Gluten and Dairy Free Choux pastry.

Watching bake off this week I realised that I had completely forgotten to post my creation from pastry week, oops. To be honest I was dreading pastry week as attempting to make gluten and dairy free pastry is a tricky business. I decided that choux was my way forward and attempted some of my own eclairs. I have had previous successes making regular choux so I was hopefully optimistic that I could make this work.

And it turns out you can make gluten and dairy free choux. It is not quite as smooth and glossy as regular choux and whereas I would normally use a wooden spoon I did have to use a hand held electric whisk to get the choux dough as smooth as possible.

See, not totally smooth and glossy

Once baked however my mini eclairs looked and tasted like the regular deal. I tarted up my eclair by making them banoffee eclairs. I filled them with sliced banana, vanilla whipped non dairy cream and topped with non-dairy toffee sauce. They were declared delicious by all. Below is the recipe to make gluten and dairy free choux, feel free to jazz up you eclair with any topping or filling that you desire.

Choux pastry (gluten and dairy free) 

60g gluten free flour (I used dove farm)
2 tsp caster sugar (optional)
150ml cold water
50g dairy free spread (I used pure, sunflower)
2 large eggs

Weigh the flour then fold a sheet of baking paper to make a crease and then open it up again. Sift the flour on to the paper and add the caster sugar if you are making sweet choux.

Next put the cold water in a saucepan together with the butter, then place the saucepan over a medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon. As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture comes up to the boil, turn off the heat immediately, as too much boiling will evaporate some of the water.

Next tip the flour in, all in one go, with one hand, while you beat the mixture vigorously with the other (using the electric whisk).

Beat until you have a smooth ball of paste that has left the sides of the saucepan clean, this will probably take less than a minute

Next beat 2 large eggs then beat them into the mixture, a little at a time, mixing each addition in thoroughly before adding the next. Beat until you have a smooth(ish) glossy(ish) paste. At this stage, lightly grease a baking sheet and place a ovenproof dish with a little water in the base of the oven to create a steamy atmosphere.

To make the éclairs place the mixture in to a piping bag fitted with a wide round tip and pipe mixture onto the baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between them. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. After that, increase the heat to gas mark 7 220C/200CFAN and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the buns are crisp, light and a rich golden colour.

Split the éclairs and return to the oven for a couple of minutes to dry out the insides.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool and fill just before eating to enjoy them at their best. 

Bake along with bake off- Pistachio salambos

Arghh what a crazy crazy couple of weeks. I have been away with work, not even managed to watch last weeks bake off let alone try and bake along with it. I think I will have to cut my losses (nothing from sweet dough week and nothing from whatever was last week) and bake along with whatever the theme is tomorrow, and I do not even know what that may be.

These little pistachio delights I made for the week the contestants made petit fours. If my memory serves me right in the trailer for the bake off I am yet to watch I  am sure the contestants were making some sort of choux based delight for the technical challenge so these  do kind of fit!

They are a mini choux bun, filled with orange blossom cream, dipped in caramel and chopped pistachios. They are truly delicious.

Pistachio salambos

makes 12 mini

1 egg, beaten
25g butter
33g plain flour
15g pistachios, finely chopped
60g caster sugar
75ml  double cream
few drops of orange blossom water

Fold a sheet of greaseproof paper in half, open out, and sift the flour onto it.

Put the butter and 60ml water into a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Quickly bring to the boil and add the flour all in one go. Take the pan from the heat and beat the mixture with a wooden spoon, as you beat it will turn into a smooth dough. 

Put the pan back over a low heat, and beat gently for a minute more until the  dough comes away fro the sides of the pan to make a smooth glossy ball. 

Tip the dough into a mixing bowl and leave until barely warm. 

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN.

Using and electric whisk gradually add the egg, beating well after each addition. The dough needs to be shiny and stiff, it should just fall from a spoon if lightly shaken. You may not need all the egg, do not make the dough too loose or it will spread out not puff up in the oven.

Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a narrow plain nozzle and pipe 12 small mounds equal in size, onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, spacing them well apart. Bake for 20 minutes.

Open the oven door to release steam, turn the temperature down to 180C/160C FAN and bake for a further 5 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Make a small whole in the side of each choux ball to let out the steam and return to the oven for a final five minutes. Transfer the choux buns to a wire rack to cool.

Make the caramel by dissolving the sugar in one tablespoon of water. increase the heat and gently bubble until the caramel turns a deep golden. Dip the top of the choux buns into the caramel followed by the pistachios.(If the caramel begins to set before you have dipped all the buns gently warm over a low heat) Set aside to set.

