Hello friends, how have we been? I still feel a bit like I’m crawling through treacle - with the addition of itchy eyes since the council decided they would cut everything they haven’t been cutting for months and create a localised pollen bomb around our house, I constantly look like I’ve been punching myself in the face - however, the absolute bonus is that since Friday, I’ve had distractions…
Distraction #1: We’re 1.5 days into the Olympics and I’m already worryingly obsessed - prepare yourselves for the comedown guys, it could be mighty! I just LOVE the Olympics!
My only beef is that I wish I could watch everything all at once, instead I’m resorting to Olympics induced insomnia which involves catching up on the stuff I’ve missed during the day, at night - honestly, it’s a sport in itself being a spectator! Anyone else gripped?
Distraction #2: Besides my Olympic addiction my fruit buying addiction has also resurfaced. I’m not sure if it’s just a British thing, but as the summer months roll around, my compulsion to pick up almost every: stone fruit/berry/melon/tropical fruit/tomato (yess it’s a fruit), I see, is absurd. It’s like they’re all flirting with me as I mindlessly wander past them in the fruit and veg shop, and I have zero willpower to be like, ‘maybe another time Mr Peach’, (just to be clear, I’m not a complete nutcase, I don’t ACTUALLY talk to the peaches… not all of the time). I guess my panic buying is somewhat justified by their woefully short season - I swear I blink each year and the moment has passed. So I’m spending most days overeating fruit (not too much of a bad thing although, pray for my teeth), trying to shoehorn them into any bake I can, and with a hefty dent to my bank balance this month (actually very annoying, and sort of unsustainable - must try to rein this in!)
I mentioned Summer just then… LOL - what Summer? It pretended it was here again for a moment last week and then buggered off again. More drizzle, more grey, eurgh.
In fact mega-eurgh, washed my hair on Wednesday afternoon, subsequently walked dog in the drizzle (super) then just to add insult to injury, fried fish for dinner so my fresh mane was instantly a frizzy, fishy mop - life can be so CRUEL sometimes, eh?
In other news - oh, oh - I have a lovely story for you - last Saturday, I saw a lady called Christian Lamb, a British World War II veteran who helped to plan the D-Day landings in Normandy, interviewed on BBC breakfast. She had just celebrated her 104th birthday (she looked considerably spritelier than I feel most days!) and in the piece she spoke briefly about her life. The 5-minute interview left me totally inspired; her adventurousness, fearlessness and zest for life was utterly infectious and I couldn’t help but feel totally inspired to simply embrace the wonder of life and find joy in the things I do. Her closing line when asked about her secrets to happiness and longevity? ‘A certain amount of alcohol and do something you enjoy, it’s no good doing things that earn you lots of money if you don’t enjoy them’ - how beautiful and pure and TRUE? I’m archiving that one!
… another lovely thing is when your house mate (aka Mum) gets back from a ‘night out’ (she went out for supper at 6pm) and returns home at 8:15pm with a goodie bag of cheesy snacks - the unidentifiable little blue number (possibly a Gorgonzola) she bought back was superb!
In terms of kitchen projects, there’s been a number of homemade bread-y delights in the form of bubbly ciabatta, and squishy white rolls - I just love bread so much (HAVE I MADE THAT CLEAR?). I also made ‘meringue/pavlova daisies’ last Sunday which you really ought to try (I’m hoping to nail down that recipe for next week’s newsletter!) AND…. I finished my choux bun experiments - I’m so happy with them, I filled six super-tasty choux bun shells with a peachy compote and some whipped white chocolate cream and OMG, they were heaven - the recipe is below, and I can’t wait for you to try them! Oh, and whilst I was playing with chocolate, I decided to make some mini white chocolate ganache pots that I topped with cherries and subsequently ate with amaretti - they were magical so I’ve popped that recipe below too!!!
Right, I think that’s about all I have to report this week - I know, you’re all asleep again, aren’t you? Sorry! I hope you’re all doing OK, and without further ado, let’s get on with the good stuff…
As ever I’m sending so much love and big hugs,
Steph X X X
White chocolate pots
If you like the idea of a creamy soft-set milky bar situation… with a hint of sophistication in the form of lemon zest and a side of cherries and amaretti, then this one is for you. It’s a summer-y spoonful of nice.
