Tag Archives: Cream

Challenge No. 39 – Apple (not Winberry) Pie

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Have you every heard of winberries? Well I hadn’t until about 18 months ago when Dave mentioned to me that he used to love having winberry pie when he would stay with his Grandma and Grandad.  I thought he was going a bit crazy until I mentioned it to someone at work and they knew all about winberry pies! So when I was asking for suggestions for this blog, Dave suggested I make his old favourite.  However, try as I might, I just couldn’t find any winberries in the shops! I even tried the fruit market in town but with no luck 😦 so instead, I decided to make another fruit pie.  Dave loves apple pie so it seemed like a perfect alternative.

I thought making apple pie might be a bit easy so I looked for a recipe to make homemade custard too.  I soon found this recipe by Ed Baines.

For the recipe you will need the following ingredients:-

  • For the pastry
    • 250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
    • 125g/4½oz unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
    • 1 orange, zest only
    • 75g/2½oz caster sugar
    • pinch salt
    • 2 free-range egg yolks
  • For the filling
    • 1kg/2lb 4oz Cox apples, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
    • 250g/9oz Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
    • 250g/9oz Royal Gala apples, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
    • 200g/7oz caster sugar
    • 1 tbsp cornflour
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • For the custard
    • 250ml/9fl oz whole milk
    • 250ml/9fl oz double cream
    • 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
    • 2 free-range egg yolks
    • 50g/1¾oz caster sugar

Edited - ingredients

I went to the supermarket on Sunday morning to buy my ingredients and it was only once I got home that I realised I’d got my apple quantities wrong.  I accidentally bought too few Cox apples and too many Gala apples.  I didn’t think it would matter too much so ended up making the recipe with a bit more of a random mixture of weights but I made sure the total amount of apple was 1.5kg.

I started by making the pastry.  I put the flour, unsalted butter, orange zest, sugar and salt into my mini food processor and gave it a good blitz until it resembled fine breadcrumbs.   It was a tight squeeze and in hindsight, it may have been better to rub the ingredients by hand.  But I just about managed it in my mini processor.

Edited - breadcrumbs

When I came to add the egg yolks, this didn’t work! I tried to blitz it but the ingredients were too packed in to get an even mix.  So I tipped it out into a bowl and brought it together by hand.  After working it for a while in the bowl, I tipped the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and gently kneaded it until it became smooth.  It was quite a crumbly mixture so took a bit of working but it got there in the end.  I then shaped it into a disk, wrapped it in cling film and popped it into the fridge to rest.

Edited - pastry disk

I put my apples and sugar into a big saucepan over a medium to low heat.  The recipe said to heat the apples gently for 5 minutes or until they start to break down slightly.  The 5 minutes didn’t seem to do very much to the apples so I let them heat for about 10 to 15 minutes.  I then stirred in the cornflour, vanilla extract and cinnamon.  I left it on the heat for a couple of minutes and then set it aside to cool down whilst I made mine and Dave’s dinner.

 Edited - applesEdited - cooked apples

Once I was ready to get back on with the pie, I pulled the pastry out of the fridge and broke off 2 thirds.  The pastry was really stiff and when I tried to roll it out, the edges kept splitting.  So I decided to work the pastry to soften it slightly before rolling it out. 

I then lined my (new!) pie dish with the pastry.  I covered it with baking paper and added my rice to use in place of the baking beans. 

Edited - uncooked base

I popped the dish into the oven on 200 degrees celsius for 15 minutes before removing the rice and baking paper.  I then put the dish back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Edited - part bakes

Whilst the pastry was finishing up, I rolled out the final third to create my pie lid.  I also used some of the excess to make a little picture topper which you can see in the pictures later on 🙂

I filled the baked pastry with the apple mixture.  This is where I potentially went a little wrong.  The apples had given off a lot of liquid when I cooked them in the pan and I decided to add most of this to the pie.  It seemed like the right thing to do but as you’ll see below, it may not have been!

Edited - filled

I added my top, sealed the edges and added my picture topper to the middle.  Then into the oven it went for around 23 minutes.

Edited - topped

When the pie had about 15 minutes left to go, I got started on my custard.  I put the milk, cream and vanilla pods and seeds into a pan over a low heat. 

