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ISBN-13: | 9781897959541 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Serif |
Publication date: | 11/18/2014 |
Edition description: | 1 |
Pages: | 176 |
Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d) |
Read an Excerpt
The Floral Baker
Cakes, Pastries and Breads
By Frances Bissell
Serif Books
Copyright © 2014 SerifAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-897959-54-1
CHAPTER 1
Some notes on floral flavours and ingredients
In my earlier book, The Scented Kitchen: Cooking with Flowers, I wrote at length about edible flowers and how to use them to make floral jams and jellies, glazes and sugars, creams and butter, but you do not have to prepare all floral flavours from scratch. There are excellent commercial flower waters, essences, alcohols, dried flowers, jams, jellies and syrups available. Some of the more common ones, such as orange flower water and rose essence, can be found in the larger supermarkets, a number of which also now stock own-label lavender sugar. Dried rose petals can be bought from herbalists and health food shops, as well as those specialising in Middle Eastern and Asian ingredients. Dried lavender for culinary purposes is increasingly available, from lavender farms and also from producers of herbs and spices. Saffron is a store-cupboard essential in my kitchen, for both sweet and savoury baking, literally kept in the cupboard, as it should always be stored in a dry, dark place in an airtight container. And, when I can, I collect fresh fennel flowers, as these are perfect combined with cheese and other savoury items in pastries and muffins.
In season, of course, one can find fresh flowers for baking, such as elderflowers, marigolds, nasturtiums and mimosa, all of which add subtle flavours and scents to one's baking.
Herb farms and lavender farms are an excellent source of locally produced edible flowers, including Maddocks Farm in Devon, www.maddocksfarmorganics.co.uk. The Hop Shop in Kent, which can be contacted on www.hopshop.co.uk, produces very fine culinary lavender essences from home-grown English lavender, one for baking and hot dishes and one for creams and ices. If shopping in France, Chabaud C&S from Montpellier produce a wide range of herb, spice and flower extracts. Amongst the cinnamon, basil and lemon grass, I found rose, violet and jasmine in La Grande Epicerie de Paris, www.lagrandeepicerie.com. These come in 15 ml bottles with a dropper and are expensive, but a little goes a long way and I consider them an excellent investment. Saravane, a company based in Arcachon, produces small sprays of parfum culinaire, for using as a final touch on desserts, pastries and fruit salads. The Provençal olive oil producer Nicolas Alziari has developed a range of floral syrups, rose, violet and the more unusual mimosa, all of which are available at www.alziari.com.fr. The small comptoir colonial-type of shop in Paris and other large French cities is also a good source for floral essences and crystallised petals. The long-established French manufacturer Eric Bur produces flower jellies, including violet, and crystallised petals and seeds such as pink lilac and mimosa.
Considerably less costly than essences and culinary perfumes are floral waters, especially orange flower water, rosewater and occasionally lavender water. These are the by-products from the distillation of essential oils. There are some English manufacturers of rosewater and orange flower water, but far and away the best I have found are those from the Lebanon, sold in Middle Eastern and Asian food shops, as well as the 'specialist ingredient section' of the larger supermarkets. This is also where I buy Turkish rose petal jam, gül receli, quite delicious, and I try to keep a jar on hand, especially in the spring and early summer when my own rose syrups, sugars and glazes have run out.
You will find rose essence, or rose oil, of which you only need a drop or two, in Indian shops, and also rose petal powder, made from dried and ground rose petals. This is an excellent ingredient, which I have used in sponge cakes and rose butter cream. There you will also find the headily fragrant kewra water, an extract from the screwpine or pandanus. The US Star Kay White range of natural essences and flower waters is available in the UK by mail order from Lakeland. Their rose essence is very fine, and a little goes a long way. Lakeland also stocks own-label violet flavouring as well as a range of highly concentrated food colourings. The baking section of Waitrose, Sainsbury's and some other specialist sections of supermarkets stock the Nielsen Massey range of essences, including rose and orange flower.
There are commercially available flower jellies and preserves that can be used in baking – for filling sponge cakes, for example; some of them, inevitably, are better than others. It puzzles me that anyone would think it a good idea to combine lavender and violet in a jelly, however, as each flavour cancels out the other; much better to make your own.
Flower liqueurs, for example the Italian Rosolio, used to be very popular in the nineteenth century. Versions of Rosolio di Rosa are still made today, especially in Sicily, and are worth tracking down when on your travels. Combier, a 150-year-old distillery in Saumur, has revived the art of making flower liqueurs and their Liqueur de Violette and Liqueur de Rose have very pure, intense and natural flavours and aromas that are perfect for flavouring floral butter creams. And anyone visiting Toulouse will want to hunt out the fragrant syrup and crystallised petals of the deep purple-blue violette de Toulouse.
Some practical advice on cooking with flowers
Do not eat anything that you cannot identify simply because it smells as though it would taste good.
