Hit the sweet spot: Yotam Ottolenghi’s twist on traditional British puddings
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Version 0 of 1. One of my earliest memories is of eating a shortbread cookie in a confectioners’ shop in the old city of Jerusalem. The texture was so perfectly sandy it melted in the mouth in an instant – a magical disappearing act. The cookies were called ghraybeh, which, chiming with my memory, means “swoon” in Arabic. You can take the boy out of the sweetshop, but you can’t take the sweetshop out of the boy. Like many Palestinian classics – from walnut-and-date-filled ma’amul biscuits to syrup-drenched helbeh cake, from rice pudding to set milk pudding in need of a drizzle of something sweet – those ghraybeh were flavoured with orange blossom and rosewater. To this day, I find it hard to leave out one or the other whenever I’m making dessert. This week, I’ve been playing around – or, more accurately, taking huge liberties – with classic British cakes and puddings, and I had to make a big effort not to default to my go-to floral notes. But I found it impossible not to incorporate several other key pudding players of my youth: crumbly halva, chopped pistachios or walnuts, dried rose petals, creamy tahini, citrus zest, saffron infusions, cardamom, juicy dates and syrupy date molasses. These are the Golden Syrup, the wobbly jelly and the hundreds and thousands of my own childhood. Sort-of Eccles cakes Forgive the name. These are nothing like Eccles cakes, but that’s how they started off, with a puff pastry case. They then went on a very sweet journey – becoming sort-of pop tarts (with a different filling) and then almost-pop tarts (with a rich, buttery pâté brisée) – before going back to something a bit like an Eccles cake. They are marvellously short and rich, so serve with a cuppa-something, and that’s it. Makes 16. 2 egg yolks1 tbsp whole milk280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting1 tbsp caster sugar150g unsalted butter, fridge-cold and cut into 2cm dice40g lard, fridge-cold and cut into 2cm diceSalt1 egg, lightly whisked2 tbsp demerara sugar For the filling40g dried cranberries 40g sultanas70g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped25g 70% cocoa dark chocolate, chopped into 5mm pieces1 tsp ground cinnamon180g smooth apricot jam For the filling, put the cranberries and sultanas in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside for 30 minutes, so the fruit swell. Drain, set aside for five minutes to dry, then roughly chop. In a medium bowl, mix with the walnuts, chocolate, cinnamon and jam, then set aside. In a small jug, whisk the egg yolks and milk, then set aside. Put the flour in a food processor with the sugar, butter, lard and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt. Blitz to the consistency of breadcrumbs, then, with the motor running, pour in the yolks and milk until the mix comes together into a very soft pastry. Tip on to a work surface, shape into a ball, wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for 30 minutes, to firm up. On a well-floured work surface, roll out the pastry into a 40cm-wide circle about 3mm thick, dusting with more flour every time you turn the pastry over. Using a pastry cutter, cut out 16 7-8cm-diameter circles and another 16 that are slightly larger (these will serve as lids); you’ll need to re-roll the scraps to get all 32 circles. Lay the smaller circles on two large parchment-lined baking trays, then divide the fruit mixture between them, leaving a 1cm border all around the edge. Brush the rims with egg, then place the larger circles of pastry on top and press the edges together, so that the filling is secure; wipe away any jam that escapes from the pastry. Brush the lids with the remaining egg and sprinkle an even coating of sugar all over the tops. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, so the pastry firms up. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Using a small, sharp knife, cut three parallel incisions in each pastry lid, about 4-5cm long and spaced 1cm apart, to reveal the filling beneath. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is golden-brown and cooked at the base. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before serving. Pot barley pudding with roasted apples and date syrup If you can’t get hold of pot barley, use pearl barley – while it won’t have quite the same bite, it will still work well. Also, cook it for only 30-35 minutes, rather than the hour the pot barley needs. Serves six. 200g pot barley, rinsed6 tbsp date syrup3 small cinnamon sticksShaved skin of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice1½ tsp finely grated nutmeg¼ tsp salt3 large pink lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2-3cm pieces3 medium bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2-3cm pieces50g demerara sugar50g unsalted butter, melted1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and the seeds scraped out250g plain yoghurt Pour a litre and a half of water into a medium pan, add the barley, two tablespoons of date syrup, the cinnamon, lemon skin, nutmeg and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for an hour, stirring from time to time, until the barley is the consistency of rice pudding but still retains a bite. Remove and discard the lemon skin and cinnamon, and keep the pot somewhere warm. After the barley has been cooking for half an hour, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Mix the apples in a medium bowl with the lemon juice, sugar, butter, vanilla seeds and pod, then spread out on a large parchment-lined baking tray. Bake in the same oven as the barley for 30 minutes, until the apples are soft and nicely coloured – the bramleys will be completely soft, while the pink ladies should keep their shape. Discard the vanilla pod, gently stir the apples and set aside somewhere warm. Divide the warm barley between six bowls and spoon over the apples. Drizzle a teaspoon of date syrup over each portion, top with two tablespoons of yoghurt and finish with a final teaspoon of date syrup. Fluffy date syrup cake I can’t work out what I like more about this cake: the soft texture, the sweet spices or the sticky dates. Either way, the combination is mildly addictive. It keeps for up to a week, provided it’s well wrapped. The recipe was inspired by my friend and colleague Esme Robinson’s mother, Alison, and Mary Berry. Serves 12. 250g medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped250g date syrup, plus 1½ tbsp extra for the icing225g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus 20g extra for greasing the tray120g dark muscovado sugar4 eggs4cm piece ginger, peeled and finely gratedFinely grated zest of 1 orange3 tbsp orange juice, plus 1½ tbsp extra for the icing300g self-raising flour, sifted2 tsp baking powder1 tsp ground ginger1 tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp ground cinnamon¼ tsp ground cloves1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg½ tsp salt80g icing sugar Heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas mark 2½. Grease a 20cm x 30cm baking tray and line with parchment. Put the dates and date syrup in a food processor and blitz to a rough paste. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and, using an electric whisk, beat for two minutes, until fluffy. Add the eggs, ginger, orange zest, orange juice and two tablespoons of cold water. Whisk until completely combined, then stir in the date paste and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients apart from the icing sugar, then stir into the wet ingredients and pour into the prepared baking tray. Bake for 40 minutes, until a knife comes out almost, but not completely, clean. While the cake is baking, make the icing. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining date syrup, orange juice and icing sugar, until completely smooth. The moment the cake comes out of the oven, use a palette knife evenly to spread the icing all over the surface, then set aside to cool. Serve slices of the cake warm or at room temperature. • Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London. Follow Yotam on Twitter. |