OF SOAKING FRUITS, MAKING WINE AND HOMEMADE JAM

Was that a weird title? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Let me tell you what I have been doing all these days, since last Thursday, since the last post of mine :-)

I have been trying to be proactive (what a change!) and preserve some fruits for:

1.Cake for which you might have to wait till December for the recipe :-/ . I you are impatient like me, you might have to be happy with my Ultra Moist Fruit Cake for the time being.

2.Jam

&

3.Wine : Uh-oh! Can't help but wait till December! :-/

The fruits that you see in the above picture are cherries and pluots. Pluots are a cross between plums and apricots. For me and Jobin, they tasted more like plums. So, it is tart and a bit sweet. They can be substitued with plums or apricots.

For this jam, you can use any fruits of your choice.

CHERRY- PLUOTS & GINGER JAM
I developed this recipe from the basic jam recipe shared by Helene on Facebook.




Ingredients:
Any fruits -1 kg, one variety or mixed. (I used a mix of cherry and pluots)
Sugar-0.5 kg
Ginger-a small piece, grated fine
Lemon juice- 1/2 to 1 tsp

Method:

• Peel (optional) and chop the fruits and transfer it to a heavy bottomed sauce pan .
• Add the sugar and mix well.
• Grate the ginger into it and mix.
• Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and then simmer on medium- low  for 1-1.5 hours or till the setting point *.
• Bottle it into clean jars.

* Setting point is exactly the stage at which you need to stop cooking your jam.To find out whether your jam has reached that stage, take a plate, leave it in the freezer for a while, pour a drop of the jam onto the chilled plate and touch it with your pointer finger and see if it's holding it's shape and not coming away with you as you pull away your finger.Start checking for the setting point after 1 hour of simmering.

Verdict:
I loved the addition of fresh ginger to it, it gets you back to reality when you lose yourselves in the sweetness of the fruits. A very simple recipe with endless possibilities!This recipe is a winner!

LAVENDER INFUSED STONE FRUIT TARTELETTES

Whenever we go grocery shopping, I pick up some fruits, mostly which are new to me. But sometimes, and this 'sometimes' happen very often these days that I pick up stone fruits to eat and I end up baking with it. Talk about the sugar dose that I need quite often! ;-)

Luckily, these fruits are very ripe and sweet on it's own, so we don't end up adding cups and cups of sugar unlike cakes (wait till the fruit season is over! I bet I'll be back to cakes!) :-) Well, I would like to call them as healthy desserts, though some of you might not agree with me :)

I always adored lavender. I love love love it's smell in soaps, talcum powders, body lotions, shampoo etc. So when I got hold of a bag of lavender, I treasure it like gold! They stay fresh for about a year! The cupboard in which I store it smells of lavender now. It smells so good! All those who haven't ever smelt it, go ahead! Try it for yourself and see!

Lavender adds a beautiful flavour to whatever it is added into. It is very subtle and does not overpower the flavours of the main ingredients, unlike a lot of other flavouring that we get in the market. I absolutely detest almond extract for it's very strong taste. Vanilla is my all time favourite and now, lavender too!

So, this was another dessert that I made over the weekend for the friends get-together. This time we had an overload of desserts! Sometimes all the good things come at the same time leaving us with no space for more!

LAVENDER INFUSED STONE FRUIT TARTELETTES
Recipe source: Helene


Ingredients:
Crust:
Unsalted butter- 5 tbsp , room temp.
Egg yolks-3
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Flour-150 g
Cold milk- 2tbsp -1/4 cup

Filling:
Peaches, red plums, black plums- 2, each (ripe)
Sugar- 1/2 cup or to taste
Lavender- 1/2 tbsp

Method:
Crust:

• In a mixer, whip the butter on medium speed until light and airy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add the salt, and all  flour, and mix briefly. Add enough milk to moisten it. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center.
• When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic to fit your prefered pie pan. If the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pan, just patch it with your fingertips. Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dy beans and par bake for 10-15 minutes until almost completely baked. Remove the weights and parchment paper. At this point you can refrigerate the baked crust for up to 3 days before using. Roll some extra dough to form lattice pattern on top if desired. You can also freeze the extra raw dough for up to three months.

Filling:

• Place the chopped fruits in a non reactive bowl. Rub the sugar and lavender together and sprinkle over the fruit. Gently mix with a spatula. Let the fruit marinate for about 20 minutes. 

Assembly:

• Divide the fruits among the tart shells, top with lattice if desired and bake 20 minutes. Let the tarts cool completely before eating. 

