Strawberry and Almond Dacquoise Gluten-Free

                        Strawberry and Almond Dacquoise

 This is a really delightful dinner party dessert. So light but totally luscious. It's so very easy to prepare and can be made well in advance of your event. It's sure to be a massive hit with your guests. It's also gluten-free...such a bonus for the wheat intolerant. 

Dacquoise is simply a meringue baked with ground-nuts.  This recipe has used ground almonds but it is equally as good with hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts or even pistachios. Just choose the appropriate filling to match the nuts...Hazelnuts are great with raspberries and lemon curd, pecans with banana & toffee, walnuts, with chocolate & coffee cream,  pistachios with pomegranate & peaches, I regularly make this almond recipe with apricots as the accompanying fruit...delicious.  

The Dacquoise halves can be prepared in advance wrapped in foil, they will keep for at least 48 hours this way, (do not refrigerate though)   Fill and decorate up to 2 hours before serving.

This recipe will serve 6-8 portions

If you need a Conversion Chart  click onto this link Easy Conversion Chart


You will need 2 9"/23cms  x 1¾"/4.5cms deep Victoria Sandwich Tins greased and lined with baking parchment

Set the oven to 150c/300f/gas mark 2

Ingredients:-

13 oz/400 gms of ripe strawberries
1 pint/600 ml double (heavy) cream 
5 large egg whites at room temperature
9oz/275gms caster sugar (superfine)
5oz/100gms almonds ground (if you can't buy ready ground just whizz skinned almonds in your food processor)

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until it forms peaks but don't whisk to they dry
Whisk in the sugar a tablespoon at a time until a thick glossy meringue is formed
Carefully, quickly and lightly fold in the almonds using a metal spoon
Divide the mixture equally between the two lined tins, spread & smooth the surface
Bake in the centre of the oven for around 1¼ hours...check to make sure they are fully dry and crisp...if not continue to bake,  mine actually took 1½ hrs.. turn the oven off, open the door and leave the meringues in there to cool.

You can either use them immediately once thoroughly cooled or wrap carefully in aluminium foil  using within 48 hours.  

You can fill and decorate the Dacquoise up to 2 hours before serving

To decorate

Whip the cream till the soft peak stage
Reserve around 8 strawberries to decorate and hull and slice the remainder
Fill a piping bag with around 1/3rd of the whipped cream 
Place a dollop of  the remaining cream onto your serving dish and place the least attractive Dacquoise (base side down) on top to secure it 
Spread the 2/3rds of cream over it
Then the sliced strawberries
Place the remaining Dacquoise on top (topside uppermost)
Decorate with rosettes of cream
Leave on strawberry whole for the centre
Cut the others in half  ensuring that you cut neatly through the leaves as I have done in the picture.
You can dust with a little icing (confectioners) sugar if you want to or just leave it plain as I did.


*PLEASE KEEP THIS BLOG ROLLING BY ADDING A COMMENT ...HOWEVER SMALL 

                                                       How good does this look ....yum 



    


  

Bakewell Tarts aka Almond Tarts with Raspberry Jam

Bakewell Tarts

These lovely little pastries are named after the Derbyshire Town where they were first created.  They are described on line on Wikipedia  as an English Confection consisting of a shortcrust pastry with a layer of jam and a sponge filling with almonds. The Bakewell Pudding on the other hand is a flaky pastry,with a layer of jam and an egg and almond filling. Some versions of the tart are covered with a layer of fondant^]

*Bakewell Tart is an English confection consisting of a shortcrust pastry with a layer of jam and a sponge filling with almonds. The Bakewell Pudding on the other hand is a flaky pastry,with a layer of jam and an egg and almond filling. Some versions of the tart are covered with a layer of fondant ie Cherry Bakewell topped with a glace cherry^]
Recipes abound, for example those given by Eliza Acton (1845) and Mrs Beeton (1861), and modern commercial examples are to be found in most cake shops and on every supermarket shelf. The name Bakewell tart only became common in the 20th century*

These little tartlettes are just so delicious for Afternoon Tea,you can use the same recipe to make one larger one . Wonderful served warm for a dessert with ice cream, custard or a great dollop of whipped cream.
to make approx 12

I always weigh my ingredients but if you prefer to measure then here's a handy conversion chart

