The oven is on and all is well. Darker evenings – and this is just the start – make me hungry for cake, for buns and for biscuits. Treats to brighten an autumn afternoon too, when we come in from a walk or from sweeping fallen leaves from the paths. Something to eat with a cup of tea.
I made buns this week, their soft, almost yellow crumb speckled with chopped green olives and spiked with toasted pine nuts. The latter cost a king’s ransom, but once they are toasted their nuttiness goes a long way. You only need a handful. There was a tart too, its pastry flaky and uneven, the filling scented with tarragon and choc-a-bloc with grated courgettes and craggy lumps of feta.
Of all the cakes I bake, those with nuts seem especially relevant right now. The hazelnut and walnut cakes seem to belong to autumn, when the new nut harvest is in. I made a pistachio cake this week, the chopped nuts joining ground almonds and the merest hint of rosewater to make a moist and crumbly cake. There was icing too, a lemon-scented one among which I scattered chopped pistachios and sugared roses.
The pears are in now, and I poached the first to arrive in syrup, then roasted them in the oven with a little butter and sugar till they shone, glossy in the light of the oven. To balance their jelly-soft texture, I brought out a tray of biscuits, crumbly and studded with oats, to which I added both demerara and coarse flakes of salt. Those that were left didn’t last long, their sweet-saltiness almost addictive.
Pistachio and lemon cake (pictured above)
A nutty, cut-and-come-again cake with notes of lemon and rose that will keep in fine condition for a few days. I sometimes serve it as a dessert, each green-freckled slice laced with a trickle of kefir or yoghurt.
Serves 8-10
butter 250g
caster sugar 250g
shelled pistachios 100g
lemon 1
eggs 3
ground almonds 100g
rosewater 1 tsp
plain flour 75g
To decorate
icing sugar 150g
lemon juice 2 tbsp
pistachios 2 tbsp, chopped
crystalised rose petals 2 tbsp, crushed
dried roses a few (optional)
Preheat the oven to 150C fan/gas mark 3-4. Line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar in a food mixer until very light and fluffy. (I use the flat paddle beater attachment.) Process the pistachios to coarse crumbs using a food processor (you can chop them by hand if you like). Finely grate the zest of the lemon.
Break the eggs into a small bowl, beat them with a fork, then add to the butter and sugar a little at a time with the mixer still beating. If there is any sign of curdling, add a little of the flour. Add the pistachios, ground almonds, lemon zest and rosewater. Lastly, mix in the flour.
Transfer the batter into the cake tin, then bake in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes until springy to the touch. Remove from the oven, leave to settle for 5 minutes then, using a palette knife, ease the cake from its tin and place on a wire cooling rack.
To make the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl, stir in the lemon juice until you have an icing thick enough to cover the cake and drip down the sides. Spoon the icing over the cakes then scatter with the pistachios and crystalised rose petals and, if you wish, a few dried rosebuds.
Baked pears, oat crumble
There is a generous amount of sea salt in the crumbly biscuits accompanying the baked pears. Don’t be tempted to leave it out, it’s essential. I used conference pears for this, because that was what I had around, but the beautiful, plump comice that are just coming into season would be my first choice.
Serves 3-6
For the pears
caster sugar 100g
water 1 litre
pears 6
lemon juice of ½
For the oat crumble
butter 100g
demerara sugar 90g
rolled oats 95g
plain flour 75g
sea salt 1 tsp
To finish
butter 50g
caster sugar 50g
blackberries 250g
To poach the pears, bring the sugar and water to the boil in a large saucepan. Peel the pears and either keep them whole or slice them in half and scoop out the core with a teaspoon. Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice in to syrup. Lower the pears into the bubbling syrup and turn the heat down to a simmer, let them cook till almost tender. Timing will depend on their variety and ripeness. They are ready when a metal skewer can be pushed effortlessly into them.
For the oat crumble. set the oven at 160C fan/gas mark 4. Put the butter and demerara sugar in the bowl of a food mixer and beat until thoroughly combined. Remove the bowl from the machine and rub in the rolled oats and flour with your fingertips as if you were making pastry by hand, then add the salt (I know this sounds like a lot of salt, but it makes the whole thing sing).
Turn the mixture out on to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spreading it in a rough, single layer. (The texture should be loose and crumbly. Don’t be tempted to press it into a flat sheet.) Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly crisp and pale-biscuit coloured. Remove from the oven and set aside. It will be soft at first but will crisp as it cools.
Set the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6. Remove the pears from their syrup and transfer them to a roasting tin. Keep a few tablespoons of the syrup. (You can keep the rest for something else, but to be honest it has done its work.) Add the butter and caster sugar to the pears, then put them in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until the fruit is fully tender – keep an eye on things so it doesn’t burn. Tip in the blackberries and a couple of tablespoons of the reserved pear cooking syrup, then return to the oven till the pears are sticky and glossy and flushed pink from the berry juices.
Break the oat crumble into pieces and serve with the pears, 1 or 2 person depending on their size, and their syrup.
