Poached Pistachio Sprinkled Apricots with Crème Fraiche

It’s a funny  thing,  we love these apricots from How To Eat by Nigella Lawson (1998), but I often forget about them.  (Actually I’m hoping this page may help me remember good things I’ve made.) Possibly it’s a side effect of cooking a lot, you forget about all the good things that have passed through your kitchen, and when you need a dessert or main for an occasion, or even just regular dinner any day of the week, you draw a blank.

Anyhow, I was flicking through How To Eat, and I had a bookmark in the page of the poached pistachio sprinkled apricots with crème fraiche recipe. Having  made them before several times, I could just taste them reading the recipe, could see their beauty on a plate, smell their luscious fragrance. The apricots are poached in a cardamom scented syrup, there is no booze, but it’s so intoxicating. There is a little sugar in the poaching syrup, but the dried apricots themselves are sweet so here I do go with the crème fraiche in the stuffing, as the sourness balances out the sweetness for a flavour sensation.  

 

This is not a quick recipe, you soak the apricots overnight. Make a syrup, poach them in the oven. Let get them become cool, then chill and later stuff with the crème fraiche, drizzle with the syrup and lastly sprinkle with some chopped pistachios.  This is the kind of kitchen pottering I enjoy most. Although I’m not knocking fast cooking, as it is most definitely needed in my daily quest to bring supper to the table… it’s just the kind I enjoy most is the pottering variety where it feels somehow special to invest a little time on something good to eat.

Nanaimo Bars

I love a good Nanaimo bar!

It’s the combination of the nuts, custard and chocolate.  Makes for a fabulous mouthful of joy.  I’ve made a few before and have enjoyed each and every one of them.  This version from The Boy Who Bakes by Edd Kimber (2011) has a softer topping than I’d come across before, but that just makes them all the more gooey and easier to cut.  

This book was Edd’s first baking cookbook after winning the Bake Off, there have been two more since; he is a great baker.

Buckwheat Triple Chocolate Cookies

This weekend's bake was from one of my favourite books of 2015, Simply Nigella by Nigella Lawson.  These cookies are sort of like brownies in cookie form, or maybe a cross between the two is more accurate.  Anyhow they are dark and delicious, not too sweet and they have THE most fabulous tasting cookie dough! Though, if you are worried about the raw egg in the cookie dough, just wait for the actual baked cookies!

Nigella made them on her Simply Nigella Christmas special episode, and they just looked so good, I had to give them a go, even if it is now February. It's still winter, so I'm reckoning that still counts. :)

 

If you don't have the book, the recipe is online here at Nigella.com

Nutella Cheesecake

This is one of my daughter’s favourite cakes!  Nutella cheesecake from Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson. It's luscious, rich and delicious, but still light.

 Last year she chose it as her birthday cake, so I guilded the lily a little!

Cappuccino Squares

Another bake from Rachel Allen’s Cake. This time Cappuccino Squares, coffee sponge, vanilla buttercream and chocolate flakes on tip.  Well, actually the chocolate bit is chocolate that comes like that in a tin from Hotel Chocolat, which I keep on hand for decorating sweet things.  The cake needs very strong coffee flavouring. 

After Dinner Mint Cake

These are lovely, we as a family, but particularly Sophie and I love mint and chocolate, so when I saw this in Rachel Allen’s Cake  (Collins 2012) - it was a must make!

The chopped up After Eight (mints) in the cake sort of sink to the bottom of the squares and give a gooey sticky layer.  I change the topping a bit by omitting fresh mint leaves and lemon juice and adding in more mint extract and a tablespoon of water. I also topped them simply with a quarter of an After Eight chocolate. Easy, but effective. :)    Must make these again soon! 

Recipe link here.

Linda Lomelino’s Pavlova

I have a bit of Linda Lomelino obsession going on just now. I just love her cakes, her photographs, her styling, her website and her books! Oh her books…..  This pavlova comes from Lomelino’s Cakes, 27 Pretty Cakes To Make Any Day Special  by Linda Lomelino. English edition Roost Books 2014. 

I made Sophie’s birthday cake from this book last year, and I’ll post it soon.  Today though, the raspberries in the shop were looking so tempting, I had to make the most of them.  I prefer raspberries later in the season, they are just that bit sweeter.

 

This pavlova tower is three small discs of cocoa and chocolate meringues filled with whipped cream and raspberries, then a nice sprinkle of green pistachios on the top layer as the final flourish.  Such a pretty cake. 

I couldn’t find the recipe online, but I’d recommend the book, it’s a beauty!