Whip the cream and a few drops of orange blossom extract together until stiff enough to hold a peak. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a narrow nozzle and pipe through the steam hole. 

These need to be eaten as soon as possible once they are filled. I filled a couple to eat straight away and kept the others unfilled , with the cream in the fridge, and ate over the past couple of days. They were their absolute best the day they were made but perfectly yummy the following days.

Bake along with bake off- Filo pastry pie

Pies and tarts last week on the Great British bake off and I was inspired to make a filo pastry pie.

Full disclosure: I did not make my own filo pastry, for two reasons 1) My kitchen is not big enough to swing a cat and my longest work surface is less than a meter long. 2) Paul and Mary are not here to judge me!

I have made a few filo pies before but decided to make a competition worthy one. Even without making my own pastry it required some effort, not a quick week day meal!

It is adapted from a Tom Kerridge recipe. It is fish, surrounded by a mix of basmati and wild rice with garlic, lemon, dill and mozzarella, all tightly encased in spinach leaves then wrapped in crispy filo pastry.

I made two small pies instead of a big bake off style pie as there is only the two of us and I do not waste food.

Filo fish pie

Makes 2 individual sized.

75g basmati and wild rice (dry)

1 clove of garlic

Vegetable stock cube

Zest of one lemon

Small bunch of dill

125g of mozzarella

60g spinach leaves (bigger are better)

2 fillets of white fish, I used frozen hake fillets that had been defrosted.

2-4 sheet of filo pastry.

Melted butter or egg to coat the pastry.

First off this requires cooling and resting time so make sure you have enough time before starting!

Spritz a frying pan with a little oil and lightly fry the garlic, add the rice and fry for 30 seconds or so. Add 200ml of veg stock and turn down to lowest heat, allow to cook for 45 minutes until the rice is tender and all the stock absorbed. Note my low heat is quite hot still so I had to top up with a little more stock a couple of times, keep you eye on it.

Transfer the cooked rice to a bowl and allow to cool completely. Once the rice is completely cool stir through the zest of a lemon, the mozzarella and finely chop in a good tablespoon of dill and season with a little salt and pepper.

Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds or so in hot water, drain and transfer to cold water immediately to stop the cooking, drain again and lay out the spinach on kitchen towel of a clean tea towel to drain of most of the water.

Lay out a sheet of clingfilm. Lay out a layer of spinach leaves a little wider and longer than the size of your fish.

Add spoonfuls of the cooled rice on top of the spinach, flatten then add the fish on top. Add another few spoonfuls of the rice mix to cover the fish and then finish with another layer of the spinach leaves. Now carefully wrap the whole thing up tightly in clingfilm and pop into the fridge for at least one hour, or up to two.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Lay out a sheet of filo on a work surface and fold in half (length ways). Alternatively if your pasty sheet is small, or your fish parcel is big simple lay two sheets on top of each other.

Gently transfer you fish parcel from the clingfilm to the centre of your filo pastry. Fold the short ends in and then wrap the rest of the filo around the fish. Glue the seam with a little beaten egg or melted butter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Glaze the top of the pastry with melted butter or beaten egg.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

This was a little effort and a little fiddly in places but it does not involve too long in the kitchen, a lot of time is waiting and it is honestly not has tricky as I though it would be.

Its worth noting that I did not use all the rice mix, I packed a lot in but there was a little left over, it probably depends on the size of your fish.

The effort was worth it though, the flavours and textures in this pie are lovely and a little bit different. It was very filling too, only a salad was needed alongside and I was stuffed!  

'Bake along with Bake Off' - Desserts- Petits fours

So this week its desserts. Trifle, Iles flottants and petits fours await the brave contestants. Now Mark does now like trifle, Iles flottants floats not our boats so by default petite fours it was! Ok so it was more work but at the end you get to eat lots of little cakes!

I was doing this in advance of the show so could only guess the exact nature of the challenge. I know they have to make 24 and assume they would have to make eight each of three type,s or four each of six. I went for 3. I do not know how long they have but have timed myself to compare.

I made almond and raspberry meringue kisses, pistachio salambos (from one of the bake off books) and double chocolate madelines.  The meringue post is below, I will post the other two items in the next couple of days.

They are all really really good, I am finding it hard to chose a favourite I keep changing my mind, Mark thinks the mini pistachio choux buns just edge into the lead.

Either way I am very very impressed with what I have achieved and Paul and Mary would be in trouble if they disagreed!

I am very excited about the bake off tonight, as always, but tonight will be better with a plate of these treats.

