Challenge No. 39 – Apple (not Winberry) Pie

Posted on October 1, 2015 by MyGastroAdventure

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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).

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…

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

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

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. 36 – Eggs Benedict

Posted on September 10, 2015 by MyGastroAdventure

Breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner…I really don’t care what time of day it is, I will always happily devour a plate of eggs benedict. I absolutely love it and I cannot get enough of hollandaise sauce. This recipe was suggested by mum and whilst I was so happy to get to eat this dish as part of Challenge 52, I was actually pretty terrified about making it. I’ve always cheated and used a egg poaching microwave gadget and packet hollandaise sauce. But as Challenge52 is all about learning new kitchen skills and recipes, it is only right that I made the sauce and learn to poach eggs the proper way.

I’ve actually tried poaching an egg before. I got a pan, half filled with water, I added a splash of vinegar, gave it a stir and added my egg. It all sounded right but the results was anything but. The egg just spread out in the water and made a right mess. I ended up getting out my microwave cheat and I haven’t tried again since…until now.

I found this recipe by Jamie Oliver which looked absolutely delicious! The recipe serves 2 to 4 people, however, this is a dish Dave didn’t want to try (sometimes I really don’t understand him!!) so I adjusted the quantities. I love hollandaise sauce so I left the quantities for this bit unamended meaning I could have lots of it! I also decided to leave out the lemon from my spinach, simply because I’m not a fan of food which has been covered in lemon.

So for my slightly adjusted recipe, you will need the following:-

2 spring onions
olive oil
200g baby spinach
1/2 a whole nutmeg, for grating
Salt and pepper (missing from my photo!)
1 English muffins
3 free-range eggs
1 large slice of ham
For the hollandaise:
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 2 large free-range egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 tbsp lemon juice (this is also missing from my photo!)
- white wine vinegar

I started by making the spinach topping. I finely chopped the spring onion and added it to a pan with some hot oil. I gave it a stir and then added the spinach. It was near enough spilling over the side of the pan so I decided to let this cook down slightly before I grated over half a nutmeg and seasoned it with some salt and pepper. I then gave it another mix together and let it cook until all the moisture was cooked out. This actually took quite a while and at one point I decided to squash the spinach to release some of the water and then tip this out of the pan. Eventually I had a lovely smelling and dark spinach mixture which I transferred to an oven proof dish, covered with foil and popped it in the oven on a low heat to keep warm.

Practical tip: my research told me that hollandaise sauce doesn’t reheat very well. However, to make the sauce and poach eggs at the same time is not easy. So I dug out a thermal mug, filled it with boiling water whilst I made my sauce. When the sauce was done, I poured the water away, dried the mug and added my sauce. I put on the lid and put it to one side whilst I poached my eggs. It worked perfectly!

With my thermal flask heating up, I got on with the hollandaise sauce. I filled my small pan with some water and put it over a medium to low heat. I then separated the egg yolks and put these into a heatproof glass bowl. At the same time, I measured out the mustard and lemon juice ready to be added to the eggs.

Whilst the pan was coming up to heat, I melted my butter. The recipe says to do this in a pan on the hob. However, I don’t have enough pans for this so I decided to melt it in a jug in the microwave and it worked perfectly.

Once the pan of water was just bubbling, I put the bowl with the eggs in on top (making sure the water didn’t touch the bottom of the bowl). I started whisking the eggs, poured in the mustard and lemon juice and whisked it together. I then very slowly added the butter, being sure to continue whisking constantly.

Practical tip: keep an ice cube to hand and if the mix starts to split add it to your bowl. I didn’t have to do this but apparently it helps.

When the sauce started to thicken up, I added a splash of white wine vinegar and gave it a taste. It was delicious! So I emptied and dried the thermal flask before pouring in the hollandaise sauce to keep warm.

I sliced the muffin in half and popped it under the grill whilst I poached my eggs. I half filed a large pan of water and bought this to a simmer.

Practical tip: make sure the water isn’t too hot. It should be just simmering, but definitely not boiling.

I put a drop of white wine vinegar into a small jug and then broke in one of the eggs. I whisked the simmering water with a balloon whisk to create a vortex before carefully pouring the egg into the centre. I did this very slowly, dipping the tip of the jug into the water to help with a smooth transition. I then covered the pan and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. I fished out the egg with a slotted spoon and put it on some kitchen roll to drain off. I then repeated this with my other three eggs.

