I have been waiting for this season - plums at their peak of ripeness, to make this dessert, that I want do it a long time ago. The recipe is from Gordon Ramsay, Britain's most highly acclaimed chef - the only London chef to hold three Michelin stars. Although Jamie is my all time favorite chef, but his recipe keeps me coming back.
It is quite simple to make this soup, you just put together Plums, orange zests, vanilla pods, star anise and cinnamon sticks, simmer for 10-15 minutes until the plums are softened, and blender to a smooth Purée, chill for couple of hours.
The dessert tastes like what it looks, have a warm, earthy taste. To finish it you just truckle some yogurt on top of the soup, and voilà. The simplest finishes are often the most effective, I can't agree more.
It's still summer time, so why not make something cold. There it is, the lollipop vision, use leftover soup. Just put some yogurt first, freeze for 30 minutes, then pour in the soup, and freeze again.
Chilled soup of pan-roasted plums
500g ripe dark red plums 3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted 2 cinnamon sticks 2 vanilla pods, empty pods will do 1 orange, strips of zest 2 star anise 200ml stock syrup 1 tbsp corn syrup 200g natural yogurt, to serve
1. Halve and stone the plums and set aside the 6 best halves to serve. Cut the rest into quarters. Heat a wide, shallow heavy_based pan until you can see a faint haze rising.
2. Toss the plum quarters in the icing sugar, then immediately tip them into the pan and spread out in a single layer, adding the cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest and star anise. Cook, without moving, for about 20 seconds until beginning to caramelise underneath, then turn to lightly colour the other sides.
3. Mix the stock syrup with 100ml boiling water and the corn syrup, then pour into the pan. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the plums are softened.
4. Set aside to cool, then remove the cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest and star anise. Tip the plums and syrup into a blender and whiz to a smooth puree. Rub this though a fine sieve into a bowl with the back of ladle. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill the soup until required.
5. When ready to serve, slice the reserved plum halves as thinly as possible and use to line the sides of 4 shallow glasses. Carefully pour in the soup. Stir the yogurt until smooth and runny, then Trickle on top of the soup and serve.
Stock syrup Using 500ml water and 500g sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the water in a heavy-based pan over a low heat, then bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Cool and pour into a jar and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
I'm sadly to tell everyone: I lost my oven. For me, living without oven is not imaginable, like i've lost a part of my life. Gladly I will get a new one, but the problem is when? It's probable at the end of this year. So from now on, the next few months I can only making desserts without oven. Good thing is I have been eating a lots of fruit I loved in this summer, Juicy white peach, sweet Lychee. And I'm not taking about lot, but double lot.
I bet you have had risotto before, but have you tried sweet risotto before? This sweet, creamy, rice pudding-like risotto is a brilliant idea from my all time favorite chef--Jamie Oliver. Fried the vanilla seed with butter a little bit, stir in the rice and sugar, and add the white wine, stir until it almost cooked away. Then add the milk little by little, keep stirring, after about 20 minutes, you have a silky, ooze risotto. Add the grated white chocolate, leave for few minutes. When you spoon the risotto on to plates, you can push a couple of pieces of bittersweet chocolate into the middle of risotto. But I think with just white chocolate is good enough. Instead mint leaves, I sprinkled chopped pistachio to add crunchiness.
I made another simple but lovely dessert from peach, with a little surprise inside of mousse. I add some chopped lychees in it. When people try the first bit, I see they had unexpected surprise on the face, then they are smiling at me. I think it must be extremely good.
White peach mousse with poached peach
Peach mousse 1 white peach 1 tsp lemon juice 35 g caster sugar 25 ml Brandy 1.5 g gelatin, softened in cold water 80 ml cream 4 fresh lychees with pit removed, chopped
Poached peach 1 very ripe peach 1/2 orange juice 1/2 stick cinnamon 1 tsp sugar
1. Coarsely chop peach, toss in lemon juice and process in a food processor with sugar, then transfer to a bowl. 2. Heat 1/4 cup peach with brandy in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the gelatin to pan and stir to dissolve. Fold gelatin mixture into remaining peach mixture and refrigerate for 10 minutes or until starting to set. 3. Whisk cream until soft peaks form, fold through peach mixture, add chopped lychees. Divide in to serving bowls and refrigerate for 3 hours or until set. 4. peel off the peach skin, slices the peach. In a small saucepan add sugar, orange juice, cinnamon and peach skin, put a lid on top and slowly simmer for 10 minutes, add the peach simmer for another 3 minutes. 5. Place some peaches on plate, drizzle over some of the juice, server with the mousse.
If you don't have lychee on your hand, the peach mousse is good enough on itself.
到家后做的churros,等到拍照时天已经很暗了,将就将就吧。 简单的说,churros就是西班牙的油条,甜点。炸好后在白糖里滚一下,沾着冰的巧克力饮料,是很好吃的。 Every town in spain has at least one "churreria", where u can buy lines or coils of fried doughnuts to dip in thick, rich hot chocolate or 'cafe con leche' for breakfast. ------ From Moro This time serve with chilled chocolate.
