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Culinary Christmas at home

In every sisterMAG, delicious recipe ideas are waiting for you. In this issue, food blogger Dyutima Jha from »My Foodlens« has put together a colorful and culinary Christmas food feature including the following recipes: Grape and thyme tart, cheese and fig canape, Dundee cake and Eton Mess. All recipes are available as a free download on our website.

Culinary Christmas at home

with recipes by Dyutima Jha

 

»Grape and thyme tart«

Makes 1x20cm tart, Cut into 4x10cm squares

Ingredients

  • 1 ready rolled puff pastry sheet (approx. 165g)
  • 340g whole grapes, seedless
  • 1 Tbsp raw sugar
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
  2. Combine the sugar and thyme in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. Place the pastry on a baking tray lined with baking sheet. Keep the square shape or cut into round using a stencil.
  4. Lightly prick the surface of the pastry using a fork.
  5. Brush the pastry lightly with water and sprinkle half of the sugar-thyme mixture on it.
  6. Leaving 1,5cm border around edges, spread the grapes and sprinkle the rest of the sugar on the grapes.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and let it rest.
  8. Cool completely before slicing. Garnish with fresh thyme and serve.

»Dundee Cake«

Makes 1x18cm cake – 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

  • 115g Mixed nuts (cashews, walnuts, almonds), chopped
  • 170g seeded raisins, chopped
  • 170g currants
  • 30g glace cherries, chopped
  • 50g blanched almonds, sliced in half
  • 60g mixed peel, chopped
  • Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
  • 225g plain flour
  • 170g butter
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 3 Tbsp milk
  • 3 large eggs

Method

  1. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
  2. Grease and line a 18cm round cake tin with baking sheet.
  3. Sift flour and baking powder together.
  4. Beat butter, sugar and honey for several minutes till light and creamy.
  5. Add one egg at a time, beating well each time.
  6. Gently fold the flour, milk, nuts, fruit, cinnamon powder and lemon zest.
  7. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and line the top with blanched almonds in a radial pattern.
  8. Lower the oven temperature to 160°C and bake for 10-15 minutes. Further lower the temperature to 120°C and bake for 90-120 minutes. After 45 minutes, keep checking the doneness by inserting a toothpick or metal skewer in the center. When done, the skewer should come out almost clean. Do not overbake so the center is soft. If necessary, cover the top with a metal tray to avoid excessive browning.
  9. Cool for 10-15 minutes before releasing on cooling rack.

»Cheese and fig canape«

Makes 6 canapes

Ingredients

  • 6 crackers
  • 6 Tbsp dome de Boulogne cheese (or any soft, spreadable cheese)
  • 6-8 pistachios, chopped
  • 6-8 raisins, chopped
  • 6-8 dried mulberry, lightly broken
  • 2 fresh figs, sliced in quarters
  • Maple syrup
  • ½ tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp pistachios, crushed

Method

  1. Combine pistachios, raisins, mulberry and rosemary in a bowl.
  2. Add cheese to the bowl and lightly mix together. Do not overmix.
  3. Spread about 1 Tbsp of mixture per cracker.
  4. Add 1-2 slices of figs on top and drizzle with maple syrup.
  5. Garnish with crushed pistachios.

»Eton Mess«

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 425g strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 1 Tbsp fine sugar
  • 200 ml whipping cream
  • 3 Tbsp icing sugar
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 readymade meringue nests or 30 readymade meringue kisses (approx.)

Method

  1. Mix fine sugar and chopped strawberries in a bowl to begin the process of maceration. Set aside.
  2. Lightly break the meringues into bite-sized pieces and set aside. If using meringue kisses, keep a few whole ones for garnish.
  3. Take a chilled mixing bowl and on medium speed, whip the cream till it begins to thicken. Add icing sugar and extract. Beat only until nice, soft peaks form. Do not over-beat.
  4. To assemble, take serving glasses. Add a layer of meringue at the bottom, top with a layer of cream and then macerated strawberries. Repeat the layering till glass is full to desired level.
  5. Garnish with meringue kisses.

Notes:

  • Soak sugar and strawberries together for no more than 30 minutes.
  • Eton mess is best assembled just before eating so that the meringue remains crisp after adding the cream and fruit.