Matt Moran's Sweet cherry pie

Good morning to all. I hope that you have been enjoying the festive season, and have had a relaxing time with friends and family. I have been enjoying some time off with my family - it is always a good time for me to catch up on some sleep, as my family are of the "early to bed, early to rise" persuasion.

For my last post for this year, I thought it would be fitting to post a sweet recipe. I have selected a recipe for Sweet Cherry Pie by Matt Moran of Aria fame, which appeared on p19 of the Event liftout in the Sunday Mail on 22 November 2009.

I adore cherries, and as soon as they became relatively cheap, I bought the best part of a kilo, and contributed around half of them to making this pie. It is absolutely delicious, with a jammy, deep red cherry centre complimented by a flaky, golden pastry crust with a lattice work top. I was a little scared of making the lattice work top, as I have never done this before, but it didn't give me any dramas. The hardest part about making pastry in Brisbane in summer is always the heat factor - no sooner is the chilled dough removed from the fridge than it begins to wilt in the heat.

If you like the look of this pie and would like to try it for yourself, the recipe is as follows:

270g cold butter, cut into cubes
450g plain flour
135g icing sugar
2 eggs
500g pitted cherries
75g sugar
30g cornflour
20ml lemon juice
1 egg, lightly beaten (for wash)

Pastry

Put the sifted flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Add the cubes of butter, and rub together until the mixture forms crumbs. (I used a pastry cutter for this, which I found to be helpful, but your fingertips are fine if the weather is not too warm.)

In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs together with a fork, then pour into the flour mixture. Mix the ingredients together until a workable dough forms; I find using your hands is best for this. (I found that I needed to add more flour because my mixture was too wet; alternatively, if the mixture is too dry, add ice water slowly to the mixture until it comes together.)

Divide the pie dough into two equal pieces, form each piece into a disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes before using.

Filling

Put the cherries and sugar into a medium saucepan, and stir over medium heat until the cherries are soft and the sugar has dissolved (~5 minutes).

In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour and lemon juice, then pour the mixture into the cooked cherries, stirring the mixture over the heat for a further 2-3 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Pie assembly

Grease a 21cm fluted pie pan well.

Remove one of the discs of dough from the fridge, and roll it out between two pieces of baking paper or on a well floured bench to 3-4mm in thickness. Carefully line the greased pie pan with the rolled out dough, and trim off the excess. Place the pie shell in the fridge for ~20minutes to chill.

In the meantime, remove the second piece of pie dough from the fridge and roll out to 3-4mm thickness, as before. Cut the pastry into 16 x 3cm wide strips. (I only managed 8 x 3cm strips, and this worked fine.) Place the strips onto a tray and chill in the fridge for ~20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Remove the chilled pie shell from the fridge, and spoon in the cooled cherry mixture. Brush the edges of the pie shell with the beaten egg wash, then remove the pastry strips from the fridge, and lay half of them horizontally across the top of the pie, and the other half vertically across the top of the pie to form a lattice.

Trim off the excess pastry, and brush the top of the lattice with the egg wash.

Put the pie into the preheated oven, and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with cream or icecream.

Enjoy!!!

Happy New Year to you and your family!

TWD - Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, and are not over sweets yet! That's because this week's Tuesday with Dorie features Dorie's Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake, chosen by our host, the Tea Lady of Tea and Scones.

I think that "low and luscious", although alliterative, is a misnomer, because with three blocks of cream cheese, it was rather a high cheesecake. No matter - with a cheesecake that looks as good as this, who is going to quibble over something as trivial as a name?

I made this for the birthday morning tea of Caroline in Finance. I have to say that I found the fundamentally tangy cheesecake flavour a little odd with the chocolate, but perhaps it is something that would grow on me. I only tasted a tiny sliver, so if I had eaten a whole slice, the flavours may have melded better for me.

It was an easy cheesecake to make - no dramas at any stage, with a simple baked graham cracker crust, and the final product did not crack on top.

To see what the other TWD members thought, check out the TWD blogroll. For the recipe, see the Tea Lady's site when it is Tuesday her time.

The Daring Bakers - Gingerbread House

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

Gingerbread houses are straight from the pages of Hansel & Gretel. I loved the idea of them as a child, although I am sure that I wouldn't have eaten them because I only became a gingerbread lover as a grownup. Also, I would have been terrified lest the wicked witch imprisoned me!

