Pumpkin Pie | The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

And then there were apple pies, and peach pies, and pumpkin pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef; and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces; not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Irving

It’s that wonderful time of the year again - everyone’s (well, America’s) favourite holiday, Halloween! I’ve mentioned before that Halloween was never that much of a holiday when I was growing up in Australia. Now days I tend to see children roaming the streets trick or treating most years, and every 5th house or so on the block adorned in pumpkins and some cobwebs. I think you really need to be in a metro area though for it to be relevant to anyone.

It was a shock to some American friends of mine that I had never in my life tried pumpkin pie as well. I’m sure many people in Australia have had it before, but it is definitely not a regular appearance at any holiday or dinner table that I know of. Considering I had never tried it before, it seemed appropriate to make one for Halloween this year. Especially considering it’s one of the many delights that appears on the feast table within the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Most of the recipes I found when researching pumpkin pie contained a crazy amount of sugar and the use of canned pumpkin. We don’t really have canned pumpkin in Australia, and adding that much sugar to a dish containing vegetables felt sort of weird. Instead, baking a fresh pumpkin leaves you with a caramelised, sweet result - so the addition of a little more maple syrup and the coconut cream is enough to turn a savoury vegetable into a sweet dessert.

Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Pie crust
450g plain flour
190g cold butter, broke into pieces
180ml ice water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
Filling
1 small pumpkin
2 tbsp maple syrup
4 tbsp corn flour
120ml coconut cream
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 180C, and prepare a baking tray with a layer of baking paper. Slide the pumpkin into wedges, laying them out single layer on the prepared baking paper. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the slices of pumpkin are soft. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

2. Peal the skin from the cooked slices of pumpkin, ensuring that you remove any of the seeds. Place the cooked pumpkin into a blender or a food processor and puree. Depending how watery the type of pumpkin you got is, you may need to leave it wrapped in a cheesecloth or in a sieve overnight to get the excessive water out. I used a Japanese pumpkin, doesn’t tend to be very watery so I was able to use it straight away. You need approximately 500g of pumpkin puree for the pie, so make sure you have enough once you’ve drained the water out.

3. If you need to leave the water to drain from the pureed pumpkin, it’s a good time to make the pie crust in-between. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and the butter, using your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles wet sand.

4. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water, mixing until a dough forms. Try not to overwork it during this time otherwise it can end up quite tough. Wrap the formed dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 200C. Once the dough has been refrigerated for long enough, remove from the plastic wrap and roll out into a circle large enough to fit into a 26cm pie dish.

6. Place the dough into a greased pie dish, pressing it down into the edges fully. Lay a piece of baking paper onto the dough and fill with baking beans, place it into the oven and bake for 20 minutes - if the edges of the crust start to get too dark, you can wrap some foil around them. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

7. Back to the filling. Combine the corn flour and the coconut cream, use a form to properly whisk it together, ensuring no corn flour lumps remain.

8. Add the coconut cream and corn flour mix, maple syrup, all the spices, and the vanilla into the pumpkin puree, mixing well. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, reduce the oven heat to 180C and bake for approx. 35 minutes. It is done when you can gently shake the dish and the middle has a slight jiggle but the rest remain firm. Leave to cool before cutting.
   
   
   

Fruit and Nut Brioche | Caging Skies

This was because she was being spoiled by her two new 'breadwinners,' as she called them, Janusz and Krzysztof, who brought her fresh bread filled with nuts and raisins, and Viennoiseries too, as Pimmichen liked to call them.
Caging Skies
Christine Leunens

I’ve gotten, like everyone I assume, stupidly into making my our sourdough bread during the lockdown months. A colleague mailed me some of her own starter in exchange for an array of homemade marmalades from myself. I’ve managed to keep it alive for the last three months as well, so I consider that an accomplishment. I’ve made an absolute array of different breads, some with roasted garlic throughout it, others with onion - to stop my onion hating partner from eating it.

