Uist Wholefoods Co-operative

A gluten and dairy free cake which is best served the day after making to allow the flavour to develop. This is another BBC recipe and is a firm favourite.

Ingredients

5 egg whites from local eggs (at room temperature)

pinch of salt

75g/3oz organic, fair trade or unbleached caster sugar (from the wholefood co-op)

175g/6oz organic ground almonds (from the wholefood co-op)

1 orange, zest only, grated

1 tbsp orange liqueur (optional)

25g/1oz organic slivered almonds (from the wholefood co-op)

1tsp almond extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Grease and line a 20cm/8in springform cake tin.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt until they stand in soft peaks. Whisking constantly, add the sugar a little at a time. Continue whisking until the mixture is firm, shiny and very thick.

Fold in the ground almonds,almond extract, orange zest and the liqueur, if using, with a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and sprinkle the slivered almonds over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Allow to stand in the tin for 10 minutes, then loosen, turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

We were looking for tapioca in tins, and we could not find it anywhere. In the end, we found some in its uncooked state. Although I used to love tapioca as a junior memebr of the human race, I have never cooked it. Tonight was the night I had a go, and it was very successful. I ignored some rather odd recipes off the internet and went for the instructions on the side of the packet: always a good move.

Tapioca is made from a starch extracted from the roots of the cassava plant, also known as manioc. It is eaten all over the world as a staple starch, and originates from the Amazon. It is used in many ways in different cultures, but in the UK it is usually eaten as a milk pudding, and flavoured and fried: it is the main ingredient in ‘Skips’. I did no know that until I started looking it up on t’internet, which is full of interesting tapioca related facts.

Tapioca pudding is usually made with milk, but it can be made with coconut milk for those who are vegan or lactose intolerant. The tapioca pearls I bought look remarkably like polystyrene balls out of a floor cushion.

Ingredients:

2oz tapioca pearls (local shop)

1 pint of milk (organic)

1oz caster sugar (free trade, unbleached)

spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon or vanilla (all available from the wholefood co-op)

Method:

Heat the tapioca with the milk until boiling, stirring all the time. Turn the heat right down and keep stirring, cooking the tapioca until the mixture is very thick and the tapioca looks swollen (10 to 15 minutes)

Stir in the sugar, and transfer the mixture to an oven-proof dish. Bake in a hot oven (200C) for 30 minutes: the top will be lightly browned.

We served this with cream stirred in, to make sure we didn’t waste away, but it wasn’t really needed.

As made by one of my children.

As usual * is for wholefood co-op, ^ is local ethically sourced, and ” is for home grown.

Ingredients

For the pastry
60g Hazel nuts, toasted and finely ground *
165g plain flour *
30g caster sugar *
125g butter
1 small egg, lightly beaten ^
a little cold water

For the mousse filling
125g plain chocolate *^
60g butter
2 eggs ^
100g caster sugar *
2 tbsp self raising flour *
4 tbsp double cream
1 1/2 tbsp brandy, rum or other liqueur
Plain chocolate curls or other decoration
Cocoa powder *

Method

Start by making the pastry case. Put the ground hazel nuts and flour in a large bowl and rub in the butter. Once the mixture is finely rubbed in, add the sugar. The mixture should look like fine breacrumbs.

Mix in the small egg, and if required, a little water to make a stiff dough.

Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and chill for 30 mintues.

Preheat the oven to 200C

Roll out the dough on a floured table and line a large flan tin (3.5cm deep, 23cm diameter). Line the bottom with greaseproof paper and weigh this down with dried beans.

Bake the pastry case for ten mintues, remove from the oven and tip out the beans and remove the paper. Return the case to the oven for a further 5 to 8 minutes.

Time to make the filling. Melt the chocolate and the butter together, and set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large heatproof bowl over hot water for about ten minutes, until the mixture leaves a ribbon trail when the whisk is lifted.

Sift in the flour, and fold in. Then fold in the chocolate mixture, cream and alcohol.

Pour the mixture into the pastry shell and bake at 190C gas 5 for 15 minutes.

Once the pie is cool, decorate with chocolate curls, and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Margaret added a bramble liqueur to the moose that added a mysterious fruity taste. I think sloe gin would also be good. It keeps well enough in the fridge, but is best eaten on the day of baking.
 

This recipe is courtesy of the splendid ‘Pudding Club’ recipe book. We tried it on account of the two elderly bananas in the fruit bowl, and very good it was too. We customised it with a couple of pods of cardomom, ground and added in with the cinnamon.

