Spiced Blackberry Quince And Apple Pavlova Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer), whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in a clean, dry bowl until foamy. Add the granulated sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla and continue whipping until stiff, smooth and glossy, about 8 minutes more. On a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit a sheet pan, use a pencil to draw or trace a circle 9-inches in diameter. Line the sheet pan with the parchment, pencil side down (you should still be able to see the circle). Spoon the egg whites into the circle, using the back of the spoon to smooth the top and sides of the disk. Bake in the center of the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake until the meringue has puffed up and cracked on the top and the surface is lightly browned to the color of cafe au lait, about 45 minutes more. Turn off the oven, prop the oven door open, and let the pavlova cool in the oven at least 30 minutes, to room temperature. This ensures a gradual cooling, which protects the delicate meringue.
• Whip the cream and brown sugar together until stiff. Spoon it in the center of the cooled pavlova and spread out to within 1/2-inch of the edge. Arrange the slices of kiwi around the edge. Arrange the slices of strawberry in the middle. To serve, slice into wedges with a serrated knife.

Steps:

• First, make your pastry dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and rest it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and, when the butter has melted, add the apples, ginger and a tablespoon of the ginger syrup. Slowly cook for 15 minutes with a lid on, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 5 more minutes with the lid off.
• Meanwhile, remove your pastry from the refrigerator. Dust your work surface with flour, cut the pastry in half and, using a floured rolling pin, roll 1 of the pieces out until it's just under 1/2-inch thick or looks as if it will cover a shallow 10-inch pie dish. (Rolling the dough between 2 layers of waxed paper will also stop it sticking to your rolling pin.) Butter the shallow 10-inch pie dish and line with the pastry, trimming off any excess around the edges using a sharp knife.
• Tip the cooled apples and blackberries into a sieve, reserving all the juices, then put the fruit into the lined pie dish so you have a mound in the middle. Spoon over half the reserved juices, (if desired use all the juice). Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the second piece of pastry, just as you did the first, and lay it over the top of the pie. Trim the edges as before and crimp them together with your fingers. Brush the top of the pie with the rest of the beaten egg, sprinkle generously with sugar and the cinnamon, and make a couple of slashes in the top of the pastry.
• Place the pie on a baking tray and then put it directly on the bottom of the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. To serve, slice the pie into portions and serve with a generous dollop of custard.
• Old-Fashioned Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
• Sift the flour from a height onto a clean work surface and sift the icing sugar over the top.
• Using your hands, work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. This is the point where you can spike the mixture with interesting flavors, so mix in your lemon zest.
• Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together until you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly. Don't work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator to rest for at least half an hour.
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• Yield: about 2 pounds

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Peel, core and slice the apples, then peel, core and grate the quince. Fill a pie pan with the fruit, sprinkling sugar over each layer, and mounding it up toward the center of the pan. Pour the water into the pan to come halfway up to the fruit.
• Roll out the dough. Cut off a thin strip and attach it to the rim of the pan, brushing the rim with water first. Brush the strip with water and cover the pan with the sheet of dough, cutting off all the overhanging bits. Crimp the edges, brush the top with eggwash, and strew over the demerara sugar. Bake for 20 minutes before turning the temperature down to 375 degrees F and cooking for a further 20 minutes. Eat warm or hot with heavy cream.
• Use approximately twice the weight of all purpose flour (preferably organic) to unsalted butter. Some recipes call for half butter, half lard.
• Sift the flour and a pinch of sea salt into a food processor, then cut the cold butter into small pieces on top of it. I process it for 20 to 30 seconds, then add ice-cold water through the top, a tablespoon at a time, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes should be enough for about 10 ounces of dough, with the machine running. If the paste is still in crumbly little bits after 1 or 2 minutes, add a tablespoon more water, but remember, the more water you use, the more the crust will shrink if you bake it blind. One solution is to use a bit of cream or egg yolk instead of water. The moment the dough has cohered into a single ball, stop, remove it, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• If you're making pastry dough by hand, sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt, add the chopped butter, and work as briskly as you can to rub the fat into the flour. Use the tip of your fingers only, rather like running grains of hot sand through your fingers. Add the water bit by bit as above; wrap and chill the dough.
• If you're making a double-crust pie, divide the dough into roughly 2/3 and 1/3. Then scatter a bit of flour on your work surface, roll your rolling pin in it, dust the palms of your hands, and start rolling. Always roll away from yourself, turning the dough as you go, and keep the rolling pin and work surface floured to prevent sticking.
• Preheat the oven to 375 to 400 degrees F.
• Line your greased pie pan with dough. Never stretch it; it will stretch back. Try to leave at least 30 minutes for the unbaked dough to commune with the inside of your fridge. Or put it in the night before you need it.
• Tear off a piece of waxed paper a little larger than the pie pan and place it over the dough. Cover the paper with a layer of dried beans; the idea is to prevent the pastry from rising up in the oven. When the dough is nearly cooked (the timing depends on the rest of the recipe), remove the paper and beans and prick the bottom of the pie shell to let out trapped air that would otherwise bubble up. Return the tart to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes to dry the bottom. Brushing the partly baked pie shell with a light coating of beaten egg or egg white ensure a crisp finished tart.
• Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub in 2 tablespoons of the butter, as for shortcrust pastry dough, or use a food processor. Mix in the water and then gently knead the dough on a floured surface, preferably marble. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Keep the rest of the butter out so that it softens, then flatten it into a rectangle 1 inch thick. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into the same size as the butter. Place the butter in the center of the pastry and then fold over the top and bottom of the dough to cover the butter.
• With the rolling pie, press down on the edges to seal in the butter, then give the dough a quarter turn clockwise. Now roll the dough out so that it returns to it's original length. Fold over the ends again, press them together with the rolling pin, and give a further quarter turn clockwise. Repeat the process once more, then rest the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, remembering which way it is facing.
• Repeat the rolling and turning process twice more, then refrigerate for a final 30 minutes before using or freezing. If the dough gets warm and buttery at any stage during the process, put it in the fridge to chill.
• If you prefer not to make your own, you can buy ready-made puff pastry, but try to find the very best available.