While technically this isn’t really brioche (missing the all too important eggs component), it still has that same rich taste, the same texture that almost melts in your mouth. I’ve experimented with some different add ins to create a brioche bread before, and have found that adding in a ton of butter (well, your plant based alternative to butter) and your choice of milk, can replicate the fat elements that is needed to create a rich brioche. This was my first experiment in adding it into a sourdough starter however, and it was so very successful.

I was maybe expecting a tad funnier read from Caging Skies, considering I knew it had inspired the recent film Jojo Rabbit. I probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised to read a particularly sad coming of age tale. Despite not containing the comedic elements i was expecting, it was still a great read. Overall quite sad and poignant but good. There are a lot of books commonly mentioned when talking about WW2 literature, interestingly Caging Skies never seems to come up.

Fruit and Nut Brioche
Makes one loaf - or can be done in little buns if preferred
Ingredients
150g sourdough starter OR 2 tsp instant yeast
450g strong bread flour + extra
2 tsp sugar
1 cup milk, lukewarm
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
150g dried fruit, your choice, roughly chopped
50g buts, your choice, roughly chopped
1 tbsp milk + 1 tsp maple syrup, mixed for glaze

1. If you’re using the instant yeast, combine that, the sugar, and the warm milk together in a bowl and leave to sit for five minutes or until the yeast becomes frothy. If you’re using a sourdough starter you can skip this step and just continue from the next.

2. Add in the flour, oil and salt to the yeast mixture (if using the sourdough starter, add in the milk and the sugar as well at this point). Mix until it begins to form a dough.

3. Lightly flour a surface and pull your dough out onto it. As you begin to knead it, you want to mix in the butter. Do this as you are kneading the dough, pulling it towards yourself and incorporating the butter in. It will probably get a bit slippery during this from the butter, you can dust your hands with flour to make the process easier. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, it should be elastic like and soft when done.

4. Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough inside, covering with a damp tea towel. Place in to a warm area and leave to rise. If you’re using instant yeast, it should only take an hour or two to double in size. If you’re using the sourdough starter, you’ll want to leave it overnight to really get the flavour amplified.

5. Once your dough has doubled in size, pull it out again onto a lightly floured surface, pressing the air out. Press the dough down and scatter your chopped dried fruit and nuts on top, working it into the dough until they are well distributed. Shape the dough however you like, place it into a loaf tin if you want, and cover again. Leave for another hour.

6. When you have a half hour remaining on the last rise, preheat the oven to 180C.

7. When the dough has finished its second rise, glaze the top with the milk and maple syrup mix, placing into the oven. Bake for approximately 35 - 40 minutes. Checking on it regularly. When the bottom sounds hollow when tapped it is ready.

8. Leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Absolutely splendid toasted, served with cinnamon butter.

Scones | Rebecca

Those dripping crumpets, I can see them now. Tiny crisp wedges of toast, and piping hot, floury scones. Sandwiches of unknown nature, mysteriously flavoured and quite delectable, and that very special gingerbread.
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier

I have faint memories of picking Rebecca up from the school library shelves when I was in high school - I was quite an ambitious reader at the time, trying to work my way through such classics as Moby Dick (inspired by part from my love of Gilmore Girls I'm pretty sure, I would write down whatever book it was that Rory happened to be reading in an episode). I do faintly remember enjoying Rebecca, but if someone had asked me what the plot of it was in years since then I would have struggled to name anything outside of - dead wife, big house...mean lady? Like many I'm sure, I picked up the book again with the recent release of the Netflix trailer of the adaptation of the story.

I'd forgotten, I think, just how haunting the tale was. The words seem to bring about any memory of feeling like an outsider, and alone - keeping the reader in a state an anxiety almost the entire way through. I finished it only recently, fighting sleep and hurriedly devouring the last few pages before closing them - no one I know has read it recently, but I have the overpowering urge and need to discuss it with someone, to admire the characters and make noises about the wicked Mrs Danvers.

I've made crumpets already, and ginger bread. I haven't however yet tried my hand at scones. Being Australian, the classic British scone is something I've grown up with. A common delicacy at most school bake sales or afternoons at Nanna's, usually served with jam and cream. The recipe is quite simple - the biggest mistake will leave you with flat scones, but honestly, cover them with butter and jam and it will still be incredible tasty anyway.

