Tiramisu Trifle

I had a Christmas party yesterday and made a lot of festive food for the table which I will be blogging about throughout the week. Every party needs a dessert centrepiece and this year I decided to make a trifle. It was mainly inspired by the Waitrose Christmas Dessert Campaign. Their research shows that the top 5 desserts that people enjoy as a tradition in households at Christmas are the following:

• Christmas Pudding
• Christmas Cake
• Mince Pie
• Chocolate Yule Log
• Trifle

Which one is your favourite and what are you making this year? Personally I'm not a fan of the first 3 so my plan was to make either a chocolate yule log or a trifle. I'm planning to make a yule log for Christmas day so I started thinking about how to put a twist on the traditional trifle. Italian cuisine is ony of my favourite cuisines and if I eat at an Italian restaurant I will almost certainly order tiramisu for dessert. Hence my tiramisu trifle. Waitrose kindly sent me a gift box which included a gift voucher to purchase the ingredients for this recipe. 

This trifle is made with pears poached in marsala wine and mulled wine spices, chocolate panettone soaked in marsala wine, traditional custard and Baileys infused cream. This is topped with Christmas sprinkles from Waitrose. I debated about making a coffee jelly but sadly ran out of time. The trifle was absolutely delicious and really was the star of the day. It's quite boozy but not overly so and anyway it just isn't Christmas with a tipple of alcohol in your dessert! 

I'm sending this to Baking With Spirit hosted by Janine from Cake of the Week. The theme this month is Christmas and this trifle definitely says Christmas!

 Baileys, Marsala wine, Chocolate panettone, double cream, custard, pears, mulled wine spices 

 I've never tried a chocolate panettone - I have some leftover to make panettone bread and butter pudding - look out for the recipe 

 waitrose sells mulled wine wpice packs which contains everything you need to make your own mulled wine

 pour about 3/4 bottle of marsala wine and 100g caster sugar into a pan. Add the mulled wine spices.

 Peel the pears and cut the bottom of so that it can stand upright.  Place the pears in the mixture on a low to medium heat. Cover and allow to cook, turning the pears ocassionally.  Finally stand them up so that the whole pear is infused with the wine and spices. 

 Slice each pear in half and layer the pears on the outside of the dish

 they look really pretty from the outside

 add chocolate panetoone and fill the gaps with more panettone

 pour the rest of the marsala wine on top of the panettone and leave to soak 

 add a layer of vanilla custard - I love how it fills the gaps between the pears 

finish with a layer of Baileys infused cream just because it's not Christmas without Baileys! 

 with Christmas sprinkles. Looks good on the festive food table

 Here's what the rest of the table looks like. The Christmas banner is from Waitrose

Disclaimer: I was sent a gift voucher from Waitrose to buy ingredients for this recipe along with the Christmas decoration and Christmas sprinkles. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Apple and Blackberry Custard Crumble Cake

I made this recipe as a test for the recipe I was developing for the Sainsbury's 'apple and pear challenge'. I tweaked the recipe slightly for Sainsbury's but this is a pretty good recipe too. The inspiration for this cake came from Sunday lunch at a local pub where the crumble of the day was apple and blackberry. We didn't order dessert as we were too full but I decided to make my own apple and blackberry crumble in cake form. I added fruit to the sponge and a layer of blackberries on top. I also decided to add some hazelnuts to the crumble which gave it a lovely crunchy, nutty texture. The apples and blackberries paired beautifully and the hint of cinnamon really lifted the cake. The addition of custard and crumble appears to now be a signature bake for me but why mess with a good thing? 

 making the custard 

 adding apples and blackberries to the mix 

 more blackberries on top 

 crumble layer 

 

serve with vanilla ice cream 

For the cake

250g butter

250g caster sugar 

250g plain flour

4 eggs 

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

100g blackberries + 50g blackberries to dot on top of the sponge pre baking

For the custard

250ml milk

1 vanilla pod 

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoon cornflour

60g caster sugar

For the crumble

90g butter

90g soft brown sugar

60g ground almonds

80g jumbo rolled oats

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

100g blanched, whole hazelnuts 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Make the custard first by heating the milk and vanilla pod on a low heat to simmering point. 
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a separate bowl. 
• Pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture and continue whisking constantly. 
• Rinse out the pan.
• Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently until the custard thickens. You will need to stir frequently. 
• Make the cake mixture by creaming butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at at a time and mix well.
• Fold in the flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon.
• Finally add in the apples and 100g blackberries and stir by hand.  
• To make the crumble, place all ingredients except for the oats and hazelnuts in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the oats and pulse gently. Stir in the hazelnuts by hand.
• To assemble the cake, pour the sponge mixture into a lined tin and smooth with a palette knife.
• Sprinkle 50g blackberries on top, pushing them in slightly. 
• Pour the custard layer on top. 
• Then add the crumble layer. 
• Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 40- 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Apple and Pear Upside Down Custard Crumble Cake

Recently I was contacted by Sainsbury's to participate in their 'apple and pear challenge'. I was sent an Orchard Assortment box which contains 4 English apples and 2 English pears.  I brainstormed some ideas and as I couldn't decide what to make, I decided to combine a few favourite desserts - fruit crumble, upside down cake and custard! I made some caramel then layered the apples and pears on top. This was followed by a layer of custard, a layer of sponge mixed with chopped apples and pears and finally a crumble layer. At the last minute, I also decided to add some flaked almonds just to give it extra crunch and texture. The cake is served upside down and it tasted absolutely divine! The sponge was really light and the caramelised fruit and custard really complemented the cake well. The crumble and toasted flaked almonds made a really good crunchy base.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the cake and there wasn't a crumb left at the end of the day! 

