An afternoon in Greenwich

Last year at that time, I was in Greenwich for the Olympic Games, watching horseriding and having fun with bloggers from all over the world. 
Since then, I always have this sweet nostalgic feeling when I go to Greenwich, remembering that special time of my life.
Last Saturday, we cycled to Greenwich for the afternoon, to eat some great food from Greenwich market and take a nap in the Park. Greenwich has this special relaxed atmosphere to it, I love it.

View from the Observatory

What's this big pointy shiny herb at the back?  The Shard!

Cutty Sark

Fresh lemonade anyone?

Greenwich market

We love Greenwich Market

Citrus and Poppy Seeds Cake

I love coffee. 
Sometimes, I choose a restaurant just because I heard it has a proper espresso machine (which is pretty rare around here). 
My boyfriend, being British, has no idea how to make a good coffee (hellooo stereotype!)
No matter how strong I ask him to make my coffee, it's alway a slightly-black-coloured and tasteless concoction, that has nothing to do with coffee. (We call this "sock's juice" in French)
He is trying hard, but it's not his fault, he doesn't have the coffee gene.

Poor him, I had been teasing him for months...until I realised that I was apparently deprieved of the most important gene in this country: the tea gene. 

Does it matter if the tea brews for 3 or 5 minutes?
How much milk is a "dash of milk"?
What? How come I can't just add the milk when I want?
How am I supposed to judge if it's strong enough?

Slowly, we're learning each other's ways, and becoming caffeinely bi-cultural.
And I'm learning how to shut up from time to time ;-)

Citrus Poppy Seed Cake 

Let's be clear, poppy seeds don't bring any taste to the cake, but they make it pretty and they crunch under your teeth, which is quite a pleasurable eating experience. 
The yogurt makes the sponge very light and moist, and the mascaropone topping is a real delight. A crowd pleaser!

Ingredients for the cake: 

175g butter, softened
175g sugar
3 eggs, beaten
250g self raising flour
50g poppy seeds
grated rind of 2 oranges, and 2 lemons
4 rounded tbsp plain yogurt

For the topping:

250g mascarpone
grated rind and juice of 1 small orange or lemon
2 tbsp icing sugar

Make the cake: 

1/ Preheat oven to 150degC and butter a round cake tin

2/ Using a wooden spoon, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, poppy seeds, citrus rind and yogurt until smooth
Tip: my secret is to first beat the butter and sugar until the mix becomes light and fluffy before adding the other ingredients. This makes a real difference in making the cake light and moist!

3/ Spread the mixture in the mould and bake for 45-50min until just firm. Cool in the mould for 10min until turning out and cool completely on a wire rack. 

4/ In the meantime, beat the mascarpone with enough orange/lemon juice and the icing sugar to make it spreadable. Spread over the cake, and leave to set for 1 hour before decorating with additional orange rind and serving.

 

Baking for a Jedi: Fruit Summer Pudding

"You under-estimate my powers, my Master" says Anakin defiantly to Obi Wan Kenobi only 3 minutes before the latter cuts both his legs and one of his arms off with his laser, leaving him slowly almost burning to death on the side of a volcano. 
We all know what happened next to our dear Anakin Skywalker. 

I've been baking for 4 years now, and I often get tempted to improvise recipes myself. Adding a bit of this, swapping this with that...
When it works, it works really well, at least most of the time. I’ve done a few tricks over the years, and I now can swap ingredients or turn a cake into muffins by changing a few things here and there.
But every so often I am reminded by the God of Cake that I'm still a beginner, and that recipes often list specific steps for you to follow for a reason.

Baking is like training to be Jedi: while trying to cultivate one's creativity, one should never be tricked into over-confidence.

(Thankfully, I've messed up a few cakes but haven't turned into Darth Vador)

Summer Fruit Pudding

aka The Lovely Berry Bursting Pudding

So easy to make, this no-bake summer dessert is so delicious and so impressive that I don't understand how I could live for 4 years in the UK without it.

I was sceptical about the idea of making a pudding with bread, yet, it does give fantastic results. 

The traditional summer fruit pudding recipe calls for white loaf, but I wanted to experiment a funkier version of it using waffles (not too loud, I recognise that the bread version is even better!)


