Back to the back catalogue – the pasty test!

Moving on from “pasty gate” it's my turn to put my pastry and filling where my mouth is.

Let the test begin!

Here's the basic pastry recipe :

Pasty pastry

This recipe will give you four eight inch (20cms) pasties

450g/1lb strong white bread flour

large pinch of salt

100g/4oz of margarine (or unsalted butter)

100g/4oz lard (or Trex or Cookeen)

175ml/3^rd pint water

cling film

Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add 25g/1oz of lard and rub into the flour. Grate or slice the rest of the fats into the bowl and stir, using a round bladed knife. Pour all the water into the bowl and mix together with the knife. Keep the dough in the bowl and using your hand bring the dough together and knead using the heel of your hand. Tip the dough onto a sheet of cling film and use the film to bring the dough together in a fat circle. Wrap the dough twice in cling film, bag and fridge. Chill it for at least 30 minutes.

You don't have to use lard, for me and other vegetarians out there, use either Trex or Cookeen. The lard is part of the original recipe. I used unsalted butter instead of the margarine.

For those who are used to making pastry, no matter how basic, this will seem an odd method. I promise you it works. Not only does it work I'd say it's the best result I've ever had.

For example, it doesn't matter if you fridge it to chill for 30 minutes and, surprise surprise, you get distracted and remember two hours later. It does not affect the end result.

You can freeze the pastry if you want to make ahead. Take the frozen pastry out of the freezer the night before required and fridge it. It behaves impeccably – just as if freshly made.

If you'd like some help there's a photo guide on the blog – see Cornish Pasty Pastry guide link.

Then there's the filling ...

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The back catalogue – an ice cream and a new crumble

This ripple ice cream became a great favourite – definitely worth repeating!

Damson Ripple Ice Cream

I lifted the outer skins from the roasted damsons in readiness for folding into the ice cream. I have a useful piece of kit a pair of small tongs – absolutely perfect for this task – quick and easy – you don't have to remove the outer skin – I just thought it would give a better finished “ripple” effect.

It goes without saying that the ice cream base is my old faithful no-churn vanilla (see the Ice Cream label and Ritzy Rhubarb Ripple which gives the recipe) plus 300g of roasted damsons. Make up the recipe as usual but ensure that it's a stiff consistency – you need to make allowance for the fact that you are adding the fruit and will therefore loosen the mixture.

Crumble topping

This is a new version of crumble. Crumble is personal, some like it soggy, others not.

For those who don't like that uncooked line of crumble you always seem to get when baking straight on top of the fruit, then this is for you!

Serves 6-8

depending on portion size!

120g cold unsalted butter, cubed

120g plain flour

60g caster sugar

60g demerara sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Using a large mixing bowl, add the flour and butter and rub in until you have fine breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and combine. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet and leave to cool. Box and fridge when cool.

Here it is :

A buttery, biscuity crumble and no uncooked

layer in the middle!

Add to the fruit base when you're ready and pop into a pre-heated oven as above for 10 minutes.

Next up – the best till last.

Dids … the Sticky Toffee Orange “stand-alone” recipes

Just four elements – all can be made or prepped ahead, ready to assemble when you are!

The cake

200g pitted dates, roughly chopped

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

200ml boiling water

80g unsalted butter, softened

150g soft brown sugar

2 large eggs

180g self-raising flour

Pre-heat your oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4. You'll need a loaf tin – 24x10cms/9½x5¼” approximately - you can grease the tin or use a loaf liner – much more convenient!

Place the chopped dates in a mixing bowl, sprinkle over the bicarb and then the boiling water. Leave to stand for 10 minutes then blitz in a food processor to a rough purée.

Using a hand mixer or elbow grease if you prefer, cream the butter and sugar until thick and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and then follow gradually with the flour, finally add the date mixture. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes or until firm. Allow to cool. Double wrap in foil and store in a cool, dark place until you're ready.

Toffee Sauce

100g soft brown sugar

200ml double cream

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

40g unsalted butter

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring over a medium heat until thickened – 2 minutes. Box and cool, then fridge.

Both the cake and the sauce can be frozen.

The Walnuts

100g walnuts, chopped roughly

pinch of sea salt flakes

knob of unsalted butter

Melt the butter in a medium frying pan until it foams. Tip in the walnuts and add the sea salt flakes. Stir them for 3-4 minutes until toasted. Tip the nuts into a bowl and leave to cool then box and fridge.

The orange segments

I love oranges – what I don't love is the pith and tough outer membrane around each segment.

To achieve the perfect segment you'll need a serrated knife – I use a bread knife - CAREFULLY. Top and tail your orange and then follow the shape of the orange with the knife and peel away a section at a time. Hold the orange in your left hand and using the serrated knife – very carefully – cut along the inside of the white membrane of the segment - I start on the left side of a segment then repeat on the right. Repeat until you finish with perfect segments and the discarded membranes.

Reserve any residual orange juice to drizzle over the cubed sticky toffee cake.

You'll get 10 segments from a large orange – navel are the best. Prep your segments ahead, box and fridge until you're ready to assemble.