Almond and raspberry meringue kisses

makes 14-16 pairs

2 egg whites
pinch cream of tartar
1/2 tsp almond extract
100g caster sugar
pink food colouring (optional)

100ml double cream
2 tablespoons raspberry jam

First line a baking sheet with parchment paper, I actually used my silicon macaron sheet/guide but I suspect not everyone owns such a thing, and preheat the oven to 120C/100C FAN.

Put the egg whites in spotless grease free bowl, I use a metal one, along with the cream of tartar. Whisk until stiffish peaks are forming, add in half the sugar and almond extract and whisk until stiff glossy peaks are beginning to form before whisking in the rest of the sugar, you need nice stiff, shiny peaks but take care not to over beat.

I chose to paint a few stripes of food colouring on the inside of the piping bag but this is completely optional. Spoon the meringue mix into the piping bag fitted with a star tip.

Pipe teeny meringues into your prepared sheets. There are two ways to do it, either swirl it, the food colouring will give a spiral.

Or pipe straight down and you will get lines.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour to 90 minutes (I know, I know, its a broad range) until dry and crisp. Leave on the sheet until cool then gently peel away.

To fill whip the cream until soft peaks form then whisk in the raspberry jam. Pop the cream into a bag fitted with  star tip and pipe a good star shaped dollop onto half the meringues. Sandwich with another meringue and eat!

Rapberry frangipane

The sun appeared! Mind you the weather, here in Ediburgh at least, seems to be on the turn. So I am highly glad I had a picnic las weekend, as who know when he may appear again!

As well as beautiful salads, olives, fruit, homemade baguettes (see here) I of course wanted something sweet I decided I wanted that rich, melt in the mouth frangpiane with the tartness of raspberries. Berries seem to scream sunshine.

In this recipe I use shop bought shortcrust pastry. I enjoy making pastry but on this particular morning I was also making bread and assembling the rest of the picnic. Time was not on my side.

I bought pre rolled pastry. I find this pastry is always quite thickly rolled out, which is fine for pies but not my tart, I did not want lots of pastry just a wafer thin case to hold together the raspberries and frangipane. In the end I lined my tin with ~125g of thin rolled short crust.

I have also just realised that the letter for this months alpha bakes (this month hosted by Ros over at the more than occasional baker) is R. So I am going to enter my Raspberry frangipane as an unplanned entry!

Raspberry frangipane tart


Pack of pre rollled short crust pastry (I used ~125g)
50g raspberry jam
140g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
140g ground almonds
50g plain flour
100g raspberries


Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry further, until very thin and line a 23cm tart tin. I used my long one from lakeland (36cm in length) which worked very well. Trim the excess pastry, prick the base with a fork, and chill for 30 minutes. Line with baking paper and fill with baking beans, or rice. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the baking beans and paper. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes until golden and biscuity.

To make the filling cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy then beat in the eggs. Finally fold in the ground almonds and flour.

Spread the base of the pastry case with the raspberry jam. Spoon the frangipane filling into the pastry case and level the top. Place the raspberries on top, in whatever pattern you desire.
Bake the tart for 30-35 minutes until cooked and golden. 


Leave to cool in the tin for ~20 minutes and when the tin is cool enough to handle remove the tart and allow to cool.

I cut these into picnic sized pieces. They are dangerously delicious and extremely moreish. They last well i a tin for at least 3 days. Sadly we ate them all so I am not sure if they last longer!

Kremesh

This is a photo of me looking exceedingly happy.

Why am I so happy. Well I am eating baking. And not just any baking. When I watched the Hairy Bikers bakation series I fell in love with a dish called Kremesh that they ate at a cafe in Budapest. Kremesh is essentially a cross between a vanilla slice and mille feuille. It is made of layers of puffed pastry and a vanilla custard.

While inter-railing I just happened to be in Budapest, a fantastic place, you should all go, and I tracked down this cafe and had the Kremesh. It was worth the journey, it was fantastic.

I knew I wanted to make it but saved actually making it until the letter 'K' came up for alpha bakes, and finally this month it appeared.

My Kremesh tasted amazing but did not look good. The recipe said stir the custard till thick, mine was pretty thick, more thick than I would like on crumble. But it needed to me thicker, it literally needs cooking out until you could stand a spoon in it! Also my pastry puffed up too much, If I made my own I do not think it would do that, I would also consider baking it between two tray, as like mille feuille.

Still I have learnt and its definitely one I would make again.

