dried grapes Archives - Passionate About Baking

“There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yesterday was a day I needed to bake. The morning wasn’t kind to me. Got up and the computer screen was dead as dead can be. Woke up the daughter and she was rather rude for something trivial … very uncalled for!! Then she decided not to have the breakfast I made. I had about lost it, but DH stepped in, flashed a big smile, ate her breakfast…and told me to relax! So my pent up anger was redirected to the kitchen, and it was time to bake. Hit the kitchen in a fury… made walnuts, dried cranberry and dark chococolate chip scones, made peanut butter, made some curry for lunch… and then made these charming little pear cakes!

These pears had been staring at me for days. They were handsome, had a lovely yellow hue to them, but that’s just where the story ended. They were very crisp but lacked sweet fruity flavour. Sometimes fruit can be so deceptive. You come home thinking, yes, what a good deal I got, and then sigh, it’s time to bake them into something. Thank heavens for the fabulous marriage fruit and baking make, something I discovered just a clutch of years ago.

Have been attracted to ‘pear’ posts like a bee to honey the whole of this week. Each time I saw pear in my reader, there I was. Alongside, I was browsing for a kumquat chutney to use up some tangerines, and I was led to this beautiful blog Citrus & Vanille. 2 stones with 1 bird! Found a great sounding kumquat chutney which I could use tangerines in, and further browsing led me to these Mini Manqué Pear Cakes, not quite sure what manqué was, but I liked the sound of the word. Had a nice ring to it!! I was so making them! A tweet from my virtual French lexicon Hilda, got me my answer.

Moule-à-Manqué, Origin: French, A cake tin with sloping sides, producing a cake that has a wider base than top…

LOVELY! I love the name!!

I settled for this recipe because it has whole wheat flour and some chestnut flour too. I do have a small sack of chestnut flour stashed away that Jamie got me, but that is for ‘something’ else! So substitution was the call again, and some almond flour went in. Not saving it for macs as I have failed 3 times very recently. Maybe I need a break, then shall make fresh almond flour! I loved these manqués because they had a nice mix of healthy whole grain flors and turned out to be ever so versatile. I made them in the morning, and just reheated them before serving with 1 teaspoon of whipped unsweetened mascarpone cream, and black grape compote. SUBLIME!! The kids loved them! Much in line with my Ten in 10 commitment too!!

A dessert which is wholesome, has fruit, just 1 tsp of homemade mascarpone on top … and is still given a high five!! YES!! What could be better. The cake had a nice velvety, nutty texture, and surprisingly enough, the pears retained some crsipness too! I love the meeting of textures and flavours. Just amazing how satisfying dessert can get!! I think this recipe might work well with apples and walnuts/raisins too.

Mini Manqué Pear Cakes with Black Grape Compote
adapted from Citron and Vanille
Makes 8-10 individual cakes
Ingredients
3 pears, peeled and sliced
70 g butter, melted
30gms clarified butter
3 eggs
70 g whole wheat flour
50 g almond meal
130 g white flour
100g light brown sugar
4 tbs light cream cream
11/2 tsp baking powder
11/2 tsp vanilla extract
Mascarpone cream and compote to serve

Method:

In a mixing container, beat butters and sugar until smooth. Add cream, then add eggs, flours, vanilla extract, cream and baking powder progressively.

Butter individual deep molds (like ramekins) or if you have silicon molds, even better. I put litle rounds of parchment paper in the bases…just in case! If you don’t have any individual molds, you can also use a larger deep dish one.

Place the pear slices nicely at the bottom of each ramekin, followed by a sprinkling of dried grapes, and then divide the batter equally between each of them.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 30 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, and unmold.

Black Grape Compote
Makes about 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried black grapes
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rum or orange juice
1/4 – 1/2 cup water
1-2 tbsps balsamic vinegar

Method:

Place all ingredients in a heavy bottom pan, and simmer for 15-20 minutes till it all comes together in a nice thick compote. Adjust sugar/vinegar if required. Take off heat and transfer to serving container. It will continue to thicken as it stands. You can serve it warm or cold.

To serve

Place warm pear manqué on a platter, top with a tablespoon of whipped unsweetend mascarpone cream, followed by a tablespoon of compote.