Once these were done, it was time to assemble everything. I topped each half of the toasted muffin with some ham, the spinach mixture, a poached egg and finally some of the lovely hollandaise sauce. Time to tuck in 🙂

Edited - served up4

Oh my gosh! This was absolutely amazing! I am so proud of myself for the poached eggs. The first one was slightly over done but the other two were perfectly runny. And the hollandaise sauce was so rich and quite frankly so much nicer than the packet stuff I usually use! I can’t believe I’ve never made this before. If you are a fan of eggs benedict I would encourage you to give this recipe a go! I’ll definitely be making it again and again.

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 37 – panna cotta with fruit coulis

Challenge No. 33 – Custard Slice

Posted on August 20, 2015 by MyGastroAdventure

This challenge was suggested by one of my closest friends, Libby, who I met 8 years ago when we moved to Sheffield for our first year of University. Our accommodation wasn’t ready in time and so myself, Libby and our 6 other flat mates where put into temporary halls for the first week. We were placed in an old hospital wing of one of the halls due to be knocked down. It was a horrible place and unbearable for poor Lib who has a fear of all things hospital related! After such a traumatic start to University and a wonderful first year of adventures, it’s not surprising that us girls are all still so close. We regularly meet up and spend our time eating, drinking and talking endlessly. Whenever possible, I try to make sure I show up at these get togethers with baked goods for all to enjoy. However, Lib managed to suggest not only a dish I had never made but one I’d never even eaten. The, as I have now discovered, truly delicious, custard slice.

I did a quick search online and found a recipe by Paul Hollywood straight away. I always enjoy making Paul’s recipes and with GBBO back on our TV’s, I thought it was rather fitting to use this recipe.

To make these custard slices, you will need the following ingredients:-

For the rough puff pastry
- 225g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ tsp salt
- 200g/7oz butter, chilled and cut into 1cm/½in cubes
- 140-160ml/5-5½fl oz water
For the crème pâtissière
- 500ml/18fl oz milk
- 1 vanilla pod, split down the middle and seeds scraped out
- 100g/3½oz caster sugar
- 4 free-range eggs, yolks only
- 40g/1½oz cornflour
- 40g/1½oz butter
For the icing
- 200g/7oz icing sugar
- 5 tsp water
- 50g/2oz dark chocolate, melted

As instructed by the recipe, I started by making the puff pastry. I put the flour, salt and one third of the chilled butter into a large bowl. Making sure my hands were cold, I started rubbing the mixture together until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Practical tip: warm hands will begin to melt the butter and the mix will become too wet. If, like me, your hands are prone to being warm, run them under a cold tap for a while and dry them thoroughly before you get started. Repeat this cooling process periodically to make sure your hands don’t warm up too much.

I added the remaining butter (which I kept in the fridge whilst I did the first bit) and gentle rubbed to bring together but being careful to leave some lumps. I then added the water, only a little at a time. The recipe says to add just enough until the pastry combines. I actually only used 65ml of water. I think this may have been because I rubbed too much of the second lot of butter into the mix so it didn’t need much more moisture. I panicked a little but decided to carry on and see what happens.

I floured the worktop and tipped out the pastry. I floured the top of the pastry, turned it over, floured it again along with the rolling pin and then set out rolling the pastry into a rectangle. I then folded the bottom third up and then the top third down. I wrapped the pastry in cling film and popped it in the fridge. The recipe says to put it in the fridge for 10 minutes but because it was quite warm in the flat, I decided to let it chill for 15 minutes.

Once the 15 minutes were up, I rolled the pastry into another rectangle, folded the bottom third up, top third down and popped it in the fridge for another 15 minutes. I then repeated the step for one final turn before letting the pastry rest in the fridge.

Next up, I got started on the crème pâtiessière. I put the milk in a pan over a low heat and added the vanilla pod and seeds.

Practical tip: the difference between scalding and boiling milk is very small. If you have a heavy based pan, this is easier to control but you still need to be careful. Make sure you keep the heat low and be patient. Stir the milk occasionally and keep a close eye on it. Reaching boiling point will happen all of a sudden and the milk will start to foam and bubble up.

