Strawberry Loaf

Sending some uncomplicated, refreshing and strawberry love your way - hopefully a welcome respite from all the boozy and spicy cakes, puddings and cookies.

Recipe adapted from here with slight changes:

You will need:

-1 1/2 cup AP Flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-pinch of salt

-3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon sugar

-80 g butter

-1 egg
-1/2 cup milk (at room temperature)

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 cup strawberries hulled and halved

-1/4 cup strawberry jam

 

-Preheat oven to 180C and butter and line the baking tin.

-Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

-Beat the sugar and butter till fluffy and pale. Add the egg and continue to blend. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

-Add the milk in a steady drizzle twith the blender on medium (It may look  like it is going to curdle a bit, but do not worry, keep blending on high once all the milk has gone in).

-Add the flour, and blend it on low till just incorporated. 

-Pour half the batter into prepared tin,  pour 3/4th the jam, swirl it in with a skewer. Pour the remaining cake batter, followed by the remaining jam and swirl again. Place the cut strawberries on top, cut side down and bake for 25 min or till the cake skewer comes out clean.

 -Let the loaf cool on rack before slicing. Enjoy!
and a Happy New Year all! May the coming year be as promising as our hopes and dreams - Cheers!

Strawberry Verrine

Want a fancy-schmancy dessert to wow your fancy-schmancy dinner guests? Strawberry verrines are the way to go. They are simple and easy. Not to mention classy. Oooh and also, will make them wonder how the heck this working person/homemaker/wife/mother/all of the above/none of the above put together such a cool dessert. It's a breeze really. To demystify a verrine, it is a confection made by layering various beautiful ingredients in small cute looking glasses, originally from, where else, France.

I was lucky to lay my hands on a box of lovely and fresh (read expensive as hell) strawberries at this time of the year and the 'have-to-have-to-do-something-different!' feeling came over me.

So verrines have been on my to list for a looong time and i found this neat and easy-peasy recipe here at Pease Pudding and viola i knew i had to do it! Thank you PeasePudding! :)

There are three components to this gem of a dish: Strawberry mousse + Strawberry jelly + Fresh Strawberries.
(I halved the recipe and it yielded 4 medium sized servings. also, i increased the amount of gelatin required to make the jelly as opposed to the original recipe 'cos my jelly didn't set as well the first time when i followed the instructions in the original recipe to the T: Each brand has its own setting index i guess. either way, it tasted awesome.)

For the Strawberry mousse, you will need:

-1/2 cup strawberries washed and diced
-1/4 teaspoon gelatin
-1 tablespoon water
-3 tablespoons castor sugar
-1/3 cup cream

Mix the gelatin in the water and stir and keep aside.
Purée the strawberries till pulpy, add the gelatin mix it and place it in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and remove the pan from the heat. Keep aside to cool.
In the meantime, whip the cream to soft peak consistency (5 minutes or so).
Fold the whipped cream into the cooled strawberry mix.
Divide between serving glasses and refrigerate till set.

Once the mousse has set in the refrigerator (3 to 4 hours), we shall start with the jelly.
For the strawberry jelly, you will need:
-1 tablespoon peach schnapps or lemon juice
-1/2 cup strawberries washed and diced
-1 tablespoon water
-1/2 teaspoon gelatin
-2 tablespoons castor sugar

Mix the gelatin in the water and stir and keep aside.
 Purée the strawberries till pulpy, add the gelatin mix it and place it in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and remove the pan from the heat. Keep aside to cool.
Add the peach schnapps or lemon juice and mix. Allow to cool before pouring over the mousse lest it melts the mousse.
Let the jelly set before garnishing with freshly cut strawberries and maybe a sprig of mint.
and there you go, strawberry verrine! Enjoy! :)