Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Add the almond flour, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, flour, egg and milk to a mixing bowl and mix together. Set aside. Lightly flour a working surface and lay out one sheet of puff pastry. Spread the almond cream onto the pastry in an even layer. Lay the second sheet of pastry on top and lightly press down onto it. Slice into 2cm wide strips. Twist the strips and then twist it again and bring the ends together to form a circular shape. Press the ends together and lay each pastry circle on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the pastries with the egg wash and sprinkle over the almond slivers. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Dust the hot pastries by sieving over the icing sugar. Set aside to cool slightly.
1 x 400g roll puff pastry pea shoots or any other soft herbs (you may press them for an hour or so before using but it isn’t necessary) 250g cream cheese, room temperature 250g frozen peas, defrosted 15ml finely chopped mint leaves 15ml finely chopped chives a good pinch of salt
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Cut an extra sheet of paper and set aside. Place the lined baking sheet on a work surface and unroll the pastry directly onto it. Trim the sides of the pastry so that you have a perfect rectangle. Divide/cut the pastry in half lengthwise. Mark the pastry, in its length, at 6cm intervals, so that you can cut it into rectangular discs. NB: Cut the discs but do not move them apart – the sides will stay straight this way. Lay the pea shoots/herbs all over the pastry and place the extra sheet of baking paper on top. Flip the pastry over (keep it between the baking paper) so that the herbs face down. Refrigerate for one hour. Preheat your oven to 190℃. Add the cream cheese, peas, mint, chives and salt to a bowl and mix together. Set aside. Take the pastry from the refrigerator and place another baking sheet on top of the baking paper. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely. Spread the pea-cream cheese on to half the pastry rectangles and place another rectangle on top. Serve the pastry slices at room temperature.
Perde Pilavi is a traditional Turkish dish made of chicken and rice flavoured with nuts, fruit and spices and wrapped up in a delicious pastry, specked with flaked almonds.
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and pour in the stock. Cook on medium heat for an hour, until done. Remove the chicken from the stock and set aside to cool slightly. Reserve the stock. Place a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the butter and wait for it to melt. Add the almonds and stir-fry until golden. Add the rice and cook for a minute or so, stirring all the while to coat in the butter. Now add the raisins, salt, a few grindings of black pepper, paprika and mint. Pour in 660ml of the reserved stock (add boiling water if you dont have enough), stir the mixture and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is almost cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside. Shred the chicken into strips and discard the bones and skin. Add the chicken to the rice mixture and stir through.
For the pastry: Preheat your oven to 180℃. Add the eggs, yoghurt, butter and vegetable oil to a bowl and whisk together. Set aside. Add the salt, flour and baking powder to a bowl and whisk through. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet. Lightly knead the pastry to bring it together. Flour a work surface and roll the pastry to a 45cm diameter circle. It should be large enough to line the dish and have enough hanging over the sides to close around the filling. Spray a 18cm diameter x 8cm deep ceramic dish with cooking spray. Scatter the almonds on the bottom of the dish. Line the bottom and sides of the dish with the pastry, leaving the overhang. Spoon the cooled rice mixture into the pastry. Fold the overhang-pastry over the filling to enclose it completely – trim off any excess. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Take the dish from the oven and rest it for 15 minutes. Place a serving plate over the baking dish and invert it. Serve the pilavi with a crispy salad.
This is a cheat’s shortcut to cinnamon buns but in this case, made with puff pastry.
1 packet puff pastry 125ml cinnamon sugar egg-wash: 1 egg yolk + 30ml water whisked together 250ml icing sugar
Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lay the puff pastry flat on a working surface and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over. Cut the pastry into strips that are more or less 1,5cm X 12cm. Roll each strip in its length and place each roll on the prepared baking sheet with the cut side up. (showing the spiral) Brush the rolls with the egg wash and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the rolls and cool completely. Mix the glaze by sifting the icing sugar and adding a few drops of hot water at a time. Be careful not to add too much water at a time as you are looking for a very thick consistency. Now drizzle the glaze over the cooled pastries and set aside for about 30 minutes. Keep the pastries in a sealed container.
It has been said that a Viennese Sachertorte is a cake worth fighting over….! Hopefully without the fighting, you will bake this labour of love and indulge in the best chocolate cake in the world! Traditionally the cake is served with Chantilly cream on the side so that every bite may be dipped into the cream before eating. If you want a higher cake like the one in my photographs, bake the cake twice – the apricot and chocolate glaze is sufficient to cover a higher/larger cake.
