“…stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot oftener, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along.”
Robert J. Hastings {Tinyburg Tales}
This is one of those recipes lurking in my folder, adapted from a breathtakingly delicious looking post on Sips and Spoonfuls, devoured, yet for some reason it went ‘unblogged’! This eggless Roasted Peach & Plum Ice Cream made with condensed milk hit a nice chord after the Mango Fro Yo we got addicted to!
As we’ve bid adieu to stone fruit in our neck of the woods, I need to get this out for the lucky folk who are enjoying late summer stone fruit. I also enviously dream of the folk in the Southern Hemisphere who are now welcoming Spring and all the joys of berries & stone fruit! Condensed milk in ice cream is something very new for me, and had me pretty much intrigued as I read Sukaina’s post, devouring all her beautiful pictures. It was a post that sent me scurrying into the kitchen that same morningIn next to no time I had delicious aromas of stone fruit baking with vanilla wafting through the kitchen. It’s a heady way to begin a morning … for stone fruit lovers like me!It gets even more interesting if you are trying to take photographs and run helter skelter from a very inquisitive pooch, one who seems to enjoy every opportunity to ‘check out’ what’s on the menu! My days of ‘relaxed’ & ‘carefree’ photography are history, ones that I never cherished! Cut to now … I’m often glad to click a single frame without having to shoo Coco away! The hapless cocker gets nothing, not a crumb … and eventually snoozes! She is C.U.T.E. though, and even naughtier than before!!I absolutely love the depth of flavour that roasting fruit gets. Add a vanilla bean and it gets addictive. I had a bit of a struggle keeping the tiresome teen away from my beloved roasted fruit puree as she was looking at having a go at the bowl! Two spoonfuls and I literally shoved her out of my kitchen! Turned out to be quite a delicious, low cal ice cream. What’s not to love about the colours and glory of stone fruit!
Summary:I absolutely love the depth of flavour that roasting fruit get. Add a vanilla bean and it gets addictive. This turned out to be quite a delicious, low cal ice cream.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
6 peaches- halved, pitted
8 plums, halved pitted
1 vanilla pod, scraped
3 tbs brown sugar
200ml low fat cream
200gm hung yogurt, well drained
400 ml condensed milk
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Combine sugar and vanilla. Arrange the peaches & plums skin side down on a baking tray and sprinkle with the vanilla/ sugar mixture. Grill in the oven for 20 minutes or until the top of the peaches appear caramelized.
Remove the skin from the peaches as soon as it is cool enough to do so. Puree the peaches and any juices in the baking tray in a blender. {I left the skin on}
{Thermomix: Puree at Speed 10 for 1 minute. Freeze the puree in ice trays or silicon trays}
In a separate bowl combine, the cream, milk, condensed milk and peach/plum puree. Adjust sugar if required. Adding peach extract, peach liqueur or a teeny bit of kirsch will enhance the flavours. Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
{Thermomix: Place frozen puree cubes and cream and condensed milk in TM bowl and process on Speed 10, 1 minute at a time, scraping as required, until smooth. Place in freezer safe bowl and freeze until ready to serve.}
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
Albert Schweitzer
These are cookies born out of thankfulness, inspiration and amazement at the constant love I receive from readers of my blog. This Chocolate Almond Olive Oil & Whole Wheat Biscotti is the delicious result of the cocoa that Sheetal mailed to me a few days ago. The package had things I love – stuff to bake with … muscovado sugar {my first bag ever}, baking chocolate and cocoa powder. Sheetal said she really hoped I would bake something with the stuff she sent me. … and promised to make the same at home far away!Might as well keep you busy Sheetal, so if you are done with the tart, here’s the next bake!I left the contents of the parcel on my table and looked at them every morning feeling a strange sense of inspiration and desire to bake. The muscovado sugar was the first bit I used, out of curiosity, in this absolutely divine Vanilla Plum Frangipane Tart. The muscovado made the frangipane earthy and different, pairing beautifully with the plums!The success of the Plum Frangipane Tart adventure inspired me to think cocoa. As the dieting diva is still swinging back and forth on her yo-yo diet {as I call it} I thought I’d do some biscotti! It’s been ages since I made some, and this time I adapted a David Lebovitz recipe of Chocolate Almond Biscotti that I had made earlier.Substituted some plain flour with whole wheat, and made the firm cookie like dough in my Thermomix. Reduced the sugar a bit, and I think I could further reduce it a little more the next time. The end result was wonderful; the whole wheat not taking any yumminess. Toasted almonds and chocolate chips do make for delicious biscotti. The teen and pre-teen were seeing visiting the cookie jar quite often while the cookies lasted!The Valrhona I used in my earlier biscotti, coincidentally was a gift from a sweet foodie blogger, Shayma @ The Spice Spoon. Hintz was what I used here, and it made this twice baked Italian cookie absolutely addictive. Do remember to use good quality cocoa.
