a few of our favourite things...

Becs: Judging by the number of flowers in my strawberry patch it should be a bumper crop of berries this Christmas. I spent Labour Day happily pottering in the garden. The strawberries were tidied up and tomatoes, beans, potatoes, snow and sweetpeas were planted. Not such good news is that this summer Christchurch has a water ban due to EQ damage -here's hoping for a Spring shower or two...

 

Miriam: I love summer salads. I made this one with baby spinach, chicken, red pepper and fresh mango. And then, the extra treat was cashew nuts that I dry fried in a pan and added some sugar to till it went all gooey and caramelised. Yum!

Trifle: the perfect pudding breakfast

This easy strawberry and Cointreau trifle is a perfect "make-ahead" dessert as it improves enormously with a day or so in the fridge... and the leftovers are the perfect "pudding breakfast".

I made it for a mid-week potluck Christmas dinner so prepared it the night before, then came home from work, covered it with whipped cream, sprinkled it with a crushed flake and headed out the door with it. I used bought custard, (which I am strangely fond of), but it you have the time and forethought you could make your own.... But that would mean getting started a couple of nights before to give the custard time to chill. Same with the sponge cake.

The dinner was over-catered, as potluck dinners invariably are, so I returned home with half a trifle to get through... I took some to work the following day for an mid-afternoon pick-me-up... and pick me up it did! I may have been a little heavy handed with the Cointreau as it felt like I was drinking on the job! If anyone had come too close I'm sure they would've smelled the alcohol on my breath.

I used Cointreau but any favourite liqueur would do. Or perhaps orange juice if you're not into boozy trifle... orange juice would also make this trifle more acceptable as a "pudding breakfast"... unless, of course, you see nothing wrong with drinking before 9am!

Strawberry and Cointreau Trifle

1 packet of sponge fingers or your best home-made sponge cake

600ml custard - bought or home-made

Cointreau or other liqueur (or orange juice) as required!

2 punnets of strawberries, hulled and sliced

300ml cream, softly whipped

1 chocolate flake bar

Dip the sponge fingers into Cointreau and line the bottom of a 20-ish centimetre square dish with them. Cover with sliced strawberries, custard and another layer of Cointreau-dipped sponge fingers. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight if possible.

An hour or two before serving, cover the trifle with whipped cream and sprinkle over crumbled chocolate. Chill until ready to serve in generous slices with extra fresh berries.

A few of our favourite things...

Libby: This bunch of peonies was an absolute steal at $6 for six stems. I've seen them for as much as $5 a stem - too expensive for something that lasts for a matter of days. I bought these gorgeous peonies from the Hill Street Farmers Market in Thorndon. The stall holder explained the recent warm weather had led to a Hill Street Farmers Market glut of peonies so they were selling them cheaply and they are super-sensitive to warmth: my bunch grew from tight wee buds to blooms the size of saucers overnight!

Becs: I have been enjoying the strawberry season. Prices in Christchurch have finally come down, so at $1.39 a punnet from the local fruit and vege shop they have been on the menu this week. My strawberry patches are gearing up production too. The latest Dish magazine has some delicious strawberry recipes in it. So far I have made the strawberry and hazelnut meringues with crushed strawberry cream, and the roasted strawberry and rhubarb compote, both were winners. Next up = strawberry and vanilla brioche.

Thursday baking - rhubarb and strawberry shortcake

The other week I had a random selection of toppings left over from my porridge stall at the farmers market, roasted rhubarb, raspberry coulis, apple and blackcurrant compote and some blueberry compote. I wanted to make something for pudding, and crumble was the obvious choice, but I have crumble fatigue at the moment, having made so many to sell at the market. So it was the perfect opportunity to try Lois Daish's shortcake recipe, using my mishmash of leftover fruit. I didn't measure the fruit at all, and probably used quite a bit more than the recipe called for.

This was a lovely pudding, but we also enjoyed it the next day, cut into wedges and served cold from the fridge. Next time instead of making it in a round cake tin as advised I might use a square one and then cut it into squares to serve as a slice. Either way, it worked. In summer I will try it with strawberries, as they are such a perfect partner to rhubarb, but we loved the flavour of the mixed berryfruit with the tart rhubarb and granny smiths.

My adapted recipe below is in extreme shorthand, apologies but my earthquake-obsessed-sleep-deprived brain just doesn't have the energy or desire to quote Lois word for word (fellow food bloggers is there anything more tedious than transcribing other people's recipes verbatim onto said blogs?!) Thankfully Daisy and I are about to depart to more stable and sunny climes, and Miriam will be joining us shortly, so LWD may be a little quiet for the next wee while...

rhubarb and strawberry shortcake - Lois Daish (Week 24)

3-ish cups of cooked fruit

125g butter

125g sugar

1 egg

225g flour

25g cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180c. Line the bottom of a 20cm cake tin with baking paper. Cream soft butter and sugar, add egg, sift in dry ingredients. Spread 2/3 of this mix into the cake tin, pressing it evenly over base and up sides. Top with prepped fruit, and crumble the remaining shortcake over this. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy