Baking Day! (August) - roll out the rhubarb.

Yesterday was Baking Day. I wasn't really in the mood to bake lots of things - I know, sounds crazy doesn't it, but yesterday just turned into "one of those days" and grumpy baking just isn't fun.

However, on Friday I did fancy making us something special for a baking day breakfast. It's been a while since we had a special breakfast and I had a couple of bits in the fruit bowl I needed to use up. The result? rhubarb and cinnamon breakfast rolls.

I used the same dough that I used when making the cinnamon rolls earlier this year and filled it with a rhubarb compote. I then sprinkled the rolls before baking with a sugar and spice mix.

The result? A rather damp and doughy breakfast but a tasty one nonetheless. I think I cut them rather too large and didn't think about the fact that the rhubarb was so wet. It was a nice experiment though and we managed to polish them off with no complaint. I think next time I'd cook down and strain the rhubarb so it isn't as wet, and bake them at a lower temperature for longer.

One to work on...

Ruby Muffins

The rhubarb plant in our garden has been the one reliable thing so far this year. It was a gift from friend who's own plant was beginning to take over the place. Who'd have thought that chilly January weekend when we escorted it back from Kent, wrapped in a plastic bag, that it was going to settle in so well. It took us a couple of weeks to get it planted in a large half barrel, and I wondered whether it was going to survive. It was quiet through most of the winter, a small unassuming plant nestled on the edge of the top section of the decking. We watered and feed and waited, watching the wide green leaves and pink stalks, hoping for the best.

Suddenly at the end of May, when we weren't looking, we got it. An abundance of lovely tall stalks just aching to be picked and used. Who was I to argue!

Fortunately not only do N and I both love rhubarb, but the plant just kept on giving. So this month with the British strawberry season in full swing I decided to try a combination of flavours that loads of people have been telling me is lovely, strawberry and rhubarb, a red juicy combination of sweetness and tartness that wonderfully balance each other.

One evening we had them simply roasted together, and yes, it was indeed wonderful, the fruits condensing to produce a rich juicy dish packed with flavour. I immediately wanted to try the combination again. But how, I didn't have enough rhubarb for a pie or crumble. I suddenly remembered a muffin recipe I'd seen that used the fruits. Since I have been making batches of muffins for N to take to work for breakfast it seemed perfect. I could make a batch on Friday, have one for Saturday's late breakfast whilst listening to the cricket, and pop the rest in the freezer for N to indulge in during the week.

I cut down the sugar in the recipe because the strawberries were so ripe and sweet. I also exchanged the butter for apple puree in order to cut out the fat. The result was a light fruity muffin that wasn't too sweet. They were perhaps slightly too sticky, but that could be rectified by a few more minutes in the oven, and leaving them out for a little while after they'd cooled. All in all I was pretty pleased with them, and happily eat them for my breakfast twice over the weekend!

I've called them ruby muffins because the golden batter of the muffins was interrupted by the bursts of bright red and pink of the fruit, which was juicy and shining like jewels.

Ruby Muffins - Adapted from Diane Boneparte's "Mad about Bread" (Makes 12)

300g plain flour
15g baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
140g golden caster sugar
100g Apple puree
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
30g sultanas
100g rhubarb, chopped
200g strawberries, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven) and line a two six cup muffin pans with papers

sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Combine the eggs, milk and vanilla together in a small bowl, and then add them, and the apple puree to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined (don't over mix - lumps are good in muffins). Add the fruit and gently fold into the batter. Spoon the batter into the muffin trays, as high as you can in the cups to get the true risen muffin top. Bake for 25-30mins, until golden and risen and they spring back when lightly pressed.

Cool before eating. Can be frozen to avoid that tendency to eat them all at once!

Spring treats

I love spring, I really do, because it marks the beginning of the rhubarb season. That's not the only reason of course, the days are longer, brighter and warmer, the other plants in the garden are growing madly ready to produce (fingers crossed) large batches of veggies for us and you can start walking about without three million layers on.

However, the rhubarb alone makes these months pretty ace all round. I love it's tartness and the fabulous mix of bright pink and green flesh. As I think I might have mentioned before, the rhubarb plant in our garden is only just ready for harvest, and I have been putting it off as I want to make something really rather special with the first crop to come from our North London garden. So I have been relying on Abel and Cole for my rhubarb fix. They have been very obliging and yesterday morning I opened our fruit box and was greeted by a nice big bunch of the stuff.

I wanted to use it as fresh as possible, which is always best with food that is picked like rhubarb is, but I didn't want to make another compot as I though N might get a bit sick of them. I explained to him about wanting to use it fresh, and wanting to save our own for something special and he replied "as long as we get at least one crumble I'll be happy." And there is was; a perfect treat for a spring evening and my new food adventure.

I've never made rhubarb crumble before, and when N said that if I made one he'd have to go out and get custard I raised the stakes and said "no problem, I'll make custard from scratch, how hard can it be?!" Hmm...

The answer is...not that hard! Whoo! I misread the recipe and didn't add the right amount of sugar, so it wasn't as sweet as it should have been, but apart from that it went really well. I used a Delia Smith recipe from her complete cookery course that is basically just cream, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and corn flour. Very easy and I shall no doubt break it out again sometime, perhaps with that second teaspoon of sugar.

Ah, there is nothing quite so comforting as homemade rhubarb crumble and custard. I hadn't had it since I was a kid and it was wonderful.

