Rhubarb Fool

There’s no fool like a rhubarb fool, and now is the time for it. The arrival of rhubarb in the market always cheers me. Spring is here!

This British __dessert goes way back — we’re talking about a few hundred years — and it was originally made with custard and pureed fruits, most notably gooseberries.

I’ve lightened it up with whipped cream instead of the custard and swapped the gooseberries for seasonal rhubarb. It’s an easy-peasy __dessert for a weeknight dinner or a spring party!

I like to add a little sour cream to the whipped cream in my fools — it gives the dessert some tang and also helps stabilize the cream to keep it from weeping.

Cream always whips better in a chilled bowl, but if you forget to chill it, just swirl some ice cubes and cold water in a metal bowl and then dry thoroughly before whipping the cream.

Too often rhubarb’s bright pink washes out in a profusion of juice and turns a disappointing gingery brown in the cooking process, but I think I finally solved that problem.

To preserve its rosy color, cook the rhubarb very briefly in a wide pan to facilitate evaporation, and immediately transfer it to a bowl to finish cooking off the heat.

Rosewater, available in Middle Eastern and Indian grocery stores and online, adds a romantic touch. But it’s fine to skip it if you don’t have any in your kitchen or have trouble finding it.

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How To Make French Crêpes

For a dish that seems so fancy, crepes are surprisingly easy to make at home. After all, they are just thin pancakes – but oh, what pancakes!

The ancient origins of crepes are found in Brittany on the coast of France, where their popularity spread to make them one of today’s most beloved national dishes. Crepes can veer sweet or savory with plenty of filling options for either.

Forget about intimidating chef skills or fancy equipment. Crepes require only patience. Once you get the hang of making them, there is no stopping you.

For the best results when making crepes, use an 8- to 10-inch non-stick skillet or a seasoned crepe pan. A stainless steel pan may present sticking problems unless it is very well seasoned. A seasoned cast-iron pan may work, but it is heavy and hard to manipulate quickly.

Whip up the smooth batter of eggs, flour and milk in a blender for best results. The batter should be the consistency of heavy cream when you begin cooking the crepes. If it thickens too much while it sits, just stir in a bit more milk. (The flour will thicken the batter the longer it sits, just like with regular pancake batter.)

The batter can also be prepared and kept refrigerated for up to three days.

The crepes I’m making with this recipe are sweetened with sugar, but if you’d like to make them savory, just omit the sugar. You could also experiment with adding other flours, such as a combination of white and whole wheat flour. Savory crepes from Brittany are traditionally made with buckwheat flour! You may need to adjust the quantity of milk when working with whole grain flours to get the right consistency.

Sweet or savory, the technique for making crepes is simple: Heat the pan over medium-high heat and rub it with butter from the end of a stick (to add flavor and color). Ladle about 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan, then immediately pick up the pan and tilt it to spread the batter over the bottom of the pan.

Return the pan to the heat for one to two minutes, or just until the bottom of the crepe is browned and the top surface looks set. Slide a rubber spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen the crepe and flip it to the other side using either your fingers or the spatula. Another 30 seconds and your crepe will be done.

As each crepe is cooked, stack it on a plate with the others. Keep cooking until the batter is used, then eat! Cooked and cooled crepes can also be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to a week. Reheat them in the oven or in a hot pan before filling and serving.

Now comes the fun part: the filling!

Hot from the pan, sweet crepes can be simpy slathered with butter and sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice. Or you could spread them with your favorite jam and roll up for a quick snack or breakfast treat.

Some more decadent filling ideas include sweetened ricotta and peaches, mascarpone and berries, Nutella, peanut butter or nut butter, whipped cream and chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream and candied pecans with maple syrup.

Fill savory crepes with ham and cheese, cooked asparagus and cheese, mushrooms and shallots, bacon and eggs, brie and pear, smoked fish and potatoes—the list goes on. And on.

If you can’t get to Paris and stop at every corner for a crepe snack, you certainly can have your own little crêperie at home!

Bon appetit!

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Tasty Tuscan tart

“I love the way the juicy fruit cuts through the rich chocolate – an outrageous treat ”

375 g sweet pastry

2-3 Williams pears , peeled and quartered

4 tablespoons caster sugar

300 ml single cream

200 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

30 g unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Roll out the shortcrust pastry to form a rectangular shape just under 1cm thick, using flour to dust. Place on a clean, flat baking tray and pinch the pastry around the edge with your thumb and forefinger to create a sort of lip.
2. Remove the core, and slice each pear quarter into 3. Sprinkle with half the caster sugar and rest for 1 minute before scattering the pears on top of the pastry. Bake for around 18 minutes, or until golden. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat the cream until nearly boiling, remove from the heat and rest for a minute before snapping in your chocolate. Stir until melted and smooth, then add the remaining sugar and the butter. Pour carefully from the middle, covering the pears, and try not to let the chocolate go over the edge. Allow to cool briefly before popping into the fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Cut into squares or fingers... and get stuck in!