Summary:An already healthy Italian cookie, made even healthier with the use of some whole wheat flour. Adapted minimally from David Lebovitz, this is an addictive biscotti for the cookie jar. Makes 30-35 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cups top-quality cocoa powder {I used Hintz}
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 small eggs, at room temperature
1/8 cup extra light olive oil
3/4 cup vanilla sugar, or plain granulated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped {optional}
1 cup almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped
3/4 cups chocolate chips {I used dark}
For the glaze
1 egg white
1 sachet vanilla sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, olive oil, sugar, vanilla beans and vanilla extract. {Thermomix: Speed 4 / 7-8 seconds}
Fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the toasted chopped almonds and chocolate chips in the till well incorporated, and the cookie dough comes together. {Thermomix: Add the dry ingredients : Speed 3 / 10 seconds. If the dough is too firm, turn into a large bowl and add the nuts and chocolate chips. Mix to incorporate. Else, Reverse Speed 2 / 15 seconds}.
Divide the dough into half, and form into logs using slightly damp hands. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Bake for 25 minutes or until the dough feels firm. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.
Slice and place sides down on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.
“The secret lies in the love and the effort the maker puts into the creation. It really is a simple dessert to make. There’s nothing to it.”
Maria Olivas
It was one of those obsessive days, a ‘have to bake with plums’ sort of a day! Had a nice bag of pretty plums in the fridge, the last of the stone fruit season here in North India, and I was desperate to bake them into a ‘tart’ of some sort! The plums eventually found a happily ever after ending in this pretty and pretty delicious fruit bake – a Vanilla Almond Frangipane Plum Tart.The lad has been whining forever …. no dessert for SO many days Mama! I’ve been busy with life which is racing away. We had guests at home and the Mango Frozen Yogurt was turning out to be a GREAT hit, so I made it for dessert every other day. It’s a winner but the lad couldn’t have some as he had the viral fever, his throat very scratchy and flu like symptoms persisting!I was inspired by the lovelyMeeta’s recent post Apricot & Pistachio Frangipane Tart which led to an illogical urgency to make it right away. Ah, the power of food blogs! I had galette or crostata thoughts initially, but my newly acquired square tart pan from Victoria’s Basement in Sydney was begging to be used! I adapted the filling from Making Life Delicious.
Frangipane is a filling made from or flavored like almonds. This filling can be used in a variety of ways including cakes, tarts and other assorted pastries. An alternative French spelling from a 1674 cookbook is franchipane with the earliest modern spelling coming from a 1732 confectioners’ dictionary. Originally designated as a custard tart flavored by almonds or pistachios it came later to designate a filling that could be used in a variety of confections and baked goods.
The tart was wonderful in every way. An easy and deliciously crisp base, the pastry and frangipane that got made in a heartbeat in the Thermomix, paired with fruit that were singing the stone fruit anthem! I attempted to add some ground oats in the pastry … goodness me, that worked really well! These are the last few days of stone fruit here and sadly I watch the availability dwindling. Desperately try to hang on to a season that ends with heart break for me … a long wait to next year! The colour play of plums, peaches, cherries, mangoes etc is pure inspiration for me!The muscovado sugar I used in the frangipane was part of a foodie gift parcel I received a few days ago from a sweet reader of my blog, Sheetal. I used that in place of brown sugar and have to say it added great depth to the flavours. The raw sugar lent colour and rustic sweetness to the custard, enhancing the flavour of the vanilla bean. NICE! Thanks a million Sheetal.Sheetal was curious as to how to use raw sugar or muscovado. So was I! A first time ingredient experience is exciting stuff for the baker in me. {Her package included a tin of good quality cocoa and a new variety of locally available baking chocolate}. She wrote, “Deeba, everytime you post a recipe, I so want to have a bite of it :). I really hope you bake something with the stuff I send you. I know I still will not be able to taste but promise I will make the same at home and get a taste of you :)”Hope you’ll be able to make this delicious tart Sheetal. You can pair the frangipane with apples or pears in case you can’t find plums. Figs would work well here too. If you plan on using berries, demerera or vanilla sugar might work better …Do you like the colours? I loved the deep reds of the plums, and sealed with the apricot glaze made it even prettier. The pâte sucrée with oats was a successful experiment as I wanted to add some healthy grains to the pastry; turned out crisp and delicious. It tasted great on the day I baked the tart, and surprisingly tasted very good chilled out of the fridge the next day too!