The varieties included in the Sainsbury's Orchard Assortment Box are
Rubens - red in colour, this apple has a crisp, refreshing and sparkling flavour coupled with a sweet hint of melon
Jazz - A colourful apple with flashes of red, green and yellow, its flavour is characterised as sweet and aromatic with undertones of pear
Kanzi - Scarlet red in colour with a pale green background, this crunchy and juicy apple has a deliciously complex sweet taste
Cameo - This new variety is dark red in colour offset with orange flushes. Sweet, juicy and crunchy, topped off with a blend of honey and citrus flavours.
Sweet sensation - Vibrant red blush over a green-yellow background, this pear variety is deliciously sweet to taste and melts in the mouth when ripe
Concorde - A cross between Conference and Cornice pears, the Concorde is a green, slightly russetted pear with a rich, sweet flavour.

For this recipe, I decided to use the Jazz and Cameo apples and the Sweet Sensation pear as I felt the flavours would complement each other. 

 making the caramel for the apples and pears 

 cooking the custard 

 lovely caramel 

 adding chopped fruit to the batter 

 layer fruit on top of the caramel layer 

 add custard 

 add sponge 

 add crumble and flaked almonds (see instructions - I'd recommend adding the almonds at a later stage) 

 fresh from the oven 

  I love how you can still see the pears 

 You can clearly see the caramel fruit later, custard layer and sponge. The crumble layer is definitely there but you can't see it very well here. 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the caramel
200g caster sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 apples and 1 pear - peeled and sliced

For the cake
220g butter
220g caster sugar
220g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
chopped apples and pears (I chopped up the fruit leftover after layering the cake base as shown)

For the custard
570ml/1 pint milk
60ml single cream
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
35g caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour

For the crumble
100g plain flour
50g ground almonds
125g butter
35g demerara sugar
35g caster sugar
60g rolled oats

100g flaked almonds (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Make the caramel by placing 200g caster sugar and 3 tablespoons of water into a pan over medium-high heat. 
• Watch carefully until it is amber in colour - do not stir the mixture at any point. Take it off the heat and carefully pour it into a lined baking tin. 
• Arrange the apple and pear slices as shown. 
• Make the custard by heating the milk, cream and vanilla pod on a low heat to simmering point. 
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a separate bowl. 
• Pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture and continue whisking constantly. 
• Rinse out the pan.
• Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently until the custard thickens. You will need to stir frequently. 
• Make the cake mixture by creaming butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at at a time and mix well.
• Fold in the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract.
• Finally add in the chopped fruit.
• To make the crumble, place all ingredients except for the oats in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the oats and pulse gently. 
• To assemble the cake, add a layer of custard to the caramel fruit and smooth with a palette knife.
• Add in the sponge mixture and level with a palette knife.
• Place the crumble on top.
• Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Take the cake out of the oven and sprinkle flaked almonds all over the top and return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes or until the almonds are toasted and brown. [I added the almonds before baking but it browned quickly so I had to cover the cake with foil after about 20 minutes - I would definitely recommend adding the almonds at the end] 
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before turning it upside down on a serving tray to serve. 

Disclaimer: I was sent an Orchard Assortment Box from Sainsbury's for review purposes and a Sainsbury's gift card to cover the cost of the ingredients. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Rosemary Nutmeg Custard Tarts and a review

I was sent a copy of Pie by Dean Brettschneider to review. I jumped at the chance as I rarely make pies or pastries so I thought it would be a good chance to try something different. I chose to make rosemary and nutmeg custard tarts partly because I was inspired by this year's Great British Bake Off where one of the technical challenges was to bake custard tarts. I was also intrigued by the flavour combination.

My first batch didn't work as I decided to make mini tarts and there was barely any space for the custard filling. I ended up with burnt custard and uncooked pastry. I started again and as I didn't have any tart tins, I used a muffin tin hence the rustic look.

The pastry was really quick and easy to make and tasted light and buttery. The filling was full of flavour and you can definitely taste the rosemary and nutmeg. All in all, a great recipe and one that I will definitely use again but with proper tart tins next time.

The book is a lovely hardback with 219 pages in total. The font size is reasonable and it's very easy to read. The lay out is generally with the recipe on one side and accompanying photo on the other side. There is a short introduction to each recipe, ingredients on the left and method on the right. When required, there is helpful pictorials illustrating certain techniques.

