BLUEBERRY AND PLUM ROSEMARY GALETTES

Here’s my little treat for you guys, Blueberry and Plum Rosemary Galettes! These gorgeous French pies were our brunch this weekend and though they were super indulgent, making and eating them was a wonderful way to start the day. The sweet and crumbly crust was topped with flake almonds, which provided a perfect base for the tart and fruity filling. Fresh rosemary added that wonderful aromatic flavour to the Plums and blueberries filling. Had a couple leftover so we enjoyed it as dessert the next day with a scoop of fresh vanilla bean ice cream I made. Such a heavenly treat - you really gotta try this!

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PREP TIME: 20 minutes

PASSIVE TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes

BAKING TIME: 30 minutes

MAKES: 6

INGREDIENTS

For pastry:

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 250g unsalted butter, cold and diced

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar

• 6-7 tbsp chilled water

For filling:

• 2-3 red plums, cut into 1 cm thick slices

• 2 cups blueberries

• 2 tbsp cornflour

• 8 tbsp caster sugar

• 2 rosemary sprigs

• 1 medium lemon zested and juiced

For Brushing:

• 1 egg

• 1- 1/2 tbsp thick grain sugar

• 2-3 tbsp almond flakes

METHOD

1. Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper and keep aside.

2. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment, add flour, salt sugar and butter. On a medium speed blend them together until the butter remains pea sized. Add chilled water and blend for few seconds until the pastry dough combines.

3. Divide the dough in 6 equal parts. Shape them in balls, wrap individually in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

4. Just before rolling the pastry, in a bowl, place blueberries and plum slice, add cornflour, sugar, rosemary blades, lime zest and juice and mix all filling ingredients. Do not mix them before as this will make the filling watery.

5. Roll a pastry ball in between 2 sheets of parchment paper or on and roll it into 6 inch circle. Place it on lined baking tray. Repeat with rest of the pastry dough balls.

6. Now pour the filling in the centre of the rolled pastry keeping a margin of about 1.5 inch. Lift up the edges and fold over the filling. Press the creases gently to seal. Repeat with the rest of pastry circles.

7. Stick the prepared pastry in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

8. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C.

9. Remove pastry after 30 minutes and lightly brush the egg wash on the folded pastry surface, sprinkle with sugar and almond flakes.

10. Bake it in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm with a dollop of ice-cream on top.

COOK'S NOTES

• The pastry can also be prepared by hand or in food processor.

• It is very important to use the chilled butter for making the pastry. Do not overwork or knead the pastry as overworking will make the pastry dense and heavy and the texture wont appear as light, crispy and flaky.

• It’s really important to use chilled water. Add only a tablespoon of water at a time. Just enough water needs to be added to hold the pastry dough.

• Adding all water at once might make the dough loose. So add the water gradually as needed to hold the dough together.

• Resting and chilling the pastry dough wrapped in cling film in the refrigerator before rolling is an important step. This helps pastry to relax which in turn helps to prevent it shrinking on baking.

• Rest the pastry again after the filling in the fridge for at least 20-30 minutes before baking as this process helps pastry to become more crusty and not greasy.

#blueberrygalettes #plumgalettes #rosemary #dessert #baked #frenchpastry #galettes #pie

MEDITERRANEAN CHEESE FATAYER

The other day I asked my hubby to pick up some yeast from the grocers, and he picked up enough to last us years, I’ve been obsessed with making breads in all shapes and forms! This is my latest conquest - a Mediterranean Fatayer stuffed with Feta and Cheddar. Breaking into these warm and fluffy Nigella seed crusted pockets of bread, you find a creamy and sour filling with earthy thyme notes. My family really enjoyed this with Chilli-Infused Burnt Butter Labneh, which was sooo perfect for a family brunch, as honestly, our bellies were full for the day!

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PREP TIME: 40 minutes BAKE TIME: 20 minutes PASSIVE TIME: 40 minutes YIELDS: 16

INGREDIENTS

For Bread Dough:

• 2/3 cup warm water

• 1 cup warm milk

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 14g instant yeast

• 4 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 cup olive oil
  

For Filling:

• 250g creamy feta cheese, hand crumbled

• 100g cheddar cheese, grated

• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

• Dash of black pepper

For topping:

• 1 tbsp nigella seeds

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

METHOD

1. In a bowl, pour warm water and milk. Add yeast and sugar, mix and let it stand for 10 minutes until it’s foamy. Then pour oil and mix.

2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, gradually add flour to the yeast mix to make the dough. Transfer dough on benchtop, knead it for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Form a dough ball and place it in the oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap or wet kitchen towel and leave it to rise double in size, at least 30 minutes.

3. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling by mixing the cheeses, thyme, parsley and pepper together in a bowl.

4. Once the dough has risen, uncover and punch to knock the air out. Gently bring the dough together, do not over work the dough.

5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Divide the dough in 16 equal balls (65g each)and place it on the lined tray, leaving gap of 2-3 inch in between.