[print_this] Recipe: Vanilla Almond Frangipane Plum Tart
Summary: An easy and delicious tart – a crisp base paired with a vanilla almond frangipane and sweetly tart plums! Ground oats in the pastry worked really well!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes Ingredients:
8-10 small ripe plums, each sliced into 6 sections
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 tbsp apricot jam, melted
Pâte Sucrée
150gms plain flour
50gms oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
1/8 tsp salt
100gm unsalted butter, chilled, diced
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Vanilla Almond Frangipane
1 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup muscavado sugar
70gms unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp almond extract
Pinch of salt
Method:
Pâte Sucrée
Whiz the plain flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder and scraped vanilla bean in the processor. {Thermomix: Speed 10/ 20 seconds}
Add the chilled butter and whiz briefly until you get a crumb like mix. {Thermomix: Speed 10, 15 seconds}
Add the vanilla extract and egg and briefly pulse till it begins to come together {Thermomix: Speed 6 / 10 seconds}
Turn onto work surface and pat together into a ball, handling the dough as little as possible. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes to help the dough relax.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Roll out the dough and lne the tart pan. Patch any broken bits with leftover dough.
Bake blind {line the unbaked shell with aluminum foil and place bean/pie weights on top} for 8 minutes. Remove weights and foil and continue to bake for a further 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t over brown.
In the meantime, make the vanilla almond frangipane
Whiz the whole almonds, muscavado sugar, flour and salt in the processor until the almonds are pulverised. {Thermomix: Speed 10/ 20 seconds}.
Add the butter,egg, vanilla bean and almond extract and blen until smooth. {Thermomix: Speed 6/ 20 seconds}. The frangipane is ready, and can be stored in a zipbag overnight in the refrigerator if desired.
Lower the oven temperature to 180C.
Assemble the tart
Turn the frangipane into the baked crust {I turned it into the hot shell and it turned out fine}, spread uniformly with an offset spatula.
Arrange plum slices over the top, sprinkle with slivered almonds and bake for 30 minutes, until the frangipane is fluffy looking and firm to touch.
Remove from oven and immediately brush the top with the the melted apricot jam {this seals the moisture in and keeps the fruit looking good}.
Serve warm or at room temperature … or even chilled!
“You see things and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?’”
George Bernard Shaw
It’s July with the Secret Recipe Club and the inspiration behind this great idea continues. This month I was assigned to secretly invade Kims blog @ Everyday Mom. Kim has a delicious blog and for an everyday Mom {read 24 X 7} like me, it was an instant connect.I loved reading her posts, seeing how she involves her sweet kids in the kitchen, looking into her CSA box, seeing how she uses what turns up including these beautiful garlic scapes. That was what I intended to make for the SRC, but my next visit to Kims threw me right off course!
What did I see here? Ablueberry cobbler? The passionate fruit baker in me was completely inspired and a cobbler it was going to be. No blueberries here in India, so a quick stock check brought up apricots and plums; on a whim I decided to throw in some frozen strawberries too. I cut back on the cream in the topping as I had less than half a carton on hand, and I added some almonds to up the ‘healthy’ factor… the cobbled bit was basically a happy result of whatever I had in the larder. My frequent impulsive dashes to the bazaar are now limited thanks to this pooch!She’s a full time job and is more full of beans than I could ever imagine. A plum rolled out of my bag in the kitchen and it caught her naughty little eye in a flash. There was a mad dash to the garden …… where she had a plum party! Off she was, tossing it, attacking it, licking it…and then making a meal out of it! This is where the rest of my time goes these days; behind the lens as she is too cute not to click!!You might need a wait a little longer for the recipe, inspired completely by Kim, as I committed a guest post to my dear talented friend Sukaina @ Sips & Spoonfuls for the 18th of July, not realising that it was the SRC posting date.