Even if you know a flower to be edible, such as a rose, do not use it for culinary purposes if you think it may have been sprayed with harmful substances such as pesticides. Flowers purchased from high-street florists or supermarkets should not be used in the kitchen, as these will almost certainly have undergone spraying and other chemical treatment. You should only eat bought flowers if they come from a florist who can guarantee that they have not been sprayed.
On the question of garden roses, and flowers in general, commercial sprays are out, even organic ones, which often contain toxins such as nicotine. Only innocuous home-made recipes, such as vinegar- or soap-based sprays, are safe for flowers destined for use in the kitchen.
Flowers growing on grass verges may have been exposed to carbon monoxide fumes, animal excrement and other waste, so, however attractive they may seem, they are best left where they are.
It is not advisable to use flowers in the kitchen if you suffer from asthma, hay-fever or other allergies. This includes skin allergies, as handling certain flowers may exacerbate the condition. Some flowers, such as lavender and fennel, have powerful therapeutic properties, and should not be taken in large quantities, especially when pregnant.
Many of the flowers traditionally used in cooking, such as violets, primroses, mallow and cowslips, are wild flowers. The countryside is no longer carpeted with wild flower meadows – those that remain are part of our dwindling natural heritage and should be preserved.
There are certain protected species of wild flowers that cannot be picked. Some people feel that we should not pick any wild flowers, while others believe that, where there is an abundance, a light picking will not cause any harm. Wild flowers should never be uprooted for transplanting to your own garden. It may be illegal to do so; it is certainly anti-social.
Fortunately, specialist seed merchants can supply wild flower seeds, so there is no reason why you should not grow your own if you want to make violet syrup or cowslip wine.
It is best to pick flowers on a dry day, and in the early part of the day, after the dew has dried but before the sun is hot enough to evaporate the essential oils. Choose fully open specimens, undamaged by insects or disease. Shake them to remove any tiny insects. Use your judgement as to whether or not the flowers should be rinsed. If so, do it quickly in ice-cold water, and lay the flowers to dry on two or three layers of paper towels before proceeding with the recipe. It is best to use the flowers within a few hours of picking, but if you do need to store them for a day or two, surround them with a damp – not wet – tea-towel and seal them in an airtight box in the refrigerator.
To dry flower petals
Place the petals in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and put this in the oven set at 100°C/200°F/gas mark ¼ for about 2 hours or until the petals are dry enough to crumble. Store them in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place and use them as you would other herbs, within 12 months, until the flowers are in bloom again.
Protected species
English Nature (www.english-nature.org.uk) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (www.jncc.org.uk) are among the best sources of guidance, highlighting the different pieces of legislation that protect certain flowers, and also the European Directives dealing with the same subject.
Food colouring
Occasionally – and sparingly – I use food colouring to add a subtle tint to a lavender butter cream, for example, or to the Battenberg cake mix. The best range of colourings I have found is the Queen's brand from Australia, which comes in a box with four small (7 ml) plastic vials, including yellow, green, pink and purple, together with a chart which shows you how to mix to obtain other colours. The pink and purple are very soft indeed, and the green is more natural-looking than the viridian green so often found.
Making your own
There are some floral components to recipes, however, that you might want to make yourself because they keep well. For example, flower sugars can be kept in airtight containers in a cool, dark place. And, just as it is useful to keep a jar of redcurrant jelly in the cupboard for glazing tarts, you will probably want to make several jars of rose petal jelly and lavender jelly for your floral baking so you can use these scents and flavours throughout the year and not just during the flower season.
Whilst crystallised flowers and flower petals are available commercially, in my experience they are increasingly hard to find, and very expensive, especially roses and violets.
It isn't difficult to crystallise flowers at home and doesn't require a large number of ingredients or complicated equipment. However, it is delicate work, requiring patience and a little manual dexterity. All you need is a fine-tipped artist's paintbrush, a small fine sieve, a wire rack and baking parchment. Fine tweezers are also useful.
I recommend small flowers such as violets, rose petals, jasmine flowers, lilac flowers, mimosa, borage flowers and lavender buds for crystallising; all should be freshly picked on a sunny day after the dew has dried.
There are two ways of crystallising flowers, one using egg white and one using gum tragacanth. Also known as powdered tragacanth or gum Arabic, this is used for preserving and frosting flower petals. It is no longer widely available, usually only on order through independent high-street pharmacies.
Crystallised flowers
Both these recipes are sufficient for about 40 to 60 small flowers or rose petals, but it is not a good idea to pick so many at once, as they will wilt. Pick and work with a few at a time for the best results.
Method 1
1 egg white
½ teaspoon high-proof grappa or vodka
100 g/ 3 ½ oz / scant ½ cup caster sugar
Cover a wire rack with baking parchment.
Whisk the egg white to a light foam, adding the spirit at the end. This helps the egg white and sugar to dry and therefore set more quickly. Hold the flower or petal at the base and paint it all over with the egg white, top and underside, taking care to include all edges and folds between the petals. Using the sieve or your fingers, gently sprinkle on the sugar, ensuring that the flower is well coated but not clogged with sugar. Place the flower on the wire rack. When you have crystallised all the flowers, put them in a cool, well-ventilated place to dry completely, when they will feel stiff and be very brittle. Carefully store them in airtight boxes lined with baking parchment and layered between sheets of parchment.
