Local blueberries are winding down and there are still some peaches to be had. I’d like to share a couple of straight forward goodies from the past few weeks.

First up - peach blueberry custard tart (you could make it all peach if you’d like). Here’s the recipe PDF for you. It’s similar to the mixed red fruits tart I wrote about waaaaaaay back in March of 2015!

I made this one for a cousins’ reunion at Jen’s lake cottage. It’s a good plan ahead-er since the crust can be baked and held in the freezer even a few days before finishing it off. The custard comes together quickly and can be held in the fridge up to 24 hours - re-whisk before using.

Blind bake your favorite short crust or pâte brisée, arrange fruit of choice on the base, pour the easy custard over it all and bake. Voila!

The custard is a blend of 90 g sugar, 160 ml cream (or 80 g mascarpone/80 g cream), 3 large eggs, 1/2 tablespoon flour, 25 g almond flour, 25 g melted butter, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla and optional spices like a few grates of fresh nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander. Whisk it all together - can be made ahead and refrigerated for a day or so. Simply re-whisk before pouring it over the fruit. Easy peasy.

It bakes about 35- 40 minutes until the custard is set. Let cool. Great served with some freshly whipped cream and a crunchy garnish like oat crumble or toasted sliced almonds.

Next up!

Remember that mascarpone torta post I wrote a few months ago? At the end I shared my recipe for mascarpone cake and showed you some petite teacakes using raspberries. Well this time I (once again) had some mascarpone in the fridge ready to use so went with the same recipe but different fruit.

I went for a narrower, slightly longer loaf cake this time (in my mom’s MIRRO pan that I love!) and topped it with almond cream and blueberries. Yes!

I like to line the pan with parchment then butter and raw sugar the sides of the pan to give it a bit of exterior crunch. Ease the batter in and level the top - see those sugared sides?

Once the batter is in, press blueberries randomly on top. NOTE: I opted not to blend berries into the full batter batch since I find they have a tendency to sink to the bottom during baking.

I happened to have some crème d’amande on hand so decided to pipe squiggles on top before baking, along with a sprinkle of a bit more raw sugar.

Using this particular pan the cake bakes at 350ºF for about 60-70 minutes. An 8” or 9” round shallower pan will take less - more like 45-50 - it’s up to you to check! The top should be nicely browned and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan about 15 minutes then lift out and finish cooling on a wire grid.

Steve and I enjoyed this one with some homemade vanilla ice cream. Some of the neighbors benefitted too!

Meanwhile we have a Chihuly installation right across the street at nearby Meijer Gardens. We’ve been to check it out once already and plan a return visit soon. Pretty amazing glass sculpture amidst the natural beauty of the gardens.

Until next time - still working on that scone post! Take care.

First let me explain. I have a new book (thanks to a Christmas gift card) entitled “French Boulangerie: Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts”. Written by chefs at Ferrandi Paris, it “delves into the world of breads and viennoiserie”. It is chock full of classic techniques for creating breads, laminated pastries and so much more.

One of my projects was a laminated brioche loaf that didn’t turn out as expected. Hence the question - now what?? I certainly didn’t want to waste the end result since it did have a lovely flaky texture and buttery flavor (I used Kerry Gold for this one).

I’m not going to bore you with all the sordid details, but I had adjusted the recipe by portioning the finished dough to fit my longer, narrower loaf pan. The rolling and shaping process was interesting - cutting the rolled out dough into two lengths that were then folded again lengthwise and squiggled up to go into the pan.

After the rise it looked like some sort puffy smooshed monster. I was having serious doubts about this.

But . . . . . there may be hope! In spite of its unattractive appearance, once baked and out of the pan, the exterior layers were flaky and tasty!

It was the sunken center that got me down.

Time to regroup! My thoughts turned to Bostock which I think of as the brioche version of almond croissants. It’s typically made using leftover brioche which is sliced, imbibed with simple syrup, topped with almond cream, maybe some jam or fruit, sliced almonds and baked. That’s it!

I proceeded to divide my odd loaf in half - one half cut into cubes for my mini version of Bostock and the other half smaller chunks that would become bread pudding (another favorite!)

For the Bostock: toast the cubes in a 325º oven for 10-15 minutes to dry them out a bit. They can better absorb the simple syrup dunking that comes next. Once dunked, set them on a wire grid over a sheet pan to drip a little.

Now pipe a swirl of almond cream, add a center dollop of jam (cherry-raspberry here) and some crushed sliced almonds on top.

Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes until the almond cream is set and edges golden.

Once cooled, give ‘em a light dusting of confectioners sugar, just because. Enjoy as is with your morning coffee or afternoon tea. They keep in a covered container in the fridge for several days and do enjoy a 10 second or so refreshing warm up in the microwave.

Next up - bread pudding! I’ve made various iterations of this luscious treat over the years, usually to use up left over croissants, brioche or other enriched bread.

As is true of so many things in the baking and pastry world, the base custard varies from recipe to recipe - could be all cream, half cream/half whole milk, less sugar/more sugar, whole eggs vs yolks or a blend of whole and yolks. You get the picture.

I’ve developed a general ratio for a tasty mixture. Here’s a good base recipe for a chocolate almond version I decided on.

Many recipes call for about a pound of bread cubes. I had ~1/2 pound of brioche to work with so I chose a 8”x8” square ceramic baking dish rather then a larger 2 quart 9”x13” one and halved the base recipe.

For this half custard recipe I used 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 40 g granulated sugar and 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk. Heat dairy and sugar on the stovetop to dissolve the sugar. Have eggs/yolk in a separate bowl. Temper the warm dairy mixture into the eggs, whisk in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract then strain into a pitcher or bowl. If not using right away, refrigerate it up to overnight - just whisk it back together when ready to use it.

Butter the casserole and layer 113 g / 4 ounces coarsely chopped chocolate in the bottom. Top with bread pieces then dollop on blobs of almond cream (around 3-4 ounces total for this half recipe), tucking in between and over the brioche cubes.

Pour the custard over everything, letting it settle into the nooks and crannies. Place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Push the bread cubes down every now and then to keep things well soaked.

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350ºF. Have an empty larger casserole dish ready, into which you can place your bread pudding dish. Fill the larger casserole with hot water about half way up the sides.

Remove the plastic wrap and generously sprinkle raw sugar over the surface.

**Sugar sprinkled and ready for the oven**

Place carefully into the oven and bake about one hour. Look for puffing, lovely golden color and the custard set.

Lift out of the water bath and place on a wire grid to cool a bit.

Oh so delicious! Served warm (and I admit a bit over the top with butter pecan ice cream, oat crumble and caramel drizzle), Steve and I were in heaven. We shared some with our neighbor Sandy and refrigerated the leftovers which keep well for several days.

And yes, we freely admit to savoring additional portions warmed from the fridge for a lovely winter treat.

Wishing all of you a belated Valentine’s day. Be safe out there.

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