The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog! Click on the link if you want to join the fun!!
So here I am killing 2 birds with one stone, or make it 3 maybe? Sukaina has eyed my pots, pan and knives for long, and invited me to do a guest post for her. I couldn’t help but create a post for her around my favorite vintage pans.Coincidentally, she is hosting the Monthly Mingle this month and her theme is Stone Fruit {my favourite} so the recipe is an entry for the Meeta’sbrainchild as well. You will need to catch the recipe there, and I have to say it’s well worth it. One so you get to discover her beautiful blog, and secondly of course because this cobbler turned out to be delicious in every way!Food blogging, food cultures, cusines and food props have made life so much more interesting. Sukaina is food writer and photographer living in Dubai, creates magic with her camera. She longs to come over and join me in food prop shopping, much like Shulie @ Food Wanderings and of course my twin sistah Jamie @ Lifes A Feast. Please do head across to Sips & Spoonfuls to get a taste of this good cobbler indeed, full of all the goodness and deliciousness that stone fruit offers, the juices that oozed over absolutely delightful. The sweet tartness of the fruit, the nuttiness of the almond meal in the topping enticing the palette … all good stuff! As the lad said, “This is REALLY good Mama; can I have more?” Scrape, scrape scrape … the teen just helped herself to seconds! Find it HERE!
Junes Daring Baker challenge of Baklava reignited the pastry baker in me. The success of home made phyllo won me over, and soon enough I made another batch of dough. This time it ended up rather deliciously in a Cherry Phyllo Pie.Summers in North India are treacherous for home bakers like me. By the time the heat and dust kind of kill you, the monsoon comes along to completely take the remaining ‘pastry happiness’ away. Making pastry at home slowly shifts to the back burner waiting for cooler days to return before I attempt to make puff pastry and shortcrust etc. I am still amazed at why I didn’t get to making phyllo at home earlier. This is a summer pastry for a country like ours. Light, crisp, versatile, delightful … amazing stuff! Thanks to the good Greek food blogger Peter @ Kalofagas, I’m now a phyllo convert. I forgot to take a picture of a rolled out phyllo sheet the last time, & was a bit embarrassed when Peter asked for one, so I set off again. Not sure if this is thin enough on the roll, but this was about how thin I could get it. A box of cherries in my fridge, I just knew what I wanted to make with the phyllo, a cherry pie. It was going to be set in a dessert ring, and would also use my last stash of brandied burgundy preserved cherries from last year, and leftover nut mix from last months baklava. I must admit I’m getting a teeny bit better at clearing the fridge and putting leftovers to productive {read delicious} use. This pie was one such experiment … YUM!! The combination of fresh cherries with the brandied burgundy cherries offered a divine twist to the pie, highlighted by the nut mix which offered wonderful texture and contrast to flavours. Once it cooled down to room temperature for 4-5 hours, it sliced well. The top layer was buttery crisp {though my lattice kind of stepped off in all its crispness… lol}, and the lower layers were soft and addictive. Thank you Peter for the push in the right direction, and happy birthday too! It’s a coincidence that I’m posting a phyllo pie on your big day!Oh and before I go, you must meet someone. We’ve welcomed the sweetest little pooch into our home today, a ‘cute as a button‘ cocker spaniel pup. Meet Coco. All of 42 days old, naughty, intelligent, playful … C U T E!!
[print_this]Recipe: Cherry Phyllo Pie
Summary:I This is a summer pastry for a country like ours. Light, crisp, versatile, delightful, and ended up in a equally delightful cherry pie.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients for Phyllo Cherry Pie:
1 portion phyllo pastry, recipe below
500gms fresh cherries, pitted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
Juice of 1 lime
3/4 cup mixed nut meal {I used walnuts, pistachios, almonds chopped fine with 3 tbsp sugar from here}
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Method:
Toss the pitted cherries with the brown sugar, cornflour and lime juice in a pan and gently simmer for 7-10 minutes until soft. Remove the cherries from the liquid, and reduce the liquid till thick and syrupy. Pour over the cherries and cool completely.