因为这樱花很珍贵,所以想让更多的人尝到它的味道。但是怎么才可以保证甜点在寄出去以后能完整的到别人手里,还要保持味道不变。想到很多种甜点,但是能寄出去的就只有一种: 饼干。巧克力味道是我一直想试的,翻了很多书找到一个,chocolate shortbread with cacao nibs and sea salt 巧克力可可豆饼干和海盐,直觉就觉得会很好吃。
I want let my friends to taste the cherry blossom, and can survive while being mailed. Got the idea from one of my chocolate book, it's Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs and sea salt, I think chocolate go well with it, so instead sea salt I put salted blossom on top of it. This is a grown-up's cookie: not too sweet, the nibs add crunch and the sea salt brings out the deep cocoa flavor. My fingers are crossed, after I packed and send them out, hope they can safely arrival. Few days later, friends told me cookies are still in one piece, and they loved it :) Try to make a new dessert, I can't think anything else other than spices. English cream scented with cherry blossom and cardamom. This cream is traditional made in england, similar to milk jelly and pannactta. While the cream is setting in the fridge, I baked a yogurt cake with cherry blossoms, and infused the milk with the blossom, add sugar cook until it's dissolves, after the cake done and still warm, pour the milk mixture over the cake slowly, allow it to soak in. Top with a scoop of vanilla Ice cream and blood orange lace cookie. When I taste it, I have not one, but two surprises. The scented cream is surprisely good, tasty than I expected, cadamoms are not overpowdering, and gives cream another lay of flavour. The other surprise is the lace cookie, it is crisp and have a little of bitterness from the blood orange zest. A happy ending for another day.
Cherry blossom cardamom english cream樱花小豆蔻奶冻 (Recipe by Faye)
2 1/2 cup 牛奶 1 1/2 cup 鲜奶油 3/8 cup 糖 6g 吉利丁 50g 盐渍樱花, 在温水里泡2分钟用厨房纸吸掉多余的水份 5颗 小豆蔻, 在烤箱里烤5分钟,碾碎
Cherry blossom cardamom english cream (Recipe by Faye)
2 1/2 cup milk 1 1/2 cup heavy cream 3/8 cup suagr 6g gelatin 50g salted cherry blossoms, soak in warm water for 2 mins and pat dry with paper towels 5 cardamom pods, toasted in oven for 5 mins then crushed
1. Put milk, cream and sugar into a pot and heat up. Add blossoms, bring to simmer, then remove from the heat and add cardamom pods, place on side infuse for 10 mins. 2. Meanwhile, soak the gelatin in cold water until softened. 3. Heat the milk again, bring to almost boil, whisk in the gelatin until it has dissolved. Strain the milk, pour into molds. Put in the fridge for at least 5 hours.
If you don't have cherry blossoms, use zest of 4 oranges instead.
1. Whip the cream until soft peaks and refrigerate until ready to use. 2. Combine the sugar and water and bring to the boil, when the temperature reaches 220°F, start whipping the egg whites, and when the syrup reaches 240°F, pour it slowly over the egg whites and mix until barely warm to touch. 3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let soften for 5 mins, melt over low heat. Incoporate to the chestnuts puree and vanilla. 4. Fold in the egg whites and whipped cream. Divide between the molds and chill for 6 hours.
Raspberry Swirl Brownies (Recipe adapted from Here)
brownie batter: 4 oz unsalted butter 3/4cup sugar 3/4cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4tsp salt 1/2tsp vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/2cup flour 1/2tsp instant coffee
swirl: 2oz cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 egg white 1/4cup raspberry jam
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 8" square baking pan with parchment paper. 2. For swirl: Beat cream cheese with egg white, until light and creamy. Set aside. 3. For brownie: Place butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter is just melted. Add the cocoa, sugar and salt, stirring, until everything is combined, smooth, and warm to the touch. Set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. 4. Stir in the vanilla and coffee with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, stir for another 30 seconds. Spread evenly in the pan. 5. Dollop about one third of the cream cheese mixture over the batter. Stir the raspberry jam into the remaining cream cheese mixture, then dollop that over the batter in blobs. Use a toothpick or knife to swirl the cream cheese/raspberry mix through the brownie batter. 6. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter (not completely dry), 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.
I got some salted cherry blossom about one month ago, and alway thinking what should I do with these ting little flowers. On top of my list is cherry blossom cake, but I have been busy this month, and don't want rush the cake, so I decided to try a simple dessert first.
Although I can't remember what cherry blossom smells like, but when I open the package, it's pops out, I knew that's the smell of cherry blossom. At first, I was thinking lychee will go well with the blossom, then I realized maybe the flavor are too strong for that, so I use sweetened azuki bean instead, it's has same flowery taste like lychee, but mild. I use homemade sweetened azuki bean, it's less sweet than store bought. After the meringue baked, I soaked up the blossom, whipped some crème fraîche, add in chopped cherry blossom. Top the meringue with azuki bean and crème fraîche, it's sweet, salty, tangy, crispy, creamy, and flowery at same time, lovely!
I'm very happy with my first cherry blossom experiment, and looking forward to have more fun.