I had never made a gingerbread house before this challenge - in fact, my Donna Hay gingerbread house came after the Daring Bakers house, because the guy who bought the Daring Bakers house at a charity auction had an unfortunate incident where black ants got into the Daring Bakers house - so I made him a new one using a different recipe.

I used Y's Scandinavian gingerbread recipe - I kind of liked the woodgrain look it gave to the house. I obtained my template from this link, provided by Audax.

I used my learnings from making the Daring Bakers house to make the second house even better. While making the Daring Bakers house, I learned:

(a) Don't stick any candies on the house until it is constructed - they weigh down the pieces making them harder to stand, and make it difficult to get can/glasses etc flush against the walls to hold them up while the icing "glue" dries.

(b) Make sure that you leave a few hours in between putting up the walls and sticking on the roof, otherwise the whole thing goes skewiff.

The recipes given to us for Daring Bakers suggested sticking the house together with syrup, but I thought it was a safer bet to use the usual royal icing for construction.

Without further ado, here are the pieces of my house:

(I changed my mind about piping the roof tiles - it looked odd):

And here is the assembled house:

I used musk sticks, silver cachous, fruit jubes and Skittles:

Despite the slant to the walls, I kind of liked this house:

Sticking the candy cane on the back of the house BEFORE putting the house together was a mistake, as it made the back wall heavy and resilient to standing straight, and prevented me from propping it up well while it dried. I ended up taking it off and sticking it on again later:

There are some amazing gingerbread houses constructed by the Daring Bakers - do go visit them at the Daring Bakers blogroll between 23 and 27 December.


Hope you all had a merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you all!!

Two Surprises - Blogging by Mail and Pay It Forward

Yesterday, all of my Christmases came at once when I received not one but two parcels from fellow bloggers in the mail. It was definitely a Christmas miracle that they arrived, because Australia Post staff have been striking on and off recently over a pay dispute.


The parcel at the top of this post is from Marci of Pieces. Marci, from Austin, Texas, in the U.S., is my Blogging By Mail partner. Marci has been blogging since she was married in 2006, and has been blogging for longer than I have. Check out Marci's costume posts - they are a hoot!


Blogging By Mail is organised by the tireless Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness, who puts a lot of work into BBM gathering details from participants, matching givers and receivers, and generally arranging for as many participants as possible to have a positive BBM experience (ie they send a parcel and in return, they receive a parcel).


The theme of BBM was 5 Favourite Indulgences, and Marci's package didn't fail to disappoint. First up, Marci sent me a light-globe shaped package of chocolate coated sunflower seeds. I have never tried these before, but I have to agree with Marci that they taste really good - kind of like rice krispie snacks.


Next is a large bag of Hatch Green Chile Tortilla Chips - yummo! (Marci, they arrived largely intact - thanks!) To accompany the chips, I received a tin of Herdez Salsa Casera, made in Mexico. A perfect snack to unwind with!


Marci also sent me a block of Popular chocolate beverage mix. Marci says she makes hers with water, and loves the hint of cinnamon. I am looking forward to trying this, as we don't have anything like it here.


Finally, Marci sent me a bottle of Metromint chocolatemint water, which Marci describes as guilt free chocolate - I agree - what could be better?


Thanks to both Marci and Stephanie - I had a lot of fun opening this package, and I am sure that I will have just as much fun enjoying its contents.




My second parcel came from my great blogging friend, Tammy, of Wee Treats by Tammy, who sent me a parcel as part of a Pay It Forward game. Tammy comes from one of my favourite spots in the universe, New Zealand, and is a fellow lawyer. Tammy makes the cutest decorated biscuits and sugar flowers that you have ever seen - I highly recommend checking out Tammy's blog to see how beautiful they are.


Tammy asked me what I would like to receive, and I said basically anything related to New Zealand. I have been to New Zealand twice in the last couple of years, and just loved it, including their unique food treats.


The first item in Tammy's package is the latest edition of New Zealand Taste magazine. It has some fabulous recipes that I have bookmarked, including a gluten-free apricot and cranberry cake and a hazelnut and raspberry icecream cake.


Next, I received two sets of cupcake papers - one beautiful, ethereal blue and silver set and a cute chocolate brown set with silver striped rims and silver cupcakes on the bottom.


New Zealand has some great chocolate treats, and Tammy must have known that I am a chocoholic, as I received a twin pack of pineapple lumps (with a pineapple foam sweet centre and coated in chocolate) and a three-pack of Whittakers Peanut Slab. Yum!!