6. Flatten a dough ball into a circle with your fingers, about four inches in diameter. Place a tablespoon of filling(about 22g) in the center. Then take the edge of the dough, fold it over and press down tightly with your finger tips, around the filling to secure it. Repeat with the rest of dough balls. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.

7. While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 180°C. Uncover the rested fatayers, brush it lightly with egg wash, sprinkle nigella seeds on top and bake it in pre heated oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature with shakshuka.
   

COOK'S NOTES:

• I used feta and cheddar cheese for the filling but you can always use Greek cheese mixed with some mozzarella or even a meat or spinach stuffing.

• Any other dried herbs like thyme or mint can also be added to the filling for a variation.

• Top the bread with toasted sesame seeds if you don’t have nigella seeds, or top it with both.

• I served these with chilli infused burnt butter lebnah but it can be paired with hummus, shakshuka or warm soup.

#mediterraneancuisines #fatayer #baked #baking #breakfast #cheese #bread #cheesebread #Turkishbreakfast #nigellaseeds #mediterraneanbreakfast

MARBLE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

I was craving for a simple cake without getting into the fuss of whipping gluten-free or a vegan allergen cakes…went back to my memory lane and thought of this marble cake which I used to whip quite regularly decades ago, and after experimenting with a tons of new things, sometimes you wanna go back to those simple pleasures which were so familiar.

When I first started baking as a little girl, marble cake was one of the first things I learnt from my mum. At times we would also play with colours to make those rainbow swirls in the cake. When I was whipping up this cake I had those flashbacks and vivid memories of the time I use to spend with my mum when I was a little girl. It’s truly such a family favourite and for a good reason! It’s a treat for all senses - it looked beautiful and tasted divine, with the classic flavours of chocolate and vanilla topped with the luscious chocolate buttercream frosting that’s as good as a warm and comforting hug!

I planned to serve and photograph it with icing, as soon as I pulled this cake out of the oven, the marble effect looked too captivating to not to capture. So I took the picture when it was still warm without any frosting ( swipe left to see that pic), but by the time it cooled and I frosted it, the sun moved and I got a bit stressed.... but it was actually fine, as the moment I clicked a shot, it looked gorgeous! “That’s the one” I said to myself, and sat down to enjoy this luscious and super delicious cake!

Though I must admit this isn’t the healthiest cake but it truly serves your indulgence cravings. I sooo enjoyed baking and digging into this heavenly cake - cutting the first slice and seeing the contrasting swirls is a true delight that you must experience too — learn how to make this amazingly delicious cake and enjoy those simple pleasures!!

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PREP TIME: 20 minutes BAKE TIME: 25 minutes PASSIVE TIME: 2 hours FROSTING TIME: 20 minutes SERVES: 12-5 slices

INGREDIENTS

For Cake:

• 1 3/4 cup cake flour

• 3 eggs, room temperature

• 185g unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 cup whole milk/buttermilk, room temperature

• 1 cup caster sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder
  

For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

• 125g unsalted butter, room temperature (soft but not sticking to fingers)

• 1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

• 1/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder

• 2 tbsp cold milk or cream

• 1/6 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  

METHOD

For Cake:

1. Grease and line a 25cm long x 4cm wide loaf pan with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium high speed until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time while the mixer is still running, whisk well after each addition until well combined, at least 3-4 minutes. Add milk and blend on low speed to mix with butter mixture.

3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Remove bowl from the stand, and fold in half of the flour, once its well combined fold in rest of the flour until well combined.

4. Take 1/3 of the cake batter in a bowl and fold in the sifted cocoa powder.

5. In a prepared pan, pour half of the white batter, drop spoonful of the chocolate batter on top leaving a little gap in each spoonful of batter dropped. Cover it with rest of the white batter. With a clean table knife, create a swirling pattern by running it through the batter to create a marble effect. Do not over do it as your swirls will mix too much and your swirls will be lost.

6. Bake it in pre-heated oven for 22-25 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.

7. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out on wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1. In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, milk and salt with mixer running on low. Once mixed, increase the speed to medium high and whisk until light and fluffy. Taste the frosting, if needed add a pinch more of salt if the frosting is too sweet. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of sugar if the frosting is bit soft, add bit more milk if the frosting is too thick.

2. On a cooled cake, spread the frosting all over sides and top with the offset spatula or a pallet knife. Serve immediately.

COOK'S NOTES:

• I used cake flour to make a fluffy soft texture of the cake but if you do not have cake flour you can make it at home. Measure one cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons of flour from the measured cup and replace it with two tablespoons of cornflour. Sift the flours together 3-4 times as it’s an important step to fully incorporate with each other.

• Adding cornflour helps make the cake light and soft in texture. All-purpose flour has more protein than the cake flour which makes the cake bit denser in texture like a bread.

• I used dutch processed cocoa powder which is alkaline treated. It’s best to use dutch processed cocoa powder for richer chocolate taste and deeper luscious colour.

• Always use the cocoa powders as mentioned in the recipe for best results.
  

#marblecake #chocolatecake #baked #baking #cake #buttercream #chocolatebuttercreamfrosting #vanilla #chocolate #vanillacake #frosting