Kremesh 

makes about 8

pack of puff pastry (350g ish)

500ml milk
Vanilla pod
150g caster sugar
75g egg yolk (about 5)
65g plain flour
75g egg white (2-3)
65g icing sugar

Each Kremesh has 3 layers. I prefer to precut the layers instead of baking th pastry and then cutting it. Cut you pastry rectangles, each kremesh needs 3 and they all need to be the same size.

Follow the pack instructions and cook your pastry until it is golden and puffed up. Set aside to cool.

To make the custard filling first gently heat the milk with the seeds from the vanilla pod until just boiling, remove from the heat and set aside to cool. 

Whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until combined. Whisk in the flour, a little at a time, until you have a smooth paste. Add the milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly. Make sure the milk has cooled enough otherwise the eggs may scramble.

Once all the milk ha been incorporated into the egg mix tip the whiole mixture back into the pan. Heat gently, stiring constantly until the custard has thickened. By thickened I have learnt that this means, really very very thick not just simply thickened. Remoe from the heat and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold into the custard. the custard will still be warm, that's ok.

Assemble the Kremesh by layering pastry and custard.

What my Kremesh lacked presentation made up for in yumminess!  

French rhubarb tart

This is a very elegant dessert that does require a little more effort on your part. Its probably not one you would just knock up for a normal weekend dessert. Saying that I do urge you to try it before forced rhubarb is out of season, as it looks, and more importantly tastes, absolutely stunning.

Its a bbc good food magazine recipe but I have tweaked it just a little to suit my own tastes. For example I love rhubarb and all the tartness that comes with it and so I have reduced the sugar that it is poached in.

You will need a special long fluted tart tin with a loose bottom. I got mine from lakeland, it will be useful for lots of other tarts, both sweet and savoury.

French rhubarb tart

500g forced rhubarb
25g caster sugar
juice of half a lemon

250g plain flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
140g cubed butter
1 large egg yolk

250ml milk (whole or semi skimmed)
Seeds from one vanilla pod
4 large egg yolks
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp plain flour
60ml double cream

Cut the rhubarb into batons, each 10cm in length. You will need enough to go along the length of the tart tin plus at least one extra. Put the sugar, lemon juice and 250ml of water into a wide frying pan, add the rhubarb and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave the rhubarb to cool in the syrup for at least 1 hour or overnight.

For the pastry put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor running add the egg yolk and enough ice cold water for the mixture to come together. Tip onto a work surface and bring together with your hands. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

For the crème patisserie gently heat the milk and vanilla seeds until just below boiling. In the meantime mix the egg yolks, sugar and flours together until combined. Add a little of the hot milk to the egg mixture whisking constantly, gradually add the remaining hot milk continuing to whisk. Return the liquid to the pan and set over a lowish heat, stir continuously until the mixture thickens to the consistency of very very thick custard. This will take time, do not be tempted to turn up the heat.

Using a spatula transfer the crème patisserie to a clean bowl and cover the surface with clingfilm to prevent a skin forming. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out into a rectangle, bigger than your tin, 1mm thick. Line you tin, making sure the pastry gets into all the corners. Leave any overhang for the time being.

 The pastry is very short and it may crack a little as you line the tin, if so use a little of the little extra overhang to do a patch job. I had to do this in two corners and it turned out completely fine.

Trying to show my patchwork job

Chill the lined tin for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN. Line the tart with baking paper and baking beans (or rice etc) and blind bake for 20 minutes. Some of my overhang fell off after blind baking, nothing to worry about. Remove the baking baking and beans and continue to bake for another 8 minutes until golden in colour. Remove excess pastry with a sharp serrated knife and leave to cool in the tin.

Remove the rhubarb pieces from the syrup and set aside. Heat the remaining syrup until it has reduced in volume and is a thick sticky syrup.

Beat the cream until it holds soft peaks and then beat a little of this into your chilled crème patisserie. Fold the remaining cream through until no streaks of cream remain.

Ready to assemble

To assemble the tart. Remove the pastry tart form its case and place on a plate/board. Fill with the crème patisserie and smooth over the surface.

 Line the rhubarb up along the length of the tart.

 To finish glaze the rhubarb with some of the syrup. Chill the tart for 30 minutes before serving. To serve use a sharp serrated knife to cut slices from the tart.

This tart was absolutely lovely and the perfect dessert for a special meal. It kept well in the fridge and was lovely the next day too. BBC said it would keep for up to 3 days but I suspect it is better much sooner.

The only downside is I now have 5 egg whites. I sense some macarons may be made very soon...

Danish pastries

Danish pastries take time and effort to make yourself  Would I say they were worth it? That would be a definite YES.

