COOKBOOKS GALORE

And now for something completely different! I fancied something a bit exotic and fresh, so found this recipe in an old cookery book I picked up in a jumble sale years ago. It has lots of recipes for using fruit, so as I had a grapefruit and some lemons, decided to try this tart. It's fairly easy to make, but does need time chilling before you eat it. You need:  150g caster sugar, 70g soft butter, 4 eggs, 2 lemons, 1/2 grapefruit, a pack of shortcrust pastry [or make your own] and 1 tspn cornflour Preheat oven 200C.   You need a 23cm Tart tin Roll out the pastry to fit the tart tin. Line base with piece parchment paper or foil and cover with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 mins, remove beans and paper or foil and bake for another 19 mins. Cool. Wash and dry the fruit then grate the zests. Put a pan of water on to simmer and in a bowl put the zests, the juice of the fruits, the beaten eggs, sugar and cornflour. Beat this over the pan of water till it thickens. Once ...

This is one of our favourite apple desserts. Traditionally a clafoutis is made with cherries, but my friend also makes this one with apples, and kindly gave me her recipe. Using cornflour isn't traditional either, but it works well. You need: 4 large or 6 small apples [I used Gala], 2 eggs, 100g caster sugar, 40g cornflour, 250ml single cream, 1 tspn vanilla extract and 1/2 tspn cinnamon Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and flour a deep dish - the one I used was 23cm in diameter and 8 cn deep. Peel the apples and cut into slices. Layer into the base of the dish. In a bowl beat the eggs and sugar together till white and fluffy. Add the sieved cornflour, cream, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well. Pour over the apples and bake for 30-40 mins. It can be eaten warm or cold. I sprinkled some sultanas onto my clafoutis before baking, and sieved some icing sugar over the top when baked. I love the original version, but I also love this one, because the apple adds another layer o...

This is my offering to the GBBO, as it's more complicated than I usually make! I'd offered to make a cake for a birthday we'd been invited to, and as my daughter was here to help me, decided to try something a bit more ambitious. It's not the official birthday cake, but just another contribution to the tea. The recipe comes from a leaflet I picked up many years ago in a supermarket, but it doesn't say much about the origins of the cake, just that it's from Denmark. It's unusual in that it has chopped pears in it, and uses gelatine to stiffen the cream mixture for the filling. It's a 'bit of an effort' cake to make too, so one for an occasion. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and line a 20cm springform tin. Whisk 4 egg yolks with the grated zest and juice of 1 lemon and 125g of icing sugar till pale and creamy. Whisk the 4 egg whites till stiff peaks.  Sieve 75g plain flour, 25g cornflour and 1/2 tspn baking powder together then fold i...

One of my favourite French desserts, which you find in most French Patisserie shops and supermarkets, is a 'flan'. It's like our custard tart but with flour added to the custard mixture, which makes it more solid, just like a set custard. I've never made one, but browsing on the web I found a few recipes. Apparently, French pastry chefs use a 'Flan' powder. Some recipes used sweet shortcrust pastry, others puff pastry, but the method was usually the same. Some added seeds from a vanilla pod, others vanilla extract. I decided to make some sweet shortcrust pastry  - these ingredients make 250g of pastry. 125g plain flour 80g cold butter cut into cubes 25ml milk pinch salt 10g caster sugar 1 small egg yolk Put the butter and flour onto a working surface and rub the butter in till it's fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk, then add the salt and sugar and dissolve them in the milk with your fingertips. Add the egg yolk and...