Pete Fred

Claire Ptak's banana buttermilk bread... The result of an unfortunate confluence of boredom and gifted bananas, this cake did nothing to change my opinion that banana bread is a waste of a good banana. (Recipe here if you couldn't disagree more.)

A couple of old favourites revisited. Portokalopita... And an individual strawberry and vanilla cheesecake...

I guess if you're gonna have cake for lunch then you might as well go all-in and have cake for dinner, too... This is the Midsummer cake that @OlyveOyl mentioned a few posts back, here made with nectarines and raspberries. It was a nice cake, particularly where the edges crisped against the tin. Next time I'd probably use a different berry to reduce the moisture. It went well with more of that mahleb cream... And for dessert (!) a fruit salad cobbled together from several of my trees: figs, red and yellow plums, and cherries (plus nectarines, raspberries and an orange) macerated and lightly sweetened with mead and vanilla sugar... oh, and look, more of that whipped cream... Tomorrow I'm going carnivore.

Fig and hazelnut cake... My early figs are usually a bit 'meh' but the ones I picked this morning were pretty decent. I wasn't expecting fireworks from this cake but it turned out rather good. Essentially a financier batter, it had a nice, nutty flavour, and the edge had a pleasing chew. I had it with some mahleb whipped cream... Recipe here (I bumped up the figs to 400g).

Apricot and Muscat Tart by Sarah Johnson... Looks alright from that carefully composed angle. However... The horror! The horror! I think the problem was one of two things, or a combination thereof. I used more apricot purée on the base than the recipe called for - otherwise it would've just been a smear - so maybe the extra moisture bubbled up through the filling causing the fissure. And I was suspicious of the time and temperature: 30 minutes at 180C/350F until "golden brown" for a pretty shallow, clafoutis-like batter seemed like it was asking to be overcooked and crack (and it would've been even thinner if using the indicated 25cm/12-inch ring rather than 22cm). I had it with the Muscat-roasted apricots and a splodge of vanilla crème diplomat leftover from the weekend's cream puffs... After all that, if it had been a knockout taste-wise then I'd revisit it and make a few tweaks. But it wasn't, so I won't. Next up, the Feta and Honey Cheesecake from Honey & Co... I had this years ago at the restaurant but don't remember much about it. I decided to make it when Lidl had in some kadaif pastry, presumably riding the wave of the Dubai Chocolate craze. It was precooked and shredded, so I just mixed in some melted butter and sugar, figuring it was in the ballpark. The cheesecake mix was fine but unremarkable. I knew as I dolloped it on top of the kadaif that it was gonna rub me up the wrong way, given my issues with smooth-on-rubble, but what can you do when it's the whole point? Ho-hum.

I can't remember where (maybe here?) but I was recently reminded of the BBC sitcom Whites via this clip. The series seems to be available on YouTube.

Ottolenghi's Apricot, Walnut and Lavender cake has been waiting patiently in my to-do folder for ages. I picked up some apricots at the market and stole foraged some lavender from a neighbour's bush... I was annoyed that most of the apricots in the inner ring sank, leaving just the one, Cyclops-like, staring deep into my soul. Looking at the photo in the book and other examples on the internet, it doesn't seem to be a widespread phenomenon, so...🤷‍♂️ Slicing into it I hoped that would just be a minor quibble... But the cake was pretty wet around the apricots. Overall it was just a bit mushy... Flavour-wise it was nothing to write home about: no detectable lavender, and it tasted a bit wholemeal-y. So that was a bust. Elsewhere, I took a few treats to a barbecue, including canelés... And choux à la crème...

Some mighty omelette skills in NYC (via Michael Ruhlman).

@Jim D. I just ignored it (and the lemon). I'd be interested to try it with the inclusions; I'm always up for a challenging dessert!

@liuzhou In the Ivy version the berries are plated for five minutes to "lose their chill" then the sauce added. When I had it the berries ranged from warmed to still frozen. That's all I can tell you.

@liuzhou Not all the berries defrost. There is a range.

Back in the 90s when The (original) Ivy restaurant in London relaunched, a dessert that had its moment was "Scandinavian Iced Berries with Hot White Chocolate Sauce", created on the recommendation of a customer who had something similar in Sweden, apparently. Recipe via Ina Garten here (although The Ivy always stuck to small berries).

@Katie Meadow Specifically, it was a 1.5x version of this one (partly using crème fraîche, and minus the oil and lemon), which itself is not dissimilar to this one. But when I looked around most recipes seemed to broadly follow these ratios. Yup, it was good. I'm not sure the subtle 'burnt' flavour is a game changer, but it certainly looks nice. The outside also baked up a little firmer, so the transition from smooth and creamy to rich and dense was most appealing.

Basque cheesecake 2.0... This time I cooked it in a regular oven. The last one was only a two-thirds mix and somewhat protected from the heat. This time I filled to the brim so the surface was more exposed... I wasn't quite sure when to pull it, but stuck with 57C/135F figuring the greater depth might give me a few more degrees of carryover, and it seemed to work fine.

Sticking with the fruity theme... Honey and Grand Marnier roasted figs, with crème fraîche. One of the fig trees bears fruit around now, and again in early September. The ones at this time of year are always disappointing, so this was an attempt to zhuzh them up a bit. Unsuccessfully, as it turned out.

Peaches poached in white wine and vanilla... Served with a little Madagascan vanilla fromage frais and a drizzle of the poaching liquor... Can't imagine I'll eat anything better this summer.

Here's an example with the OG chocolate fondant.

@Susanwusan I often make individual cakes in small mousse/entremet rings (10cm/4-inch). I just scale the recipes down and it seems to work fine. I usually seal the bottoms with tin foil, but if your tray isn't warped or the batter too runny, any leaks soon seal themselves in the oven. I've seen plenty of videos of bakeries do this.

Well, unleashing the flamethrower did not salvage matters... It just smelled, and to a lesser extent tasted, burnt. Still, I could get used to cheesecake - burnt or not - for breakfast.

I'm not confident my puny toaster oven will get that deeply caramelised/burnt look. I might just see what happens if I stick it under the grill or flamethrower it! While I'd like to achieve that signature look, La Viña seem to have a variety of colours and textures, so I'll attempt to peddle that as my excuse. 🤨

@Smithy I'm quite partial to that burnt dairy flavour so will have to figure out a way to get more colour without impacting the texture too negatively.

Basque cheesecake is not something I've made or even had, so time to dip my toe in... I resisted the temptation to chase a bronzed top and pulled it at 57C/135F. It carried over to 63C/145F... After taking the chill off to serve... While the ooze has a certain visual appeal, I'll probably pull it at 60C/140F next time for a slightly firmer set - the creamier part didn't taste as cheesecake-y as the rest. I know Basque cheesecake is having its moment these last few years but I didn't find it anything remarkable, just a nice cheesecake. I liked its simple, rustic charm. Next time I'll do a deeper one.

What the French/Germans think the "American Way" of eating is still tickles me. I think they're just trolling now. Next week in Lidl...

@Shel_B Amazon (France)

I've only ever used generic supermarket peppercorns. Spurred on by the comments here, I thought I'd broaden my horizons... Well, night and day, innit? Thanks.