Plum and Almond Tart with Dittisham Plum Liqueur Ice Cream
This winning recipe was created by John Burton Race of the New Angel restaurant for his Devon team in ITV's Taste The Nation, first broadcast on 6th April 2009. More details are at Taste The Nation website.
Servings:8 Prep time:45min Cook time:1hr
Ingredients: 1 quantity rich sweet pastry (see below) Flour for dusting 12 ripe plums, stones removed, cut into eighths Icing sugar for dusting
For the frangipane: 200g unsalted butter 200g castor sugar 2 eggs 200g ground almonds
For the plum liqueur ice-cream: 600ml milk 600ml double cream 60ml liquid glucose 1 vanilla pod 12 egg yolks 225g castor sugar 250g plums 125g sugar 50ml Dittisham plum liqueur
For the pastry: 2 eggs 1 vanilla pod 200g butter 150g icing sugar 450g plain flour
For the glaze: 100g sugar 100g water 2 plums
Preparation: 1. First make the pastry. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add one egg and the seeds from the vanilla pod and mix together. Add half the flour and mix. Add the second egg and mix then add the rest of the flour and bring together into a dough. 2. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and put in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes. 3. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. 4. Put the milk, cream and glucose in a saucepan and scrape the inside of the vanilla pod into it. Bring it to the boil. 5. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until white and thick in texture. 6. Whisk the boiling liquid into the yolks and sugar and transfer to a clean pan. 7. Stir the mixture continuously over a low heat until it coats the back of the spoon. Do not boil. 8. Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll out on a clean surface to about 3mm thick. Use it to line the baking tin then place the tin in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool. 9. Make a plum coulis by halving and de-stoning the plums. Add to a pan with the sugar and liqueur and cook until the plums are soft and sitting in a syrup. 10. Blitz in a blender. Keep a small quantity to one side to garnish then stir the rest of the coulis through the ice-cream. 11. Churn in an ice-cream machine until frozen, then store in the freezer. The ice-cream is best eaten on the day it has been made. 12. To make the frangipane, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and creamy. 13. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the ground almonds and mix well. Set aside. 14. Spoon the frangipane into the tart case so that it comes about halfway up the side and smooth over the surface. Cover the frangipane evenly with the plums. 15. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden brown and the fruit is tender. 16. Meanwhile, for the plum glaze, melt the sugar with the water in a pan. Chop the plums into chunks and place them in the pan. Boil until the plums have completely broken down. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, catching the skins and pulp. 17. Remove the tart from the oven. Allow it to cool slightly then paint the plum glaze over the top. 18. Serve warm with the plum ripple ice-cream.
When British strawberries are not as good as they could be this recipe will deepen their flavour, Serves 3-4
Strawberries - 400g Caster sugar - 1 tbs (or more to taste) Bramley and Gage Blackcurrant liqueur
Put the sugar in a shallow bowl. Pour in 4 tablespoons of blackcurrant liqueur. Cut the berries into halves or thick slices, dropping them into the marinade. Leave the berries in the fridge for a minimum of an hour, maximum of three.
Take 2 pheasant breasts and remove skin. Flatten out between two sheets of cling film. Remove any shot! Remove false fillet and mince with fresh parsley, orange zest, a few crushed juniper berries and then season.
Place the minced meat onto the centre of the pheasant breast and then wrap in pancetta or streaky bacon. Pan fry in butter to get the bacon coloured and then place in an oven at 200c for 5 minutes. Rest for 2 minutes then slice.
Serve on buttered savoy cabbage or kale and dress with a rich gravy flavoured with sloe gin. Accompany with a few roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
Grapefruit with Damson Gin 2 Grapefruit 150ml (1/4 pt) Double cream 5cl Damson Gin 25g (1 oz) Chopped walnuts 50g (2 oz) Caster sugar Halve the grapefruit and scoop out the flesh, discarding pips and pith. Mix the cream with the sugar and most of the Damson Gin then whip it until stiff. Fold in the grapefruit pieces and walnuts. Put a small amount of the remaining Damson Gin into the Grapefruit halves then fill with the mixture. Chill very thoroughly before serving. Decorate with sweet cicely leaves: if they are not available bay or mint leaves are fine.
The Cheese Board
All our liqueurs can be drunk with cheese as an alternative to Port. We’d like to hear your ideas for cheese and liqueur partnerships, in the meantime Felicity’s favourite combinations are: Quince and Cheddar Sloe Gin and Stilton
Duck with Sloe Gin
From Nigel Slater, Observer Oct. 30 2005 A Large duck An onion About 50g (2oz) butter 10 juniper berries 5cl Sloe Gin Stock 2 small, sharpish dessert apples. Set the oven at 220C/gas mark 8. Put the bird in a roasting tin. Peel the onion, cut into quarters and stuff the bird with the pieces. Rub a thin layer of butter over the bird, then tuck a small knob of butter inside. Using a pestle and mortar, crush the juniper berries with a little coarse sea salt and half a dozen black peppercorns. Rub the mixture over the duck. Score the skin of the apples around the middle and tuck them into the tin. Roast for 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 180C/ gas mark 4 then continue roasting for 20-30 minutes or until the skin is a fine colour and lightly crisp. Lift out the duck and put in a warm place to rest. Put the roasting tin over a moderate flame, pour in the sloe gin and an equal amount of stock and stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve any pan-stickings into the liquid. Season with salt and pepper, let it bubble for a couple of minutes. When the sauce has started to thicken slightly, pour into a small hot jug. Carve the bird onto warmed plates together with some of the apple. Stir the gravy and pour it over.
Lambs Kidneys with Quince Liqueur
6 Lambs kidneys cleaned and skinned 225g (8 oz) mushrooms, washed 25g (1 oz) Butter Salt and pepper 5cl Quince Liqueur To garnish, double cream and chopped parsley.
Cut the kidneys in half, remove the core and slice again. Slice the mushrooms lengthwise down the stalks. Heat the butter in a frying pan and sauté the kidneys, then add the mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a saucepan and add salt and pepper then cook gently on the lowest possible heat for 20 minutes. Add the Quince Liqueur, taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour cream over and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with rice as a main meal for 2, or on slices of buttered toast as a starter for 4.
Summer Pudding Summer Pudding is a classical pud to have with raspberry liqueur, but in the winter, rescue some summer pudding mixture from the freezer-or buy ‘Summer Fruits’ from your local shop’s freezer. Line an oven-safe basin with buttered bread (butter-side to the dish). Fill with the aforementioned mixture, add sugar if necessary, cover with more bread and butter, sprinkle with some granulated sugar and bake in a moderate oven for 1/2 hour. Just before serving, pour over some Raspberry Liqueur and serve with cream or custard.
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Cut the rhubarb into short lengths, pulling off any strings. Put the rhubarb into a dish (not aluminium, as this will taint the rhubarb). Stir together the sugar, sloe gin and the water then pour over the fruit. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the age of your rhubarb. The toughest will take a good hour. Baste the rhubarb from time to time with the juices. When the fruit is tender, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. Best eaten warm, not hot - though it is good chilled.