Chocolate glaze: 220g sugar 125ml water 200g dark chocolate, chopped
Place an oven rack in the centre of your oven and preheat to 180℃. Lightly butter 22cm springform tin with butter and line the bottom with a round of baking paper. Dust the sides of the tin with flour and tap out the excess. Add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt. Remove from the heat. Stir the chocolate often until tepid but still fluid. Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Turn the mixer to low speed and beat in the icing sugar. Set the mixer back on medium-high and beat until light in colour and texture. (about 2 minutes) Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Now beat in the chocolate and vanilla with the machine running. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the egg whites and granulated sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer on high speed just until they form soft, shiny peaks. Do not overbeat. Stir about a fourth of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Now fold in the remaining whites, leaving a few visible whisps of whites. Sift half the flour over and fold in with a spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake tin and spread it evenly. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the sides of the tin and invert the cake onto the wire rack. Remove the baking paper. Re-invert the cake on another rack to turn it right side up and leave to cool completely.
For the apricot glaze: Melt the jam in a saucepan over medium heat, add the rum and pass through a sieve. Set aside to cool slightly.
Trim the top of the cake to make it level. (Optional) Cut the cake horizontally into 2 equal layers. Brush the top of one cake layer with a third of the apricot glaze. Place the second layer on top and brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining glaze. Allow to cool until the glaze is set/less sticky. Half an hour in the refrigerator should be sufficient.
For the chocolate glaze: Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the chocolate, remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate has melted and you are left with a smooth, glossy glaze.|Set aside to cool and thicken slightly.
Transfer the cake to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the slightly warm chocolate glaze over the cake. Take care to cover the entire cake and the sides. Allow to cool and set completely – 2 hours minimum. Trim away any hardened glaze on the bottom of the cake and transfer it to a serving plate. Serve each slice of sachertorte with a generous dollop of cream so that each bite may be dipped in the cream before eating.
There is absolutely no “hidden tricks” when it comes to baking perfect profiteroles! Follow the instructions and you will have the satisfaction of perfect fresh profiteroles on your teatime table.
250ml boiling water 125ml butter, cubed 250ml cake flour 2,5ml salt 4 eggs 80g dark chocolate, melted 1 batch crème pâtisserie (search this blog for the recipe)
Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Pour the water into a cast-iron/heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. Add the cubed butter and stir until melted. Add the salt to the cake flour and then add it all to the saucepan with boiling water-butter, at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together in a ball in the centre of the saucepan. Take the saucepan from the heat and add the eggs, one at a time. Beat the mixture well. The egg should be completely incorporated before you add the next one. This is a real arm workout but do try and work quick as you need the steam from the heat! Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the mixture on to the prepared baking tray, leaving enough space in between as the profiteroles expand quite a lot while baking. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 160℃ and bake for another 20 minutes. Take the tray from the oven and immediately slit a small sharp knife into the bottom of each profiterole, making as small a cut as possible, for the steam to escape. Cool completely on a cooling rack. Cut the profiteroles open and fill each of them with crème pâtissière (search the recipe on this blog: Custard Buns) or whipped cream. Spoon some melted chocolate on to each filled pastry and set aside for the chocolate to set. Serve with a smile!
A galette is simply a free-form French pastry with either a savoury or sweet filling. Easy and quick to make, this mushroom galette is creamy, has depth of flavour and makes a perfect light lunch.
400g puff pastry 125ml cream cheese at room temperature
45ml butter 30ml vegetable oil 500g mushrooms, sliced 3 cloves of garlic, minced 15ml thyme, lightly chopped 45ml port or sherry 250ml mozzarella cheese, grated
Egg wash of 1 egg and 15ml milk, whisked together
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the pastry big enough to cut a 26cm-diameter circle. Place the pastry circle onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread the cream cheese onto the pastry with the back of a spoon, leaving a 2cm border of pastry, all around. Set aside.
Heat a heavy bottom pan on high heat and add the butter and oil. (If your pan is not large enough to accommodate all the mushroom at once, add half the butter and oil). Add the mushroom to the pan and fry at high heat so that the mushroom caramelises, about 3 minutes. Now add the garlic and thyme and cook for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Spoon this mixture into a bowl to cool and put the frying pan back onto medium heat. Add a splash of oil and cook the onion until soft. Add this to the mushroom mixture. Put the pan back onto the heat once more and add the port, scraping down the pan with a spatula. Scrape the caramelised bits left in the pan as well as the reduced port onto the mushroom mixture.
Sprinkle two thirds of the grated mozzarella cheese onto the cream cheese and pastry. Spoon the cooled mushroom mixture on top of the cheese and finish with the rest of the mozzarella. Fold the 2 cm pastry that extends beyond the filling over and onto the mushroom mixture. Brush the folded pastry with the egg wash and bake the galette for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Serve as an aperitif or as a light lunch.
My Whisk and I 