Bakewell Tart

Bakewell Tart has always been a favourite of mine

Shortcrust pastry, jam and Frangipane 

what's not to like !

but until recently I had never really thought to make it 

This recipe may seem long but it really is incredibly simple 

and the result is large and so will last you for a few days (depending on how greedy you are)

It is a great recipe for a school sale or coffee morning as it slices into neat squares 

This is made with a Pate Sablee

which is a shortcrust pastry made with ground almonds

but you can use regular shortcrust if you like 

PATE SABLEE

200g flour (plus 2 tablespoons)

50g ground almonds

75g sugar

160g butter

1 egg yolk 

Put flour, almonds, sugar into a bowl add butter and rub together until you get fine breadcrumbs

add egg yolk and bring together to form a dough 

(you can also do this in a magimix which make it very simple)

roll into a ball cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins at least 

BAKEWELL TART

150g raspberry jam

130g butter

160g sugar

4 eggs

260g ground almonds 40g slivered almonds 

butter a 34cm x 20 x 3cm tin and line with parchment paper

Remove Pate Sablee from the fridge and let it stand for 15 mins

Preheat oven to 170c (325 f)

roll out pate sablee to 5mm thick and line the baking pan

It is fragile and may break 

just fill any gaps with leftover pastry

prick the base with a fork and place a sheet of parchment on top 

cover with baking beans and bake for 15-20 mins 

remove from the oven and set aside to cool

for the frangipane 

cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy

add eggs one at a time beating after each addition

add ground almonds and combine 

spread raspberry jam over the cooled base 

Then add frangipane on top spread evenly

sprinkle the top with slivered almonds

(i didn't have enough slivered almonds for mine they are optional but if you have them they definitely add to the texture) 

bake in oven for 30-35 mins 

until golden brown 

makes 12 -16 slices and will keep in an airtight container for 5-7 days 

Stella Jean

 I have posted about Stella Jean before but only just came across her S/S 13 

images 

I love her use of pattern and colour

Drawing on her Italian and Haitian heritage

I don't think her line is available in Ireland 

but it is great inspiration for summer dressing 

yellow eyeshadow anyone?

I also love her A/W  collection below 

like J Crew on acid

Pantone App

I apologise ahead of time for the hours of your life you are about to loose to this App

Have you heard about the Pantone App????

I am slightly obsessed

discovered it last night through Pinterest 

you can upload pictures and create palettes

or simply create palettes without an image

Yes the colours are NOT true to pantone

and they differ slightly from screen to screen

BUT

what an amazing tool

a great starting point 

or way to "jot" down a palette when you see 

an interesting one on the street  

Colour is transformative

and this is a great way to keep a record and play with it too

you can then keep them in the App or email them to yourself

I have a feeling this is going to have a BIG role in my life from now on

x

Bread

Yesterday I made bread,
I am passionate about bread
flour, water, yeast, salt
and the variations are endless

I am a big fan of No Knead bread which I wrote about
HERE
This bread is delicious
crusty, a little bit sour, a grown up complex flavoured chewy bread
Great,
But sometimes you want something else from your bread
and I found traditional (kneaded yeast bread)
had never given me results I was particularly proud of
So, I set about experimenting with some different methods and advice
and yesterdays results are worth talking about
An incredibly light soft bread with a crisp but light crust

This is what I did
(you will need a cast iron lidded pot)

1lb of Bread Flour
1 packet dried yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt

add enough luke warm water to get a VERY sticky dough
This is the difference between a light or a heavy loaf (this and the kneading)
sprinkle a small amount of flour onto your board and turn out your wet dough

now you "knead"
as the dough is so sticky this is a messy job
but it is not diffcult
basically you want to stretch your dough
pull it toward you and slap it back on itself
repeat this motion for about 10 mins until your dough becomes
stretchy and smooth
every couple of minutes you can scrape the dough together using
a dough scraper
available here
when you have a stretchy smooth dough 
form it into a ball tucking it under itself
and turning over

place in an oiled bowl and leave covered to prove somewhere warm for 3 hours

return to your dough which should have doubled in size  and turn it on to a floured board
stretch the bottom of dough out and fold it back in to the centre
pushing it down hard with your fingers
stretch the top of the dough and fold over the seam again pressing
the dough into itself with your fingers

turn your dough 90 degrees clockwise and repeat
now leave to rise again for up to 2 hours
The longer you leave it the more complex the flavour

20 mins before you want to bake it
heat your oven to 250c  with your cast iron pot inside
When you are ready to bake
remove crock pot .....carefully it will be HOT
lift your dough in with the seam on the bottom
slash the top of your dough
place lid on
bake for 30 mins
remove bread from pot and bake a further 10 mins
(times will vary depending on your oven out this is a rough guide)

leave to cool .......
 EAT

If you are a fan of bread I highly recommend the
Tartine Bread Book
Chad the owner of Tartine is truly obsessed with bread
he uses a starter in his bread making
I have dabbled in starters but never truly been bitten by that bug
......... I think it may be time to investigate further