Verdict: A fruit lover's delight! I loved the pairing of the not-so-buttery crust with the tartness of the stone fruits.

CHERRY CRUMBLE

Burp! Oopsie! I should have known that would happen when I gorged on those red beauties. I just don't seem to get enough of it. Ripe.Sweet. Juicy. That's exactly how I would describe the cherries that we get here now. Too good! Everytime I buy them, I plan to bake with it. But it never happened until now.

As I picked the cherries and popped them into the bag, I was already making plans of baking a crumble with it. I can sometimes be so oblivious  because I am busy planning my next move! ;-)

I love warm desserts and cold too...basically I love desserts. So there is no way that I'll turn away from a dessert unless it has weird ingredients like prawns or something! Wait! I wasn't kidding! Last year we had a cake competition in Kannur and my mom participated for it. And me being an onlooker went around reading the name of the other participants and their cakes. My face twitched when I read 'Prawn and Almond Cake'. I thought it must have been a typo and it should have been 'Prune and Almond Cake ' (so much more soothing for the ears!).

Well, it was not a typo and when she presented her cake for judgement, we both could see bits and pieces of prawn sticking out of the cake! Eeeww! That was my instant reaction. I have no idea how the judges ate that! Anyway, my mom bagged the price and we went home happy! :-)

CHERRY CRUMBLE
Recipe source : My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
2 cups pitted cherries
1/2 c sugar
2 tbsp flour


For the topping:
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/8 tsp baking powder & baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted

Method:

• For the filling: Mix fruits, flour and sugar together and divide them among 4 ramekins.
• For the topping: Mix all the dry ingredients together and pour in melted butter. Mix well and top the fruits completely with it.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven  at 350 F /180 C for 35 mins or until the topping is golden brown in colour.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Verdict: I must be repeating myself,but I don't care! We loved it very much. I loved the crunch of the crumble topping and the sweeteness of the soft cherries beneath it.
Make sure you choose the right fruit,if it's over ripe it will be a mushy business.

NECTARINE & BLUEBERRY GALETTE

I love summer for 2 main reasons : Stone fruits & BBQ. I was amazed by the variety of stone fruits that are available here. Off late I have been hooked onto cherries and nectarines. I must have bought some 4-5 lbs of cherries thinking I shall bake with them. Unfortunately it all went into my stomach the non- baked way.

I made these the last weekend because we usually meet up with our friends for dinner. And it was my turn to play hostess. For me, I have to make dessert even before I start thinking about the main course and appetisers!I opened my fridge and I see the juicy nectarines and ripe blueberries sitting pretty next to each other. That's it, their fate was decided! So Galette it was!

I must not have done a very good job in stoning the fruits as they were so ripe that they got squished between my not-so-delicate hands ;-)

NECTARINE & BLUEBERRY GALETTE

Recipe source : Susan

Ingredients:

Dough:

All purpose flour- 1 3/4 c

Granulated sugar- 1/3 c

Coarse cornmeal-1/4 c

Salt-1/4 tsp

Cold butter- 1/2 cup, cut into small pieces

Butter milk- 1/3 cup

Fruit filling:

Fresh blueberries- 2 1/2 c

Nectarines - 3 , chopped

Granulated sugar-1/2 c

Light brown sugar-1/4 c

Ground Cinnamon-1 tsp

Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Fresh ginger- 1 tsp, minced

Cornflour-3 tbsp

Egg white-1

Milk- 2 tbsp

Sugar-1 tbsp

Method:

• To make the dough, combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl and mix well with hands. Add butter and mix with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Slowly pour the buttermilk and mix with fingertips until the dough forms a ball. Take the dough ball and adhere any remaining pieces of dough to it, then wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30-35 minutes.
• Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

• To make the fruit filling, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently, making sure that the cornstarch is coating the fruit. (This will prevent too much juice from leaking out while the galette bakes.)
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Starting at the center of the dough, roll out, forming a 14-15-inch wide circle. Place the dough with parchment paper on a baking sheet. Add the fruit mixture to the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the border over the filling, overlapping where necessary and pressing gently to adhere the folds.
• Lightly whisk the egg white and milk in a small bowl. Brush dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes. (Cutting it too quickly will cause the dough to crack). It's best served at room temperature or slightly warm. 

Verdict: Perfect summer dessert! I love the pastry, it was crisp even after I left it outside for 4-5 hours! You can use any fruits of your choice to make this dessert. 

Our friends loved it, infact one of them went home with 2 galettes! :)