Fun with puff pastry and a Christmas round up

This Christmas I showed my ability to learn from past mistakes and grow as a person – by which I mean that I didn’t buy my usual six limes and will thus be spared the sad task of having to throw them away towards the end of January. However, I did have a minor aberration in the Tesco aisle where they stocked the fresh ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry ....and ended up with quite a lot of puff pastry. You may not know what it’s like to look in your fridge and wonder “why on earth did I think I would need that much puff pastry?” so let me tell you it’s a mixture of shame tinged with pride at owning so much puff pastry. Having frozen what I could, I was left with several packs so decided to make palmiers.

No recipe needed here as it couldn’t be simpler. Just spread your filling over the pastry; here is the mincemeat version:

Then roll them up from the sides so they meet in the middle and chill them for 30 minutes before slicing. At this point, they don’t look very palmier-like but don’t panic:

When baked they look like fat villainous Victorian moustaches (to bake them, simply follow the instructions on the pastry packet – mine needed about 15 minutes at 180C):

These were such a hit that I repeated the process with nutella, chopped almonds and cinnamon (these were Mr CC’s favourites):

And then – because there was still some pastry to use up, I tried a plainer sugared version. I simply sprinkled caster sugar over the pastry and then egg washed the slices, sprinkling with more sugar (sorry for the rather migraine-inducing photo but I made them in the evening and it was dark, so I needed my kitchen lights on!):

When I get round to tackling my frozen puff pastry mountain there will no doubt be more puff pastry recipes on my site!

Of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies. I made my usual pies with decorative pastry toppers and if you’d like to see the recipe it can be found here

I also made a Christmas cake with my usual recipe only this year I used a much darker rum which gave it a richer colour (it was overproof rum and gave the flavour a bit of a kick!).

My cake toppers were from Salzburg and are Krampus and St Nicholas. Their bodies are Mozart Balls– the famous chocolate only available in Salzburg. I liked that they were cute and Krampus doesn’t look too evil!

Happy New Year to you all and here’s hoping your 2011 will be filled with exquisite baked goods!

Cranberry and mincemeat streusel cake

One of the nicest things about baking is that all your friends, family and colleagues are aware of your passion (and very grateful to share the output from it!) and pass on recipes they’ve found either in publications or online. This recipe comes courtesy of the CCMIL (Caked Crusader’s Mother in Law) who found it in one of her weekly magazines.

My tastes can sometimes be strange and hard to justify; for example, I don’t like mincemeat when it’s in a mince pie but, spread out through a cake I do like it. If I was American, I believe I would have ended that statement with: Go figure.

What interested me about this recipe was that it used fresh cranberries. Up until now, my culinary involvement with cranberries was to open a jar and tip the sauce out into a dish! I think my problem with mincemeat is that it can be very sweet and very rich and the inclusion of fresh cranberries cut through this and balanced the flavours.

The first flavour this cake imparts is the sweet mincemeat, then the spices warm up only to be cut through with the fruity tartness of the cranberry, then the spice fights back. It’s a beautiful cake with so many flavours but all perfectly balanced and complementing each other.

The cake has another ingredient I’m premiering in my baking (pretentious? Moi?) – pine nuts. I adore pine nuts but have only used them in savoury recipes or sprinkled over a salad. Here they impart rich nuttiness and crunch.

For those of you interested in my holiday ramblings, they can be found here.

Over the upcoming festive period I may make more regular blog posts than usual with all my planned Christmas bakes. I hope you enjoy them as much as my nearest and dearest will!

Ingredients

For the cake:

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g self raising flour
100g ground almonds
4 tablespoons milk
200g mincemeat
200g fresh cranberries

For the streusel topping:

25g unsalted butter, cold
75g self raising flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
75g Demerara sugar
100g pine nuts (you could used flaked almonds if you prefer)

Optional: Icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper ensuring that the paper comes up above the height of the tin.

Start by making the cake batter: beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage as this is where you get all the air into your mix.

Beat in the eggs on at a time, along with the vanilla.

Fold in the flour and almonds.

Fold in the milk.

Fold in the mincemeat and the cranberries.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Put to one side while you make the streusel topping: rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in the cinnamon and sugar.

Stir in the pine nuts then add a couple of tablespoons of water and fork it in - just so the topping starts to clump a little. Add a tablespoon more of water if it's still very dry.

Scatter over the top of the cake.

Bake for 1 – 1 ¼ hours but test the cake after an hour – if a skewer comes out clean remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. If the skewer has batter on it give the cake a further 5 mins then test again. Mine took about 1 hour 25 minutes in total.

Leave to cool completely before turning out and storing in an airtight tin. You can, if you prefer, serve the cake warm for dessert with cream.

Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Things to do with mincemeat.....2008

Firstly, in case you want even more ideas, things I did with mincemeat last year can be found here!

As ever, my glorious mincemeat was made by the CCM’s (Caked Crusader’s Ma) own fair hand using Delia Smith’s recipe. To quote Bruce Forsyth, “didn’t she do well?”

