Rustic apple roll

I should begin with a confession. This recipe is actually for something called “apple horseshoe” and, on rolling, you are meant to shape the roll into a horseshoe. If I had tried that I would have ended up holding two separate pieces and swearing like a sailor (I always think they get a raw deal – they can’t all be potty mouthed can they?), so I bottled it and left it as a long roll.

On reflection I think I should have done two things differently in order to make a horseshoe:
1. Chilled the pastry and filling before rolling. My pastry, by the time I came to roll it up was quite soft and at room temperature.
2. Use less apple. I am a total piggy where apples feature in recipes and if the recipe says “2-3 apples” it’s as if the “2-” bit isn’t there. Two apples would have meant less filling and an easier roll. It also would’ve stopped the apple bursting free during cooking.

So, after picking over what I did wrong, I must add that this still tasted delicious - very delicious! Admittedly it’s not going to win any beauty contest but I don’t particularly want to look at dessert, I want to eat it!

Here’s the pastry – I never was much good at rolling out a rectangle:


Add the apples (bonus points if you can already see that it's not going to roll very easily!):


Add the sultana topping:


Roll. This was never going to be a horsehoe!


Adding “rustic” to the title of anything excuses all ugliness in the finished product– it becomes “charming” rather than “messy”. In fact, I might start calling myself rustic; I wonder if it works for people?

The filling is very clever as it turns into a rich caramel sauce on cooking giving a lovely depth of flavour that compliments the apple beautifully. As my apples burst free from the pastry you can see the gorgeous dark caramel sauce seeping out at the top of the photo:


I made the roll with shortcrust pastry but the recipe gives the option of also using puff pastry. I mixed up my apples using two Gala and one Granny Smith. Putting in a tarter apple counteracts the sweetness and adds a little acidity.

Serve it warm or at room temperature with whatever takes your fancy. I kept it simple with some lightly whipped cream but ice cream, custard, clotted cream or even just some pouring cream would be lovely.


Ingredients:
For the pastry:
230g plain flour
160g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:
2-3 eating apples (I used 3 in total – 2 Galas and 1 Granny Smith- and would probably use only 2 next time)
50g unsalted butter
25g breadcrumbs
100g dark brown sugar
50g sultanas or raisins
1 egg, beaten
Handful of flaked almonds


How to make:

- Start by making the pastry: place all the ingredients except for the egg yolks into the food processor and blitz until you have breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg yolks and blitz again until the pastry just starts to form.
- Turn out onto a sheet of clingfilm and bring together into a ball of pastry.
- Flatten slightly, wrap in the clingfilm and chill.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
- Line a flat baking sheet with baking paper.
- Roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper; this minimises the amount of flour you need to roll out. Roll out to about a thickness of just under 0.5cm and try to keep it rectangular (don’t be too obsessed about this).
- In the food processor blitz some bread (crust removed). I found that just over 1 slice of small bread made the right amount but obviously weigh it.
- Brown the breadcrumbs by tipping into a bowl and putting in the oven for 2 minutes. Then remove, stir and put in for another 2 minutes. Your aiming for the bread to dry out but not go like toast crumbs.
- Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Scatter over the rolled out pastry leaving a gap at the end you will finish at so you will get a nice clean join.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and then stir in the breadcrumbs, brown sugar and sultanas.
- Remove from the heat and spoon over the apples.
- Roll the pastry up like a swiss roll (I rolled from the short end).
- If possible, shape into a horseshoe, but don’t risk it if your pastry is looking fragile.
- Transfer to the baking sheet and then brush with beaten egg.
- Scatter over the almonds.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is a golden brown colour. Mine took 35 minutes.
- Leave to cool on a baking sheet.
- Serve in thick slices with the accompaniment of your choice i.e. cream, ice cream or custard.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Trifle

There are certain staple foodstuffs one must always have at Christmas and trifle is one of them. I think many of us dismiss trifle because we have had bad experiences of shop bought atrocities with an almost concrete jelly and fruit layer.

A good trifle should not contain jelly. The eating experience should be soft and juicy with a lovely mix of sponge, fruit, custard and cream. I used my final swiss roll to provide the trifle’s base.

Here is my pictorial masterclass to trifle making! Step one - have a fruit layer so tempting that you forget it’s good for you:


The fruit should sit heavily on the sponge base so as to ensure there are no pockets of emptiness; these will only limit the amount of custard and cream you can wedge into the bowl:


Step two - add a creamy custard layer so naughty you feel 4 pounds heavier just looking at it:


Step three – add whipped cream and a healthy, understated decoration (ahem):


The finished trifle should be a visual treat as well as a tasty one!