Scones
Makes approx. 10 - 12
Ingredients
400g self raising flour
100g butter
100g raw caster sugar
1tsp baking powder
185ml milk
1tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp milk
Salt

1. Preheat oven at 220C. Combine the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a owl. Add in the butter and rub in with your finger tips until it resembles wet sand. Add in the raw caster sugar.

2. Pour the milk over the top of the butter and flour mixture, combining until it comes together into a ball of dough - try not to knead it too much during this time otherwise they will not rise properly.

3. You can split the dough into two parts or keep it as one for this next stage. Press the dough down onto a lightly floured surface, using your hand to press it down till it is only around 3cm thick.

4. Prepare a baking tray with baking paper. Press a scone cutter, or the rim of a glass (Whatever you're using to cut your cones out) into flour and press down hard into the dough, pulling out the prepared scone onto the baking tray. Repeat the process with the remaining dough, bringing the scraps together until you run out of dough.

5. Combine the 1 tbsp milk and maple syrup, using a pastry brush glaze the tops of the raw scones with the mixture before placing them into the oven. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the tops are golden. Enjoy hot, with butter and jam and of, course, tea!

Apple and Raisin Tart | The Woman in Black

The landlord recommended a glass of mulled wine, which I drank sitting before the fire, listening to the murmur of voices on the other side of the heavy door leading to the public bar, and his wife made my mouth water in anticipation of the supper she proposed - home-made broth, sirloin of beef, apple and raisin tart with cream, and some Stilton cheese.
The Woman in Black
Susan Hill

Winter has well and faded from my life now, and the sunny weekends that are beginning to spring up are just more of an indication. It's a little odd this side of the world - Halloween was never part of my childhood, outside of the odd mention of it in American television shows or movies, but there was never a night spent trick or treating or dressing up. It seems to be creeping further into Australian culture these days - in cities at least, and I've spent the last few years handing out lollies and icy poles to costumed children each Halloween evening.

A little of the atmosphere of Halloween is lost without the autumn months, instead of pumpkins and falling leaves, we have sunshine and new plants sprouting everywhere. This hasn't gotten in the way of my pre-Halloween reading though, even if it does leave me craving stormy weather and mulled wine.

My latest spooky read in preparation was the classic, The Woman in Black. I flew through this book - as someone that does not enjoy horror films (I should probably stop saying this, as I do like well made horror more so), I thoroughly do enjoy a bit of a scary story in book form. My only other glimpse to the plot of the book was a viewing of the play, The Woman in Black, something that is so incredibly well done I cannot emphasise enough that people should see a production of it when they have the chance.

In line with the somewhat autumn style that Halloween and the almost cosy atmosphere that comes along with it, the food within The Woman in Black has that warmth to it also. Mulled wine, roasted hunks of meat and an array of tarts. We have quite lovely apples throughout the year in Australia luckily, and I really can't go past my favourite, the Granny Smith. It's somewhat sour, tarty and my childhood years were basically formed around having a slightly chilled on in my lunchbox to munch into every recess. In this tart, they turn into a caramelised deliciousness that will have you eating an entire tart in one sitting. True story.

Apple and Raisin Tart
Serves around 6 people 
Ingredients
Crust
550g plain flour
50g caster sugar
220g butter, broken into pieces
185ml milk
Filling
4 apples, I use Granny Smith usually
30g brown sugar
30g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 lemon, juiced
300g apricot jam
Pinch of sea salt

1. Start the crust of the tart by combining the butter, flour and caster sugar together into a bowl. Use your hands to work the butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles wet sand. Make a hole in the middle and add in the milk, mix until there are no lumps and it comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

2. Preheat your oven to 180C approximately half an hour before you're planning to roll the dough. Once the dough has chilled for long enough, remove it from the fridge and roll it out thinly - you should be able to press it into the edges of a tart case without it tearing, but keeping in mind not to have it too thick. Line the dough in the case with baking paper and using baking beans, actual dried beans or rice, weigh the paper down and blind bake the tart case for about 20 minutes. Remove and leave to the side to cool. You can leave the oven on at this stage if you're planning on preparing the rest of the tart straight away.

