Author: Jen

Earl Grey and Lavender Éclairs

These éclairs have a delicate Earl Grey crème pâtissière filling and are topped with a simple icing with a few lavender petals. They are best eaten on the same day but will keep for a day or two if you can’t eat them all in one sitting…

For the choux pastry

For my guide on how to make choux pastry, click here. The quantities on this choux pastry recipe should make about 12 éclairs. Make the éclairs, poke a hole in the base of each one and leave to cool whilst you make the pastry cream.

For the Early Grey crème pâtissière,

  • 375ml whole milk
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 50g cornflour
  • 3 Earl Grey tea bags

Gently heat the milk in a large saucepan with the teabags. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a separate bowl, then add the cornflour and whisk. When the milk is steaming hot, squeeze out the tea bags and discard. Pour a small amount of the milk into the egg mixture and whisk quickly. Then pour all the egg mixture back into the milk, turn the heat up high and whisk constantly over the heat. The mixture will start to thicken. Keep whisking until it is thick and glossy, then pour into a clean bowl. Cover with cling film (the cling film needs to be touching the surface of the crème pâtissière) and chill in the fridge.

Once cool, fill a piping bag with a small nozzle with the crème pâtissière. Use a skewer to create 2 more holes on the base of the éclairs. Gently squeeze the crème pâtissière into each of the 3 holes. You should be able to feel the éclairs become heavier and will swell a little. Fill all the éclairs.

For the glaze,

  • 200g fondant icing sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp water
  • a handful of lavender petals

Whisk together the icing sugar and the water in a saucepan over a low heat until the mixture is smooth.

Pour into a wide bowl and leave to cool slightly. If you dip the éclairs when the glaze is too hot, it will run down the sides of the pastry. When the glaze has cooled down but is still runny, dip an éclair into the glaze holding the base carefully. Hold the éclair vertically as you lift it out. Use your finger to smooth the sides of the glaze, then place back on the wire rack. Scatter over a few lavender petals (not too many as the éclairs will taste soapy) and leave to set. Enjoy!

Mojito Cake

This mojito cake was made for my friend’s hen party – as she loves all things mojito. It has three layers of lime sponge, lime curd and white rum Italian meringue buttercream and topped with some fresh mint leaves.

For the lime sponge

  • 265g margarine
  • 265g caster sugar
  • 300g self-raising flour
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Zest of 3 limes

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line three sandwich tins with an 8 inch diameter. Mix all of the ingredients together until smooth. Split the batter evenly between the three tins and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the tins and leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the white rum Italian meringue buttercream

  • 5 egg whites
  • 450g unsalted butter
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 150ml of water
  • 4 tablespoons of white rum

I used an Italian meringue buttercream recipe by Edd Kimber. I’ve used Edd’s method a few times now and it always comes out perfectly. You can find the recipe by clicking here. I added the rum a tablespoon at a time at the end.

To assemble the cake, place one of the sponges on a cake board and cover with some of the buttercream.  Add a couple of teaspoons of lime curd and spread over. Repeat with another layer of sponge. Place the last sponge on top and cover the top and sides with the remaining buttercream and smooth over. Chop up some fresh mint leaves and sprinkle over the top.

 

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

These cupcakes have a zesty lemon sponge and are filled with a homemade lemon curd. They are topped off with a large amount of torched Italian meringue – any excuse to use my blowtorch on a cake!

For the Lemon Cupcakes (makes between 12 and 15)

  • 150g caster sugar
  • 150g margarine (I use Stork)
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 3 eggs
  • zest of 3 lemons
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cases. This is an all in one recipe, so place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together until smooth. Spoon the batter into the paper cases to fill them just over half way. Bake in the oven for 15 -18 minutes until they have risen and are firm to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the Lemon Curd

I used a recipe by Mary Berry For the lemon curd. You can find the recipe here. I halved the recipe which made just over 1 jar of lemon curd. Once made, leave in a sterilised jar to cool.

For the Italian Meringue

  • 5 egg whites
  • 330g caster sugar
  • 10 tbsp water

Place the egg whites ready in a mixer with a whisk attachment. In a saucepan, start to gently heat the sugar and water mixture. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and pop your sugar thermometer in. When the mixture reaches 110℃, start whisking up the egg whites until they reach the soft peak stage. When the sugar reaches 115℃, pour carefully into the egg whites (keep the mixer whisking on a low speed). Then turn up to high speed and whisk until the mixture is stiff, glossy and has cooled down (about 10 minutes).