However gorgeous your trifle, sadly, it will always look messy in the bowl:



Ingredients:
These quantities made me a huge trifle (my bowl was approx 30cm tall and 25cm across), vary them according to the size of your bowl:
1 swiss roll – for the recipe click here
1 kilo of washed assorted fruit – I used raspberries, blackberries and strawberries
1 litre of ready made fresh custard
500g mascarpone
600ml double cream
2 Cadbury flakes

How to make:

- Cut the swiss roll into approximately 1.5cm slices.
- Line the bottom of the bowl with the swiss roll.
- Mix the fruit together and place on top of the swiss roll. Push down gently on the fruit to compact it a bit.
- Whisk together the custard and mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Whatever amount you make, remember that the volume of custard must always be twice the weight of the mascarpone.
- Spread the custard mix over the fruit. It will sink into any crevices in the fruit.
- Whip the cream until you have soft peaks and spread over the custard layer.
- Decorate as required – I used strawberries and crushed flake.
- Refrigerate until required.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Charlotte Royale

Of all the things I have ever made, I must confess this is the one that spooked me the most. I have had the recipe for months and never quite had the guts to make it – but, after deciding that it would be a spectacular dessert for Christmas Day, I realised that I had to confront my fears and get on with it. Thank goodness I did, for I consider this my masterpiece!!!

It’s so pretty!


So why the nerves? Well, there just seemed so much that could go wrong. It requires three Swiss rolls (what were the chances that all three would roll nicely?) and a rather involved custard (what were the chances it would be lump free?) and then bringing it all together with cream to make a perfect dome (what were the chances that it would be perfect?)



The custard is beautiful and so tasty; here it is before I added it to the cream and fruit:


Like most complicated tasks if you break this recipe down into the component parts it quickly becomes manageable. The Swiss rolls can be made days in advance. The whole dish can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge overnight.

I love that the slices still show the Swiss roll and – surprisingly – it cut easily. But don’t take it out from the fridge before you want it.


This is a special occasion dessert for no other reason than it’s huge! The Bavarian cream recipe makes approximately two litres and when you start adding fruit to that you can see that you end up with a big dessert! The bowl you assemble it in should be bigger than two litres as the Swiss roll lining takes up some volume.

One bowl prepared and ready to receive goodies:


If you have the time and the inclination then I could not recommend this recipe more highly. It was delicious. The filling is not overly sweet but the Swiss roll is, so they compliment and balance each other perfectly.


The filling is so smooth and creamy but light. Exactly what was needed after a heavy Christmas dinner.

Happy Christmas!

Ingredients:
For the Swiss Roll - You will need three Swiss rolls. The ingredients below are for one. I recommend making one Swiss roll at a time.
3 eggs
125g caster sugar
90g self raising flour
Icing sugar for dusting
160g jam, whichever flavour you wish. I used raspberry

For the custard:
6 leaves or 20g gelatine
600ml whole milk (the dish contains 8 egg yolks, what’s the point in using low fat milk!)
2 vanilla pods
8 egg yolks
65g icing sugar

For the cream:
475ml whipping cream
35g icing sugar
250g fruit – I used raspberries and blackberries
Optional: 2 tablespoons of liqueur of your choice. I didn’t bother.


