Plum and Frangipane Tart

If you feel like baking this weekend here's a recipe from Christine McFadden's massively useful book Flour, a guide to how to use all the many new flours on the market.

I particularly like the fact that it's billed as an ingredient book rather than a gluten-free book which emphasises the fact it's about taste and texture rather than any particularly dietary regime.

This recipe is made from pea flour. Christine writes:

"Yellow pea flour makes the most beautiful melt-in-the-mouth pastry. It’s gluten-free and wonderful to work with. Crimson plums set off the rich yellow colour. The idea for the filling came from my food writer friend Lesley Mackley, who does a lovely version with pears instead of plums.

Serves 6–8

vegetable oil for greasing

6 ripe red plums

caster sugar for sprinkling

4 tablespoons melted quince, redcurrant or apricot jelly, to glaze

for the pastry

160g (5¾oz) yellow pea flour

2 tablespoons icing sugar

100g (3½oz) cold unsalted butter, roughly chopped

1½ tablespoons thick plain yogurt

1½ tablespoons beaten egg

for the frangipane

75g (2¾oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

125g (4½oz) caster sugar

1 large egg, organic or free range

1 large egg yolk, organic or free-range

1 tablespoon brandy or amaretto liqueur (optional)

125g (4½oz) ground almonds

First make the pastry. Sift the pea flour and icing sugar then tip into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse briefly until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the yogurt and egg, then pulse in short bursts until the mixture begins to clump. Be careful not to overwork the dough.

Tip the dough on to a well-floured surface. Roll into a ball, then flatten into a 12cm (4½in) disc, ready for rolling out. Wrap in greaseproof paper and chill for 30 minutes.

For the frangipane, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric whisk for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the whole egg, followed by the yolk.

Finally add the brandy, if you’re using it, and the ground almonds. Mix well to combine, then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Put a baking tray in to heat. Grease the base and sides of a 24.5x2.5cm (9¾x1in) fluted metal tart tin, making sure the sides are well lubricated. Line the base with a circle of baking parchment and grease the paper too.

Once the dough is chilled, remove from the fridge. Dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out the pastry to a thin 30cm (12in) circle. Carefully drape it over your rolling pin and lower it into the tin. Press the side of your index finger into the edge to even out the thickness. Trim the top with a small sharp knife. Spoon the frangipane into the pastry case, smoothing the surface with a spatula.

Slice the plums in half lengthways and remove the stone. Slice each half lengthways into four segments. Starting from the outer edge of the tart, arrange a double row of overlapping segments in four north-south-east-west ‘spokes’, leaving a quadrant of uncovered frangipane between each spoke. Make an attractive rosette of slices where the spokes meet. Sprinkle the plums with caster sugar.

Bake for 35–40 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through. Cover the edges with foil if they brown too much. Remove from the oven and leave to settle in the tin for 20 minutes.

Carefully ease the tart out of the tin and slide on to a serving plate. Brush with the melted jelly and serve warm or at room temperature.

What to drink: a simple fruit tart like this is a good foil for a wide variety of dessert wines. I'd go for a sweet Bordeaux like Sauternes or a similar one from one of the neighbouring appellations - Monbazillac is particularly good value.

Extract taken from Flour by Christine McFadden (Absolute Press, £26) out now

Photography © Mike Cooper

Classic hot cross buns

The perfect Easter recipe comes from a lovely book called A Good Egg by Bristol-based cookery writer Genevieve Taylor who describes herself as an 'urban henkeeper'.

This isn't the eggiest of them but there are some brilliant ideas for how to use eggs imaginatively, written in diary form to tie in with the seasons.

Genevieve writes: "Why go to the bother of making your own hot cross buns? Well, first, you can add as much spice as you like, and secondly your house will smell divine as they bake.

This recipe, like a lot of breads –particularly the sweet ones, uses an egg to enrich and soften the dough. The flour-paste cross on the top adds nothing in the taste department but is completely necessary all the same."

makes 12 buns

150ml hand-hot water (use half boiling & half cold)

1 tbsp dried yeast

40g caster sugar

500g strong (bread) flour

1 heaped tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp salt

50g butter, melted

1 beaten egg

75ml warm milk

Vegetable oil for greasing

75g raisins or currants

50g chopped mixed peel

For the topping:

4 tbsp plain flour

4 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp boiling water

"Measure the water into a jug, stir through the yeast and a teaspoon of the caster sugar. Set aside for about 10 minutes until a foamy head forms on the surface. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir through the spice, salt and the rest of the caster sugar. Make a well in the middle and set aside.

