Pease Pudding

Hi All

I write this in the midst of to Covid-19 Pandemic and like the majority of the rest of the UK; adhering to the rules on staying home. The plan had been to spend this weekend with my husband, in the beautiful Lake District, celebrating my recent birthday. However with those plans temporarily shelved; I used the Easter Weekend to take some time out from home working and be a little more creative in the kitchen.

My niece is living with us at the moment, staying whilst she furthers her education, and is currently one of the UK’s essential supermarket workers. In order to minimise the need for my husband and I to go out shopping she’s also been helping us by shopping at the store she is based in. Like me, she does love a bargain, and has over the last few days arrived home with a array of berries and fruits marked down, in some instances, to 10p a punnet. However I do need to keep to my principles on food waste, so it’s been a chance to be a little bit more creative in the kitchen.

The following three recipes have been the outcome of the berry effort!

Berry Puff Pancakes

A different take on breakfast. This is essentially a sweet Yorkshire pudding loaded with your favourite fruits.

For the pancake: 

• 1 tablespoon of oil or butter
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup of whole milk (or use semi-skimmed if that’s what you have in)
• 3/4 cup of plain flour
• Pinch of salt

Berry topping:

• 3 cups of whatever fruit you would like to use (I used blueberries and strawberries)
• 2 tablespoons of orange marmalade (Apply Jelly also works well)
• 2 tablespoons of either castor sugar or icing sugar
• Natural Yoghurt (optional to serve)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. In a bowl combine the eggs, milk, flour and salt and whisk to create a smooth batter and set aside.
2. Place a 9 inch cake tin or pie plate into the oven, with the butter or oil, and leave it for 5 minutes to allow the tin and the fat to heat up.
3. Pour the batter into the heated tin and back for around 15-20 minutes until crisp golden and risen.
4. In a mixing bowl combine the chopped fruit, marmalade and sugar. Mix gently. When the pancake is cooked remove from the oven and fill with the fruit mixture. Serve immediately with a little natural yoghurt if desired.

 

Fruit Tart

A little more effort required here but the results were worth it:

For the Shortcrust Pastry

• 110g of plain flour
• 50g softened butter
• 2 tablespoons of caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• splash of cold water

For the Crème Patisserie

• 3 large egg yolks
• 5 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of plain flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornflour
• 1 1/4 cups of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the Fruit topping

• Approximately 20 strawberries and one small punnet of blueberries (or use your own choice of fruit)
• Apricot jam or apple jelly to glaze

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, make the pastry by first rubbing together the butter, flour and salt to create a breadcrumb texture; then mix in the sugar. Add a splash of water and use a palette knife to bring the mixture together to a dough. Finish with your hands to make a ball; wrap in film or a wax wrap and pop it in the fridge to chill.
3. Now to make the crème patisserie. In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, until pale yellow and creamy. Then add the cornflour and plain flour and whisk again; set aside.
4. In a saucepan heat the milk and vanilla extract and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and gently pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Whisking constantly until smooth.
5. Transfer the milk and egg mixture back into the saucepan, cook over a low heat, whisking continuously until the mixture becomes a thick paste. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place a piece of film directly onto the surface to prevent a skin forming. Set aside to cool.
6. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out to a thin sheet, large enough to line a 9inch, buttered, flan tin. This should be just enough pastry to make a very thin base. Press the pastry into the base and up the sides of the tin. Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on top of the pastry case and fill with baking beans. Place the case in the oven for 10 minutes. After ten minutes remove the paper and the baking beans, and continue to bake the case for another 10-15 minutes until crisp and golden.
7. Remove the baked case from the oven and set aside to cool.
8. Once both the case and the crème patisserie have cooled. Spoon the crème patisserie into the case and gently spread out so its creates an even layer in the base of the case.
9. Decorate the flan with  halved strawberries and blueberries or whatever fruit you have chosen. Warm some apricot jam or apple jelly in a plan and gently brush over the top of the tart to create a lightly glazed finish.

Fruit and Chocolate Pots

What’s not to love about fruit and chocolate; I’ve used yoghurt here rather than cream to lighten the dish. It all used up the egg whites that I had left over from the fruit tart.

Serves 4

For the chocolate mousse

• 75g of dark chocolate
• 4 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
• 2 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons of caster sugar

For the filling

• Selection of fruit of your choice (I used blueberries)

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate using a Bain Marie and once melted, set aside to cool.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to the soft peak stage, then whisk in the sugar.
3. Into the cooled chocolate, stir in the yoghurt.
4. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate. Slacken the chocolate mixture with a spoonful of the egg white, then fold the rest in carefully to maintain as much air as possible.
5. Add the fruit to the bottom of 4 glasses and top each glass with the chocolate mousse. Chill in the fridge, to firm up the mousse before serving.