This year I have used mincemeat in three ways and although all three use shortcrust pastry and mincemeat, they all somehow taste different.

To start, here are star topped mince tarts. These are quite traditional but by having less pastry on top, they are lighter and allow the mincemeat to take a starring role.


Is it just me, or can anyone else see that the way the star drapes over the mincemeat looks just like Patrick Star (of Spongebob fame) lying on top of his rock? You have no idea how much time I spent surfing the net for a picture of Patrick on his rock to prove this but couldn’t find one.

The reason I started thinking about Patrick was because the first star cutter I used looked more like a starfish. You can see it in this photo – it’s the middle one in the far left column:


I find these pretty. I like the clean, unfussy lines of them:


The second way of using mincemeat came from one of my Swiss cookbooks and I’ve never seen the idea anywhere else – mincemeat rolls:



You roll shortcrust pastry out into a rectangle, completely cover it with mincemeat and then roll it up. After chilling (the mincement roll, not you!) it cuts beautifully into slices and you bake it.

Here they are raw ...ok, I realise they look like Vincent Van Gogh threw a wild party and everyone got carried away!

The third version is frangipane topped mince pies. This is a standard mince pie but instead of a pastry top, the tart is given an almond sponge layer.

These were very popular and the combination of mincemeat and frangipane worked brilliantly. I expected the mincemeat and frangipane to stay separate layers but you can see from this photo that they melded together to create a gloriously succulent filling:

The CCM's mincemeat is juicy stuff - just look at the plump fruit waiting to burst with sweet goodness when eaten:

Shortcrust pastry recipe

Ingredients:
For the shortcrust pastry (I found this amount makes approx 16 tarts but it depends on how thick you have the pastry and the size of your bun tin etc):
230g plain flour
160g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 egg yolk

How to make:

- Put the flour and butter into a bowl and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs either using your fingertips, or a food processor.
- Add the icing sugar and stir in.
- Add the egg yolk and bring the dough together until it is smooth, glossy and soft.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before you need to use it – this relaxes the dough and stops the cooked pastry from shrinking.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Do not eat yet – it’s raw!


Star topped mince pies

Ingredients:
Shortcrust pastry – recipe set out above. 1 quantity will yield approx 16 tarts
8-10 tablespoons mincemeat (approx half a tablespoon for each tart)
Splash of milk, for glazing
2 tablespoons golden caster sugar

How to make:

- Use the appropriate amount of the shortcrust pastry (recipe above) for how many tarts you wish to make.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- If you trust the non-stick of your patty tin there is no need to grease it as the pastry contains so much butter. If in doubt I’d say you’re best off greasing it as it would be too heartbreaking to ruin your tarts getting them out of the tin.
- Roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 0.5cm.
- Using a cutter cut out 16 pastry discs and line the patty tin. Re-roll the pastry as required – it’s quite good natured and will take many re-rolls.
- Spoon the mincemeat into the pastry discs. The mincemeat bubbles when it cooks so to keep the pastry edge nice and clean don’t put too much mincemeat in. I found half to three quarters of a tablespoon was ideal.
- Cut out stars and top each mince pie with one.
- Brush the stars with milk and then sprinkle over the golden caster sugar.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden and looks cooked.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing the mince pies. This is because the pastry is fragile on coming out of the oven.
- Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.
- These will keep for a week in an airtight tin.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.


Mincemeat rolls


Ingredients:
Shortcrust pastry – recipe set out above. 1 quantity will yield 2 rolls from which you will get approx 20 slices)
1 jar of mincemeat (standard jam jar size)

How to make:

- Use the appropriate amount of the shortcrust pastry (recipe above) for how many rolls you wish to make.
- Cut the pastry in two as it is more manageable to roll out a smaller amount.
- Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper until it is about 0.5cm thick. Try to roll it so you end up with a neat rectangle.
- Spoon mincemeat all over the pastry leaving a gap on the long edge.
- Roll the pastry up using the paper to help you.
- Wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Repeat with the other piece of pastry.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line two biscuit trays with baking paper.
- Remove the mincemeat roll from the fridge and cut into slices 1-1.5 cm thick. I found that a serrated bread knife gave the cleanest cut.
- Place the slices on the baking trays a little apart. They will expand on baking but not much.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked.
- Cool for 10 minutes on their trays before using a spatula to transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely.
- These will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Frangipane mince pies

Follow the ingredients and method for the star topped mince pies set out above but, before baking make the frangipane topping.

Ingredients
For the frangipane topping:
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g ground almonds
1 level tablespoon plain flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
For decoration: handful of flaked almonds

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
- Follow the recipe for the star topped mince pies until you have the pastry cases filled with mincemeat in the patty tin.
- Now make the frangipane topping. Place the butter and sugar in the food processor and blend until soft and creamy.
- Add the eggs and blitz some more until well combined.
- Add the ground almonds, flour and almond extract and blitz again.
- Spoon the frangipane onto the mincemeat and then, if desired, scatter some flaked almonds on top.
- Bake for approximately 2o minutes or until the pastry and frangipane look golden and cooked.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Things to do with Mincemeat.....

