Baked Plums with crushed amaretti

Image courtesy of pictureshunt.com

*part of the sizzling stafforshire menu series*

Fruit desserts in my opinion are often overlooked in favour of heavy dairy and chocolate fixes. it's a shame because there is a hell of alot of natural flavour in fruit, and can balance well with a variety of other flavours also.

This dessert is unwavering in its simplicity, and provides a means of a cheap and quick, and very fulfilling dessert that is also extremely healthy. Its kind of halfway towards a crumble, without the guilt factor. With this in mind, you can do alot with this dish to change it if you wish, and develop it further.

You will need (serves 4):

500g ripe plums (make sure theyre firm and not too soft)
1/2 tsp for each plum
3 tbsp sherry, marsala or even creme de cassis.
30g amaretti biscuits
Natural yoghurt to serve
Optional herbs for aromatics

heat the oven to 200C. cut the plums in half and remove the stones, arrange the plums hole side up, in a lightly greased baking dish. Drizzle over the sherry. At this point i like to add a few springs of rosemary into the dish just to give an extra dimension of flavour, you can also use lavender.

crush the amaretti either manually or using a food processor for a very short burst. Sprinkle over the plums. Put small amount of butter on each plum and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Serve warm with a dollop of each yoghurt.

Cantucci

image courtesy of shutterstock.com

Cantucci are a wonderful type of biscotti that are good for a variety of occasions, such as elevenses, afternoon tea, to have with the occasional coffee, or as a dipping medium for other "dippy" desserts such as chocolate mousse, lemon posset or ice cream.

These are even more indulgent than regular biscotti, and so are even naughtier. They are however very well suited to this time of year and in particular the festive season, sue to their wonderful sweet indulgent flavours. That said they are enjoyed year round.

500g Sugar
4 Eggs
Vanilla essence
500g Plain flour
2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
250g of flaked almonds or Hazelnuts
250g of dried fruit

Whisk eggs and sugar until creamy and form soft peaks

Add all the other ingredients

Form mixture into a large sausage

Place upon a silicone mat, and allow to prove for 20 minutes

Bake for 20 minutes at about 180C

Allow cooling before slicing into biscuits

Rebake for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

Devour.

Xmas Pudding

Image provided courtesy of 99holidays.com

I have used this xmas pudding recipe several times, and although it may seem extensive and elaborate, every ingredient here has its place in the recipe. It works really well, and provided you make them well enough in advance the flavour will mature just how you need it to.

I apreciate it takes a while to make. but thats the general rule with xmas pudding. The longer it takes... the more flavour and enjoyment youll get out of it.

Ingredients:
Makes two medium puddings

225g of pitted and chopped prunes
225g of raisins
225g of sultanas
225g of dried apricots, chopped
110g of fresh whole-meal breadcrumb
1 medium Bramley apple peeled, cored and grated
1 orange juiced and zested
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of mace
½ teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of allspice
½ teaspoon of ground cardamom (shells discarded)
3 tablespoon of Walnut oil
4 tablespoon of apple juice
2 tablespoon of clear honey
4 eggs beaten
75ml of Brandy
75ml of whisky
150ml of  sherry
100g of marmalade

Preparation:

Put all the dried fruit with the whisky and marinade for 24 hours

Add to this the bread crumbs, nut oil, apple, orange juice and its zest and all the spices in a large bowl and mix thoroughly

Put apple juice, honey, eggs, brandy, sherry and marmalade into a blender and blitz till smooth liquid

Mix with the dry ingredients

Leave for 24 hours , cover in a cool place

Grease two 500ml pudding basin and a disc of grease proof paper on the base of the basins

Divide the mix between the two

Cover the top with grease proof top with a pleat to allow for expansion, tie off and cover with tin foil

Put in a sauce pan or steamer and cook for 5 hours check water levels regularly.

Allow to cool and leave in a cool dry place to mature. You can eat them right away, but best left for a month or two to mature to enjoy properly.

Upon service douse with whisky or brandy and ignite until flames have dispersed. Serve with brandy sauce or similar.

Welsh cakes

This delightful little nibble is eaten all over Wales - and is considered a delicacy. It is however impossible to resist one once you have tried one -these are wonderful at any time, although arguably best at elevenses or with afternoon tea.

Welshcakes purchased from Cardiff Market

During the trip to Cardiff, I came across "fabulous welshcakes", a quaint shop in Mermaid Quay in Cardiff Bay selling a variety of welshcakes, including my favourite "Sour cherry and dark chocolate" which was positively divine. Others included "traditional" (see following recipe), and cinnamon. All of which I will bet were beautiful. The shop also sells a cornucopia of patisserie and teatime oddments, many of which i was tempted to buy. Congratulations on a wonderful shop.

The following recipe comes genuinely from a Welsh source, and having tried various welsh cakes during my birthday trip to Cardiff, I can vouch that both this recipe and welsh cakes are a beautiful thing.

Ingredients:


8oz SR Flour
4oz Sugar
4oz Butter (Preferably welsh). You can use margarine if required though.
2 Eggs
4oz Sultanas

Preparation:

Rub the fat into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, then form a ball of dough, using a splash of milk if needed.

Roll out the pastry until it is a 5mm/¼in thick and cut into rounds with a 7.5-10cm/3-4in fluted cutter.

You now need a bakestone or a heavy iron griddle, although a heavy bottomed frying pan will do the job. Rub it with butter and wipe the excess away. Put it on to a direct heat and wait until it heats up, place the Welsh cakes on the griddle, turning once. They need about 2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before turning.

Remove from the pan and dust with caster sugar while still warm. Some people leave out the dried fruit, and split them when cool, and then sandwich them together with jam.