STEAMED APPLE AND PRUNE PUDDING WITH ARMAGNAC CUSTARD

Ingredients:

100g softened butter

100g soft light brown sugar

2 medium free-range eggs, lightly beaten

100g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

250g cooking apple

100g stone-in prunes

A drop of milk

For the custard:

200ml milk

90ml double cream

2 medium egg yolks

30g caster sugar

2 Tbsp Armagnac

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.  Slowly add the egg, beating well after each addition until completely combined.  Fold in the self raising flour, adding a touch of milk if the mixture seems thick.  Remove the stones from the prunes and chop the fruit into pieces.  Peel the apple and grate the flesh into the cake mixture.  Fold the apples and the prunes into the mix and turn into a greased 2 pint pudding basin.

Create a lid for the basin by taking a square of parchment and a similar sized square of kitchen foil and laying them on top of each other.  Fold a pleat into the middle and lay over the pudding basin, securing with a piece of string so it is tightly covering the cake mixture, with the pleat running along the centre- this will allow the cake room to expand if it needs to.

Place an upturned plate into the bottom of a large saucepan, adding a bit of water to the bottom of the pan (not coming above the plate).  Place the pudding basin on the upturned plate and a lid on the pan before steaming over a low heat for 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean when the cake is tested.  It is important to check occasionally that there is enough water and that it ha not boiled dry.

For the custard…

Mix together the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar.  Scald the milk and cream in a  saucepan before slowly pouring it over the yolks whilst stirring.  Return the mixture to the rinsed out pan and cook over a very low heat, stirring all the time until the custard begins to thicken and coats the back of  a spoon.  Now stir in the Armagnac and serve with the hot pudding.

Apple glut

I have had a mini-glut of apples from our tree for a few weeks now, and although I know they will keep through the winter, I thought they would be perfect to use in another warming dish that would give me an excuse to use up some more of my French ingredients- a bottle of Armagnac and some amazing Prunes D’Agen.

ROAST CHICKEN AND WINTER SQUASH WITH GARLIC AND THYME

There is no need for a specific recipe for this kind of dish, but I will run through how I did it.

First I prepared the chicken by making a paste with some fresh thyme, 2 crushed cloves of the Lomagne white garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper.  I then pushed the paste up into the space between the skin and the breastmeat and smeared it all over the chicken.  I sprinkled extra Maldon salt on the chicken skin for a salty, crispy finish.

For the squash I cut up 2 small winter squashes into wedges and mixed with a bulb of the garlic that had been broken down into unpeeled cloves.  I tossed the squash pieces and garlic cloves with more fresh thyme, olive oil and seasoning.

In a  large roasting dish, with the chicken in the centre, I spread the squash mixture around the edge, then popped it into a preheated oven (set to around 190’C) and roasted it all until golden and cooked through (about 1 hour and a half) 

 A Trip to France.

A recent trip to St Clar in Gers, Southwest France left me with the inspiration to get cooking again.  And the ingredients.  St Clar is a small medieval town in the heart of Gascony which specialises in Lomagne white garlic amongst many other (usually duck-based) treats.  So I brought home a string of fat creamy-white bulbs which have been hanging in my kitchen waiting for the right recipe to come along.  

As Autumn is finally on its way (a bit late this year), the local shops have started to change their displays and some colourful winter squashes caught my eye. Combined with plenty of the garlic and a juicy chicken I thought this would make a lovely Autumnal dish.

Black forest gateaux with home-bottled cherries

Since bottling those cherries a few weeks ago, I have been planning something delicious- a black forest gateaux.  A bit retro, a bit chocolately and a lot yummy- here it is.

Black forest gateaux with home-bottled cherries

Ingredients:

For the cake:

185g butter

250g dark chocolate 

215g self-raising flour

40g cocoa powder

3/4tsp salt

375g caster sugar

3 eggs

Around 250ml water

For the topping:

400ml double cream

50g icing sugar

100g fresh cherries

1 jar of bottled cherries

Method:

Line a 22cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.  

Preheat oven to 170’C

For the cake melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Tip into a large mixing bowl and stir in the sugar and eggs.  Sift together the cocoa powder, flour and salt and add it to the mixture a bit at a time, alternating it with a little water to help keep the cake mix loose. 

Tip into the your lined cake tin and bake until a skewer comes out clean (around 40 minutes)

Allow the cake to cool completely before trying to cut it (it is easiest to cut if it has chilled in the fridge a bit first but it will need left to come up to room temperature again before serving). Using a long serrated knife, cut the cake into 3 layers and trim off any uneven crust on top.

Now whip the cream to medium peak with the icing sugar.  Put the bottom layer onto your serving plate and spread over half of the bottled cherries, allowing some of the boozy cherry syrup to soak into the sponge.  Spread some of the cream over the cherries and repeat with the second layer.

Finish the cake with the rest of the cream, the whole fresh cherries (I left the stems on) and a grating of chocolate.

Scones with elderflower cream and macerated strawberries