Method 2
1 tablespoon gum tragacanth
3 tablespoons water
100 g/ 3½ oz / scant½ cup caster sugar
Cover a wire rack with baking parchment.
Mix the gum tragacanth and water, then paint it on the flower and proceed as described above.
Rose petal sugar
Use the deepest pink or red rose petals, from old-fashioned scented varieties, such as Rosa officinalis, the apothecary's rose, R. gallica, R. damascena and R. centifolia. The wild rose, Rosa rugosa, is also suitable as it is richly scented, with a beautiful deep purple red, not to be confused with the other wild rose, the pale dog rose, Rosa canina.
Spread freshly gathered rose petals in a single layer on a clean tea towel or paper towel and leave to dry for up to 12 hours, depending on the humidity of the room in which you are working, most likely the kitchen, as few of us have still-rooms these days. Put the petals in a food-processor with the sugar and process until the mixture is well blended. Unless you want the sugar for immediate use, it is important that the flowers are dry before you grind them, otherwise your food-processor will be a mass of sugar paste before you know what has happened. To be on the safe side, once the flowers are ground, spread the sugar out on a sheet of baking parchment and, as it dries, break up any clumps that form before pouring the sugar into jars for storing.
Lavender sugar
When making lavender sugar, you need to choose lavender (L. augustifolia, Hidcote) in full bloom and pick off each individual flower with a pair of tweezers for the purest colour. If you simply separate from the stalk the flowers enclosed in the sepals, you will get a greenish sugar.
Take freshly picked lavender and allow it to dry out for an hour or two. Then grind with preserving or granulated sugar. About 10 parts sugar to 1 part flowers is usually about right, but this needs to be tested, as the concentration of fragrant oils varies according to the amount of sun. Once you have ground the sugar, spread it out on greaseproof paper to dry further and, as it dries, break up the clumps which may have formed if the flowers were at all damp. I usually also add a couple of whole sprigs of lavender to the jar. Alternatively, simply layer sugar in a large jar with lavender heads. Over time some buds will detach themselves from the stalk and you will probably want to sift some of them out of the sugar before using.
Store the sugar in an airtight container in a dark, dry place. This is best used within a year. Much longer than that and the lavender flavour changes from floral and subtle to something spicy, almost akin to ginger. I have found this particularly noticeable when making lavender shortbread with year-old lavender sugar rather than freshly ground sugar.
Lavender jelly
makes about 2 kg/4 lb
10 medium-size tart apples – Granny Smiths are very good, as are most cooking apples
10 to 15 sprigs of lavender
juice of 2 lemons
granulated or preserving sugar – see recipe
Wash the apples, cut them into chunks and put in a large saucepan. Cover with water and simmer until the apples are soft. Strain the pulp through a jelly bag without squeezing or forcing; otherwise, the jelly will be cloudy.
Measure the liquid and add 450 g/1 lb/2 cups sugar for each 600 ml/20 fl oz/2 ½ cups of liquid. Strain the lemon juice into a saucepan, and add the apple extract and sugar, together with 5 of the lavender sprigs tied in muslin, or secured in a tea filter. Bring to the boil, and boil fast for 10 minutes or until setting point is reached, which is when a drop of syrup will set on a cold saucer.
Remove the lavender and pour the jelly into sterilised jars. Add an extra sprig of lavender to each jar for identification, seal and label.
Jasmine jelly
makes three 250 g/
8 oz jars
75 g/3 oz/1 cup jasmine flowers
600 ml/20 fl oz/2 ½ cups water
juice of 2 limes
½ teaspoon tartaric acid
450 g/1 lb/2 cups jam sugar (with added pectin)
Put the fresh flowers in a saucepan. Pour on the boiling water to cover them, let it come back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the flowers steep for several hours, or overnight if you wish.
Put a fine cloth, muslin or lawn, in a sieve and ladle in the liquid and flowers. Press down to extract as much liquid as possible, then discard the flowers. Pour the lime juice through a sieve into a measuring jug and add the jasmine water extract, bringing the liquid up to 500 ml/ 18 fl oz/2 cups. Pour the liquid and sugar into a heavy saucepan, stirring in the tartaric acid. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and, once boiling, keep at a fierce boil for 4 minutes, by which time the mixture should 'jell'. Pour into hot jars, seal, label and store in a dark place, to keep the jelly nice and pale.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Floral Baker by Frances Bissell. Copyright © 2014 Serif. Excerpted by permission of Serif Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Preface, 7,Acknowledgements, 11,
Some notes on floral flavours and ingredients, 13,
Quick breads and slow breads, 30,
Tea loaves and fruit cakes, 49,
Sponge cakes large and small, 57,
Biscuits and shortbreads, 81,
Meringues, macarons and éclairs, 95,
Tarts, pies and pastries, 119,
Baking for special occasions, 144,
Index, 172,