In the midst of a two course meal, there is little better than a make ahead dessert - Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Rhubarb and Ginger

 

 

 

It's that point where you have been running around bringing everything together for a dinner and you sit down to eat, finally, and have a quiet smile to yourself, knowing that dessert is already done. And panna cotta is a wonderfully simple thing to make ahead, as long as you ensure all the gelatine has dissolved and that you only use enough of that gelatine to set it to a sensuous wobble rather than something hard enough to break a window with. And that you allow it long enough to set. And you can get it out of the mould. I did say this was simple, didn't I?

 

Well, it is if you use the recipe below. This is from Bryn Williams' excellent book 'Bryn's Kitchen'. This was such a wonderful dessert. The creamy panna cotta, complete with its beautiful wobble, was a joy in itself, but when put with the rhubarb and ginger, it was simply amazing. I have to confess I could have eaten a bowl of that rhubarb and ginger compote alone, such was its all round amazingness!

 

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that the side of the mould I pictured in the method is not the same size as the panna cotta that I chose to photograph when I had plated it all up. There are two reasons for this: Number 1, I forgot. Number 2: I doubled the recipe I had below so I would have enough for everyone and some left over. I used smaller moulds initially and then finished off with ramekins. And I decided to plate up the ramekin size, because if I am having panna cotta, then I am having panna cotta, if you catch my drift.

 

Lola and Finn loved this. And so did I. Please make this; it's wonderful!

 

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Rhubarb and Ginger Compote, taken from Bryn's Kitchen by Bryn Williams (also from S4C's 'Cegin Bryn')

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad

 

3 leaves of gelatine

250ml double cream

100g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, split in half, with the seeds scraped out

250ml buttermilk

200ml ginger wine

75g soft light brown sugar

strip of orange zest

250g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm batons

 

 

Method:

 

 

 

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft. Set aside.

 

 

 

In a large, heavy-based saucepan bring the double cream, caster sugar and vanilla pod and seeds to the boil.

 

As soon as it boils, remove the pan from the heat.

 

Scoop out the vanilla pod.

 

Add the softened gelatine to the hot liquid and stir well until dissolved.

 

 

 

Pour the liquid onto the cold buttermilk and whisk together until combined.

 

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, (I'll be honest, I didn't - I risked it and got away with it!!)  then pour into four heatproof glasses or ramekins. Place in the fridge to set. This should take about 2 hours.

 

 

 

While the panna cotta is setting, gently heat the ginger wine with the light brown sugar and the orange zest in a large, shallow pan until the sugar has dissolved.

 

 

 

Add the rhubarb batons and poach gently for 4-6 minutes, or until just soft. Remove from the heat, leaving the rhubarb to cool in the liquid.

 

 

 

To serve, spoon the rhubarb on top of each chilled panna cotta, (after you have unmoulded the panna cotta of course - I did this by running a knife around the edges and then dipping the two thirds of the mould briefly in a bowl of boiling water before easing it out onto the plate) and drizzle with the rhubarb and ginger sauce.

Just Add Custard (or a poncey quenelle of Mascarpone): Rhubarb and Ginger Pudding Cake

 

 

I love the term 'pudding cake' and I think it's only Tamasin Day Lewis who uses the term, but it is completely the right phrase to describe this cake. You see, some cakes, the sandwich cake variety, filled with buttercream or cream cheese frosting or something is definitely for an afternoon tea, or it's birthday cake maybe. This cake however has some kind of gravitas, lacking in creamy frippery and is made for a leisurely after dinner lingering, served just slightly warm, needing only a little custard, a poncey quenelle of Mascarpone, or maybe one of those lovely after dinner sweet wines which I keep promising myself but never actually buy and drink.

 

I have made enough cakes to have a working knowledge of the basics of how one is put together and I thought it might be nice to combine rhubarb and ginger to make something which was more about flavour than sweetness. Plus, I picked up three sticks of rhubarb in the supermarket for 10p, keeping my irritating habit of not being able to pass the throw outs in the supermarket. Me loves a bargain.

 

Anyway, I have very little to say other than here is the recipe:

 

Rhubarb and Ginger Pudding Cake

 

Makes a 23cm cake

 

Ingredients:

 

For the cake:

 

Three sticks of rhubarb

60 g and 180 g caster sugar, divided

150g butter at room temperature

3 eggs at room temperature plus 1 yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g full fat Greek yoghurt

250g flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp of ground ginger

Good pinch of salt

Three balls of stem ginger, chopped finely

 

For the syrup:

 

The juice from poaching the rhubarb

A couple of tbsp. of ginger syrup (from the jar of stem ginger)

 

 

To serve, custard maybe, or mascarpone, with a little chopped stem ginger scattered on top. Or cream... Cream would be really nice!!