Assembly

A glass sundae dish is perfect – place the small cubes

of cake in the bottom, add a drizzle of the reserved orange juice

Add a generous drizzle of the toffee sauce, sprinkle over the salted

walnuts and top with segments of fresh orange

Finally and entirely optional, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream

or clotted cream or a generous glug of double cream – choose

your guilty pleasure!

This dessert is definitely “fly by the seat of your pants” the size of the portion is up to you – a few cubes of cake, a drizzle of this and a sprinkle of that, topped with fresh segments of orange and optional extras.

It's surprising how the simplest of ideas become part of your “go to” “never fail” file!

Up next … speaking of trifle

Dids – a stand-alone that never fails

Alternatively there are “stand-alone” dessert recipes that never fail. A pud that's designed to assemble easily with ingredients that you've made yourself and, more to the point, made ahead gets my vote. You don't want to be messing around in your kitchen when you've got your nearest and dearest arriving – time is precious – as we've all discovered in recent months.

I know this dessert works and ticks the boxes mentioned above. Our friends were arriving from the USA and we hadn't seen them for ages so I didn't want to waste time faffing. It was good fun – I'd made all the elements ahead and assembled the dessert just before serving - it went down so well they took photographs. Of course you can assemble ahead – it depends how big a party you're planning!

Here's my invention. It's my answer to trifle which I've disliked since I was a kid - for me it's up there with sago and semolina – horrid! The combination of chocolate and orange is another perfect marriage, so, if you'd like an antidote to trifle too, this could be the answer :

Sticky Toffee Orange

Make a cake – a cake that will freeze well – a sticky toffee loaf cake

Cut into slices – 1.5cm approximately and then into small cubes –

place in a sundae dish – warm the cake if you wish

Make a toffee sauce – one that will freeze

use the sauce warmed to drizzle over the cake (or over ice cream)

Chop walnuts, add a knob of butter to a frying

pan, sprinkle with sea salt flakes

use to sprinkle over the cake and toffee sauce (or

add to the sauce poured over ice cream)

Segment a large navel orange and reserve the juice too

That's the theory, stand by for the recipes!

Dids – the meringues and ice cream for the Susan

Once again you have options – you can cheat and buy tubs of ready-made meringue kisses. The quality of the ready-made varies, some are better than others, some are powdery and overly sweet, some not so but disintegrate as soon as you look at them – a slight exaggeration may be!

If you want to have a go and make your own here's my basic meringue recipe :

4 fl oz egg whites – from large eggs

225g/8oz caster sugar

As is always my mantra, get yourself sorted before you start whisking.

Your oven should be pre-heated 90fan/110c/Gas ¼ – very cool/very slow.

Cut your parchment to size for two baking sheets measuring 30x30 cms.

You'll need a large, squeaky clean mixing bowl, a plain nozzle and a piping bag. If you want to be sure you've got a squeaky clean bowl then wipe it with a drop of lemon juice and let is dry before use.

Whisk your eggs whites until they are stiff – the old fashioned way of testing whether they are stiff enough is to tip the bowl upside down over your head – if the mixture doesn't move it's ready! Add half the caster sugar and whisk again until stiff. Fold in the remaining sugar. Your mixture is now ready for the piping bag.

The great thing about disposable piping bags is that you can cut them to size. The end of the bag is snipped to fit your nozzle. Fold the bag over your hand – it enables you to have a steady hold on your bag. Spoon the mixture into the bag until two thirds full and gently ease the mixture towards the nozzle expelling any air. Twist the top of the bag and hold and then use your other hand to steady the nozzle end.

Place a tiny blob of mixture in each corner of your baking trays and “glue” your parchment to the tray.

Holding the nozzle approximately 4cms above the tray squeeze the bag gently and then tilt the bag away in an upward direction so that you create a little kiss curl – hence “kisses”!

Bake for 45 minutes.

Peel the kisses gently from the parchment.

This recipe will give you approximately 40 kisses. You can store them in strong ziploc type bags or in tins lined with parchment with well fitting lids. Store in a cool, dry place – NOT in the fridge and they'll keep for 2 weeks – if they last that long!

If you're stuck for something to do whilst at home and you're planning your own “Susan” it's your made ahead “store cupboard” element.

Finally, another make ahead store cupboard element, this time for the freezer.

Vanilla ice cream

Prep – 5 minutes

Total time – 5 minutes

plus freezing at least 6-8 hours

or until firm

Gives you 1.6 litres of ice cream is equal

to 18 scoops

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is quite thick and stiff, like pipeable whipped cream.**

2. Spoon the mixture into a lidded freezer-proof container and free for at least 6-8 hours or until firm.

** My variation – take a box of your Sticky Toffee Sauce or use a jar of shop bought salted caramel sauce (260g) and fold into the mixture to give a marbled effect.

I've made this ice cream so many times I've lost count – my tip is take it out of the freezer and let it soften a little before you serve it with your Susan.

You can make or buy elements – the world is your ice cream wafer. If you choose the make it yourself route the benefits are that, for example, the meringue kisses and the ice cream can be made well ahead, stored or frozen. All that remains is for you to arrange and serve your Susan with minimum effort and maximum wow factor.

It goes without saying that these are just a few of my ideas for a Susan – designed to inspire you to create your own!

Next up … a stand-alone, never fail idea