3. Core each of the apples (you can peel if you want, I tend not to) and slice them thinly. You can do this part however you like - if you want it to be quite neat try and keep each slice the same size, but it really doesn't matter.

4. Once all the apples have been sliced place them into a bowl with the lemon juice, the sugars, cinnamon and sea salt. Mix well so that the sugar and cinnamon covers every slice of apple.

5. Heat the apricot jam lightly until it begins to soften and melt a little - place to the side.

6. Spread a thin layer of the apricot jam across the bottom of the blind baked tart case so it covers the whole bottom of the tart. Place the apple slices across this until they are all in the tart case (any pattern you want to do it fine). Try and avoid getting too much liquid into the tart at this stage, otherwise it will make the bottom quite soggy.

7. Glaze the prepared tart with any remaining apricot jam and place into the oven for 30 minutes or until the apples have softened and the tart case is a golden brown. Remove and let cool before serving. Enjoy!

Bath Buns | The Railway Children

Whenever an Editor was sensible there were buns for tea.
One day Peter was going down to the village to get buns to celebrate the sensibleness of the Editor of the Children's Globe, when he met the Station Master.
The Railway Children
E. Nesbit

Whenever I can't sleep I seem to retreat to the kitchen, making the ridiculous choice to bake something that requires almost 3 hours of proofing time before they can be even baked. While it felt ridiculous at one am, waking up to freshly made Bath buns made it all kinds of worthwhile. I've been rereading classic books from my childhood lately, taking the time in lockdown to dive into a river of nostalgia.

I had never heard of Bath buns before and it took an embarrassingly long time before I realised the name was a result from them originating in Bath, England - not that they were some kind of bun eaten in the bath. They are referenced just once within the pages of the Railway Children - as a treat a lady within the pages enjoys. It made sense that they would likely be similar to the buns Peter buys for the family's tea - the result of an Editor being sensible of course.

Since trying this delicious, brioch-y bun I'm full convinced it would be the perfect treat for a celebration at tea time. The flavour of the caraway seeds melds in so lovely with the richness of the dough. Like many classic recipes there are different variations of how these can be made - I chose to fill mine with currants and zest. Some recipes I took a lot at incorporated a sugar cube folded into the unbaked dough of each bun as well, something that I'm definitely interested to try next time.

Bath Buns
Makes 12 buns
Ingredients
2 tsp instant yeast
250ml milk + 2 tbsp for glazing
3/4 cup currants
450g bread flour
225g butter
1 tbsp caraway seeds
30g caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt
Zest of one lemon
Topping
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp caraway seeds
4 - 5 white sugar cubes, roughly crushed

1. Heat the milk until just warm, add in yeast and sugar and leave to sit for a few minutes until it becomes frothy.

2. Combine the flour, caraway seeds and salt in a bowl and work the butter in with your fingers tips until it resembles wet sand.

3. Add in the yeasty milk and mix well until all combined. Leave to rest for about 10 minutes.

4. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until the soft has become soft and elastic-like. Lightly oil a bowl, place the dough inside and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place for 1 - 2 hours or until doubled in size.

5. Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it back out onto a surface and and press the currants and zest into it - you may need to lightly knead it again to work them in.

6. Divide the dough into 12 pieces that are around the same size. Shape into a ball by using your fingers to form a cage against the table, rolling the dough beneath it. Repeat will all the dough, placing the prepared buns onto a baking paper lined tray - leave a decent amount of space between them as they will expand and rise.

7. Cover the prepared buns with a damp tea towel and leave for another 30 minutes to rise again.

8. Pre-heat your oven to 180C when you have about 20 minutes of rising time left. During this time prepare the sugar glaze for the top as well. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook on a low heat - the sugar should dissolve after a few minutes. The longer you leave it to cook the stickier it will become, so you can really do this part however you like.

