A few weeks ago I had the privilege to be one of three judges of the Kirkland Uncorked food and wine event. Two other judges and myself sat on a platform overlooking Lake Washington on a beautiful Seattle summer day. Three of Seattle’s top female chef’s competed against one another in front of several hundred onlookers. One of the elements the chefs were being judged for were how they incorporated the use of prawns and red wine in the dishes they prepared. One of my favorite dishes from the competition was Chef Angie Robert’s grilled pound cake with cherry compote. So last week I decided to make a quick version of her dessert except using store bought pound cake. The end result was an easy dessert which would be great to serve guests. Using homemade pound cake would be best but when the temperature inside the house is almost 100 degrees the last thing I want to do is bake and store bought cake suddenly becomes very attractive. [click to continue…]
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All summer I’ve been waiting for a reason to bake a cherry pie with a buttery flaky crust. Not that I ever needed a reason to begin with. As August has begun I realized if I did not bake a cherry pie soon I will have missed out on one of summer’s greatest joys. It’s not too late for you to bake one too! [click to continue…]
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The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.
Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.
This version is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and home made jam. [click to continue…]
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Earlier in the week I bought a bag of red cherries. I thought I was super-mom for doing so because my kids have been asking for them constantly. For some reason when I purchased them I thought I was buying Bing Cherries. So when it came to snack time my daughters were upset at how sour they were. Oops! It would have been a shame to toss them out, so instead I made cherry jam. [click to continue…]
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