This is adapted from two similar recipes, one by Rav Gill and the other from Waitrose online. My version sits somewhere between the two in terms of the ratio of white chocolate to double cream - I found that this yields a lovely soft set. The methods implemented vary slightly too; Rav heats her cream (with a dash of honey) and pours it over the white chocolate as you would a traditional ganache, whereas Waitrose instruct you to add the white chocolate to the warm cream (having removed it from the heat), I opted for the latter method (anything that means less washing up is a bonus eh?) - I also theorise that no cream will be ‘lost’ to the saucepan using this method and so the set will be a little softer, although I suspect this effect is fairly negligible.
You will also notice that I have halved the recipe - purely because I didn’t want any waste - obviously you could keep to the full quantities suggested in the Rav/Waitrose articles for more YUM. I really rate the addition of lemon zest, it cuts through the sweetness beautifully, PLUS a side of fresh cherries for a fruity hit and amaretti on the side for crunch make this a perfect summery sweet treat!
Ingredients
100g Double cream
80g White chocolate
Zest 1/2 large lemon
Cherries/amaretti to serve
Method
Heat the cream and lemon zest in a saucepan, once steaming (but not boiling), remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Leave to stand for 30 seconds and then stir until you have a smooth lemon zest flecked ganache. Pour into ramekins and leave in the fridge to set - I found this can take longer than the dark chocolate ones, overnight is preferable.
Serve with fresh cherries and amaretti.
Peaches, white chocolate cream and Almond choux buns
As alluded to above, stone fruit season is well and truly upon us, thus, they’re weaving their way into every ounce of my being at the moment. The most distinguished of these jammy jewels is, in my opinion, the peach. However, that assertion comes with one major caveat and that centres around their fickleness. I’m not sure if it’s universal across the world, but I find peaches in the UK can so often disappoint, no matter how tempting they appear on the surface.
The best peach I have ever eaten was from Borough Market in July 2019, shortly after filming for Bake Off had ended. The moment is firmly imprinted in my memory- it was a warm day, and I desperately wanted something fruity and juicy, this peach was so good that I returned the following day for another before hopping back on a train to Chester. What made these peaches all the more special was that their deeply fragrant and juicy excellence wasn’t guaranteed, thus my joy at unearthing a good one felt like a lottery win (ish!). All too often though, they can be underripe, pappy and flavourless, nevertheless, this shouldn’t be a reason to overlook them, a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lemon (a dash of something almond-y too) can completely restore their beauty. Roasting peaches is always a good idea in my opinion, but I also love to make a delicate peachy compote to serve with all manner of creamy things… and this week I’ve gone really fancy in the form of peaches and cream choux buns - the epitome of a luscious summer treat (you may just need to use your imagination with the Summer-y element). The compote is a simple mix of fresh, stoned and peeled, peaches blended until smooth and simmered with icing sugar, a splash of lemon juice to cut through the sweetness and a dash of almond extract which I find enhances the natural peach flavour.
The creamy element to these choux buns is a lightly whipped white chocolate cream - it doesn’t taste of white chocolate at all, but it makes the cream a little more stable than sugar and lends a more subtle creamy sweet note that I adore.
As for the choux - well… that’s a story in itself. I’ve been playing around with my choux recipe over the past couple of weeks and after various experiments, I have landed back where I started, I find that it yields a wonderful rise and delicate but crisp shell with bags of flavour and a superb, webbed centre. As you guys have probably realised, I’m deeply motivated by the notion that one can always improve on things - perfection is always my goal - however, I feel 98% satisfied with these beauties (the 2% deficit is because I haven’t tried every permutation and combination of ingredients, AND, occasionally the bottoms of my choux buns lift very slightly which doesn’t compromise their flavour or texture, but aesthetically I find it a bit irritating - I think this is to do with temperature fluctuations when baked but am yet to confirm it and given that my 28 year old oven has some quirks, I can’t be sure that she doesn’t have a part to play in this). One thing I have switched up here is the craquelin, I stumbled upon a recipe that used Demerara sugar over soft brown sugar and having tried it, OMG I’m a convert, it creates a streusel-esque tiger-stripped top to the choux buns that I love!
The culmination of these three beautiful things (four if you include the craquelin) is a dessert worthy of a crown. If you can’t be bothered making every element, I highly recommend each in its own right; serve the compote with yoghurt/porridge/ice cream, use the whipped white chocolate cream in a summer-inspired Victoria sponge, or simply make a batch of choux to marvel at the science and magic of baking - fill them with cream and drown in a saucy chocolate ganache - you’ll be a very happy individual!
Right, let’s get cracking…
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