9. Once the buns have doubled in size, using the remaining milk to brush the tops of them before baking them for 20 - 25 minutes. You can test when they're down by tapping the bottom and listening for the hollow noise.

10. Use a pastry brush to spread the sugar glaze over baked buns, sprinkling with the caraway seeds and crushed sugar cubes so they stick to the still wet glaze. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake | Call Me by Your Name

When I looked at my dessert plate and saw the chocolate plate speckled with raspberry juice, it seemed to me that someone was pouring more and more red sauce than usual, and that the sauce seemed to be coming from the ceiling above my head until it suddenly hit me that it was steaming from my nose.
Call Me by Your Name
André Aciman

Spring is filling the air recently, the days are getting warmer and I've been setting up picnic blankets in the front yard during the past week - spending hours outside with my work computer and notes, soaking up the warmth. It may just be the stricter restrictions that the city has been living with in the past month, but the urge to move to a tiny cottage with chickens, a vegetable garden and somewhere to pick wild mushrooms has been rising a lot.

As picturesque as the above could be, I would miss the streets of Melbourne immeasurably I am sure. I'm contenting myself with ordering seeds and herbs from stores, planting an array of vegetables in pots and containers that line the kitchen table.

I picked up Call Me by Your Name again recently, someone at work mentioned wanting to read more so we've begun a tiny book club, something to keep him more accountable of having reading goals. The first on his list was Call Me by Your Name - the perfect excuse to do a re-read. There is no better time to read this book than spring I think - the words within the pages make me want to spend a spring and summer in Italy, picking fruit from trees and running barefoot around the grass. I'll have to make do with the flourless chocolate cake and raspberry coulis below, a dense, incredible cake that honestly took so many tries to get right. Most flourless chocolate cake recipes require 4 - 8 eggs, and the vegan versions I found had avocado, silken tofu and other substitutes that just don't sound that appealing. Chickpea flour worked a treat though - keeping the dense texture of the cake, but ensuring that it would not fall apart.

*Note: this recipe needs a strong binder since it's flourless - chickpea flour works quite well. But if you do eat eggs, you can remove the chickpea flour and instead replace it with 4 eggs.

Chocolate Cake and Raspberry Coulis
Ingredients
Cake
200g almond meal
2 tbsp cocoa, sifted
150g caster sugar
100ml milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp bi-carb soda
9 tbsp chickpea flour *see note
9 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g butter
180g dark chocolate, chopped
30 ml coffee liquor or coffee
Raspberry Coulis
150g raspberries, if using frozen leave the water out of the recipe
60g caster sugar
30ml water
Juice of one lemon

Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 160C and prepare a springform tin, grease it well and layer with baking paper.

2. Combine the chickpea flour and water together, stir well. It should become quite thick - you don't want it too watery. Put it to the side for now.

3. Combine the butter, dark chocolate, cocoa and coffee or coffee liquor in a sauce pan and heat on a medium heat. Stir as it melts so it all becomes combined into a smooth mixture and add in the vanilla. Put to the side to cool.

4. Mix the apple cider vinegar and milk together and place to the side to let it curdle into buttermilk.

5. Combine the almond meal, bi-carb and sugar together in a large bowl and add in the melted chocolate mixture, the chickpea and water mix, and the buttermilk. Stir well - you don't want lumps of the chickpea mix to remain solid in the batter.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 60 - 70 minutes. Check on it frequently - if you're not using eggs, under baking this cake runs the risk of it collapsing and not holding together properly.

7. Test to see if it's ready by inserting a skewer, if wet batter comes out it's not done. When it has cooked, let it cool completely before removing from the pan.

Coulis

1. Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat over a low heat. Cook for around 10 - 20 minutes or until the raspberries begin to mush together into a sauce and the sugar has dissolved.

2. Once done, cool in the fridge and it will thicken. I like my sauce with the seeds and whatnot in it, but you can strain it out if you want a smooth sauce.

3. Serve with the cake and enjoy!