apricot kuchen

apricot kuchen

22 Feb 2021

This apricot kuchen was going to be an apricot crumble cake but at the last minute, I changed my mind. I used Claudia Roden's swetschkuchen or plum kuchen recipe but instead of plums I used apricots.

The kuchen recipe is both simple and really delicious. I'd planned to add some grated lemon rind to the apricots but couldn't find my frozen stash so skipped that step. It was fine without but I think a little bit of lemon rind would have made this taste even better if that were possible.

I was worried the filling might be over sweet but in the end it was just perfect. Here's the recipe for you which makes a 9 inch round or an oblong tart. The number of apricots used will be determined by the size of the apricots but you do want the tart to be packed full of fruit.

For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Claudia Roden Apricot Kuchen
Ingredients
125g (4½ oz) caster sugar 
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour (or plain flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder)

1 tbs fine semolina
Pinch salt
85g (3 oz) cold unsalted butter
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1 tbs rum or lemon juice
6-8 apricots, pitted and cut into quarters

To serve

Icing sugar

Cream or ice cream

Method
Mix half the sugar with the flour, semolina and salt. Cut the cold butter into pieces and rub into the flour and sugar mix. Mix in the beaten egg (you may not need to use all the egg) and the rum or juice and work very briefly with your hand - just enough to mix it together - adding a little flour if it's too sticky. You can also make the pastry in a food processor. Take lumps of pastry and press into a greased oblong pan or 9 inch round tin with a removable base.

Arrange the fruit, tightly packed, cut side up on top of the pastry and sprinkle the remaining sugar on the apricots. Bake in a preheated 375°F/190°C oven for 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the apricots are very soft. The sugar draws out the apricot juices, which run into the pastry and makes it rise up between the apricots so that these are embedded in the light pastry.

Serve hot or cold with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop. Both are equally delicious.

See you again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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tahini halva brownies

tahini halva brownies

15 Feb 2021

I made a batch of these tahini halva brownies last year but didn't photograph them and they were so popular they disappeared in the blink of an eye. Those brownies were gluten free and were such a success I decided to remake them using regular flour.

I wanted big chunks of halva dotted through the brownies but disappointingly I find halva melts when baked. As a bit of an experiment I froze the halva pieces first to see if that would stop the halva melting. It certainly helped so I've added that step to the recipe.

If you want your brownies to be squidgy make sure to test the brownies at the 20 minute mark then watch like a hawk. When you insert the cake tester, you want a few moist crumbs to cling to it. Here's the recipe for you which makes a 7 inch tin of brownies. They're rich so I cut them into thin bars to serve. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Tahini Halva Brownies  

70g halva, cut into 2 cm pieces

½ cup plain flour minus 1½ tbs

1½ tbs cocoa 

pinch salt

125g (4 oz) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

150g (5 oz) dark chocolate, chopped 

⅔ cup caster sugar 

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

75g tahini paste 

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (conventional). Grease and line the base and sides of a 7 inch square pan with baking paper or aluminium foil, making sure the paper goes up all four sides.  Place the halva cubes in the freezer. 

 

Sift the flour with the cocoa and salt into a small bowl. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl placed over a medium saucepan filled with simmering water, stirring until smooth. You could also do this in the microwave. Remove the bowl from heat and allow to cool a little then beat in the ⅔ cup sugar, the vanilla then the eggs. 

 

Mix in the flour and cocoa mixture and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the batter becomes smooth and glossy. Randomly place the frozen halva cubes in the base of the pan. Spread the brownie mixture evenly in the prepared pan. Use a spoon to insert the tahini into the brownie mix in a few places, then use the back of a clean spoon to swirl it a little through the mix – not too much: you want it to be uneven.

Bake in the preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the batter in the centre of the pan is just set. Cool on a wire rack, then lift out of the tin and peel away the foil or paper. Cut the brownies into squares or bars.

 

These will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days but they also freeze well. I'm taking a batch of these into work tomorrow for a birthday morning tea. My workmates really love chocolate so I know these brownies are going to be appreciated.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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peach and blueberry cobbler

peach and blueberry cobbler

8 Feb 2021

Have you ever made a fruit cobbler? If you haven't, it's a fruit base topped with scone dough, a little like a fruit crumble. I had some beautiful peaches in the fruit bowl so I hunted down a peach cobbler recipe on the internet landing on this one from Curtis Stone. I downsized the recipe, reduced the sugar, swapped out the cream then added some blueberries to the mix.

As the cobbler topping is pretty much a soft scone mix, it's best to use a light hand when mixing to avoid a hockey puck consistency when baked.

I used a small cookie scoop to shape the topping but a spoon will do.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 4 generous servings. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Peach and blueberry cobbler

650g ripe yellow peaches (about 5) pitted and cut into eighths

¼ cup caster sugar

150g/1 cup blueberries

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch ground cinnamon

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp sea salt flakes

Cobbler topping

125 gm plain flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal (fine polenta)

55 gm (1/4 cup) caster sugar

1¾ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp sea salt flakes

60 gm chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes

125 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Place a 20 cm cast-iron skillet or ovenproof frying pan (I used the Lodge 20cm cast iron skillet from Everten)on a rimmed baking tray lined with baking paper. Gently toss peaches and sugar in a large bowl and set aside until peaches release some of their juices (25-30 minutes). Drain, reserving the juice. Add the blueberries to the sliced peaches and gently mix. In a small bowl combine the peach juice with flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, vanilla and the sea salt flakes.  Add to the fruit and toss to coat, then spread in skillet and set aside.

Preheat oven to 180°C. For cobbler topping, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and sea salt flakes in a large bowl, add butter and rub in until it resembles a coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. Stir in buttermilk until the dough comes together and no dry bits are left on the bottom of the bowl (be careful not to overwork the dough). Using a large spoon or ice-cream scoop, divide the dough into 13 rounds, arrange them on top of the peaches, leaving a little room between each, brush tops with buttermilk and bake until filling is bubbling all over and topping is a deep golden brown (35-40 minutes).

Cool cobbler for 5 - 10 minutes and then spoon into shallow bowls and serve with a generous scoop of ice-cream.

Still warm from the oven and topped with my favourite fior di latte gelato, this was a triumph. The filling was gorgeous and the juices had soaked into the scone topping. If you don't feel like making the cobbler topping, the peach and blueberry combo would make a delicious fruit crumble.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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