In another mixing jug or small bowl, beat together the melted butter, egg and warm milk. Pour into the well in the flour, along with the foaming yeast. Mix together with a spoon until the dough comes together in a rough ball, then tip on to the work surface. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes, pushing away with the heel of your hand and rolling back towards you until it becomes stretchy and smooth. If it is sticking to the worktop, add a little flour, but be careful not to add too much or it will become dry. The fluffiest lightest bread comes from dough that is a bit sticky and wet to work with. Place the dough in a bowl which you have lightly oiled, and cover with a clean tea towel or piece of clingfilm.

Set aside in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of the room, this will take an hour or two, maybe longer. Once the dough has doubled in size, tip on to the worktop and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Sprinkle over the dried fruit and mixed peel and gently knead into the dough. Using a knife, cut the dough in half, then cut each half into 6 equal-sized pieces. Gently roll each piece into a ball, tucking any fruit under the surface as much as possible because it can burn in the oven, and place in a deep-sided baking tin lined with baking paper. (You need a deep tin so that when you cover it, the buns have room to rise without sticking to the clingfilm.)

Repeat with the remaining dough until you have 12 buns equally spaced in the baking tin. Cover lightly with a double layer of clingfilm, tucking it under the tray to keep the air out. Leave to prove again for 30–45 minutes until the buns have risen by half. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas 7.

Once the buns have proved for the final time, prepare the flour paste for the ‘crosses’ by mixing the flour and cold water until smooth. Spoon into a small sandwich bag and snip off a tiny corner to create a quick piping bag. Pipe crosses on to each bun. Transfer to the hot oven and bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown. While they are cooking, dissolve the caster sugar in the boiling water. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, glaze them by brushing with the sugar syrup. Put them on a rack to cool."

As you can see the recipes are really clear in this book and the photography charming. A lovely gift to take someone as an Easter present.

What to drink: My original thought was black tea, drunk English-style with milk but I'm rather taken with M & S wine buyer Jeneve Williams' idea of Marsala

For more Easter wine pairing ideas see 15 Easter pairings to learn by heart

From A Good Egg by Genevieve Taylor, published by Eden Project books. Photograph © Jason Ingram

Sticky chicken tulips, prunes, smoked bacon, toasted pecans and star anise

There was so much interest when I posted this pairing from 67 Pall Mall's new book Wine and Food in my Match of the Week slot recently that I had to follow up the the recipe from chef Marcus Verberne.

Master Sommelier Ronan Sayburn who collaborated with Marcus on the book introduces the recipe.

Madeira is one of the most wonderfully complex wines you will ever taste, but it’s often left to the end of the meal, or served with cheese. We wanted to do something different with it. This sticky chicken dish works very well, as the intense flavours in the Madeira need to be paired with punchy ingredients. It’s a fun bar snack or pre-dinner nibble.

The sticky glaze is infused with the most prominent flavours present in aged Madeira, such as smoky bacon, prunes, honey and nuts, with the complementary spices of star anise and cinnamon. This is the perfect example of what we endeavour to achieve at the Club: to create dishes to match the flavour notes of a certain wine, resulting in a memorable synergy between the two.

Sticky chicken tulips, prunes, smoked bacon, toasted pecans and star anise

Serves 4 as an appetiser

16 chicken wing ‘drumsticks’, ordered from the butcher

600ml chicken stock

8 star anise

2.5cm cinnamon stick

50g pitted prunes

40g pecans

1 tbsp honey

4 smoked pancetta rashers, finely chopped

2 tbsp groundnut oil

80ml Madeira

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

Salt

To prepare the chicken tulips, using the heel of a heavy cook’s knife, assertively chop the small knuckle off the end of each wing drumstick to reveal the bone. Pull back the flesh from the drumsticks, turning it inside out to reveal the bone in its entirety.

