Manhattan creams with citrus caramel

Of all the magical chapters that make up Diana Henry’s wonderful book How to Eat a Peach - a combined food memoir, travelogue and cookery book, ‘Missing New York’ is the most evocative, making you immediately want to jump on a plane and spend a few days following in her footsteps.

But the subsequent menu is wonderful too, not least the ‘Manhattan creams with citrus caramel’ which she describes as ‘possibly the best pudding in the book’. (I like her use of that word rather than dessert)

Over to Diana . . .

“Oh, there are so many puddings that say ‘New York’! I struggled over the choice, juggling brownies, roast apple and bourbon ice cream, upside down pear and cranberry tarts… but in the end I settled on this. It has the flavours of a Manhattan – bourbon, sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters – captured in a pannacotta. You can use oranges or blood oranges instead of grapefruit, if you prefer.

This is possibly the best pudding in the book… not counting ice creams, of course. Make it often: it’s classic, useful and able to take all sorts of different adornments. It works well with roast peaches, apricots and pears, poached plums, or caramelized slices of apples, though use orange rather than grapefruit juice for the caramel if you want to serve it with any of these fruits.

serves 4

for the cream

3 gelatine leaves (about 6g/¼oz)

150ml (5fl oz) whole milk

300ml (½ pint) double cream

80g (2¾oz) caster sugar

squeeze of lemon juice

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon

bourbon

1 tablespoon sweet white

vermouth

good dash of Angostura bitters

1 large red grapefruit

for the citrus caramel

200ml (7fl oz) pink grapefruit

juice

3 tablespoons lemon juice

100g (3½oz) caster sugar

You will need 4 metal moulds, each with a capacity of 125ml (4fl oz).

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 10 minutes; they will soften. Pour the milk and cream into a heavy-based saucepan with the sugar and place over a low heat, stirring a little to help the sugar dissolve. Remove from the heat and leave to cool until hand-warm.

Lift the gelatine leaves from the water and squeeze out excess liquid. Stir into the milk and cream mixture. The mixture should not be hot: if it’s too hot it will affect the gelatine ’s setting properties; if it is too cold, on the other hand, the gelatine won’t dissolve. Add the lemon juice, bourbon, vermouth and bitters. Pour into the metal moulds and leave to cool, then set in a small roasting tin (this just makes things easier), cover with cling film and chill to set for about 4–6 hours.

For the citrus caramel, mix the grapefruit and lemon juices together. Put the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan with 5 tablespoons of water. Set over a medium heat and cook, gently tipping the pan every so often, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and cook until caramelized: you will know by the smell and colour, but be careful not to take it too far (it goes from caramelized to burnt very quickly). You need to tip the pan as the sugar caramelizes around the edges, to spread the caramelization. Quickly add the citrus juices, standing well back (the caramel will bubble and spit). Stir and boil for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool completely.

Trim the top and bottom of the grapefruit (it will now have a base on which to sit). Working from top to bottom and turning the grapefruit round as you go, remove the peel and pith (use a small sharp knife) in broad strips. Slide a small knife with a fine blade between the flesh and membrane and ease each segment out. Keep the segments as neat as possible. You should end up with 12 neat segments, 3 for each person.

To serve, dip the base of each mould into just-boiled water for a few seconds, then invert on to a plate, give the cream a shake and allow it to slip out. Spoon some of the citrus caramel around each cream and add the grapefruit segments.

What to drink: I’m honestly not sure you need a wine with this given the booze in the cream. Added to that the sweetness of the accompanying caramel will strip the flavour out of most dessert wines. A Canadian ice wine or very sweet young Trockenbeerenauslese riesling served very cold might possibly do it.

Book credit: How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry is published by Mitchell Beazley, £25 (www.octopusbooks.co.uk)

Imagery credit: Laura Edwards

Queen Elizabeth Cake

I remember making a cake like this way back when I started baking when it was known as Queen Mother's Cake which would obviously be consistent with it being called Queen Elizabeth cake. Anyway this version, which contains coconut comes from Rosie Sykes excellent new book Every Last Bite and sounds equally irresisitible.