Tammy also threw in a packet of Eskimos, which are pastel-coloured foam sweets in the shape of eskimos, and which are often used to make the famous New Zealand Lolly Cake. Fabulous! (If my friend Ruth is reading this, I know she'll be homesick - she is a Kiwi and loves Eskimos.)


Finally, Tammy sent me two beautiful cards. The first is one of Tammy's home-made retro pattern cards, which is absolutely gorgeous. The second is a Christmas card featuring a lovely red native New Zealand bush - the last one is for the Tuesdays with Dorie Christmas card exchange, as Tammy drew me!


Thanks so much Tammy - I am going to have a lot of fun with these gifts.


(As I have already "paid it forward" in another round, this round stops with me!)

TWD - My (well, Dorie's) Favourite Pecan Pie

This week's Tuesday with Dorie is Dorie's My Favourite Pecan Pie, and was chosen by our host, Brina of Someone's in the Kitchen.


What can I say - this pie was delicious!


I used Dorie's sweet pastry recipe for the tart shell rather than the good for everything pie dough recommended, as I didn't have any shortening, and the one time I made this dough, it didn't end well. One problem that I had with this pie was that I should have used my deep pie dish, as even though the diameter of this pie dish was correct, the pie filling bubbled everywhere. The other small issue was that I was supposed to turn down the oven after so many minutes, but I forgot - oops! Luckily, the only consequence is that the filling is a bit darker than it should be.


I have never had chocolate in a pecan pie before, but it was good. In fact, this pie was good all round.


To see what everyone else thought of this pie, visit the TWD blogroll. For the recipe, visit Brina's site.

Pfeffernussen

If you are still considering what Christmas cookies to bake for this year's table, may I highly recommend pfeffernussen (peppernuts). They are cute, round, icing-capped spice biscuits originating in Central Europe. I loathe the ones that you buy, but this home-made version is delicious, and has received the most recipe requests from the recipients of my baking this year. They are also quite easy to make, which is an added bonus.


The recipe for pfeffernussen that I used (and which has been receiving rave reviews) is from p93 of the December 09/January 10 edition of a New Zealand food magazine called Dish.

If I have tempted you, and you are still looking for cookie recipes for Christmas, the recipe is as follows:


100g softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1 egg
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg


Icing


1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
~3 teaspoons lemon juice


In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the butter and sugar, and beat until light and creamy. Add the honey and egg and one tablespoon of the flour, and beat until well combined.


Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl, then stir through the creamed butter mixture.


Turn the dough out onto a piece of cling film, form into a flattened disc, and refrigerate the dough until firm (~20 minutes).


In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line two baking trays with baking paper.


Remove the chilled dough from the fridge, and using your fingers, break off tablespoonful-sized pieces of dough and roll into balls:

Place the balls of dough ~2cm apart on the lined baking sheets, then refrigerate for another 10 minutes or so until the dough becomes firm.


Remove the chilled biscuits from the fridge, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. The biscuits will crack on top.


Remove the baked biscuits from the oven, and cool them on their trays on wire racks.


Once the biscuits are cool, prepare the icing by mixing together the icing sugar and lemon juice to make a thick, smooth glaze that is perfect for dipping. Dip the top of each biscuit in the glaze, allow the excess to drip back into the icing bowl, and place each biscuit back on the tray to set.


This recipe makes ~ 36 biscuits.

Christmas Cake - Nigella Lawson's recipe

I have just spent a marvellous long weekend in Melbourne catching up with some of my wonderful friends. Thanks to Veronica, Margot, Steve, Craig, Tim and Christian - it was fabulous seeing you.

The next Christmas recipe I am going to share with you is for a Christmas cake that has to be made at least a month in advance - I in fact made mine in June this year. It is Nigella Lawson's standard Christmas cake recipe from How to Be a Domestic Goddess and Feast, and which you can also find online here. It is a handy recipe because the ingredients are given in different quantities for different sized cakes. By Christmas, my cake was wonderfully boozy and scented - and I didn't "feed" it at all between making it and cutting it recently for gifts.


Here is a slice of the cut cake, so that you can easily see all of the wonderful fruit:


The cake stayed nice and moist, which is a relief, because I have quite a lot of cake left over after slicing it up for friends gift boxes!

There are a myriad of fruit cake recipes out there, so I am never sure which ones are the best. Do you have a favourite fruit cake recipe?