Summer fruits

Hello all, hope you are well and that February is treating you kindly so far.

I have been immensely enjoying the fruit this summer! The cherries have been unreal and the figs are finally starting to come out. Have you ever tried fresh currents? I hadn't until I bought some at the Farmers Market on Sunday.

 

 They are teeny tiny bubbles of super sweet goodness. If you ever see them you must give them a go!

I've been very slowly collecting silver cutlery hoping to one day have a drawer full of pretty knives and forks. I am no where close to achieving that goal but these latest finds have helped me along a little.

I don't get to use these cake servers much so am enjoying having them on show.

Speaking of cake, I have a recipe for you!

A friend popped around last week with a bag full of lovely white nectarines from her tree so when we were invited out for dinner on the weekend and asked to bring dessert I knew what I had to do.

Nectarine and Almond Pudding

350g almond meal

300g unsalted butter

300g sugar

3 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten

1 handful whole pistachio nuts, shelled

Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

9 small or 6 large white nectarines

In a food processor blitz the butter and sugar until light any creamy. Fold in the almond meal, lemon rind and eggs until completely mixed and nice and smooth. Stir in the pistachio nuts, then place in the fridge to firm up slightly. While waiting for the mixture to cool, halve and destone your nectarines.

Now get yourself some ramekins. The ones I used were quite large and made 8 serves. Almost no one at the dinner could finish theirs so I would suggest using 12 teacups instead.

Once the mixture has chilled, scoop it into your ramekins/teacups to about three quarters full. You don't want to overfill it as it will spill over the edge when you add the nectarines. Now push the nectarines into the mixture whichever way up tickles your fancy. Bake in a pre-heated oven, 180 degrees for about 45-50 minutes or until golden and not too wet in the middle.
Serve with thick pouring cream or creme fraiche.

So sticky and sweet and decadent!*

The variations on this recipe are endless really. I much prefer it with plums than nectarines but both work really well. I also love to use pears and instead of putting the pistachios in the mixture I buzz them up til fine then mix with honey and drizzle this sauce over the top of the pears during the last 20min of baking. This is basically a Jamie Oliver frangipane recipe so works perfectly in a tart.

*a little note.. if sticky, sweet and decadent is a little too much for you try using 200g sugar and 200g butter instead. I'm going to try this next time and see how it goes.

That's all from me, hope you have a great week!

~Love E xo