berries | My Tryst with Baking

Yes, we have yet another post on Strawberries.My friends think I have a strawberry abuse problem…haha.Just make the most of what you can when you can, I’d say. 🙂

Apologies that I have not taken pictures for this post,I have a couple that were taken by my iphone which should give a pretty decent idea of how the dessert looked on the plate.We were having a very busy week and I realized it had been a long time since we had a special meal together.One evening,I decided to make a quick and easy meal which would also be a treat for the eyes.I love Raymond Blanc’s recipes and was quite inspired to make his version of the strawberry crumble.It has a subtle twist to the traditional Strawberry Crumble.

It was super easy to make and boy, did it turn out delicious.I would surely make this again, may be for a dinner party too!

Strawberry Crumble

Ingredients :
480 g Strawberries
60 g Caster sugar
2 tbsp Water
30 g butter
1 tsp Lemon juice
1 tsp Maple Syrup (optional)

For the crumble
80 g Plain flour
50 g Caster sugar
20 g Brown sugar
55 g butter

Instructions:
Halve the strawberries, place in a bowl and sprinkle with half of the caster sugar. Set aside while you prepare the crumble.

To make the crumble, in a food processor, pulse all the ingredients together to a light crumbly texture, then press together and cut into 2-3cm cubes. Place on a small baking tray, cover and freeze for 1 hour until solid.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Pulse the cubes of dough in a food processor to break into small pieces of crumble. Spread evenly on a baking tray to a 5mm thickness and bake for 7 minutes until golden brown. While still warm and pliable, cut out 4 discs with an 8cm cookie cutter. Bake these for a further 3 minutes.

To prepare the berries, put the water into a large, heavy-based saucepan, add the remaining 30g sugar and leave for a few minutes, then dissolve over a medium-high heat and cook to a very pale blond caramel. Immediately add the butter, then the strawberries, lemon juice and maple syrup, if using. The original recipe calls for kirsch, but I don’t usually stock kirsch, hence i have used maple syrup.Heat for 30 seconds.

To serve,divide the warm strawberries between individual dishes and top each serving with a crumble disc.I just made one serving with two crumble discs.
Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a dollop or whipped cream if you prefer.

Bon Apetit!

Meringues! They look just pretty and I seem to be drawn towards them like a kid to candies in a candy store.I first had these at a baker&Cook, an artisan bakery in Singapore, and they were just delicious.

Having stored a couple of egg whites to make macaroons, only to realize that the weather proved to be a dampener I decided to make meringues instead.When the world throws you lemons, make margaritas.
They turned out pretty good.Jeev brought them to his office and they disappeared quite quickly I heard. 🙂 The meringues melt in your mouth and….perhaps…….No one can have just one. 🙂

Makes about 30

Ingredients:

Meringues :
3 egg whites (108 g), at room temperature
approx 216 g caster sugar (double the weight of egg whites)
Filling :
250 g strawberries
200 ml heavy cream (30% fat)
1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence

Instructions:

Meringues:

Preheat the oven at 105°C.Line 2 baking trays with baking paper/baking mat.

Put the egg whites in a large, clean, grease free bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites at high speed until very stiff peaks form.

Stiff Peak Stage

Add half teaspoon of vanilla essence.
Gradually add the sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, else the meringue will get soft.

Use a piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle.
Pipe rounds on the baking mat leaving some gap in between.
You could also use a dessert spoon to spoon the mixture on the baking tray if you are running out of piping bags. 🙂

Bake in the preheated oven for an hour.
Turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside the oven to cool completely.This can take about an hour or more.

Out of the Oven

That’s me.Jeev’s first click for the blog!

Filling:
Crush the strawberries with a fork in a bowl.You can also use your food processor.

Chill the whisk and bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.Whisk the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks and then stop.Gently fold icing sugar,strawberries and half teaspoon of vanilla essence until well mixed.
Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to serve, spread a little of the strawberry cream onto the base of a meringue.Top with another meringue pressing gently.Serve immediately.