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“What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree?”
Logan Pearsall Smith

Danced off Helen’s beautiful blog, Tartlette’s, the other day, in a dreamy trance. Two thoughts rang through my head. Helen’s hub B smashing the tops of the dreamy desserts, and an urgency to recreate the delightful dessert as soon as possible. Not the first time a fruit dessert has done this to me. Did it off Judy‘s blog, No Fear Entertaining when the peach season began and I instantly made Apricot Cherry Mini Crisps. Then again, off Ari’s blog, Baking and Books with Plums & Brown Sugar Cakes in July… and many times in between. I call it inspirational blogging!!

Dived into the fridge looking for fruit. Darn … just pears and green apples! And then I saw them; tucked into the back – a bag of plums, very sour! My mother is a die hard fruit shopper. She loves to buy fruit, but I virtually fall at her feet and beg her not too. She has no idea of how to choose good fruit, yet she goes, again and again, shopping for fruit at any ones recommendation, which is how these plums landed up on my doorstep. For Rohan, she announced, who loves plums. One bite & Rohan abandoned them in a hurry … ‘They are SO SOUR Mama!‘, he whimpered, with a puckered up mouth! I thought, ‘No problem, plum jam!’… but that never happened of course.

Thank you sweet Tartlette … for helping me find me a plum position for my plums! I began to write my thoughts as they baked, looking lovely, popping out of the little baking dishes. I used a variety because I wanted to experiment. Couldn’t wait for the kids to get back home and see them with 100 watt lights in their eyes. Then dive into them…YUM! Worth a million bucks I tell ya!

In the hurry to get baking that morning, I realised I was out of unsalted butter. India is a strange country. You can find plenty of salted butter, but white butter or unsalted butter for baking is rare. I usually make my own unsalted / sweet butter for baking. I did have salted butter, but also on hand was clarified butter or ghee, and I used just that. In too went some dried black grapes.

I had bought some bags of black grapes, somewhat like raisins, when I went to Old Delhi, but the kids didn’t like them in their muffins. They were threatening to spoil because of a high moisture content, so I left them in a barely warm oven overnight to dry them out.

That was the night I saw the recipe, so I thought the dried grapes might find a spot in the clafoutis, and maybe a compote too. Yay… a destination for both plums & grapes made me ecstatic. Didn’t regret it one bit. Have to say they tasted fab in the compote, and I shall be on the lookout for the seasons last sour plums to make some more.

Surprisingly enough, the clarified butter didn’t lend any strange taste / flavour. A handy substitute for people like me! The clafoutis was delicious. Beautiful bite to it, the crumb moist, yet cake like, the almonds imparting a delightful flavour, and the plum-black grape pairing just right. A dollop of whipped cream & some sweet-tangy compote seemed to finish it off in style! We LOVED it. Thank you Helen. You are truly inspirational!!

Plum & Dried Black Grapes Frangipane Clafoutis
Adapted from Tartlette’s recipe here
Serves 6
For the clafoutis:
3/4 cup vanilla sugar
1 1/2oz clarified butter/ghee, at room temperature (or butter)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, separated
200ml light cream
1/2 cup whole almonds, ground
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
pinch of salt
4 plums, halved and pitted

For the plum/dried fruit compote:
4-5 plums, pitted & chopped
1/2 cup dried black grapes
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup mango juice (You can use orange juice. Mango juice was all I had)

For the frangipane clafoutis:
Preheat the oven to 170C. Lightly coat 6 ramekins with cooking spray or a dab of butter and place them on a baking tray. Set aside.
Grind the almonds, with skin, in a coffee grinder, with 1 tbsp of sugar, till fine, Do it in short burst so that it doesn’t end up as paste.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, clarified butter, vanilla extract and the egg yolks until the mixture is a smooth paste. Add the cream little by little.
In a separate bowl, stir together the almonds, flour and salt, add this to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until well blended.
In a very clean bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the almond mixture.
Divide evenly among your ramekins (make sure to fill them only 3/4 of the way up) and place 1/2 a pitted plum, cut side up, and a few dried grapes on top of the batter. Bake for about 25-30 minutes.
Serve warm with the plum & dried black grape compote and/or a dollop of unsweetend whipped cream.

Prepare the plum & dried black grape compote :
Put all the ingredients in a pan, mix, and simmer for 15-20 minutes till thick and syrupy. Adjust sugar if required. You might need to add some lime juice if your plums are sweet. Mine were SOUR!

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Tag: dried grapes

Mini Manqué Pear Cakes with Black Grape Compote

PLUM & DRIED BLACK GRAPE FRANGIPANE CLAFOUTIS…INSPIRED BY TARTLETTE

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