While I am posting, I might as well mention our main course, since I don't post enough about the savoury things we try. I wanted something light since we were planning on eating dessert and so suggested salad. Knowing salad alone wouldn't fill N up we had it with bruschetta. It was lovely. Nice, light and another great reminder of the vegetables and flavours that spring and summer will yield.




p.s Sorry about the naff pictures today. The camera wasn't keen on focusing for some reason so they came out a little blurred, plus I was in a hurry to eat everything so I couldn't be bothered to take loads to get the perfect shot!

Clememrermefoutis?

We had a little trouble with the name, but the concept went down very well, and despite having to wait 45 minutes for it N liked his "clememrermefoutis" very much this evening!

This food adventure was born as a result of various conspiring events. Firstly, while we were away my mum took the opportunity to "borrow" our flat while she was in London for a long weekend break. It was the perfect arrangement: she didn't have to pay extortionate hotel prices, and we got someone to take in the post and water the plants. There were also some other added bonuses that hadn't occurred to me until we got back to a sparkling clean flat (and more importantly - oven!) and a bag of goodies she'd purchased during her shopping trips. It was far far too generous, but very lovely and certainly gratefully received.

Having the same obsession with kitchenware that I do - which is of course where I get the infliction that means a simple trip to a cook shop for a 6' sandwich tin will consume whole afternoons - there were more than a few culinary goodies waiting for me. Some of these will have to wait until later posts to be discussed (as I am sure they will appear), some were dealt with swiftly (like the deliciously indulgent Montezuma's chocolate...mmm...) and some were screaming to be used immediately, and yet I wasn't quite sure what for. Such as the beautiful bright red gratin dishes she bought for us.

Then the second conspiring event occurred; Abel and Cole delivered our first boxes of fruit and veg since we'd returned from the holiday. Ah, how I'd missed good, wholesome fruit and veg (more about that to come. I promise you will eventually get some tales, both gastronomic and cultural, from our travels). I unpacked our huge delivery with such glee and gusto. When we'd left it was snowing and still felt like winter. Root veg was still the staple of the box, and N was getting more than a little fed up with me insisting he help out with the kiwi fruit surplus. We arrived home to glorious sunshine, which reminded us that we have finally passed into another season, and so to different fruit and veg. The Abel and Cole delivery confirmed our excitement; cherry tomatoes, radishes, and courgettes in the veg box, and pears, dates and mangoes in the fruit box. And of course one of my very favourite things in the fruit world; rhubarb. I love it so much and was dismayed to discover that the plant in our garden is still not quite ready yet. I am so desperate to proudly yank the stems and make things with something from our very own garden. However that moment will have to wait. At least I can start enjoying rhubarb though now thanks to our fruit box.

There are so many delicious things to do with rhubarb that I wasn't really sure where to start; crumble or compot? cheesecake or fruit filled cake? Then I remembered that I have been wanted to try making clafoutis for ages now, but had never really had the right fruits around. We always had plenty of apples, but no berries or softer more strongly flavoured fruit. Rhubarb seemed perfect, the tart bite of the fruit cutting through the sweetness of the batter. It just had to be done. And what would I serve it in? The two gorgeous bright red gratin dishes my mum had so thoughtfully bought us.



I had to do a bit of fiddling with the recipe (when don't I?!) to make it the right amount and the right flavour for what I wanted, but as you can see the three events conspired perfectly to give us a wonderful spring dessert. It has turned slightly chilly once again after the bright sun and heat of the past week, and so a warm dessert was a comfort, but with the rhubarb and lemon keeping the spring present. It was delicious and I shall definitely be making it again, and will certainly experiment with other fruits. I think the only change I would make would be to add more fruit. Although N said he liked the amount I think I wanted a touch more, but I can always add it to mine and not his in future!

So, here's the recipe. I took the basic batter from Tartelette and adapted it slightly, adding more lemon zest and juice as I like it as a stronger flavour and thought it would accompany the rhubarb well.

Roasted Rhubarb Clafoutis (Serves two)

Filling:
3 medium sticks of rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into 1cm pieces
1-2tsp golden caster sugar

Batter:
1.5 oz plain flour
0.5oz cornflour
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
0.5oz melted butter
2 oz sugar (I used vanilla sugar as it would compliment the other flavours and add more depth)
zest of one lemon
juice of half lemon

First, prepare the rhubarb and toss in the sugar. Then place in a roasting pan and roast at 190C for ten minutes, until just soft. Set aside to cool before dividing evenly between the gratin dishes. Drop the oven temperature to 180C to preheat for the cooking of the dessert.

To make the batter; mix the dry ingredients in one bowl (including lemon zest) and the wet in another, making sure each is well combined. Then pour the wet into the dry whisking to make sure you get as few lumps as possible. Continue to whisk until thoroughly combined, then divide between the gratin pans, pouring gently over the fruit.

Place the dishes on the middle shelf of the oven and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. For me this took about 45 mins, but will vary according to the dishes used.

Removed from the oven and allow to cool slightly, enough for the dishes to be touchable, but the clafoutis to still be warm. Dust with icing sugar and then eat. Mmmm....rhubarby!


post script: How great do those dishes look! They were so wonderful to eat out of and match our other red kitchenware, but I just viewed the picture on the post and was oh so chuffed at how great and cute they look. Thank you mum, you're the bestest.