Lovely for afternoon tea 

for the pastry
175 g /6oz/ 1¼ cups  plain (All purpose) flour
45g/1.50 oz  / ¼ cup/butter or margarine
45g/1.50 oz / ¼ cup lard or vegetable fat eg Trex
1 tbsp caster sugar (superfine)
1 egg beaten
a little cold water if necessary to bind
>
either rub the fats into the flour & add the sugar or whiz in a foodprocessor until the breadcrumb stage
add the beaten egg and form into a ball, adding a drop of cold water if necessary
leave to chill for 30mins
>
grease a 12 hole tartlette tray. diameter of holes around 2.50 ins/6cms
>
for the filling
4oz/125 g/ ½ stick butter or margarine
4 oz/125g/ ½ cup  caster sugar (Superfine sugar)
1 egg lightly beaten
4oz/125g / 1 cup ground almonds (you could use ground rice for this which also gives a lovely result)
half a teaspoon almond essence
2oz/60g/ ½ cup  flaked almonds
raspberry jam
>
around 1 tsp heaped of raspberry jam per tart
>
beat together the butter & sugar, add the egg and beat again, add the ground almonds & essence.
>
Roll and the pastry nice & thinly and cut 12 4inch/10cm rounds
line the tartlette tins
>
spoon in around 1 heaped teaspoon of raspberry jam
fill the tarts to almost the top
smooth over
sprinkle with almond flakes
>
bake in a pre-heated oven approx 180c/gas 4 for approx 25-30 minutes
keep a close eye on them
should be cooked through but still springy.

A large Bakewell Tart. Makes a great dessert with custard or whipped cream 

Meringue Roulade with Homemade Lemon Curd & Raspberries

                       Meringue Roulade with Homemade Lemon Curd & Raspberries


A perfect light & delicious dessert to finish any dinner party.  This meringue roulade is filled with tangy lemon curd, whipped cream and raspberries.  It is possibly the most popular dessert that I made during my many years of outside catering and no wonder. It not only looks fabulous, it's really easy to make. I usually make the components the day before and then assemble it just before the guests arrive. 
This will make a great alternative to Christmas Pudding...I quite often fill it with chopped mango & passion fruit and exchange the almonds for a little grated coconut...well here's the recipe.

you will need a 9"x13" ( 23cms x 33cms) Swiss roll tin.... oiled & lined with parchment paper

This dessert will serve 8 people

Ingredients

4 large egg whites
8oz / 250g caster (superfine) sugar
a handful of flaked almonds

for the filling

Homemade Lemon curd around 2/3 tbsps * see recipe below  (or a good shop bought one) 
½pt double cream whipped until thick but not firm
8oz /250g fresh raspberries  ( if using frozen defrost on kitchen paper and only use decorate the roulade at the very last minute)
a few mint leaves
Icing/ Confectioners sugar for dusting 

For the Lemon Curd
this is a very quick recipe using the microwave. 

zest of 3 lemons
250 ml lemon juice
100g melted unsalted butter
200 g caster sugar
3 eggs

In a microwavable bowl
Whisk the eggs & sugar, add the lemon juice & zest & stir
Add in the melted butter
Cook on a medium heat for 1 minute blasts and give a good stir after each minute
When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon it is ready.
Pour into sterilised jars.
Can be kept in the fridge for up to a month.



For the meringue

Place the egg whites in a bowl and whip them until stiff but not too dry
Add the sugar a spoonful at a time whilst whisking all the time
The mixture should be glossy and thick
Spread the meringue over the Swiss roll tin evenly until level
Sprinkle over a handful of flaked almonds 
Preheat your oven to 220c/425f/gas 7
Bake near the top for around 6 mins until the top starts to turn golden
Turn the oven down to 160c/325f/gas 3 and bake on for another 10 minutes
The meringue should feel firm. Remove from oven
Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface 
Carefully turn out the meringue (upside down) onto the paper
Carefully remove the paper it was baked on and leave to cool on the bottom sheet of paper  
Don't throw the top sheet of paper away you may need it again

You can either fill this immediately it has cooled or place it between the 2 sheets of paper you have used...put this back onto the swiss roll tin and carefully wrap with aluminium foil to fill later

To fill, 

make sure you leave the bottom piece of parchment paper to help you roll it up
Spread over with 2 or 3 tablespoons of the lemon curd
Spread this with 2/3rds of the whipped cream (saving the rest to pipe on the top)
Sprinkle over most of the raspberries (saving 8 to decorate the top)
With the long side of the meringue in front of you start to roll up
The parchment paper underneath will help you to lift the roulade as you roll it up

Leave in the fridge for around 30 minutes to set then pipe on a line of cream shells and decorate with the saved raspberries & mint leaves.  Dust with icing sugar & serve. 