It’s Christmas so it must be time to entomb some mincemeat in pastry i.e. make mince pies. Bored with the idea of doing this for what felt like the millionth time I sought different options; well, I am a Crusader after all even if it is just the ‘Caked’ variety. Here are two ideas for mincemeat that aren’t radically different but just different enough to whet one’s jaded taste buds.

The first is a large mincemeat tart.


We’re going to have it for dessert on Christmas day with some lightly whipped sweetened vanilla cream. By not having a pasty lid it gives centre stage to the mincemeat which, until I made this dish, I hadn’t realised how beautiful it looks. By having less pastry, it also makes the texture stickier and richer in your mouth. In other words – this is a good thing!


The second idea is at the other end of the size spectrum: mini mincemeat crumble tarts.

If it’s possible for baked items to be cute then these are the cutest little things around! I like cakes or tarts that do more than one thing – these are great because you have the pastry case which houses the mincemeat and then top it off with nutty crumble. Is it a cake or a dessert? Should you have it with a cup of tea or after dinner? Any answer is correct.

Here they are fresh from the oven, still in the baking tray:

They look so cute en masse:


And this is just to show off my mini-muffin tree stand. You’ll notice I made some mini jam tarts too, to satisfy the mincemeat haters!


Just a quick note on mincemeat. I’m sure you can buy some very nice quality mincemeat but homemade is always best. Mine is made by The CCM (Caked Crusader’s Ma) using Delia Smith’s recipe. It keeps beautifully and The CCM makes it every other year. This year I have used the mincemeat she made in 2006 and as long as it is kept airtight and cool it will mature wonderfully. If it looks a little dry stir in a tablespoon of brandy to return it to the required glossy state.

Whenever a dish requires sweet shortcrust pastry, unless there is something interesting about the recipe, I always ignore the pastry ingredients and make the sweet rich shortcrust pastry recipe from my Women’s Institute cookbook . This pastry is unbeatable – it never fails to be delicious and could not be easier to make or a nicer consistency to work with. Here’s the recipe:

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
115g plain flour
80g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 egg yolk

How to make:

- Put the flour and butter into a bowl and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs – either using your fingertips, a food processor or, as I discovered to my joy, the beater fitting on the Kitchenaid mixer.
- Add the icing sugar and stir in.
- Add the egg yolk and bring the dough together until it is smooth, glossy and soft.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before you need to use it – this relaxes the dough and stops the cooked pastry from shrinking.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Do not eat yet – it’s raw!

Mincemeat Tart

Ingredients:
Double amount of the shortcrust pastry i.e. 230g plain flour, 160g butter etc
Approx 900g good quality mincemeat
1 egg for glazing
Sprinkle of caster sugar

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6
- Grease a 30cm loose bottomed flan tin. This is a big tart – if you want to, you can make a smaller one but obviously will have pastry left over from the proportion I have recommended.
- Take the pastry from the fridge and roll it out between two pieces of greaseproof paper. This gets rid of the need to flour the surface and risk drying the pastry out. Lay the pastry in the tin. Keep any spare pastry to one side.
- Cover the pastry with greaseproof paper and weigh down with baking beans, dried lentils – whatever you use.
- Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes. This is called “blind” baking i.e. cooking the pastry shell so it will be crisp when you bake it again with the filling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing the paper and beans.
- Spoon the mincemeat evenly into the pastry shell.
- Use the pastry leftovers to make decorations to sit on the mincemeat. As it’s Christmas I used a Christmas tree cutter but a star or holly leaves would be just as pretty.
- Once you have positioned the pastry decorations on the mincemeat, glaze them with beaten egg and a sprinkle of caster sugar.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Mine took 20 minutes.
- Serve with cream, whipped cream, brandy butter, ice cream – the list goes on!
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Mini Mincemeat Crumble Tarts

Ingredients:
Single amount of the shortcrust pastry
Approx 200g good quality mincemeat

For the crumble topping:
90g Plain flour
40g chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)
40g soft brown sugar
40g Unsalted butter

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Grease a mini muffin pan . The proportions above will give approx 14 mini tarts. If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, use an ordinary size muffin pan – obviously you will get less.
- Take the pastry from the fridge and roll it out between two pieces of greaseproof paper. This gets rid of the need to flour the surface and risk drying the pastry out. Using an appropriate size cutter, cut out discs of pastry and place in the mini muffin pan.
- Spoon in enough mincemeat so it is level with the pasty – this gives a nice flat surface for the crumble to sit on.
- To make the crumble rub the butter into the flour (this can be done in a processor or Kitchenaid mixer) and then stir in the sugar and nuts.
- Sprinkle the crumble into nice little domes on top of each tart. It will scatter a bit over the tray but don’t worry.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the pasty is golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly in the tin before removing, otherwise you risk smashing the pastry to bits!
- To look pretty, when I took the tarts out of the tray, I sat them in mini muffin cases. This makes them easier to pick up and eat.
- Serve just as they are or with a blob of cream.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.