Blackberry and Apple Streusel Tart

 
I've got another blackberry recipe. I tried to resist doing the
same thing but I saw them in the bowl and they were calling to
bake me. Also I needed to use up a BIG bowl of apples - and even
after that I had enough of the damn things for 2 litres of juice!
Anyway the pastry is really delicate so if you try rolling it out
within to pieces of baking floured parchment as I found out the
hard way, it's a lot easier. You could have this for other fruit
in season: blueberries and peaches would be good or maybe an all
nut one; seems like another post. If you try another idea tell me
how it went! Now for the recipe...


















For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups or 150g flour
1/3 cup or 80g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup or 25g confectioners/icing sugar
1/4 cup or 25g corn flour/ maize starch
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp water

For the filling:
5 small or 4 large cooking apples cored and sliced
a handful of blackberries
1/3 cup or 75g butter
1/2 cup or 90g brown sugar

For the streusel:
1/3 cup or 40g flour
2 tbsp or 30g butter
2 tbsp or 20g brown sugar
21/4 cup or 20g rolled oats

1. Sift together the flour, icing sugar and corn flour then rub
together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg
yolk and water and mix until it comes together and form into a
ball. Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 390 F Put the pastry in the
freezer for 5 minutes while you grease the tart case. Take the
pastry out of the freezer, roll it out and put it in the case.
Blind bake it for 15 minutes, then remove the lining and bake for
another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

2. Put the butter in the saucepan along with the sugar and apples
and cook until soft but still whole. Pour into the tart case
making sure not to get any of the butter mixture in and top with
the blackberries.

3. Rub all of the streusel ingredients togther until chunky and
top the tart. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Blackberry and Vanilla Cupcakes

If you read last weeks post you'll know I went blackberry picking. I used them almost all up in that sorbet and had the rest with yoghurt and muesli for breakfast. I went out picking again and thought I'd make some blackberry cupcakes - I think I'm having a blackberry craze! I've used my usual cupcake batter recipe but I've filled them with blackberry jam and topped them with blackberries. It seems like a lot of work but you don't have to make the jam, although it is nice homemade, and the cupcake batter is really easy. Make sure you use firm, dry blackberries for the top or they'll leech their juice into the frosting.

Makes 9 cupcakes

For the batter:

3.5 oz or 100g butter, softened and cut up into cubes

3/4 cup or 150g caster sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 1/4 cups or 150g self-raising flour

2 eggs

For the jam:

10.6 oz or 300g blackberries

1 cup or 200g granulated sugar

For the Italian meringue buttercream:

2 egg whites

2 tbsp or 20g caster sugar

1/2 cup or 100g caster sugar

1/8 cup & 2 tsp or 40 ml water

7 oz or 200g butter, softened and cut into cubes

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla pod

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C or 355 F and line a bun tin with 9 paper cases. Place all of the cupcake batter ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth. Use an ice cream scoop to evenly spread the batter between cupcakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes and leave to cool.

2. Wash the blackberries then place them in a blender. Put the pulp in a fruit juicer/coulis maker or press through a fine sieve to remove any seeds. Measure 250 ml or 1 cup of fruit puree and pour into a saucepan reserving 2 tbsp for the buttercream and add the sugar. Boil until when the jam is dropped onto a spoon that has been placed in the freezer and a finger is pushed through the jam it wrinkles. Leave to cool.

3. Whisk the eggs until stiff then slowly add the caster sugar until thick and glossy. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until they reach 238 F or 115 C or the soft ball stage. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites in a thin stream whisking constantly until incorporated. Now whisk the egg whites until room temperature and add the reserved blackberry puree and vanilla. Slowly beat in the butter until incorporated.

4. Take the cool cupcakes and make a hole in the center with the end of a piping nozzle. Pipe the jam into the cupcakes. Pipe the buttercream, either in swirls or little stars and top with 3 blackberries.

Blackberry Sorbet

Alas, Summer is nearing it's end. The last shriveled raspberries are hanging on the bush, the days are getting shorter and the days progressively colder. On the bright side the season for apples, pears and blackberries is starting. I was having a walk near where we live and in the hedgerow saw a bush stuffed to the brim with blackberries so I ran back grabbed a bowl and picked as many as I could. In the end I had a lot. So I thought I'd turn 'em into a nice sorbet. If you do by any chance have any Autumn raspberries or loganberries sling them in as well. Just make sure if you collect them from a road side you thoroughly wash them.

Serves

2.2 lb or 1 kg of blackberries

1 1/3 cups or 300 ml water

1 1/2 cups or 300g granulated sugar

lemon juice to taste

1. Wash the blackberries thoroughly then whizz them up in a blender. Now either place them in a juicer/ fruit coulis maker or press them through a fine sieve to remove the pips. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Slowly pour the syrup and the coulis into a different bowl testing for the right consistency when half the mixture is used. (You can test for the write consistency by placing a clean egg into the mixture. If just under a quarter of it is showing it's fine. If more is showing add more syrup if less add more coulis.) Now add the lemon juice to taste and churn in an ice cream maker.

Raspberry Marshmallows

Well, I've made my cordial now what to do with it? I could put it in a jelly, a drink - of course, or, um, marshmallows! I got this recipe are from Hugh, but there are loads of recipes for it. I just added a bit of cordial at the end for flavor and also colour, it gives a pretty pale pink. It's not hard to do but just make sure you're careful with the hot sugar mixture when beating it into the egg whites.

Makes 15 marshmallows

icing/confectioners sugar

corn flour/starch

vegetable oil

8 leaves of gelatine

2 egg whites

2 & 1/2 cups or 500g of granulated sugar

3 tbsp of raspberry cordial

1. Lightly grease the tray with the oil then dust it with the corn starch and confectioners sugar.

2. Put the sugar and 1 cup or 250 ml of water in a pan and heat to the hard ball stage or 122ºC. As the sugar heats up but the gelatine leaves in a bowl of water to soften and whisk the egg whites until stiff.

3. Once the sugar has reached 122ºC slowly pour it in a steady stream in to the egg whites whisking all the time with an electric mixer on low. Once the sugar has been incorporated beat in the gelatine leaves (discard the soaking water) and whisk until thick and can be barely poured. At this point beat in the cordial.

4. Spread it out on the tray and leave it to set somewhere cool but not the fridge. Once set cut it into squares and dust it with more corn starch and confectioners sugar.

They're good cut up into little chunks and skewered on cocktail sticks along with a couple of sharp blackberries that cut the sweetness nicely.