Edited - milk cream pan

Once the milk/cream mixture had come up to a simmer, I poured it through a sieve into a pouring jug.  I whisked the egg yolks and sugar together using a fork and then slowly added the sieved milk/cream mixture, being sure to whisk constantly (now with a balloon whisk).

Edited - whisked

I then poured the mixture into a clean pan and returned it to a medium to heat to thicken up.  This took quite a while, and I ended taking the pie out of the oven about 10 minutes before the custard was ready.  It didn’t matter though as the pie retained its heat and the custard was well worth the wait!

So this is my pretty pie in one piece…

Edited - baked

I then tried to serve it up to get a nice looking photo of a slice with custard…

Edited - served up

Evidently that didn’t work!! The pie didn’t have a base any more and there was so much liquid in the middle. 

Edited - juices

So it wasn’t the prettiest served pudding but it sure did taste yummy! There is clearly room to improve my pie making ability.  Dave said it was more like delicious baked apples with a pie crust top 🙂 but I have to say, that custard…it was absolute heaven and so easy to make.

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 40 – tomato soup.    

Challenge No. 37 – Panna Cotta and Fruit Coulis

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This challenge was suggested by my lovely friend Gill.  I met Gill back in 2008 when I first visited Manchester to see Dave during our first summer away from University.  Gill went out of her way to make sure I felt welcome in Manchester and has since become one my closet friends.  Working shifts as a nurse means we don’t get to see each other as often as I’d like but we always have a great time when we do manage to get together.  Unfortunately, I didn’t even manage to get a date to make this challenge when Gill was free to come and try some of the result 😦  I have therefore promised to make this panna cotta again in the future and hopefully we’ll manage to get a date in the diary soon!

I spent a bit of time looking for recipes but eventually settled on the first one I’d look at by Simon Rimmer.  I didn’t immediately decide to use this recipe only because I don’t really like raspberries.  In fact, most of the recipes I found used raspberries!  Eventually, I decided I would just adapt Simon’s recipes to make a strawberry coulis instead.

So, for my version of this panna cotta recipe, you will need the following:-

  • For the panna cotta
    • 1.5 gelatine leaves
    • 125ml oz milk
    • 125ml double cream
    • 1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthways, seeds scraped out
    • 12.5g sugar
  • For the sauce
    • 90g sugar
    • 90ml water
    • 200g strawberries

Edited - ingredients

I began this recipe by separating my gelatine leaves and popping them into some cold water.  The recipes says to soak them until they are soft – I had no idea how long this would be! But the back of the pack suggested soaking them for 5 minutes so I used this as a guide. 

Edited - leaves

Whilst the gelatine leaves were soaking, I put the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla pod and seeds into a pan over a medium to low heat.  I kept stirring the mixture regularly until it came up to a simmer and then took it off the heat before removing the vanilla pod.

Edited - milk in pan

I then squeezed the water out of the gelatine leaves and added them to the vanilla mixture.  I gave it a good stir until it looked like the gelatine had fully dissolved. 

The recipe then says to divide the mixture between ramekins.  However, in my search for a recipe, I read a tip that said to get a really smooth panna cotta, try pushing it through a sieve first.  So I thought I would give this a go and poured the mixture through a sieve into a pouring jug.

Edited - sieve

I then split the mixture between two silicon mini loaf tins.  I don’t have ramekins and thought these would work just as well 🙂

Edited - moulds

I popped the filled loaf tins into the fridge.  The recipe says to leave them for at least an hour.  I actually made these in the middle of the afternoon and turned the first one out at about 9pm so they had plenty of time to set.

Once I’d had diner and was ready for dessert, I got started on the fruit coulis.  I put the sugar and water into a pan over a medium heat.  Whilst this was coming up to boil, I cut the tops off my strawberries and chopped them in half.  When the sugar had dissolved, I took the pan off the heat and added the strawberries.  I then used a hand blender to blitz it together.

Actually, I couldn’t do this in my pan as there wasn’t enough depth to the liquid to stop it splashing everywhere! So I poured the mixture into a jug and gave it a blitz.  The sauce was meant to thicken up but it was still really watery.  I therefore decided to pop it back over a low heat for around 5 minutes.  This seemed to do the trick.

I left the sauce to cool down and then turned out the panna cotta onto a plate.