To assemble the cupcakes, use a serrated knife to cut a small hole in the middle of each cupcake. Then use a teaspoon to fill these holes with some lemon curd. Then you can either use a piping bag to pipe the meringue on top or use a small palette knife for a more “distressed” look. Then use a blowtorch to torch the meringue as much or as little as you like.

Blackberry and Lavender Tartlets

These tartlets are based on a cocktail I had in London recently. It was a gin cocktail with blackberries and lavender and tasted delicious. The tartlets have a sweet shortcrust pastry base, a hidden layer of blackberry jam and are filled with a blackberry and lavender crème mousseline. They are then topped with a little vanilla crème mousseline, fresh blackberries and lavender petals. 

For the Shortcrust Pastry

Click here for my post on making a sweet shortcrust pastry. Make one portion of pastry as per the instructions. Chill the pastry, wrapped in cling film, for at least one hour. Once the pastry has chilled, dust your work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to about the thickness of a pound coin. I used four pastry rings with a diameter of about 5 inches, greased with unsalted butter. Prepare a baking sheet with baking paper. Cut out circles of pastry and place in the rings, directly onto the baking paper. Press the pastry firmly against the rings, then use a sharp knife to cut excess pastry off the top. Repeat with the remaining 3 rings and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prick the bases of the chilled tartlets with a fork, line with baking paper and baking beans and bake for about 12 mins. Remove the beans and the paper, then bake for about 4-6 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Leave to cool.

For the Blackberry, Lavender and Vanilla Mousseline

  • 500ml milk
  • 1 tbsp lavender petals
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 135g caster sugar
  • 50g cornflour
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 8-10 frozen blackberries
  • 8 tbsp blackberry jam

Infuse the milk with the lavender petals for at least one hour. Sieve the milk to remove the petals then heat the milk gently in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, then whisk in the cornflour. Once the milk is simmering, pour a small amount into the egg mixture and whisk together, then pour the entire contents into the saucepan and turn up the heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is thick. Pour into a clean bowl and whisk in the vanilla. Cover with cling film (the film needs to be touching the pastry cream) and chill in the fridge.

Once the cream is cooled, pop the butter (at room temperature) in an electric mixer and whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Keep whisking the butter and add the pastry cream a little at a time until fully incorporated. The mixture may look a little curdled but keep whisking and it will become smooth. Remove about a third of the mousseline and keep to one side.

In a saucepan, gently heat the frozen blackberries with a couple of tablespoons of water, until they are mainly liquid. Sieve the blackberries to remove any seeds and keep the liquid to one side to cool. When cold, slowly add the liquid into the remaining mousseline until smooth and violet in colour.

Now to put everything together. Take your cooled pastry tartlets and spoon a couple of tablespoons of the blackberry jam onto the base and smooth to create a layer. Now carefully spoon the blackberry and lavender mousseline onto the jam and smooth over with a palette knife. Put the vanilla mousseline into a piping bag and pipe little blobs around the edge of the tart. Add fresh blackberries to decorate then sprinkle lavender petals over the top.

How to make Shortcrust Pastry

Shortcrust pastry is great for making pies, tarts or quiches. I use the same method every time to make this pastry so, rather than repeating myself in each post, I’ve put together a more detailed explanation of making shortcrust pastry by hand. This is the method I was taught at Patisserie school. It’s a quick method and there is no danger of overworking the flour. The method below is for sweet shortcrust pastry and makes enough pastry for four individual tartlets.

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 medium egg

To start with, use your fingertips to rub together the flour, sugar, salt and the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg to the bowl and roughly mix everything together. Tip the contents of the bowl onto a clean work surface.

Use the heel of your hand to push a small amount of the mix away from you and against the work surface. Then repeat with another small amount of the mix. Repeat until you have worked through the whole dough.

Then, use a dough scraper to bring all the dough back together and start again, pushing a small amount of the mixture away from you at a time. Repeat this method until a smooth dough forms.

Then wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge, ideally for at least an hour. Once the dough has chilled, you can roll out to use however you like. Easy!