Line a baking sheet with foil, place an 8″ dessert ring {or springform ring} on it, and bring the foil up the outside to seal the sides.
Brush the base with melted butter, and place a sheet of phyllo on it. Brush the sheet with melted butter and repeat 3 times, using 5 sheets.
Sprinkle over 1/4 of the nut mix. Turn half the cherry mixture {I tossed mine with preserved cherries} over this, and sprinkle over another 1/4 of the nut mix.
Repeat with 5 more sheets of phyllo pastry, remembering to brush with butter each time, then 1/4 cup nut mix, remaining cherry mix, remaining nu mix… and then 5 more layers of phyllo. Brush the top most layer generously with melted butter.
Bake for 1 hour. Allow to stand at room temperature and cut when completely cool.
Phyllo Dough:
Dough can be made a head of time and froze. Just remove from freezer and allow to thaw and continue making your pie. I made it 2 days in advance I stored it in cling wrap in the fridge.
Ingredients for Phyllo Pastry:
185gm all purpose {plain} flour
1/8tsp salt
1/2 cup less 1 tbsp water, plus more if needed
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 tsp cider vinegar, {could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, but could affect the taste}
Method:
In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt. Mix with paddle attachment.
Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
Add water & oil mixture with mixer on low speed, mix until you get a soft dough, if it appears dry add a little more water. Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes.
Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
Thermomix: Place all ingredients in the bowl of the TM. Process on Speed 6 for 7 seconds. Then knead on bread setting for 3.5 minutes. Turn onto counter, roll into a neat ball.
Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes, longer is best {Mine rested for 2 days and it was still perfect}
Rolling your Phyllo**
Remove all rings and jewelry so it does not snag the dough**Use whatever means you have to get the dough as thin as you can.
Unwrap your dough and cut off a chunk slightly smaller than a golf ball. While you are rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out. Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour.
Roll out the dough until it is as thin a circle as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice.
When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE: you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store, it is made by machine
Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up, about 15 sheets. Between each sheet again flour well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out.
Trim each circle to size using the dessert ring and a pastry wheel.
“The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.”
Henry David Thoreau
Inspiration comes in strange ways. I’m racing with the wind, time is no longer my friend, the hands of the clock whiz by at a dizzy pace … and the pressure of baking macarons for our baby, MacTweets appears to be a lost case. Then uncannily enough I get a direct message on Twitter from Shulie, my sweet talented friend from Food Wanderings asking if I’d like to do a guest post for her on macarons. I want to say yes but I know I can’t manage it.I should say no … but predictably, I say, “Yes of course, sure!”How ambitious of me! Didn’t realize that Shulie is doing a series on macarons on tree nut free macarons. Blimey! With the current humidity and high heat here in North India, where the monsoons are knocking on the door, I wonder what I was thinking. In good times, with perfect weather, I can barely find my feet with normal almond meal macs! Have you met Shulie @ Food Wanderings … an immensely talented and wonderful food blogger of Indian Jewish descent, born and raised in Israel, who now lives in the US. She is fun, has a wonderful style of writing and a knack of blogging the ‘right’ things {read the most delicious coffee ice cream recently posted}. She loves food photography and styling to the point of ‘silliness‘ and I begin to wonder if she’s another long lost twin!She promised to come down to India to buy pots and pans after I blogged about vintage pots & pans from my favourite little shop in New Delhi. It’s another passion we share … pots, pans, cookbooks, accessories, food culture. Shulie confesses to possess ‘many other food quirks’ and that gladdens my heart. She’s a lot like me! Mac time! I bravely peeped into my freezer to see what it held for me. Black sesame seeds. Should I? The devil may care attitude kicked in, and I threw a 1/4 cup of black sesame seeds into the Thermomix with 1/2 a cup of sugar! Left the feet to fate … time to think of pairings with fruit to fit the macarons intoMacTweets. The theme this month – FRUIT, not a difficult task for fruit passionate me.Black sesame seed macarons sandwiched with fresh cherries in a dark chooclate ganache were the happy ending of my mac-adventure this time, colours inspired by the tea set I found in a night market in HKG last month.
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for the next challenge. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
This post featured in the Foodbuzz Top 9 on 5th July 2011 via @ foodwanderings. “Today’s Top 9: July 05, 2011
The best of 2,261 posts from the Foodbuzz Community, as chosen by our editors and users. You’re looking at #3!”
