Apricot brandy pancakes

A simple and impressive recipe to serve for pancake day. Although apricots are obviously at their best in the summer you should be able to find imported ones from countries such as South Africa and Chile.

They tend to be a touch unripe which is where the apricot brandy comes in handy!

Serves 3-4

For the pancakes
110g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 large fresh free-range eggs
275ml semi-skimmed milk
25g cooled melted butter + another 25g butter for greasing the pan and brushing the pancakes
Icing sugar

For the apricot filling
500g fresh apricots
3 heaped tbsp soft set apricot jam, preferably unsweetened
4 tbsp apricot brandy + extra to serve
Lemon juice to taste (optional)

You will also need a medium sized pancake pan

First make the batter. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a hollow in the centre. Beat the eggs lightly with the milk then add 25g cool melted butter. Gradually pour into the flour stirring all the time and beat well with a wooden spoon. (Or make the batter in a food processor or blender) Set the batter aside for half an hour while you make the filling.

Halve and stone the apricots and cut into small chunks. Put in a saucepan with the apricot jam and apricot brandy, cover with a lid and cook until the apricots are soft but still holding their shape. Check for sweetness adding a little lemon juice if you want them sharper or a splash more apricot brandy if they need sweetening and set aside.

Beat the pancake batter again. Heat a pancake pan until hot, add a small chunk of butter and rub it round the pan with some scrunched up kitchen towel. Scoop out a small cup or ladleful of batter and tip it into the pan swirling it round quickly so the whole base of the pan is covered with batter.Cook for about 30 seconds till the edges begin to brown then flip over with a palette knife or spatula and cook the other side. Stack the pancakes on a plate as you make them interleaved with sheets of greaseproof paper so they don’t stick.

Heat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Butter a shallow ovenproof dish. Fill each pancake with a tablespoon of the apricot filling and roll up or fold into four. Arrange the filled pancakes in the dish and brush with the remaining melted butter. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the pancakes are hot through and the tops crispy. Sift over a little icing sugar. You could serve the pancakes with an extra splash of apricot brandy and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Suggested match: I created these to go with an apricot or peach-flavoured beer but you could also serve a dessert wine such as a southern French muscat or a Jurançon with them.

For other wine matching suggestions read What's the best pairing for pancakes?

Image © Natasha Breen - Fotolia.com though is not of the actual recipe - just like it!

Margot Henderson’s Turkish Coffee Cake

This is one of the recipes I go back to most often. Yes, it’s a cake but you can also serve it as a pudding. It comes from Margot Henderson’s* wonderful You’re All Invited which I strongly recommend you to buy.

Serves 12

100g wholemeal flour

100g plain white flour

250g soft brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground coriander

175g butter cut into cubes

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250ml soured cream or yoghurt

4 tbsp freshly brewed espresso coffee

2 eggs, beaten

60g chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4

Put the flours, sugar and spices into a large bowl and mix together then rub in the cubed butter until you have an even crumble. Press half the mixture into a deep-sided cake tin measuring about 30 x 18cm.

Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the remaining mixture in the bowl then add the soured cream, espresso coffee, eggs and chopped nuts. Mix well then pour into the cake tin and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until firm and springy to touch.

Leave to cool completely then cut into squares or fingers. These will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days (but I find they are particularly delicious on the day they’re made FB).

What to drink:

There are many possibilities as you’ll see from these matches of the week (probably the only recipe that has inspired two!) with a Vi Dolc Natural and espresso coffee. But the best pairing of all, I’ve discovered is a medium oloroso or cream sherry.

Sybil Kapoor's apple and blackberry meringue

A lovely seasonal dessert from Sybil Kapoor's National Trust - Simply Baking. "Soft-baked meringues make a gorgeous pudding in the early autumn, especially when topped with cider-poached fruit and apple brandy cream."

Serves 6

6 medium egg whites

250g/9oz caster sugar

1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar

1½ teaspoons cornflour

icing sugar, sifted, for dusting

Apple topping

150ml/5fl oz dry cider

85g/3oz unrefined caster sugar

4 strips finely pared lemon zest

4 dessert apples, such as Cox’s Orange Pippin or Braeburn

250g/9oz blackberries

Apple brandy cream

285ml/10fl oz double cream

4 tablespoons apple brandy or Calvados

1 Preheat the oven to fan 140°C/gas 2. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. In a large, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until the mixture is thick and glossy. Using a flat metal spoon, fold in the vinegar and cornflour. Spread the mixture evenly over the baking parchment in a 20 x 30cm/8 x 12in rectangle. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft and marshmallow-like.