” = homegrown or homemade
* = Wholefoods Co-op as organic or other ethical choice
^ = available locally as organic/homegrown or other ethical choice.Ingredients:

120g butter ^ or margarine
120g caster sugar ^*
1 free-range egg ^
1 tbsp milk
120g self-raising flour *
1/2 level tsp baking powder
1 1/2 level tsp ground cinnamon
2 bananas
2 tsp lemon juice

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together.

Gradually beat in the egg and milk.

Sift the flour, spices and baking powder together.

Mash the bananas til smooth and add the lemon juice.

Stir the bananas into the egg mixture and fold in the flour.

Spoon the sponge mixture into a greased 900ml (1 1/2 pint) pudding bowl.

Cover securely, and steam for 1 hour. Turn out and serve with custard.

I made this over Christmas at my mother’s; we had it as a dessert after a spicy lamb stew. The recipe originates with Gordon Ramsay, and is very simple.

Ingredients marked * are available from the Wholefoods Co-op, ” means home grown, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers.

Ingredients

500g large plums
Butter ^
2-3 tbsp creme de cassis or marsala
30g amaretti biscuits *

Method

Set the oven to high, around 200C

Cut the plums in half, stone, and arrange cut side up in a buttered tray. They should be close together.

Drizzle the liqueur over the plums

Crush the amaretti biscuits and sprinkle over the plums, then dot butter over the top.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, so that they are soft but not shapeless

Stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

These delicious plums are best served warm. I added a mixture of mascarpone and creme fraiche, slightly sweetened.

We had this tonight, after Malcolm did the main course, and it was fantastic, very quick and delicious. The most tricky part was serving it, as it has to be tipped out as soon as it comes from the oven, while it is very hot. We found the recipe in the ‘Good Food Show Guide’, courtesy of Jamie Oliver.

Ingredients marked * are available from the Wholefoods Co-op, ” means home grown, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers.

Ingredients:

60g butter ^
150g organic caster sugar *^
4 large free trade bananas ^
1/4 tsp organic ground cinnamon *
grated rind of one orange ^
Organic plain flour *
250g ready-made puff pastry

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C gas 4

In a deep baking tray, 19×13cm, melt the butter and sugar. Heat for 5 minutes stirring continously to make a golden caramel.

Peel the bananas and split them lengthways. Lay them in a single layer on the caramel, and sprinkle with the cinnamon and grated orange rind.

Roll out the flaky pastry on a floured board, until it is big enough to cover over the bananas, and about 1/2 cm thick.

Drape the pastry over the bananas and tuck it around the edges to make sure they are well covered. Prick a few holes in the pastry, and put into the top of the oven for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and cooked through.

As soon as the pastry is ready, it needs to be turned out. Hold a large serving plate or board over the pudding, and flip it over. This is the tricky bit, to avoid sprinking burning hot caramel sauce over the bystanders, table and your feet.

Serve with Vanilla icecream, or with creme fraiche combined with a little grating of orange rind. The original recipe suggests rolling the scoops of vanilla icecream in coconut.

I think the blackbirds got 90% of my blackcurrants and 60% of the gooseberries this year, in spite of netting: next year it is war. I did get enough gooseberries to experiment with foolish recipes, though. Gooseberry and rhubarb fool are excellent dishes, often overlooked. I prefer using a custard base, but some recipes use cream only.

As usual, ” = homegrown, * = Wholefoods Co-op as organic or other ethical choice, ^ = available locally as organic/homegrown or other ethical choice.

Ingredients
450g/1lb gooseberries ”
10ml elderflower cordial * (optional)
2 egg yolks ^
1 tsp arrowroot *
150ml/5fl oz milk ^
30g/1oz sugar *^
150ml/5fl oz double cream
fresh elderflowers, to decorate ” (optional)

Method

Trim the gooseberries. Put them into an oven-safe  pan with the elderflower cordial, if you have it. Put it in the oven at 140 C. Do not add any water. Leave in the oven for 45 minutes. the gooseberries should be very soft.

When cool, put the gooseberries through a mouli. If you don’t have a mouli or coarse sieve, then just puree them.

Make a custard: heat up the milk until it is almost boiling

Put the egg yolks, arrowroot and sugar in a big jug, pour on the boiling milk and mix well. Return to a double pan and heat until the custard thickens. Do not boil. Strain into a clean bowl and cool.

Whip the cream until it is the same consistency as the gooseberry puree.