Rosie writes: "This recipe comes from my great friend Lucy Goode, who is not only an excellent human being but also a tremendous baker. We became firm friends during lockdown and haven’t looked back since. We spend much time discussing food and giving each other little tubs of things to try. This cake is a great favourite of JM (Lucy’s excellent Canadian husband).

Lucy says of the cake: the most common theory is that it was created to celebrate the late Queen’s Coronation, and it is so delicious that even anti-monarchist French Canadians eat it. There’s also some disagreement over nuts: walnuts or pecans or none at all? Only on the top, or baked into the cake? Either way what all versions have in common is dates, and a coconutty caramelly top that you toast briefly under a hot grill (broiler) at the end.

It’s very versatile.

QUEEN ELIZABETH CAKE

For at least 8

For the cake

60g (1/4 cup) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

250ml (1 cup) water

200g (1 1/2 cups) chopped dates

180g (1 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

pinch of salt

180g (1 cup minus 1 1/2 tbsp) soft brown sugar (you can use any, but this gives it a lovely toffee-ish flavour)

1 tsp vanilla extract or essence

1 egg

75g (3/4 cup) chopped walnuts (optional)

For the top

90g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar

75ml (5 tbsp) double (heavy) cream

80g (generous 5 tbsp) unsalted butter

100g (1 1/3 cups) desiccated (dried shredded) coconut or 75g (1 cup) desiccated coconut and 75g (3/4 cup) chopped walnuts or pecans

To serve

cream or ice cream

You can cut the square into 8 very large slices for pudding, served warm with vanilla ice cream, cream or crème fraîche, or cut into 16 smaller squares to have with a cup of tea or coffee. It freezes very well. I made this in a 20cm (8in) square tin but you can also make it in a 20cm (8in) round springform cake tin.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 with a shelf in the middle. Butter and line the bottom and sides of a 20cm (8in) round or square tin.

Bring the water and dates to the boil in a saucepan, then simmer, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.

In another bowl or using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg and beat until smooth.

Bake for 35–40 minutes until a cocktail stick (toothpick) inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, combine all the ingredients for the top in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil, then simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Bear in mind it is going to be easier to work with when warm, so start this towards the end of the cake cooking time. Once the cake comes out of the oven, leave it to stand for 5 minutes, then gently prick the top with a fork and pour over the warm nutty caramel, spreading it as evenly as you can.

Preheat the grill (broiler), then grill the cake for 3–4 minutes, depending on your grill, but watch it carefully; you want the top to be uniformly brown and bubbling, not burnt. Leave the cake until it’s cool enough to handle, then lift it carefully out of the tin and slide it onto a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

PS Dates are really good for baking. Softer, semi-dried dates are more readily available now and can be good value. They keep very well and are a delicious treat – some of the medjool dates are like eating a soft toffee! If you are trying to use less refined sugar in your baking, dates are an excellent stand in. A good rule of thumb is to use about half the amount of dates you would sugar. I make the dates into a purée using a scant amount of water and use this as my substitute.

What to drink: Honestly I don't think you can beat a cup of tea or mug of coffee with this but if you are having it as a pudding you could serve an Australian liqueur muscat. 

Extracted from Every Last Bite by Rosie Sykes (Quadrille, £18.99), Photography © Patricia Niven

Chocolate, fudge & smoked salt cookies

In many ways this is a bizarre recipe to pick from Gill Meller's wonderful book Time - there are so many inspiring and beautiful savoury recipes in it - but there are times when we all need a cookie and what better than chocolate AND fudge?

Gill writes: "I like to serve these cookies warm from the oven after supper, with a coffee or a brandy, or both. You can make the dough in advance; simply roll it into a cylinder, wrap it in baking parchment and pop it in the fridge. You can then slice off individual rounds for baking whenever you feel like it.