If you have never seen it
this Tartine video is excellent
and in it you can see the dough is wet light and sticky
which is exactly what you are looking for 

TARTINE VIDEO

UPDATE: just found out Chad of Tartine is coming to Ballymaloe in
August for a 1 day demonstration,
I have booked my place
have you?
click here to book

The garden

The weather is perfect for pruning

warm, dry (ish) 

I have spent most of the day and a good day last weekend back out in the garden

That first work day of the year is a momentous one for any gardener

As you see the first shoots peeking up 

the ground is warming

the garden is waking up and so to do my gardeners fingers

Have you been watching Monty Don's French gardens on BBC

Last night he was talking about secateurs and how they changed the way we garden

Invented in 1818 by a French Noble man called 

Marquis Betrand de Molleville

who fled to England during the French revolution

Secateurs gave gardeners a way to make a clean cut with less force and 

get into places that were previously unreachable

 They literally shaped they way people gardened 

and still do today 

 

While everything is looking a little bleak in the garden right now 

there is something so promising about those bright green spikes poking through the debris

and it reminds me of what I can look forward too

 foxgloves in the garden last summer

last June in the garden

Clematis  and honeysuckle

The resolve and promises that this year it will be different

I will weed once a week

I will remember to stagger my seed planting

I will clump plants together to create impact

I will clear another patch of border from the grass

I will finally get around to reclaiming the vegetable patch ...........

well, I may achieve one of these

but the great thing about gardens is 

whatever I do, whether I procrastinate or not the garden will do it's thing 

the plants are not waiting for me to make a decision 

they are getting on with the business of growing 

I look forward to june and july when I can sit and look again at a green patch bursting with life 

but for now I am content with the promise 

 

Keith McNally London Home

This Month's House and Garden is a cracker.

Is it me or is this publication getting better and better

I was both surprised and delighted to find amongst it's pages photograph's

of the Home of Keith McNally

I have never seen press on any of his homes before

If you don't know who Keith McNally is then you are certainly not a New Yorker 

and if you have ever visited NYC then you have certainly eaten in one of his Restaurants

Balthazar

Pastisse

Schiller's

The list is extensive 

(for a full list and an interesting article on Keith you can go HERE)

And now he has returned to his place of birth, London and opened up a London Balthazar

Keith just gets it right every time

One of things that is mentioned in the H&G article and that I have always felt 

"it is key to his restaurants that while they are stylish they are never elite"

I think Keith changed the way we eat, the way we socialise.

He levelled the playing field in a way 

His restaurants are not inaccessible 

Ok, they may be pricey for some pockets and we're not eating there every day 

but what I mean is 

Prior to the Reign of Keith 

hip restaurants were stiff, extortionately  expensive and elite 

His restaurants changed that

 and his house is just as stylish as you would expect 

all images are from the pages of House and Garden 
Photographer Simon Upton

Also IN H&G this month is a beautiful home in London belonging to the founder of

Made.com

and a beautiful award winning home belonging to Sebastien and Lucy Fenwick

I highly recommend you hit your news stands and purchase it

just in case you are wondering 

this is my opinion and NOT at all, in any way paid for or endorsed by anyone 

as is everything I post on my blog

Buttery shortbread

OK, so most people will be posting ways to help you cleanse or detox

But I say what better way to start the year than with the recipe for crumbliest butteriest shortbread

You can make this keep it chilled in your fridge and slice, cook serve mouth melting cookies with the click of a perfectly manicured finger

RECIPE

100g sugar

180g plain flour

120g corn flour (cornstarch)

200g soft butter*

METHOD

throw everything into your food processor and blitz until it starts to form a dough

alternatively

throw everything into a bowl and rub with your fingers until it starts to come together

You do not want to overwork this dough

a light hand equals a crumbly cookie

tip mixture which may be breadcrumby and not quite like a dough into 2 freezer bags 

I use a 1kg bag that measures 25cm across the bottom

You can use clingfilm but I like the freezer bags as everything is contained and you can squish the dough together without fear of crumbs escaping

now squish the dough down and form into a cylinder 

now chill for at least 20 mins but up to a week (probably last longer than that really)

when you are ready to eat your cookies

preheat oven to 160c

cut cylinder into 1cm discs and lay on an ungreased cookie sheet

bake in the oven for 20 mins or until just turning golden at the edges

turn oven off, leave door ajar and leave the cookies to cool in the oven 

this will make them really dry and crumbly

you can dust with icing sugar

a few of these plonked in a Kilner jar 

make a wonderful hostess gift 

let me know if you make these 

and how you get on