I thought that I did not like them and only made some for two reasons. Firstly my boyfriend loves them and secondly they begin with D, this months alpha bakes letter. So I decided to earn extra girlfriend points and make them. They looked rather enticing as they emerged from the oven and so I tried one, and what do you know, another thing I like when made at home and not bought in shops. I think I have lost girlfriend points however for eating half instead of letting him have them all...

The Danish pasty is a little time consuming to make. It is interesting in that the base is like an enriched dough, similar to brioche, but then the butter is incorporated as a block and folded in, similar to puff pastry. 

The baked result is a fantastic texture, soft, light dough in the centre with a flake on the outside.

I followed Paul Hollywood's recipe for Danish pastry. It is lengthy description and I could not phrase it any better, nor am I going to copy it word for word. Though I do urge you to look up his recipe and give it a go. 

The Danish I made contained raisins and pastry cream (a pain aux raisin, if you prefer) mainly as I had raisins in the cupboard but I definitely want to try a few others , such as apple and apricot. 

Interestingly I learnt something about pastry cream. If you do not quite cook it enough and even once it is cooled it is not quite thick enough all is not lost. It turns out that you can put it back in the pan and cook it out a little more. I figured it was worth a try before making a new batch, and it paid off!

I imagine these are very nice for breakfast but its Saturday and snowy and I did not want to come out from the duvet. I can confirm that they are just as delicious with a cup of tea as a post lunch dessert!

Mince pies

So it turns out I do like mince pies! A while back I commented how I was confused that I did not like them as I like pastry and dried fruit. I made my own mincemeat and below is the pastry recipe I used. This pastry is lovely, short, crisp and buttery, not at all soft and mushy like some shop bought mice pies.

Mince pies

makes 6-9 depending on size

90g butter
110g plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
egg yolk
1-3 tablespoons ice cold water

mincemeat

Pulse the butter and flour in a food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and egg yolk and pulse again. Add the water, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse until until the dough comes together, I have made this pastry a couple of times and always have needed 2 tablespoons of water, but it will depend on the butter you use and the size of the egg yolk.

Gather the dough and wrap in clingfilm, chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN. Spray or butter cupcake tins and add a strip of greaseproof paper, this will make removing your mince pies a doddle.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out your pastry to a few mm thick. Stamp out circles bigger than the bases in your cupcake tin. Stamp out an equal number of stars for the tops. Line the cases with the pastry, gently pushing it to the base and up the sides.

Fill each case with heaped teaspoons of mincemeat and top with a star. Use the leftover egg white to glaze all exposed pastry. 

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly then devour whilst warm!

If you cannot eat them all in one sitting they are lovely up to two days later gently warmed through. They may last longer than 2 days but in our house that did not happen...

These were so good a second batch has already been made... don't judge me I have spent the last 20 or so years missing out, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Sausage rolls

The sausage roll, a staple of children's parties and buffets, not to mention Christmas party food. A bad sausage roll is often tasteless and stodgy but a good one is indeed a wonderful thing. And how to guarantee you have/serve a good one? Make your own!

By making your own you can spike your sausage meat with whatever flavours you wish. Here I have used apple and sage. You can use shop bought pastry, but the one I use is so quick and easy and tastes so good it is most definitely worth the small amount of effort.

Sausage rolls also begin with 'S' so I will be entering them into this months alpha bakes.

Sausage rolls

makes 12, easily doubled

for the pastry

4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
3oz butter

for the sausage meat

225g sausage meat
1 apple, grated
small handful of chopped sage
1 egg to seal

First off make the pastry. Your butter will need to be very cold so if it feels a little soft from the fridge pop it into the freezer half an hour before you start. Place the flour into the bowl and add the salt. Grate the butter into the bowl.

Using a knife stir the butter through the flour, making sure it is well  coated. Add enough ice cold water to make a dough that cleanly leaves the side of the bowl. I used 16 tsp. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the sausage meat (I used regular sausages with the skins removed), the grated apple and finely chopped sage until everything is well distributed.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C FAN. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle and cut it into two strips. Divide the sausage meat mix into two and place down the centre of each strip.

Brush beaten egg down one side of each strip and fold the pastry over the sausage meat, pinching to seal.

Turn so that the seal is on the underside and cut each long roll into six. Snip the top with scissors  to allow steam to escape. Place the sausage rolls on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.

These a very tasty and make a great lunch, they were fantastic paired with Mary Berry's Christmas chutney. I also took some to a party and they were snaffled pretty quickly. Like I said these can be flavoured how you wish, how about chilli? Or honey and mustard?