How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
- Lightly grease a Swiss roll tin (30cm x 25cm and 2cm deep) and line with baking paper. NB. I tried non-stick foil but it didn’t work as well.
- Beat the eggs until they are thick and pale. This will take several minutes and you mustn’t be tempted to rush as this is how the air and lightness gets into the sponge.
- Continuing to beat the eggs, gradually spoon in the sugar. Beat until the mixture looks puffy and light.
- Sieve the flour into the batter and fold in.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the sponge is light golden and springy to the touch. Mine took 12 minutes. It is important not to overcook the sponge.
- While the sponge is cooking, lay a clean tea towel on the work top. Also cut a sheet of baking paper to tip the Swiss roll onto and dust this with icing sugar.
- As soon as you remove the Swiss roll from the oven turn it out onto the clean piece of baking papery and remove the backing paper.
- Carefully roll the sponge up from the short end, rolling the paper inside the roll. Use clothes pegs to secure the ends.
- Leave for 5 minutes on a wire rack.
- After 5 minutes, unroll the sponge and leave to cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Spread with the jam and re-roll. The jam is much easier to spread if you beat it with a spoon and soften it up.
- Keep in an airtight tin until required.
- Line a bowl of approximately three litres capacity with clingfilm. It sticks better if you grease the bowl with some oil. Ensure that the clingfilm overhangs the bowl.
- Slice the Swiss rolls into 1.5cm slices and line the bowl placing the slices as closely as possible so no filling can seep through. Keep some slices back to finish off the top (the base on turning out).
- Protect and hold the Swiss roll in place by turning the excess clingfilm back into the bowl.
- Refrigerate until needed.
- Now make the custard. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water so that they are covered. If you’re using powdered gelatine add to 3 tablespoons of cold water.
- Cut the vanilla pods open and scrape out the seeds. Add both pod and seeds to a saucepan containing the milk.
- Heat gently and then add the gelatine. If you’re using leaves make sure you squeeze out any water.
- Stirring all the time, bring the milk gently to the boil. This takes a long time but don’t try and rush it by upping the heat.
- Remove from the heat and put to one side.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and icing sugar until smooth.
- Remove the vanilla pods from the milk.
- Pour the egg yolk mixture through a sieve into the milk and continue to stir constantly.
- Stir over a gentle heat until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon i.e. without running straight off. Again, this takes some time and must not be rushed otherwise you’ll end up with cooked eggy bits in your custard.
- Pour into a bowl and leave to cool to room temperature.
- When the custard is cool you can refrigerate it but be aware that the gelatine will start to set. I did refrigerate it because that’s what the recipe said, but when I make it again I wouldn’t do this. If your custard does set too quickly you can always make it creamy again by whisking. It’s important that the custard is creamy so that it folds in nicely.
- Now make the cream. Whisk the cream until it just starts to hold its shape.
- Add the icing sugar and whisk until you get soft peaks.
- Fold in the fruit and liqueur, if using.
- Fold the cream and fruit into the custard.
- Spoon into the Swiss roll lined bowl and use the remaining slices of Swiss roll to cover the top.
- Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until needed.
- To unmould, take off the top layer of clingfilm and turn out onto the serving plate. Remove the clingfilm that lined the bowl.
- Garnish with whipped cream if desired – I didn’t bother.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Classic Swiss roll

I was nervous about making these – specifically the rolling stage - but they couldn’t have been easier. I made four and recommend that you concentrate on them one at a time as they are quick to make but you have to do things at certain times and to have more than one on the go might get confusing. I made four in quick succession and it didn’t even take 2 hours.

Here is one Swiss roll rolled up and cooling but not yet filled. I found that clothes pegs keep all the paper in place and make it easy to lift:


Rolling the Swiss roll straight from the oven, but without the filling really helps. When you unroll it, you can see that there is a natural lip that makes the re-rolling with the filling a doddle:


Here’s one rolled and filled but not tidied up yet:


Why did I make four? Oh, I have plans for them....updates to follow...watch this space!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
125g caster sugar
90g self raising flour
Icing sugar for dusting
160g jam, whichever flavour you wish. I used raspberry

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
- Lightly grease a Swiss roll tin (30cm x 25cm and 2cm deep) and line with baking paper. NB. I tried non-stick foil but it didn’t work as well.
- Beat the eggs until they are thick and pale. This will take several minutes and you mustn’t be tempted to rush as this is how the air and lightness gets into the sponge.
- Continuing to beat the eggs, gradually spoon in the sugar. Beat until the mixture looks puffy and light.
- Sieve the flour into the batter and fold in.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the sponge is light golden and springy to the touch. Mine took 12 minutes. It is important not to overcook the sponge.
- While the sponge is cooking, lay a clean tea towel on the work top. Also cut a sheet of baking paper to tip the Swiss roll onto and dust this with icing sugar.
- As soon as you remove the Swiss roll from the oven turn it out onto the clean piece of baking papery and remove the backing paper.
- Carefully roll the sponge up from the short end, rolling the paper inside the roll. Use clothes pegs to secure the ends.
- Leave for 5 minutes on a wire rack.
- After 5 minutes, unroll the sponge and leave to cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Spread with the jam and re-roll. The jam is much easier to spread if you beat it with a spoon and soften it up.
- If you’re serving it as a Swiss roll trim the ends to tidy it up.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.