Ingredients: 
750g of mixed red fruits, frozen (it's cheaper than fresh!)
50g of caster sugar (more or less, to taste)
1 good quality white loaf, or little toasting waffles (I bought mine from Lidl)
1 tbsp of lemon juice

Make the pudding: 
1/ Grease the inside of a 1L pudding basin (with butter or oil spray) 

2/ Line the sides and bottom of the basin with thick slices of bread / waffles, taking care not to leave any gaps and covering all the sides. 

3/ From the fruits selection you have, put a handful aside (you'll leave these in the freezer) and put the rest in a pan with the sugar and lemon juice over a low heat. Leave to cook, mixing gently, for 10 to 15 min, until the fruits soften. They should release about half a pint of juice.

4/ With a sieve, drain the fruit mixture into a bowl and make sure you keep all the collected juice for later. Delicately put the sieved fruits into the basin, pressing down gently so they are well packed and come up to the top of the bread level. Then close what will be the base of the pudding with additional slices of bread. To ensure the pudding sets properly some pressure needs to be applied. So cover the base with foil and place a pan or a heavy bowl on top to act as a weight. The 'weight' will need to be roughly the same size as the base, so that the pressure is uniform. 

5/ Leave to set in the fridge over night. Before serving, pass a knife around the edges of the pudding and gently turn over on a deep plate. Pour the juice left aside all over the cake so it soaks it completely, especially where the bread or waffle is still white. Gently lift the bottom of the pudding so some juice goes under it and soaks the bottom as well.

6/ Decorate with the left over fruits (you can use them frozen, they will defreeze in few minutes), few leaves of fresh mint, and serve with cream.

This post is dedicated to Joan. Thank you for welcoming me in your home and making me discover the delights of the summer fruit pudding!

Asparagus, tomato and curry clafoutis

British asparagus: one of the quintessential British seasonal produces.
A delicious vegetable I (re)discovered since I have been leaving in the UK. (I had some mixed memories of not-well prepared big white asparagus from France)

Every year, when the asparagus season comes, we find it on all the best tables in town (I had the most incredible asparagus salad at Moro restaurant in London a couple of weeks ago), week-end papers are packed with delicious asparagus recipes to try out. 

May you decide to go for a fancy asparagus dish, or use them as soldiers for your soft boil eggs, or even simply enjoy them with a drizzle of olive oil and salt, their delicate taste, firm flesh and bright green colours will surely make them the stars of a meal.

I wanted to celebrate this delicious local vegetable in a twisted French classic : the clafoutis.

Asparagus, tomato and curry clafoutis

The beauty of clafoutis is that it litterally takes minutes to prepare; and is quite light. I usually use whole milk, but for a lighter version of it, don't hesitate to swap whole milk with semi-skimmed milk.
The asparagus work really well with the tomato and curry powder, turning this dish into a fancy savoury version of the traditional sweet French clafoutis.

Ingredients (for a 4 people clafoutis)

7  or 8 Asparagus
1 big tomato
2 small glasses of whole milk
2 eggs
4 to 5 heaped tablespoons of flour (this can be adapted depending on how thick you would like you clafoutis)
a tsp of curry powder
salt and pepper

Make the clafoutis

Preheat the oven at 180°C

1/ Wash and cut in 2cm long pieces the asparagus. Wash and cut the tomato in thumb sized cubes

2/ In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk, flour, curry powder, a pinch of salt and pepper, and beat for 1 min

3/ Pour the egg mixture in a pie dish (or individual pudding moulds), and spread the vegetables over the mixture (they should sink partially, that's good!)

4/ Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the clafoutis is golden at the top. Serve as a starter or with a salad as a light main course.

Shall we go and get that crab sandwich from Whitstable?

Outside Brighton, there are many lovely little towns by the sea quite near London, well worth being discovered. 

I've been dreaming for months about Whitstable's crab sandwiches, little wood houses by the beach, small fishing harbour and cute shops, so last week-end, we decided to take a break from London and get some fresh air in Whitstable. 

Only 1.5 hours away by train from London, it makes up for a fantastic day out in the countryside.

Oh nooo, not a fruity dessert! Yes, and it's even healthy.

In the dessert category, "yummy" means "naughty" to me.
And by naughty, I mean rich.
If you ask my very fussy tastebuds, they'll tell you that going for the lighter option is cheating.