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The world-famous tarte Tatin

“Light, golden puff pastry with soft juicy fruit and crisp caramel is a great combination! ”

plain flour , for dusting

500 g puff pastry

5 small eating apples , approximately 800g, a mixture of sweet and acidic varieties

100 g golden caster sugar

100 ml Calvados

1 vanilla pod , halved lengthways, seeds scraped out

50 g butter , cubed

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 190˚C/375˚F/gas 5. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out your puff pastry until it’s just over 0.5cm thick. This will be enough to cover the ovenproof frying pan you’ll be cooking the tarte Tatin in, leaving about 5cm extra around the edge. Put the pastry to one side for now. Peel your apples, then halve them horizontally and use a teaspoon to get rid of the seeds and core.
2. Put the ovenproof pan on a medium heat and add the sugar, Calvados, vanilla seeds and pod. Let the sugar dissolve and cook until the mixture forms a light caramel. Just please remember never ever to touch or taste hot caramel, as it can burn really badly.
3. Once the caramel looks and smells delicious – it should be a lovely chestnut brown – add your halved apples. Carefully stir everything in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples start to soften and you get a toffee apple vibe happening. Add the cubed butter, then lay the pastry over the top. Quickly and carefully tuck the pastry down right into the edges – it’s best to use a wooden spoon so you don’t touch the caramel.
4. Bake the tarte Tatin for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden, with crispy caramelly pieces bubbling up from under the edges. Take it out of the oven. To make it look like a tarte Tatin you need to turn it out, which isn't hard – but you do need to be careful with that hot caramel. So get a serving plate or board larger than your pan and put an oven glove on to protect the arm holding the board. Put the board or plate on top of the pan, then quickly, carefully and confidently turn it out. Put it to one side for a few minutes, so the caramel can cool down, then divide it up and serve with a spoonful of crème fraîche or ice cream.

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Smoothie ice lollies

“These lollies with fresh and frozen fruit, oats, juice and chocolate are perfect for the holidays ”

1 large banana , or 2 small bananas

300 g frozen mixed berries

50 g porridge oats

400 ml pure organic apple juice

honey , optional

200 g good-quality white chocolate , broken up, optional

Method

1. Place the bananas, berries, oats and apple juice in a liquidizer. Blitz for a few minutes until the berries and banana are completely smooth and the porridge oats are whizzed up. Taste for sweetness – if the bananas are lovely and ripe the mixture should be sweet enough, if not, add honey to taste. Divide the smoothie mixture into 12 ice-lolly moulds and freeze for at least 2 hours.
2. To give the lollies a chocolate coating, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a small pan of simmering water. Make sure the water isn’t boiling and the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, or you will burn the chocolate. Stir until completely smooth, then take off the heat and leave for 5 minutes.
3. Wiggle the lolly sticks to loosen the lollies and lift them out. One by one, dip the tips of the lollies in the white chocolate and leave to set for a few minutes before serving.
4. A fun, pretty way to serve these lollies is to cover some flower-arranging oasis with fresh flowers, tinfoil or coloured tissue paper, and stick the lollies in. For an extra-special entrance, pop in a few sparklers – but be careful!

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Summer fruit with amaretti biscuits and hot chocolate sauce

“Gorgeous fruit, gooey chocolate sauce and crunchy biscuits – you'll love this naughty little number ”

250 g strawberries , hulled and halved

150 g raspberries

150 g blueberries

10 crunchy amaretti biscuits

100 ml red wine

1 stick cinnamon

2 star anise

1 tablespoon caster sugar

5 tablespoons double cream

100 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) , broken into pieces

Method

1. Place the fruit in a large bowl and mix together. Crumble in the amaretti biscuits. Place in the freezer for about 1 to 1½ hours, so they half-freeze.
2. Pour the wine into a small saucepan and add the cinnamon stick, star anise and sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer until reduced slightly. Fish out the cinnamon and star anise and pour in the cream. Bring slowly back to boil, then add the chocolate, stirring all the time so it melts into the sauce. When the sauce is smooth, take off the heat and cover to keep warm.
3. Take the bowl of fruit out of the freezer and toss it so any bits sticking together come apart. Divide between 4 glasses or bowls, pour the spiced chocolate sauce over the top and serve immediately.

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Toffee apple tart

“My lovely, little-bit-naughty toffee-sauce filling makes this apple tart recipe a total winner ”

1 vanilla pod , optional

125 g butter

100 g icing sugar

sea salt

255 g flour

½ lemon

2 free-range egg yolks

2 tablespoons milk or water , cold

For the filling

2 tins condensed milk , or 2 jars Merchant Gourmet Dulce de Leche toffee

4 medium-sized cooking apples

2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar

Method

1. Put your unopened tins of condensed milk in a high-sided pan, covered with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer constantly for about 3 hours with a lid on top. It’s very important to remember to keep checking the pan, as you don’t want it to boil dry – otherwise the tins will explode. It will give you the most amazing toffee. Put the tins to one side and allow to cool.
2. First of all you need to make your pastry. Score down the length of the vanilla pod, if using, and remove the seeds by scraping a knife down the inside of each half (keep the pod for making vanilla sugar). Cream together the butter, icing sugar and a small pinch of salt and then rub in the flour, vanilla seeds, zest of the lemon and egg yolks – you can do all this by hand or in a food processor. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk or water. Pat and gently work the mixture together until you have a ball of dough, then flour it lightly and roll it into a large sausage shape – don’t work the pastry too much otherwise it will become too elastic and chewy, not flaky and short as you want it to be. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour. Remove it from the fridge, slice it up and line a 28cm/11 inch tart mould with the slivers. Push them together, then tidy up the sides by trimming off any excess. Place the tart mould into the freezer for an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Take the pastry case out of the freezer and bake blind in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Peel and quarter the apples and remove the cores, then slice finely and toss in the icing sugar. Remove the pastry base from the oven and smear the caramel from both tins of condensed milk over it. Place the apples on top and pour any remaining juices over. Cook at the bottom of the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, to give you a crispy base and bubbling toffee over the apples. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Beautiful!

Organic or free-range milk comes from cows that have been able to graze outdoors, and have had happy, free, healthy lives. Always check the label. Join our Food Revolution!

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