The book is divided into 10 chapters: I've included a selection of recipes from each section that caught my eye (this is not an exhaustive list)

Introduction 
The history of the humble pie
Ingredients
Equipment
Meat Pies - classic bacons and egg pie, chicken and pork pies with rocket pesto and pear mostarda, chicken, cranberry and camembert pies (perfect for Christmas!)
Seafood Pies - snapper, scallop and chervil pies, spicy monkfish pies
Vegetarian Pies - tomato and thyme tarte tatin, swiss chard, squash and ricotta pithiviers
Not-quite-a-pie - smoked fish empanadas, strawberry, raspberry and rhubarb shortcake
Sweet Pies - prune, pine nut and pumpkin tart, dark chocolate banoffee slab, Lemon, olive oil and blueberry tart, key lime pie
Basic recipes
Acknowledgements

My verdict - It's a beautifully presented book which is easy to read and has lots of good handy tips. The author suggests keeping the book at your bed-side for night time reading and I would agree. It really does teach you all you need to know about making pastries and I think the variety of recipes is excellent. There's definitely something for everyone in there. I especially like the fact that there is a picture for each recipe so you know what yours should look like. I have to say my tarts look nothing like the picture in the book but they were very tasty!

 ready to make the pastry 

 heat milk with rosemary

 

Recipe extracted from Pies by Dean Brettschneider, published by Jacqui Small www.jacquismallpub.com

- re produced with permission

Nutmeg and Rosemary Custard Tarts

Pastry

1 quantity of basic short pastry or basic sweet pastry. 

I chose basic short pastry : 

160g plain flour 

120g butter

good pinch of salt

50ml cold water 

Nutmeg and rosemary custard tart

600ml full fat milk

1 large sprig rosemary (I used 2) 

6 egg yolks

75g caster sugar

1 whole nutmeg

To serve

Icing sugar for dusting (optional) 

8 tips of rosemary (optional) 

Basic short pastry  

• Place flour, butter and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Using your fingertips, gently rub ingredients together until they resemble rough breadcrumbs. 
• Do not over-mix otherwise butter will begin to melt from the heat of your hands.
• Add water and mix until a dough is formed 
• Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight. 
• Gently re-work pastry before using, taking care to ensure if remain cold and firm. 

• Make pastry ahead and rest it as required.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry until slightly larger than the tart tins being used, ensuring pastry is 3-4mm thick.
• Line the tart tins, ensuring that the pastry is well tucked into the contours and the edges are trimmed.
• Put these on a baking tray and chill for 30 minutes.
• To make custard, put milk and rosemary sprig into a saucepan and heat until lukewarm.
• Put egg yolks and sugar into a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. 
• Pour warmed milk onto the yolks and stir well - do not whisk or you will get bubbles.
• Strain into a jug and pour carefully into tart cases.
• Grate fresh nutmeg liberally over surface of each tart. 
• Bake in a preheated 200C oven for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 170C and bake until filling is just set and pastry is just starting to turn a golden colour, about another 10 minutes.
• Don't over-bake as the custard should be a bit wobbly when the tartlets come out of the oven. 
• The egg custard will continue to cook as it cools. 
• When tartlets are cooled, remove from tins and let cool completely on a rack.
• Lightly dust with icing sugar around the pastry edges, if desired, and place a small tip of rosemary on top of eaach.
• Serve at room temperature. 

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Rhubarb Custard Crumble Cake

My colleague has an abundance of rhubarb in her allotment this year and has been generously giving them out. I'm not a huge fan of rhubarb but decided I could bake something with it. I've seen rhubarb and custard cakes previously and whilst searching for a recipe I came across this rhubarb custard crumble cake which sounded heavenly. It's the perfect cross between cake and pudding and if you're indecisive like me, you get cake, custard and crumble all at once! 

The cake was absolutely delicious and received high praise at work. The sponge was light and moist and the custard layer sandwiched with rhubarb and crumble was divine. It's definitely changed my mind about rhubarb and I can't wait to make this again! 

Of course this fits in nicely with this month's AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month. The letter is R for rhubarb. Caroline from Caroline Makes is my co-host who will be hosting next month. 

I'm also sending this to Made with love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior. This cake is made entirely from scratch including the custard. 

Rhubarb is definitely in season currently so I'm also sending it to Simple and in Season hosted by Ren from Ren Behan.

 rhubarb... 

 ...coated in sugar 

 cooking the custard 

 ready to assemble the cake 

 start with a layer of custard on top of the sponge mix 

 add a layer of rhubarb 

 and finally the crumble mix 

 fresh from the oven 

 You can see the different layers in the cake - perfect with more custard or ice-cream or just on its own! 

Recipe from Bake for the Border

The only changes that I made was: 

1. To use 1 vanilla pod for the custard instead of vanilla extract 

2. To use approximately 350g rhubarb instead of 800g as that was all I had and it worked out fine. If you prefer more rhubarb and less cake then I would suggest halving the sponge recipe and using 700-800g rhubarb or use a very deep tin so all the layers will fit!