  

Blitzens Chewy Amaretti & Almond bites for the grown-ups

Poor Blitzen......why should Rudolf get all the attention? I wanted to devise a little treat for grown-ups over the Christmas period. These Apricot, Amaretti, Almond squares are based on the kiddies Rocky Road. They're chewy thanks to the Rolos & have a little crunch from the addition of Maltesers. I've just upped the anti and given them a little twist and a touch of sophistication for the adult palate. Just leave out the Amaretto if serving to children and perhaps use milk chocolate instead of the bitter dark.

Really easy to make as there's no baking required just a few hours of chilling in the fridge.  They will be perfect with coffee after Christmas lunch instead of the usual Mince Pies or After Eight mints.

Ingredients

200g/7oz good quality 70% solid Dark Chocolate (I used Green & Blacks)
3 tbsp. Golden or Corn Syrup
150g/5oz unsalted butter
2 tbsp. Amaretto liqueur (optional)

Melt all of the above in a large bowl over simmering water. Remove from heat as soon as it's all melted & combined.

100g/3½ oz dried apricots chopped
75g/ 3oz flaked almonds
100g /3½ Amaretti biscuits lightly broken
a packet of Rolos slice them in half
130g approx. 4oz White Maltesers

line a 9"/23cm tin with baking parchment

Reserve around a third of the melted chocolate mixture
Reserve around 20 Maltesers & half of the chopped apricots for the top

Add all the dry ingredients to the melted chocolate and mix well together
Pour over the remaining reserved chocolate
Decorate with the remaining apricots & Maltesers and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight
use a really sharp knife to cut into 20 equal squares.
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge they should keep for at least a week.
.

Apricot & Almond Marshmallows

Apricot and Almond Marshmallows

 

 

 

 

I quite often turn on the TV while I'm cooking in the kitchen. It's mainly just a background noise and usually tuned in to anything to do with cooking. Travels with Lynda Bellingham came on and I was intrigued by a woman who kept chickens and held clandestine dinner parties. She made some wonderful looking marshmallows with apricots & almonds. Of course I was only half watching thinking that I could look the recipe up on the Internet later. Of course I scoured everywhere looking for it and couldn't find it anywhere.

Not giving up I decided to use a basic Marshmallow recipe and do my own thing regarding the apricot & almonds. I had to wait overnight for them to set before I could turn them. Of course I was half expecting a complete disaster but no, they are just about the best marshmallows I've ever had. Unbelievably yummy and so grown up in flavour.

 

I've now got the marshmallow bug and I can't wait to try different flavours, vanilla & strawberry, pecan and maple syrup, rum & raisin, pistachio, rosewater the list could be endless.   

 

Here's how I made them, be prepared for quite a bit of washing up but it's so well worth the mess you're going to make.

 

Ingredients

 

16 Pre-soaked dried Apricots soaked in 3tbsps of Amaretto failing this orange juice will do

Blitz the apricots in a food processor and set aside

3oz  flaked almonds toasted

 

½ cup icing (confectioner's sugar)

½ cup cornflour (cornstarch)

sift these two items together into a bowl and set aside

 

butter a 13 x 9" oven tray really well

Sprinkle over a good coating of the icing sugar/cornflour mixture reserving the rest for later. 

 

2 separate ½cups of water

2 cups of granulated sugar

2 packets of gelatin (¼oz packets)

1 tsp almond extract

 

the whites of 3 large eggs

a pinch of salt

an eighth of a tsp of cream of tartar

 

Method

 

1. Place the first half cup of water into the bowl of your mixer and sprinkle over the gelatin. Leave to stand for a few minutes Once the gelatin has dissolved whisk until it becomes really thick and fluffy (around 8 to 10 minutes) Add the almond extract. 

