August - a month for home grown fruit
THIS summer we've had a bumper crop of soft fruits, with luscious ripe sweet raspberries and strawberries heading the list, followed by black and red currants, and gooseberries, almost as large as ping pong balls!
All these fruits are now in full swing – make sure you head for your nearest 'pick-your-own' fruit farm and pick fresh and early to get the best of these summer fruits. My favourite way to eat raspberries is very simple – sprinkled with sugar and a blob of fresh cream from my local farm shop, delicious!.
Plums are now making a steady progress on our markets stalls and in our farm shops, tasting and cooking better than ever this year. Having said that, this month I would like to share some of my favourite recipes with you using ravishing raspberries, plump juicy plums and delicious ripe gooseberries and, of course, there's never a better time than now for jam making!
RASPBERRY CRUMBLE CAKE
Ingredients: 2 rounded tablespoons ground almonds. 500g raspberries.
For the base: 350g plain flour sifted. 50g caster sugar. 200g unsalted butter, diced.2 medium eggs, beaten. For the crumble: 85g plain flour, sifted. 85g porridge oats. 110g golden caster sugar. Zest of 1 lemon. 125g unsalted butter, diced.
Method: Preheat oven to 200C, Gas 6/Fan 180C. Butter a 23 x 23cm Swiss roll tin. Put the butter in a food processor and blitz briefly until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add the eggs and process until just combined. Press the dough into the prepared tin and level it out. For the crumble, mix the flour, oats, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl, and then rub in the butter with your fingertips until crumbly. Scatter the ground almonds over the base in the tin, top with an even layer of raspberries and then the crumble. Bake for 20 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 180C/Gas 4/Fan160C and bake for about 30 minutes more until the top is golden brown. Leave to cool, then cut into squares and put on a wire rack until completely cold. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. (Can be frozen for up to one month)
RASPBERRY BRLE
This pudding can be made the day before it is needed, and is quick and easy to prepare.
Serves 4.
Put about 450g of raspberries in an oven proof dish. Cover generously with caster sugar and stand until the sugar is dissolved. Whip 300ml double cream until stiff and firm. Cover raspberries with this and then cover the cream with a layer of demerara sugar. Place under a very hot grill for one minute only, keeping watch all the time. Leave until cold, and then refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
This recipe came from my cookbook 'My Kind of People, My Kind of Cooking'.
15-MINUTE RASPBERRY JAM
This is my recipe for making a batch of quick and easy raspberry jam.
Makes approx, 3lb.
Ingredients: 900g (2lb) jam sugar (use less if fruit is very sweet). 900g (2lb fresh raspberries.
Method: Preheat oven to 180C/Fan oven 160C/Gas 4. Put the sugar in an ovenproof container and heat in the oven for 5 minutes; set aside. Wash jam jars in hot soapy water, rinse and dry well. Put in the oven for about 15 minutes to sterilise. Put a saucer in the freezer. Put the raspberries in a wide stainless steel pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the juices begin to run and the fruit is boiling. Add the hot sugar and stir over a gentle heat until dissolved. Increase the heat and boil steadily for about 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Test by putting a teaspoon of jam on the chilled saucer. It will wrinkle if it is ready and, if it doesn't, cook for a little longer and repeat the test. Remove from heat. Skim off any scum from the surface and pour the jam into the sterilised jars. Cover immediately. Store in a cool place.
PLUM SOUFFL TART
When plums are in season – or apricots – halve them and use them in this typical French tart - delicious! Serves 6-8.
This quantity of rich short crust pastry is enough to use for one 20-23cm (8-9inch) flan or tart. Ingredients: 175g plain flour. 110g unsalted butter cut into small pieces. 1 tablespoon caster sugar. 1 egg yolk. 1 tablespoon water.
Method: Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and rub into the flour with the fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre. Mix the egg yolk with the water and combine it quickly with the flour and butter mixture, using a knife. Press the dough together with the fingers. Turn onto a floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Roll into a ball. Wrap in greaseproof or cling foil and chill for 30 minutes before using.
For the Plum Souffl you will need: 2 eggs separated. 75g caster sugar. 2 tablespoons plain flour. 6 fl oz milk. Vanilla essence. 425g plums, halved and pitted. Icing sugar, sifted. Plum jam. Method: Roll out pastry to line a 20cm flan or quiche dish. Prick the base lightly and chill for about 15 minutes. Bake blind in a moderately hot oven (190C/375F/Gas Mark 5 for about 15 minutes until the pastry is set. Cook for another 5 minutes after removing the beans. Allow to cool slightly before filling and baking. Increase the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture forms a ribbon into the bowl when the beater is lifted. Add the flour and mix well . Bring the milk to the boil and pour it into the egg yolk mixture, beating well until blended. Add the vanilla and return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook gently, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and beat the mixture until lukewarm. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold then gently into the custard. Pour into the prepared flan case. Arrange the plums on the filling, rounded side down. Bake in preheat oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for a further 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the tart from the oven and dust with icing sugar. Heat a little plum jam and brush each plum with it. Serve warm or at room temperature.
GOOSEBERRY CLAFOUTIS
This simple classic French dessert is also delicious made with English Cherries or almost any fresh firm fruit.
Serves 6.
Ingredients: 450g gooseberries, topped and tailed. 300ml milk. 60g sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla essence. 60g plain flour. Butter and extra sugar. Icing sugar to finish.
Method: Butter a 20cm ovenproof flan dish. Place the fruit in dish and scatter over an extra spoonful or two of sugar. To make batter, place milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla essence and flour in a blender or food processor. Blend on top speed for 1 minute and pour carefully over the fruit. Bake in preheated oven 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 for about 1 hour until it is well risen and golden brown. Dredge with icing sugar while still warm and serve with whipped cream.
Fresh this month: Strawberries from Hereford and Scotland at the end of this month. Raspberries followed by loganberries. By late August blackberries will be in the shops and hedgerows. English plums and greengages will be at their peak. Best of all, crisp English Apples will be appearing. Mangetout and sugar snap peas. Runner, broad and French beans. Outdoor celery and tomatoes. Garlic, homegrown at its peak, and King Edward potatoes main season crop starting in late August.
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Weather for Sudbury
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
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Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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