2 Leave to rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Liberally dust a sheet of baking parchment with icing sugar. Gently tip the meringue on to the sugar-dusted parchment, peel away the baking paper and leave to cool.

3 To make the apple topping, put the cider, sugar and lemon zest in a non-corrosive saucepan. Set the pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and simmer gently while you peel, core and dice or slice the apples. Add these to the cider syrup and simmer gently for 4 minutes or until just tender. Mix in the blackberries, return to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fruit to a bowl. Simmer the syrup for a few minutes until it thickens slightly, remove the lemon zest and pour over the fruit. Leave until cold.

4 To make the apple brandy cream, put the cream and apple brandy in a large bowl and whisk until the cream forms soft peaks. Chill until needed.

5 To serve, cut the meringue into six squares and place one on each serving plate. Top with some of the apple brandy cream, then spoon on the fruit so that it spills over the meringue.

This recipe comes from National Trust Simply Baking by Sybil Kapoor (National Trust Books). Recipe photography by Karen Thomas.

What to drink: Given the boozy cream I'm not going to go for wine but cider brandy itself would be too strong. A dessert cider like Once Upon a Tree's lovely Blenheim Superb Dessert Cider would be the perfect match.

Regula Ysewijn's Bakewell pudding

A sample recipe from food writer and photographer Regula Ysewijn's Pride and Pudding which I really hope will make you want to buy this brilliant new book.

It's a labour of love that revives your faith in cookbooks - erudite, original, beautifully written, gorgeously shot and styled - something you'll definitely want to own and leaf through. If it doesn't win one of next year's food writing and/or photography prizes I'll be amazed.

Regula writes: "All of the 1830s recipes for Bakewell pudding are quite different in character, which makes it hard to define the ‘real’ Bakewell pudding. There are also very strong similarities with a Sweet-meat Pudding from Eliza Smith’s book The Compleat Housewife (1737).

Some Bakewell puddings have a layer of jam, others have a layer of candied peel and preserves as in the sweet-meat pudding. Some use bitter almonds, others do not. It leads me to believe that the Bakewell pudding wasn’t a pudding invented in an inn in Bakewell, as the popular myth likes people to believe; it was an existing pudding that was renamed thus to attract customers in the nineteenth century. And because it became famous in that locality, it disappeared in the rest of the country, making it a regional dish.

The version with just a layer of jam is the one that the Bakewell bakeries adopted as the true recipe. But if you would like to taste the earlier sweet-meat pudding version, here it is. I use powdered raw sugar, as early recipes often ask for loaf sugar, powdered, and it works better indeed. If you have a heatproof plate that will go into your oven, use that instead of a pie dish, as I believe this was the original vessel used to bake this pudding.

Makes 2 puddings in 23 cm (9 inch) shallow plates

25 g (1 oz) bitter apricot kernels (available online or in health food shops)

1 teaspoon rosewater

110 g (3¾ oz) clarified butter, melted

110 g (3¾ oz) raw sugar, powdered in a food processor

5 egg yolks

1 egg white

1 quantity puff pastry (see page 344)

2 tablespoons raspberry jam

50 g (1¾ oz) candied lemon peel, cut into strips

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Blanch and skin the apricot kernels by pouring boiling water over them to make the skins come off. Rinse under cold water and dry them using a clean tea towel (dish towel) to rub off the last of the skins.

Using a mortar and pestle, pound up the blanched apricot kernels with the rosewater. This will prevent the apricot kernels from producing oil and also will add a heavenly scent. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the clarified butter and the sugar, whisking until creamy. Add the eggs and whisk to combine. Don’t be alarmed if the filling seems runny to you, it is normal.

Line a pie dish or plate with the puff pastry rolled out as thin as you can manage and spread the raspberry jam over it, leaving a 2 cm (¾ inch) border that will become the rim. Neatly arrange strips of candied lemon peel over the jam, then gently pour in the filling mixture.

Bake in the bottom of the oven for 15 minutes, then move to the middle of the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Serve on its own or with fresh raspberries and maybe a little whipped cream.

What to drink: I happen to know that Regula is a beer fan so am thinking that a Belgian or Belgian style raspberry beer would be a lovely match for her tart. You could also try a regular dessert wine - I'd go for a muscat - or maybe a glass of ratafia.

Extracted from Pride and Pudding by Regula Ysewijn (Murdoch Books, £20). Photography by Regula Ysewijn.