 

Method:

 

 

 

Pre-heat the oven to 150c and butter a 23cm springform cake tin, lining the bottom with greaseproof paper and then buttering the top of the greaseproof paper.

 

 

 

Firstly, poach the rhubarb. Cut the sticks of rhubarb into inch pieces and put into a dish which will hold the rhubarb snugly in one layer. Scatter about 60g of sugar on top of the rhubarb, cover the dish with foil and put it into oven for about 15 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft but not losing its shape. Allow to cool.

 

Increase the temperature to 180c

 

 

 

In a mixer, cream together the butter and the 180g sugar together until light and fluffy.

 

In a bowl, sift together the flour, the baking powder, the ground ginger and the salt.

 

 

 

Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, beating well after addition. By the time you have added the third egg, the mixture might look a bit curdled so add a couple of tablespoons of the flour mixture. Then add the vanilla and yoghurt and mix to combine.

 

Add the flour mixture in thirds, mixing it in only until it is combined. Do not over beat.

 

 

 

Lastly, add the rhubarb to the batter mixture, reserving the poaching liquid for later. Mix only until combined.

 

 

 

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Smooth the top with a spatula, and place in the middle of the oven for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. If it is starting to brown too much without cooking all the way through, cover the cake with foil until it is cooked through.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, mix together the poaching liqueur and the stem ginger syrup. Heat the syrup gently. Once the cake comes out of the oven, make holes in the top with a skewer or toothpick and pour the syrup over the top of the cake. The cake will absorb the syrup because both are warm.

 

 

 

Allow to cool until the cake just has a hint of warmth to it. Take out of the tin and slice. Serve with anything I might have suggested in my ramblings above.

 

 

 

 

 

A crumble for warmer weather: Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble (or 'Crisp' if you prefer) with Toasted Oats and Hazelnuts

It is probably wrong to associate crumbles with colder weather, but I tend to do so, as they are the type of pud that is substantial, 'sticks to your ribs' and if your accompaniment of choice is custard then your bones get warmed up as a result. However as the year moves on to something a little more spring like, I was looking for something that I considered a little lighter, and that would be more likely to be accompanied by a splosh of cream than a dollop of custard, (not that there is anything ever wrong with said 'dollop').

Regular readers to this blog will know that I am a huge Tamasin Day Lewis fan and this recipe is from her latest cookbook, 'Food you can't say no to'. It is a lovely book, as are all her others, and the way she writes so eloquently on food, on memory and the joy of eating is wonderful to read and inspires the budding cook to get into the kitchen.

I made very little changes to the original recipe, save that I had some rhubarb in the freezer which I had cooked and frozen several months ago, and I upped the amount of strawberries, for two reasons. One, Lola. If Lola could be a fruit, she would be a strawberry, and secondly, the strawberries that I bought (and I don't like buying them at this time of year because they're often dreadful) I couldn't see myself doing anything with the remaining few, so I lobbed them in. I also wanted a more uniform crumble - the original recipe suggests layering the crumble somewhat, so crumble, followed by toasted oats, followed by some of the hazelnuts, coarsely chopped. Finn in particular isn't keen on nuts as such, so I wanted to have the crumble more 'uniform' by combining all the crumble ingredients and blitzing all of the hazelnuts.

Despite the fact that rhubarb and custard should be together, I think this is better accompanied with a little cream. Or a lot...

Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp with Toasted Oats and Hazelnuts, taken from 'Food you can't say no to' by Tamasin Day Lewis.

Serves Mum, Dad, Lola and Finn twice

Ingredients:

675g rhubarb, cleaned and chunked

4 tbsp vanilla caster sugar, or to taste (I confess, I used caster sugar with a couple of drops of vanilla extract)

450g strawberries, hulled, halved if large (I used 500g strawberries)

For the crumble:

Large handful of (jumbo) porridge oats

90g hazelnuts, toasted and skinned and blitzed

180g plain flour

120g chilled butter, cubed

60g light muscavado sugar

60g granulated sugar

Method:

Combine the chunked rhubarb, the strawberries the sugar and vanilla carefully to encourage the flavours to combine. Leave whilst you prepare the crumble topping.

In a small frying pan, toast off the oats until they are golden brown. Tip onto a plate and set aside. Then toast off the hazelnuts, taking care that they don't burn.

Rub together the butter and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugars. Finally add the toasted hazelnuts and oats and stir to combine.

Stir the fruit again and then transfer it to the dish you wish to bake the crumble in (I just combined my fruit in the dish I wished to use for the crumble in the first place). Top the fruit evenly with the crumble mixture.

Baked for around 45 minutes, or until crisp and bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave for 5 -10 minutes or so because it will be really, really hot. Serve with cream.