Place the chicken tulips into a small saucepan and cover with the stock. Add the star anise and cinnamon and season well with salt. Over a medium heat, bring to the boil, skimming off any impurities that collect on the surface with a ladle. Once it is boiling, drop in the prunes and remove from the heat. Allow to cool and infuse for 30–40 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C.

Place the pecans on a small oven tray and toast for 5 minutes or so. Remove the tray from the oven, drizzle over the honey and mix, coating the nuts in the honey, then return to the oven for a final 2–3 minutes. Remove from the oven, mix them again, then allow to cool.

Once the stock has cooled, strain the chicken through a sieve over a bowl to collect the cooking liquor. Remove and discard the star anise and cinnamon; they have done their job.

Place the chicken tulips on kitchen paper to dry. Chop the softened prunes very finely to create a paste.

To finish the chicken, preheat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.

Fry the chicken tulips and pancetta in the groundnut oil until the pancetta is crispy. Deglaze the pan with the Madeira and add the brown sugar and prune paste. Toss the tulips in the pan to coat, then pour in 150ml of the reserved stock. Stirring regularly, reduce the stock to a sticky caramelised glaze, with a consistency that coats the chicken. Place the tulips on a serving platter and coat with the glaze.

Roughly chop the honey-roasted pecans and sprinkle them over the top.

Serve with a finger bowl and plenty of napkins.

What to drink;
Ronan suggests:
Sercial, Blandy’s Vintage Madeira
Sercial, D’Oliveiras Vintage
Verdelho Terrantez, Blandy’s

Honey & Co's chocolate and pistachio cookies

I tasted these gorgeously squidgy chocolate cookies last year at the Bath launch of Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich’s baking book which is a must-buy for anyone who loves baking. Or frankly, even if you don’t - you will by the time you've read it.

What makes the book so utterly irresistible (apart from the great recipes) is Sarit and Itamar’s chatty writing style, a sample of which you can see (from Sarit) in the introduction to this recipe:

"Itamar discourages me from making cookies for the shop for many reasons. They are very labour-intensive, taking up much of our pastry time; plus the rest of the kitchen, seeing a tray coming out of the oven, will flock round to try to damage the little things so they can have them.

The main point of disagreement, however, is that he doesn’t see them as dessert. I most definitely do. I think there is nothing nicer as a treat and a bowlful of indulgent cookies passed around the table can be the perfect finish to a rich dinner. They contain just the right amount of sweetness and if one isn’t quite enough you can always have another and then just one more … Maybe I can see the problem with them after all."

makes 12 large cookies or 24 bite-sized ones

250g chocolate (I use a 60% cacao dark chocolate)

50g unsalted butter

2 eggs

175g light brown soft sugar

60g strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of table salt

About 200g pistachios very roughly chopped to coat

You will also need two baking trays lined with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl in the microwave or over a double steamer. In the meantime whisk the eggs and sugar to a sabayon - that is, until the mixture is very thick and fluffy.

Fold the melted chocolate into the eggs. Add the flour, baking powder and salt then fold together until you have a lovely even mixture. Allow to rest for about 30 minutes in a cool place or pop in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (you want the dough to be manageable but not set). If you forget about it in the fridge and it sets solid you will have to bring it back up to temperature in a warm place so that you can handle it easily.

Divide the dough into 12 and using two spoons or a piping bag shape into balls of about 50g each. I usually use weighing scales but you can be more relaxed if you prefer and just estimate the size.

Spread the chopped pistachios on a flat tray and drop the balls of chocolate goodness onto them. Flip them to coat all over then transfer to the baking trays, allowing about 5cm between them as they will spread in the heat of the oven. You can keep the unbaked cookies in the fridge until you are ready to bake or, alternatively freeze them for up to 2 weeks and simply thaw before baking.

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6. Place the trays of cookies in the centre of the oven for 8-9 minutes (allow 12 minutes if the cookies have been chilled). Remove and leave to cool on the trays while the chocolate sets fully. Once the cookies are cool you wil be able to pick them up quite easily but the middle will stay nice and soft like a moist chewy brownie so handle with care. These keep well for up to a week in an airtight container or sealed bag.

What to drink: I'm not sure wine is the best accompaniment for these - I'd personally go for an espresso or black Americano coffee but you could try a Greek muscat or a vin santo.

Recipe from Honey & Co. The Baking Book published by Saltyard Books. Photograph © Patricia Niven.