Edited - set

Practical tip: dip the mould into hot water to release it slightly.

I drizzled over some of the strawberry coulis and added a chopped strawberry to the top.

Edited - served upThis was really tasty.  It was so creamy and the strawberry sauce, whilst not very red, was delicious!

Dave tried ONE mouthful and then said he didn’t want any more.  He’d gorged all day on sweets and crisps so I think (and hope) it wasn’t a reflection on the end product.  Anyway, I decided to leave the second panna cotta in the mould until the following night when I got to enjoy it for dessert again! And it was just as good having been left in the fridge for 24 hours.

I was actually really surprised at how easy this was to make and I love the fact it can be made so far in advance. 

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 38 – beef bourguignon.  

Challenge No. 35 – Mother of all Milkshakes

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This challenge was suggested by my milkshake-a-holic brother.  Despite being nearly 30, Si regularly orders milkshakes when we go out for dinner.  Over the last few years, I think he has become a bit of an expert.  With this, Si didn’t just suggest any old milkshake for this challenge, he specified that it should be the mother of all milkshakes.  I started thinking about all the different flavours I could bring together but then spoke to Si about what the mother of all milkshakes means to him.  And do you know what he said?  Just a good, simple, chocolate milkshake.  So here it is, my attempt to make a simple chocolate milkshake be the mother of all milkshakes.

I started by having a little look at what makes a good milkshake.  It’s not rocket science and a few simple things help make a good milkshake great.  In particular:-

  • Freeze your serving glass beforehand
  • Use good quality ice cream
  • Use full fat milk
  • Use a nice thick straw to drink through

I did some quick searches online and found a recipe for a homemade chocolate syrup here.  So to make this chocolate syrup and my mother of all milkshakes, you’ll need the following ingredients:-

  • 120ml water
  • 3 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp cocoa powder (plus a little extra for dusting)
  • 1 tsp grated dark chocolate (plus extra to put in the milkshake)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • Vanilla ice cream
  • Milk (full fat is best!)
  • Double/Whipping cream

Edited - ingredients

With everything ready to go, I ran my glass under cold water and popped it in the freezer to chill.  I then got started on the chocolate syrup.  I put the water, sugars and cocoa powder into a small saucepan and mixed it all together. 

Edited - syrup pre

I put the saucepan over a medium to low heat to bring it to a simmer.  I then reduced the heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes, being sure to stir the mix regularly. 

I took the saucepan off the heat and stirred in the grated chocolate.  Once it had sat for a minute, I added the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.  I poured the chocolate syrup into a pot and let it cool to room temperature whilst I had a yummy lunch with my family. 

Edited - chocolate syrup

Edited- Judy enjoying the bowl

Judy had the pleasure of licking the spoon clean 🙂

Once we were all well fed, I started to make the milkshake for us to enjoy as pudding.  I added the ice cream into my blender.  I actually used 500ml of ice cream as I was making enough milkshake for 7 of us. 

Edited - ice cream

Next up, I added the milk.  I started off with just a small amount and gave it a blitz.  I then checked the consistency and added a little more milk

Practical tip: if you add too much milk, you can just add more ice cream and vice versa.  It’s best to add a little at a time until you have it exactly as you want – plus you get to taste after each addition! 🙂

I then added about three table spoons of chocolate syrup and some chopped up chocolate before giving it another blitz.  Once the milkshake was at the right consistency and level of chocolate-goodness, I got my frozen glass out and poured in the milkshake.

I put some of the double cream into a bowl and whisked it with a balloon whisk until stiff.  I topped the milkshake, drizzled over some extra chocolate syrup and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

Edited - milkshake

So here it is, my mother of all milkshakes and I have to admit it was pretty amazing! Unfortunately, my brother wasn’t there to try this one, although the spare chocolate syrup has been saved for him to use.   However, as I’ve said above, there were 7 of us to enjoy this milkshake and it was a resounding success.  We all had great fun enjoying this together and even my 86 year old nan had some 🙂

Edited - me and judy Edited - me and champ Edited - Linda enjoying the creamimage1

This milkshake was so rich and creamy with a perfect texture and the bits of chocolate added a delicious bite.  The chocolate syrup was amazing and I’ll definitely be making this again to try in other drinks and recipes. 

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 36  – eggs benedict