Worry | Summer Fruit Millefeuille

[Note: This post was written at the beginning of January, however my brand new, shiny laptop broke down on me! Gah! Maybe I should be banned for technology. Anyway, if this post seems slightly irrelevant my apologies.] 

Positivity once came very easily to me, but now I find myself becoming more and more of a pessimist every day. And that bothers me. I was once described as one of the most laid back people, now I find myself in the alien situation of becoming one of the most high strung ones.

I have always been a worrier. Always. Infact I was once gifted these tiny little wooden people, all beautifully painted, that were called 'worry friends'. You were supposed to tell them all your worries before you went to sleep and they would magically help your worries disappear overnight. This worked for a very brief time until I lost them in a caravan in Wales, which is worrying in itself.

My new years resolution is to focus on the positive and to stop stressing so much. A task that might take a small army, but nethertheless that is my goal. Focusing on the positives also means, to me at least, looking back on the past. In this case looking back to the glorious summer we had last year. I'll admit I spent the majority of it wishing that I could move to Alaska to get out of the dreadful heat, but I did secretly enjoy it.

During the summer my sister hosted a BBQ party and for dessert she served the most beautiful Eton Mess, I plan on stealing the recipe away from her soon. The fruit was cloyingly sweet last summer, which is when it is at my up most favourite. The weekend after I was set with the task of producing a dessert that encompassed the flavour of summer, but I just couldn't get that Eton Mess out of my mind! And thus, this Millefeuille was born.

I loved this, I won't lie. I would have sat and eat the orange cream with a spoon if I was allowed. Maybe I did.

Summer Fruit Millefeuille

This dessert was based upon a recipe made by Gordon Ramsay and was available on the Channel 4 website but it has since been removed. 

• 320–375g ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry
• 3tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to dust
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 600ml double cream
• Zest of 1 orange
• ½ tbsp orange juice
• 200g-300g of fresh raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and red grapes

1) Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7.

2) Unroll pastry from packaging, roll out slightly and cut into 3 equal strips. Place the strips onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cover generously with icing sugar and bake for 8 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 200°C/Gas 6 and cook for a further 8-11 minutes until golden, but be careful! They can burn quickly. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

3) While the pastry is cooling prepare the cream. Add the sugar and vanilla to the cream ans whip until it forms soft peaks, be careful not to over beat. Fold in the orange zest and juice. Fill a piping bag with the cream (I used a large star tip) and chill in the fridge until ready to use.

4) Assemble the dessert just before serving to ensure that the pastry doesn't become soggy. Add a small amount of cream to the serving plate so the dessert does not slip. Place a layer of pastry to the plate. Pipe the cream in small peaks across the entire layer. On the outer edges alternate the raspberries, blackberries and halved strawberries. Dot the grapes along the center of the layer.

5) Take the next layer of pastry and, with a spatula, spread a generous layer of cream along the base of the pastry. Place it on top of the last layer and apply cream and fruit. Repeat with the last layer of pastry.

6) To decorate, sprinkle with icing sugar and curls of orange zest. Choose a large, good looking strawberry and with a sharp knife make slices a few millimeters apart. Gently twist the strawberry and place on top of the millefeuille.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Cinnamon Fruit Crumble

I figured that the first recipe I’m going post on here should be the recipe that got me into baking. Though I should probably give you some back story first. On one typical English morning our food teacher assigned us a job. The job was pretty simple, it was to decide what extra ingredient we should add to a basic apple crumble.

For as long as I could remember I have had a love affair with cinnamon, so that was what I immediately picked. It was only recently that I realised that nearly every apple crumble recipe in existence had cinnamon in. Maybe I knew what I was doing after all?

Probably not.

Regardless, I fell in love with baking that day. And I’ve never looked back.

Cinnamon Fruit Crumble

Ingredients:

For the fruit:
500 - 600g (1kg - 1.2kg) Cooking apples (If you end up with not enough apples you can always bulk it up with raisins or blackberry’s or whatever you've got in your house)
50g (100g) Sugar, brown or white it’s to your preference. I usually use brown.
2 tsp (3 1/2 - 4 tsp) Ground cinnamon
2 tbsp (4 tbsp) Water

For the crumble:
150g (300g) Plain flour
50g (100g) Oats (Optional - more often than not I leave these out)
100g (200g) Sugar, again it’s up to you whether you use brown or white. I usually use brown.
100g (200g) Unsalted butter, soften
1 tsp (2 tsp) Ground cinnamon

This recipe usually gives around 2-3 servings. When we have company around I double it (or when I'm feeding both my father and brother-in-law), the amounts given in brackets give around 5-6 servings.

1) Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 6.

2) Peal and de-core the apples then chop them into bite size pieces. Make sure they’re all around the same size as this will help them cook evenly. Try not to make them too small because when they cook they may turn to mush. If you have to add any additional fruit to get the required weight, do so now. Tip: To keep your apples from going brown, fill a bowl up with cold water and place them in there after chopping. Just make sure to drain them thoroughly afterwards.

3) Put the chopped apples into a large microwaveable bowl, with the cinnamon, sugar and water. Put them in the microwave for 10 minutes (add an extra minute if you’re doubling the recipe) with a lid. Do not let them boil. If you notice they are, stop the microwave for a moment and then carry on until they have cooked for the full 10 minutes.

4) While the fruit is cooking make the crumble. Add the flour and butter to another bowl and rub between your fingers until they resemble bread crumbs. Yes, this job is messy but stay with it, the end product is worth it.

5) Add the oats, sugar and cinnamon and mix.

6) When the fruit is done and has cooled slightly pour it into a large oven proof dish. Flatten them so they cover the base of the dish.

Then add the crumble on top.

7) Put in the over for around 20 minutes and rewarm before serving.

And ta-da! First recipe complete! I hope you like it, feedback is always welcome :). Thank you for reading!

Until next time,

Katie.