The pinch of smoked salt adds wisps of warmth to the bitter chocolate and sweet fudge, and gives the cookies an almost campfire quality.

makes 8–10 large cookies

100g (3 1/2oz) unsalted butter

100g (3 1/2oz) light soft brown sugar

50g (2oz) caster sugar

1 egg

dash of vanilla extract or the seeds from ½ a vanilla pod

150g (5 1/2oz) self-raising flour

75g (2 1/2oz) good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up

75g (2 1/2oz) your favourite fudge

1 or 2 good pinches of smoked salt flakes

Heat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 6. and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Put both types of sugar into a mixing bowl, pour on the butter and beat well. Add the egg and the vanilla extract or seeds and beat again until well combined. Sift in the flour and fold it in. Allow the mixture to cool for 15–20 minutes before stirring in half the chocolate and half the fudge pieces.

Dot heaped spoonfuls of the mixture over the prepared trays, then distribute the remaining chocolate and fudge equally over the surfaces of the cookies. Sprinkle the cookies with the smoked salt and bake for 8–10 minutes, until the cookies are lovely and golden. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before lifting onto a cooling rack to firm up. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

What to drink: Gill suggests coffee and/or a brandy which seems an excellent suggestion. Whisky would also be a good call as would an oloroso sherry or a madeira.

Extracted from Time: a year and a day in the kitchen by Gill Meller (Quadrille, £25.00) Photography: Andrew Montgomery.

Ravneet Gill's Miso Caramel and Chocolate Tart

Winter is a great time for baking so what better than this wonderfully indulgent Miso Caramel and Chocolate tart from pastry chef Ravneet Gill's delicious new book Sugar I Love You?

Ravneet writes: "Using a mix of cereal and melted chocolate for the base of a tart brings out my inner child. The base here is so madly addictive that it’s quite hard to not eat it before pressing it into the tart case. (Perhaps it’s better to make a double batch of the base so you can do just that.)

The use of a swirled-through miso caramel means that you don’t need to sprinkle sea salt flakes on top.

Miso Caramel and Chocolate Tart with a Crunchy Cereal Base

Makes a 20cm (8in) tart

For the tart case

100g dark chocolate, chopped
40g unsalted butter, melted
30g roasted hazelnuts, lightly crushed
90g bran flakes cereal, lightly crushed
pinch of sea salt flakes

For the miso caramel

35g caster sugar
7g/1⁄2 tbsp unsalted butter
65ml double cream
1 tbsp white miso paste

For the dark chocolate ganache

200g double cream
60g milk chocolate, chopped
90g dark chocolate, chopped

Start with the tart case. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Leave to melt, then allow to cool to room temperature) - or in short bursts in the microwave.

In a large bowl, mix together the hazelnuts, bran flakes and salt. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and stir well.

Press into a 20cm (8in) tart tin, into the bottom and up the sides. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t reach to the very top of the tin, you want just enough to give you a good edge of roughly 2.5cm (1in) deep. Place in the fridge to chill for up to an hour.

For the miso caramel, make a direct caramel in a saucepan by placing it over a medium heat, sprinkling in the sugar and letting it melt to a dark caramel. Add the butter and whisk well, then pour in the cream and let it bubble for a minute.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the miso paste. Set aside for a few minutes. When the caramel has cooled slightly, pour it into a heatproof dish and allow to cool further. We want it to be at pouring consistency but not hot.

To make the ganache, in the same pan that you’ve just poured the caramel from, add the cream and heat until steaming.

Place both the chocolates into a large heatproof bowl and pour over the hot cream. Let it sit for a minute before stirring with a whisk from the middle outwards until melted and smooth. Pour into the chilled tart shell and let it sit for 2 minutes.

Take the miso caramel and drizzle thickly all over the ganache. Use a butter knife to drag the caramel through the ganache to form swirls, then place in the fridge to set for 4 hours.

This will keep in the fridge for 2–3 days, but is best eaten as soon as the ganache has set.

What to drink: I'm not sure that a dessert wine isn't too much of a good thing with this wickedly sweet tart but if you disagree you go for it! Personally I'd go for a sweet sherry or madeira or a tawny port. Black coffee for me!

Extracted from: Sugar, I Love You: Knockout recipes to celebrate the sweeter things in life by Ravneet Gill, published by Pavilion Books. Image credit Ellis Parrinder.