Combine the gooseberries with the custard, swirl through with whipped cream and decorate with the elderflowers.

This is the recipe for the delicious lemon tart that is available just now at Nunton Steadings. This summer, Neil Campbell is in the kitchen; there is a new summer menu, lots of delicious salads, and wonderful tarts. I have tested these tarts and they are really good. The pastry in particular is excellent.

As usual, ” = homegrown, * = Wholefoods Co-op as organic or other ethical choice, ^ = available locally as organic/homegrown or other ethical choice.

Ingredients:

Sweet pastry
60g icing sugar *
120g butter ^
180g plain flour *^
2 egg yolks ^

Lemon custard
3 eggs ^
3 yolks ^
3 lemons
180g caster sugar *^
150g mascarpone cheese

Method

For the tart case, put the soft butter and the icing sugar in the mixer, and whizz up til they are creamy and mixed. If you don’t have a blender, use a wooden spoon to beat the sugar and butter together.

Add the egg yolks, and then the plain flour. Don’t over-mix. If you are using a blender, use short blasts.

Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and put in the fridge to harden for three hours.

Press the pastry into a 20cm flan case, so that it is the thickness of a plate.  You won’t be able to roll it out because it will be a bit sticky. Bake blind in a hot oven 180º C - 200º C until pastry is golden, about 20 minutes.

For the lemon filling, start by taking the zest off one of the lemons and then juicing them. Keep the juice and lemon zest separate.

In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice, eggs, yolks, mascarpone, and castor sugar.

Strain mixture into a jug using a sieve. Add zest, and mix well.

Pour custard into baked tart case and put on top shelf of oven at 150º C for about 30 minutes. To check if ready tap the edge of the tart tin – if it ripples/wobbles it’s not ready.

Sprinkle a litte icing sugar over the surface for decoration. Serve as it is, or with a little whipped cream if you must.

I made this tonight, except I used black currents; the original recipe says rhubarb. Both versions are delicious. Tonight we ate it with ice cream, although it is equally good with custard. It is from the fantastic pudding club recipe book.

As usual, ” for home grown, * for HiHoCo, and ^ for ethically sourced from local suppliers.

Ingredients

Around 400g finely chopped rhubarb (or the same weight of blackcurrants) ”
90g butter ^
90g soft brown sugar *^
1 tbsp golden syrup
120g porridge oats *^

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C

In a small pan, melt the butter, syrup and sugar.

Stir the rolled oats in, to make a sticky mass.

Put the prepared fruit in the bottom of a dish; my usual ‘crumble’ dish is fine, it is rectangular, about 15 cm by 20cm and about 5cm deep. A slightly smaller dish would be even better.

Spread the flapjack mixture over the top of the fruit, and bake for 30 minutes, until browned and crispy on the top.

This pudding is very hot when it is fresh out of the oven, probably best to let it cool for about five minutes before serving.

Margaret has been on good form in the kitchen these last few days, helping to use up the large quantity of wonderful fresh eggs. (Thanks to James and Donald). These little puddings used up four eggs, but they are very rich and we wondered if it would have been wiser to use half quantities. We have four small pudding basins, which were perfect, except the mixture makes six little puddings. We put the spare mixture in the fridge, and it was fine. More are on order from Lakeland plastics. Other eggsperiments coming up soon.

 As usual, ” = homegrown, * = Wholefoods Co-op as organic or other ethical choice, ^ = available locally as organic/homegrown or other ethical choice.

Ingredients

50g butter, plus extra for greasing the pudding bowls ^
350g dark chocolate *^
150g caster sugar *^
4 large eggs ^, beaten with a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
50g plain flour *
6 little pudding bowls
Greaseproof paper *

method

Preheat the oven to 200C, unless you are preparing these in advance. The cold mixture stores well in the fridge for a few hours, perfect for dinner party preparation.

Put one of the little pudding bowls onto the greaseproof paper, folded in half, and draw round the bottom. Cut out the little circles, and repeat until there are six little circles, which should be greased and put into the bottom of the tins.

Melt the chocolate in a double pan or in the microwave, and allow to cool slightly.

Cream together the sugar and butter, and then gradually beat in the eggs, then the vanilla.

Add the flour, and combine until the mixture is smooth.

Add the molten chocolate, and blend it to a smooth thick batter.

Divide the mixture between the six pudding bowls, and put them on a baking sheet. Bake the puddings for 12 minutes. (15 if the puddings have been waiting in the fridge)

As soon as they are removed from the oven, gently tip onto plates and serve with cream or icecream.