Whilst I was waiting for the milk to boil, I put the caster sugar and corn flour into a bowl and got my egg yolks ready. As soon as the milk started boiling, I took it off the heat and added the egg yolks to the sugar/cornflour mixture, whisking it together with a balloon whisk.

I then added a small ladle of the hot milk and whisked until combined. I gradually added the remaining milk, being sure to whisk continuously as I did so.

I returned the milk mixture to my pan and popped it back on a medium heat. I stirred continuously with one hand whilst searching on the internet for a video to show me how thick the mixture should be. Just as I found a third video (which I hoped would be more helpful), it happened…the mixture started to thicken! Lumpy at first but I kept stirring, pausing only to assess whether it had reached boiling point again. After less than a minute, I had a lovely thick, smooth custard.

The recipe then says to pass the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl. I might need a new sieve or maybe this is normal but it took me a lot of hard work to do this! Finally after a vigorous 20 minutes, during which I had to strip off a layer of clothing and tie my hair up, I had pushed near enough all the mixture through the sieve.

I then added the butter and mixed until it was melted. I’d kept the butter in the fridge thinking the mixture would be very hot but after the 20 minutes it took me to sieve it, most of the heat was gone. I therefore decided to chop the butter into small pieces to help it melt properly. I let it cool for a further 5 minutes and then covered the crème pât before putting it in the fridge to chill.

I took the pastry out the fridge, divided it into two equal pieces and rolled each into a 20cm square. I used the base of a 20cm tin to trim the pastry to size.

I placed each square onto a tray lined with baking paper and popped it in the fridge for another 15 minutes whilst I tucked into our takeaway dinner which had arrived whilst I was fighting with the sieve!

Once chilled, I popped the pastry into a pre-heated oven on 220 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. I had to use 2 trays which wouldn’t fit on one shelf together so after 5 minutes, I switched them over. And then again after the next 7 minutes. Once they were cooked, I left the pastry squares to cool on the trays.

I lined a square tin with foil and then placed one of the cooled pastry squares into the bottom. The recipe says to use a 23cm square tin but the pastry looked a bit lost so I took it out and transferred the foil to my loose base 20cm square tin before adding the pastry again.

I spooned the crème pât onto the pastry and used an icing spatula to spread it out as evenly as possible.

I added the second pastry square (which broke slightly!) and got started on the icing.

I sifted the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually added the water. I used a little more than the recipe suggested as the mixture felt too stiff to be able to spread on the delicate pastry. If you do this, just be careful to add a small amount at a time, it’s amazing how quickly the icing can turn from being too thick to being too runny.

I let the icing to one side whilst I melted the chocolate. To do this, I put the squares into a mug and popped it in the microwave for around 30 seconds, string part way through. I then gave it a good mix until it was nice a smooth. I took a disposable icing bag and put it into a glass without cutting the bottom. I added the chocolate and left it to firm up slightly whilst I iced the top of the pastry.

After the chocolate had cooled slightly, I snipped off the corner of the icing bag to leave a very fine ‘nozzle’. I then piped parallel lines onto the white icing. I started off with 5 (not very evenly spaced) lines and then decided I could pipe some more in between each of them. Once there was enough chocolate lines, I took a tooth pick and pulled parallel lines across the melted chocolate and icing in alternating directions to create the feathered effect. I had never done this before and was impressed with how easy it was to make the decoration look so good!

I then put the finished custard slice back in the fridge to set over night.

The next day I used a sharp knife to cut it into small squares and boxed them up to take with me to Doncaster, where I was due to spend the day with 4 of the girls from University and one of their parents. Unfortunately, Libby wasn’t at this get together and so didn’t get to try her suggested challenge. However, everyone who got to try them said they were very delicious.

I personally was really impressed with these. This challenge pushed me to try new techniques in making puff pastry and crème pât, both of which turned out really well. Plus, I discovered a new sweet treat favourite! As I write this, I’ve just had one of the left over slices (well there weren’t any left over from Doncaster, but I sneakily kept a couple of squares at home for me and Dave) and they really are absolutely yummy!

Coming up next week, Challenge No. 34 – sausage rolls.

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