Fruit mousses? Yuck
Sorbets? No way (what I like about ice-cream is the creamy bit)
Cakes made with light butter? You can't be serious
I love fruit and dessert, but not fruity dessert.

Of course, I've got nothing against lighter options in principle (and I could benefit from dropping one or two dress sizes), but I'm not ready to compromise on taste for this.
A dessert or a snack should be a pleasure.

Sometimes, (however often by mistake)  I do find a fruity dessert recipe that's both light and indulgent enough to be called a Treat. 

And here is my latest invention!

My light lime posset 

and mango compote

A posset is usually very thick and creamy, because it's made with double cream. 
Although I love the thick version of it, I wanted a lighter alternative there, so I used single cream instead. As a result, the posset is lighter, with a more moussy texture. 
So feel free to go for single or double cream depending on the texture you're after. 
If you go for single cream, just plan to leave the possets to set in the fridge ideally for a whole night rather that just a few hours.

The mango compote goes wonderfully well with the lime posset, making it a fancy homemade tropical dessert, yet so easy and quick to make!

Preparation time: 15min + 1 night setting time in the fridge

Ingredients for 4 possets (the size of a yoghurt):

For the lime posset: 
1 pot of single (or double) cream
Zest and juice of 2 limes
Sugar: to taste (approx 50g) : I used sweet freedom syrup which I love for lighter desserts

For the mango compote: 
1 ripe mango
sugar or sweet freedom syrup: to taste. 
a drizzle of lime juice 

Instructions: 

1/ Make the compote: cut the mango in 1cm cube and place in a small pan with a good drizzle of sweet freedom syrup and lime juice. Cook on a low heat with a lid on for approx 10min until softened but not mashed.
Split the mango compote between the yoghurt pots and leave to cool in the fridge while you make the posset.

2/ Make the posset: in a small pan, heat the cream with the sugar / sweetener on medium heat. Turn off the heat as soon as it's boiling. Add the lime zest and juice, mix well, and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Slowly pour the posset mixture over the compote in the pots, and leave to set in the fridge preferably overnight.


The possets will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

News from my Toolbox: I finally got around buying myself a proper zester, and got one from Microplane, on the advice of a friend who is a professional baker. It is absolutely amazing, and it's never been easier to zest and grate!

Blueberry and soured cream cake with lemon cheesecake frosting

Spring is here (finally)!

and suddenly life is completely different in London. 

Parks get packed with half naked people having pic nics with disposable barbecues

Pimm's is back on pub drinks menus and the usual pint gets replaced by a jug of Pimms

Barbecue meat takes most of the shelfing space in the supermarkets

People fight for a corner of a table in beer gardens

Music festivals' line ups are the favourite topic of discussion

Fruity cakes take over chocolate cakes in my kitchen

Everybody smiles just a little bit more

Happy Spring!

Blueberry and soured cream cake 

with lemon cheesecake frosting

Ingredients

175g soft butter  
175g golden caster sugar
 3 large eggs 
225g self-raising flour 
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract 
142ml carton soured cream - 4 tbsp used in the cake and the rest in the frosting
3 x 125g punnets blueberries

For the frosting: 
The rest of the sour cream
350ml double cream
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of icing sugar

Make the cake: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter and line the base of a loose-based 22cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper or use a silicone cake tin. 

2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, or with a hand electric beater for 1-2 minutes, until lighter in colour and well mixed. 

3. Beat in 4 tbsp soured cream, then stir in half the blueberries with a large spoon.Tip the mixture into the tin and spread it level. 

4. Bake for 40-50 minutes until it is risen, feels firm to the touch and springs back when lightly pressed. Cool for at least 10 minutes, then take out of the tin and peel off the paper or lining. Leave to finish cooling on a wire rack. 

5. To make the frosting, beat the double cream with an electric hand mixer until it forms soft peaks. Add the icing sugar, lemon juice, soured cream until creamy. 

6. To finish the cake, 2 options: 
Either spread over the top of the cooled cake (don't be impatient as the frosting will melt if the cake is too warm) and scatter with the remaining blueberries. 
Or cut the cake in two layers, put half of the frosting and blueberry inside, and the other hald on the top.

6. Bring it to room temperature for about half an hour before serving. 

The cake will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.