apples, chopped
1 onion, cut into rings
1 glass cherry schnapps
1 litre beef stock, warmed up
1 knob of butter
(Sultanas are also good with this dish! You are also welcome to add other things that would suit it: red onions or shallots, parsnip, pumpkin,  whatever...)


Instructions:
Take a large saucepan and melt some butter in the bottom on a medium-low heat. Add the fennel, a little salt and stir until it sweats. Then the onions and peppercorns. Finally, add the apples 2 minutes before you put in the red cabbage. Stir continuously.



Add the cabbage and continue stirring for a good 5 minutes. This allows the vegetables to get softer without burning.



Put in a good 20cl of fruit schnapps. I used cherry, as it's also a red fruit. Allow it to bubble in the bottom, then continue stirring.



Add the beef stock and put on the lid. Turn the heat right down and allow everything to run for as long as two hours, always checking the liquid level. With the right saucepan, nothing should escape, and you should end up with a truly delicious jus.



I served it with roast pork belly with crackling, roast carrots and Brussels sprouts.



To get a hard roast pork skin:
All you need to do is put the oven on at a low 150°C, cut your pork skin at each end a couple of gashes (this hardens it more easily), not forgetting to rub salt over it, baste your pork in the oil, put the pork in the baking tray with the skin facing upwards, leave some butter on top of it and allow it to melt in the oven. After 45 minutes, you can add the sliced carrots and baste the pork a little more. After an hour, turn the heat up to 200°C. For extra crackliness to the skin, spread some honey or caramel on it 10 minutes before removing it from the oven.

To get a tasty Brussels sprout:
After boiling in salt water, pour out the water and put a knob of butter in the pan. Once sizzling, add the sprouts, stirring constantly. Put in some ground black pepper and grate some nutmeg over it.

Recipe LXVII - Summer Pudding

So finally, summer has arrived. It's almost August already, but better a few weeks of sun than none at all. Anyhow... This weekend, I was invited to make an al-fresco dinner for our friends in Portz, up in the hills near Saarburg. You can see for miles there. The weather was gorgeous and the wonderful setting under the trees set me about concocting a simple yet sumptuous meal under the trees. After the starter and main course, I made a typically English summer dessert, one of my favourites alongside tiramisù or apple pie, known as Summer Pudding. The ingredients are startling, the way you need to construct them makes you doubt they'll ever work, but the final result is glorious, and a perfect end to a perfect day assured.

Ingredients:
2 loaves of thinly cut, plain white bread, preferably not too salty
800g red fruits, e.g. strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, etc...
200-300g caster sugar, or fine white sugar
(A drop of cherry or plum schnapps)
Plus:
Some clingfilm & scissors
4 pudding basins (cheap ones from the supermarket work fine)
4 saucers and a weight of some kind (some cans of tomatoes, or a couple of heavy glasses, for example)



Instructions:
Take your fruit and sugar, and heat it up gently until the sugar has melted, but no more, because you do not want the fruit to burn, or the juices to evaporate. Put a little alcohol in it, if you want, although it is not necessary.
In the meantime, take the clingfilm and cut out enough to line the inside of the pudding bowls.



Cut off the crusts of the bread (do not throw them away - keep them for stuffing a chicken, for example) and mould them into the bowls, forming the outer layer of your eventual pudding.
Some say you should use slightly stale bread, but I believe fresh bread moulds and sticks better together.



Finally, cut out a layer for what will be your base, and make sure it is completely sealed so nothing can cause too much leaking, and is at the same height as the top of the bowl. Save some juice for the opening, as not all the puddings may turn purple, although that has its charms too (see final photo).



Put a saucer on top of it and a weight (see ingredients list) and put them in the fridge until it is dessert time. As we were outside, I put them in a freezer box, which worked quite well. To remove, keep them base facing up, then pull the clingfilm ever-so-gently away from the bowl round the outside to unstick it, whilst making sure it stays in the basin. Then put the final serving plate on top of the pudding and turn it over. Let the clingfilm separate from the bowl and fall onto the plate.



Serve with lightly sugared whipped cream.