 

2. Place the second half cup of water into a saucepan and add the granulated sugar, stir to dissolve and turn on the heat to a medium setting. Continue heating & check with a sugar thermometer until it reaches  175c /240f (soft ball stage) and remove from the heat.

 

3. With an electric hand mixer beat the egg whites until frothy, add the salt and cream of tartar and beat until stiff.

 

4. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture while the mixer is beating on a medium/high speed until well mixed and thick. Fold in the apricot mixture and very gently fold in the beaten egg whites until it's all incorporated.

 

5 Pour into the prepared tin, sprinkle over the almonds and leave to set in a cool place (not the fridge). Once mine had set on top I lightly covered it with parchment paper so that the air could still get at it.

 

6. I made mine in the late afternoon and didn't turn it out until the next morning but it will need around 12 hours to ensure that it's thoroughly set.

 

7. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and liberally cover it with your icing sugar/ cornflour mix. Gently ease around the edges of your tin with a pallet knife slightly lifting underneath as you do and then turn the tin over onto the parchment paper, hopefully it should all plop out. If not just try again but be gentle with it.

 

8. With a really sharp unstated knife cut into whatever size you like . Do not use a sawing motion as you'll get rough edges just press firmly down. You could also use cutters to make different shapes.

 

9.Toss all the pieces liberally with the icing and cornflour. Store in a parchment lined, airtight container.

 

 

I really hope you enjoy these, we never got around to storing ours, they were scoffed in minutes

 

                  

 

White Chocolate Florentines with Cranberries & Pistachios

White Chocolate Florentines

This recipe should make approximately 12 x 7cm Florentines. I used a silicone muffin tray with 7cm holes to bake mine.(thanks to Ruth @Pink Whisk for this fab tip) Otherwise you'll need good
parchment paper on a greased oven tray, leaving lots of space between each Florentine as they really spread out. I would only make 4/5 to a tray at a time. Of course you could make smaller ones for Petite Fours by just using a teaspoon of mixture per Florentine, should make around 2 dozen with this recipe.   I have also posted the recipe for dark chocolate Florentines at the bottom of the page.
Set Oven at 180c 350f gas 4

1.5 oz /40g butter
2oz 50g caster sugar
1 level tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp double cream
1 tsp lemon juice
4oz/ 100g white chocolate
2oz /50g dried apricots chopped
1.5 oz /40g dried cranberries chopped
1oz /50g chopped pecans
1oz /50 g chopped Pistachios
1oz/50g flaked almonds

Melt the butter with the sugar in a saucepan
Beat in the sieved flour, cream & lemon juice,
Add all the other ingredients, stir well and you're ready to bake.
Bake for approx 15 mins but keep a keen eye on them. They should be golden but not brown.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water.

When the Florentines are cold remove them from the silicone cases, if you use parchment you can quickly reshape them into neat circles while they are still hot from the oven and then leave until cold.

Coat the backs with white chocolate, leave to set. I usually pop them in the fridge for this.
When set use the remaining chocolate to trickle over the tops.

I estimate that the cost to make 12 Christmas Florentines would be around £3.50 to £4 as the ingredients are quite expensive. I usually make large batches of 48-60 and of course this would cut down the cost substanially as you can use whole packets of everything.


FLORENTINES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE
candied orange peel, almonds & sultanas

Ingredients:- to make around 15
1oz/50g candied orange peel chopped
1oz/50g blanched slivered almonds
1.5oz/40g glace cherries chopped
half an ounce/25g sultanas chopped
small piece around 15g candied angelica chopped (just increase cherries if you can't find this)
1.5oz/40g unsalted butter
1oz/50g caster sugar
1tbsp double cream
1 tbsp plain flour
1tsp lemon juice
6oz/175g 70% really good dark chocolate
Preferably you will need one or two of those non stick silicone muffin trays or good quality baking parchment on around 3 oven trays.
Melt the sugar & butter gently in a saucepan
Beat in the flour, cream and lemon juice
Stir in everything else.
Set the oven to 180c
Place rounded teaspoons of the mixture into the silicone muffin trays or space tsps well apart on the parchment paper ( at least 2" between each)
Bake for approx 12 minutes until golden. Leave in the silicone trays until completely cold. If baked on a tray you can quickly reshape them into neat circles while they are still warm.
When cool coat the backs with melted chocolate. When the chocolate is almost set make wavey lines on the chocolate with a fork.