Courgette, feta and tarragon tart
The puff pastry lends a flaky lightness to the tart but is slightly less straightforward than using shortcrust. Either will produce a sound crust for the tender filling.
Serves 6
courgettes 2, large, about 500g)
fine sea salt 1 tbsp
puff pastry 325g
eggs 2, plus 1 extra yolk
double cream 150ml
feta 200g
tarragon 2 tbsp
parmesan 10g, grated
You will need a 20cm tart tin. Grate the courgettes using the coarse disc attachment of a food processor (or the very coarse side of a box grater). Put the grated courgettes into a mixing bowl, sprinkle with the salt and leave for 45 minutes.
Roll the pastry into a disc large enough to line the tart tin then lower into place, ushering it up the side of the tin with your fingers but without stretching the pastry. A little overhang is fine. Place on a baking sheet. Rest the pastry in the fridge for 25 minutes.
Set the oven at 180C fan/gas mark 6 and place a pizza stone or a thick baking sheet into the oven to get hot.
Place a piece of tin foil or baking parchment inside the tart case on top of the pastry and fill with baking beans. Bake the pastry, placing the tart tin on top of the preheated baking sheet or pizza stone, for about 12 minutes. Remove tart and tray from the oven, then carefully lift out the beans and foil. Return to the oven for 5 minutes until the surface of the pastry is dry to the touch.
Lower the oven heat to 160C fan/gas mark 4. In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then pour in the double cream. Crumble in the feta, and add the chopped tarragon and a little black pepper.
Firmly squeeze the water from the courgettes, then stir them into the custard. Transfer the mixture to the pastry shell. Dust the grated parmesan over the surface and carefully return to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Green olive, thyme and pine-nut buns
A fluffy bun, rich with olive oil and chopped green olives. This is good to have with cheese, a chalky white sheep or goat’s cheese perhaps, or something like a caerphilly.
Makes 9
plain flour 500g
fast-acting yeast 1½ tsp
sea salt ½ tsp
natural yoghurt 200g
olive oil 3 tbsp
warm water 100ml
green olives 250g, stoned
thyme 5 bushy sprigs
pine nuts 3 tbsp
To finish
olive oil 2 tbsp
thyme leaves 2 tbsp, chopped, plus a few whole sprigs
pine nuts 2 tbsp
You will need a deep-sided baking tin measuring 20cm x 20cm with a piece of baking parchment.
In a large, warm mixing bowl, mix the flour, yeast and salt. Put the yoghurt in a jug, whisk briefly to break it up, pour in the olive oil and the warm water, and stir well.
Combine the yoghurt mixture with the flour and yeast using your hands or a wooden spoon. You should end up with a somewhat sticky dough.
Roughly chop the olives. Chop the thyme leaves and add to the olives. In a dry pan, toast the pine nuts till golden. (Keep a close watch on them as they start slowly then burn rather quickly.)
If you are making the dough by hand, tip on to a floured board and knead the olives, thyme and pine nuts into it. If you prefer, use a food mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Continue kneading for a couple of minutes, adding a little more flour to stop the dough sticking if necessary, then put it back in its bowl, cover with a clean, warm cloth and put it in a warm place. Leave the dough in peace until it has risen to almost twice its original size.
Cut it into 6-8 equal pieces (depending on how large you like your buns), then shape each one into a round. Place them in the baking tin, one in the middle and the rest round the edge, then return to the warm place, cover with the cloth and leave for about 30 minutes, until nicely risen and nudging one another.
To finish, mix together the olive oil, chopped thyme leaves and pine nuts.
Set the oven at 210C fan/gas mark 8. Bake the buns for about 20 minutes, until well risen and lightly golden brown. Spoon the pine-nut mixture over the buns and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
Fruit focaccia
If I get myself organised, I can knock up this quick dough on a Saturday, then finish and bake it on Sunday morning. We never slice it, preferring to tear the bread into wide, jagged pieces with our fingers. The blackcurrants and blueberries send their purple juices rippling through the open, airy crumb. Cherries, stoned and stalked, will work well too.
Make 1 loaf, that will feed about 6
plain flour 400g
fast-acting yeast 2 tsp
sea salt 1 tsp
honey 1 tbsp
warm water 400ml
sourdough starter 2-3 tbsp (optional)
autumn fruits 250g, such as blueberries, blackberries, frozen blackcurrants
olive oil
granulated sugar 3 tbsp
You will need a shallow roasting or baking tin about 24cm x 24cm.
Put the flour, yeast, sea salt and honey in a large mixing bowl, and pour in the water. If you are using it, add the sourdough starter. Mix together with your hands or a wooden spatula to form a sticky dough. Cover with a cloth and refrigerate for a good 8 hours.
Next day, the dough should have risen to almost twice its original size. Remove the stems from the blackcurrants, and scatter them, the blackberries and the blueberries over the dough. Trickle lightly with olive oil and put the dough in a warm place for about an hour to rise a little more. It will settle a little during this second proving.
Preheat the oven at 200C fan/gas mark 8. Scatter the surface of the dough with the granulated sugar and bake for about 30 minutes till puffed and golden.
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