Boston Cream Cake

This is just a very quick recipe for Boston Cream Cake. It takes very little time to prepare and is made with ingredients that we usually have in our kitchen, with the exception, perhaps, of the cake base. Here's what you need:

1 Cakebase

Filling:

3 Eggs

6 tbsp Sugar

2 tbsp Corn starch

1/2 tbsp Butter

250ml Cream

250ml Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Pinch of salt

Ganache:

110g Dark Chocolate

120ml cream

1 tsp butter Pinch of salt

 Beat eggs, sugar and corn starch in a bowl until fluffy.

 Heat up the cream, milk and butter till it just starts to boil. Turn down the heat, add the egg mixture and stir while cooking for about 1 minute. It should start to become thicker. Add vanilla and a pinch of salt. Let it cool down completely.

 Pour one half of the mixture over one layer of a cake base. It should be thick, and not too liquid. Don't let it go all the way out to the edges. Put another cake layer on top. Gently press it and the cream will start reaching the sides. Pour the other half of the filling over and repeat with the last layer of cake.

 To make the ganache, bring the cream to a boil add the butter and pour it over the chocolate cut in smaller pieces. Let it sit for a minute, then stir until smooth. Add a pinch of salt.

Pour the ganache over the cake and spread it gently to the edges until it starts dripping over. Let it cool down completely before serving. 

Pretty Good Pasta Salad

If you haven't noticed, we are entering summer and, hopefully, that means many picnics, barbecues and other outdoor eating events are awaiting. So what are you going to make to accompany all those grilled steaks and chicken? I suggest this rather decent pasta salad I whipped together. As with all salads the list of ingredients can vary totally according to your taste, but I will give you my choice plus a few hints on how to boost flavours. 

You (may) need:

500g multi-coloured pasta screws (or any other with good surface area)

2 cloves of garlic

150g of bacon

2 tbsp tomato concentrate

1 tsp dried oregano

Pinch of red pepper flakes or some cayenne

Extra virgin olive oil

Handful of cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber, diced

Handful of black olives

5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked

Feta cheese cut in to small cubes

Handful of fresh basil

Handful of fresh chives

 Put the pasta to boil according to the package and drop two cloves of garlic with the skin into the water. Meanwhile, cut the bacon into small strips and fry until crispy. Remove from the pan, but keep the fat. When the pasta is done, rinse it under cold water and set it aside to drain and cool down. Remove the two cloves of garlic, which should by now be soft and easy to squeeze out of the skin. Crush them with the side of the blade of your kitchen knife until it becomes a paste. Add it to the rendered fat from the bacon, add the tomato paste, oregano and red pepper flakes. Fry it for a minute at medium temperature. Add a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Finally, mix it in with the cooled-down pasta in a bowl.

 Half or quarter the cherry tomatoes, half the olives, cube the cucumber, chop the herbs and slice the sun-dried tomatoes. Mix it all with the feta cheese into the bowl of pasta. 

Leave the pasta covered in the fridge for at least an hour or more for all the flavours to develop and mix. It wil easily last a couple of days in the fridge. Only the cucumbers might go a bit soggy, so best add them not too long before serving. Have a great picnic.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie

Rhubarb and strawberry pie is really a pie of transition. There is a small overlap at the end of the rhubarb season when the first strawberries start coming out, and that's about now. So it's time to get cooking. I was inspired to this pie filling by the wonderful people at joyofbaking.com. If you are not familiar with that page but like baking, bookmark it now. You will come back, I guarantee that. I just made a few spice adjustments to their version. But really, it's a straight forward recipe, so I doubt anyone can really patent it. And then I made my regular pie dough.  To make the dough, make sure all the ingredients are well chilled. If you have a food processor, this is the easiest way to do it. Just whiz the butter and cold flour together until it has the consistency of wet sand. The slowly pour in the water while the machine is on. As soon as it forms to a ball stop, divide the portion in two two pieces (on which is 1/3 and one which is 2/3). Shape like a ball and wrap them in cling film and put the in the fridge for at least an hour before. Alternatively, make the dough with a fork and some elbow grease. Just make sure the butter never gets too warm. You'll need:

Pie dough:

280g flour

1tsp salt

150g cold butter

5-6 tbsp ice cold water

Filling:

500g Strawberries

500g Rhubarb stalks

150g Sugar

3-4 tbsp cornstarch (sifted)

1 tsp Chinese five spice

1 tsp vanilla powder

1 tsp orange flower water (optional)

Wash the stalks and cut them in equally sized pieces of about 2 cm long. Half the strawberries. Sprinkle the orange flower water over.

 In a separate bowl, sift the corn starch and mix in the sugar, five spice and vanilla. Mix well, reserve 2 tbsp and sprinkle the rest over the strawberries and rhubarb and give it a good toss. Set it aside in the fridge while preparing the dough.

Roll out the bigger ball until it's big enough to fit inside the pie form and go up the sides. I usually do it between a piece of oven paper and some clingfilm lightly dusted with flower. this makes it easier to lift it up into the pie form. Dust the base with the remaining two tablespoons of the sugar mix. 

 Put in the strawberry and rhubarb filling. Roll out the smaller ball of dough. Cut it into strips and start getting creative with your weaving. Turn on the oven at 200ºC. While the oven is getting hot, place the pie in the fridge. Brush the top with milk and then bake for about 45 minutes. Let cool down completely before cutting into it. And by completely, I almost mean over night.

As it's such brilliant weather I decided to add a scoop of my homemade ice cream on top and splashed it with some of the juices from the pie. Just heavenly, I have to say.