rhubarb, strawberry and rose water crumble with rich egg custard

there's so much to pick from my garden at the moment

cabbages

carrots

celery

cumquats

broad beans

garlic
lettuce

parsley
rainbow chard
rocket

spinach

strawberries

turnips

watercress

lots of herbs and edible flowers

and 

red red rhubarb..at last..

rhubarb, strawberry and rose water crumble with rich egg custard

tea with hazel

ingredients crumble

250 gms strawberries hulled

6-8 rhubarb stalks cut into 3 cm batons

1 tablespoon (tbs) sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon (tsp) rose water concentrate

seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod

1/2 tbs corn flour

70 gms butter cut into dice

70 gms castor sugar

70 gms light moscovado sugar

70 gms plain flour 

2 tbs oats

method crumble

~ place rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, vanilla seeds, rose water and corn flour in a baking dish and mix gently

~ mix castor sugar, moscovado sugar, flour and oats and rub in butter

~ strew fruit with the crumble

~ bake at 180 deg for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the top is browned and crisp

ingredients custard

3/4 cup of full cream milk (i use organic unhomogenised)

1/4 cup pure cream

2-3 tbs extra milk

1 egg yolk

1 tbs sugar

1 1/2 tbs corn flour

1 tsp vanilla (i used home made)

method custard

~ put milk, cream and sugar onto heat

~ mix corn flour, egg yolk and extra milk to form a thin paste

~ add a few tablespoons of hot milk to the egg mix (to prevent curdling) and stir well

~ take the saucepan off the heat and add the strained egg mix

~ put the saucepan back on the heat and cook stirring until the custard just comes to the boil

~ take off the heat and add vanilla

tastes even better eaten while sitting outside in the sunshine

blackberry and raspberry trifles

blackberry and raspberry trifles

tea with hazel

serves 2

ingredients

egg white cake (see recipe below)

blackberry and apple jelly (jam) *

blackberry ** and raspberry *** jelly (see recipe below)

marinate 1/3 cup blackberries and 1/2 cup raspberries with 1-2 tablespoons sugar or to taste and 1 tbs chambord for 1/2 hour

vanilla egg custard (see here for recipe)

assembly

~ slice 6, 1 cm slices of cake, spread 3 pieces with blackberry and apple jelly, then top with the remaining slices

~ cut each sandwich into four and divide the pieces between two glasses

~ drizzle the cake with chambord and divide the jelly between the glasses and refrigerate until the jelly is set

~ add the berries and then spoon over about 1/2 cup of custard 

~ cover with foil and refrigerate

egg white cake recipe

recipe adapted from here

ingredients

6 egg whites **** 

125 gms castor sugar

160 gms plain flour
1 heaped tbs corn flour 

1 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

100 gms butter melted and cooled

method 

~ whisk egg whites with 2 tbs sugar until light and fluffy

~ sift flour, corn flour, baking powder and sugar

~ fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites

~ fold in the melted butter 

~ spoon mix into a buttered and base lined ring tin 

~ cook at 180 deg c for 30 minutes or until cooked

~ cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack

blackberry and raspberry jelly

ingredients

3/4 cup raspberries

1/3 cup blackberries

2 gold strength gelatine leaves

water

sugar

method

~ place berries in a saucepan, just cover with water, bring to the boil, and then mash the berries well

~ place mashed berries and juice in a muslin lined colander and drain into a measuring jug without squeezing the muslin (there should be about 200 mls..if not add water to make up the amount)  

~ add about 2 tbs of sugar to the strained juice or to taste and stir well to dissolve

~ soak the gelatine in cold water until soft, squeeze out excess water, then add to the still warm sweetened juice and stir to dissolve

~ set aside to cool

notes:

*       substitute with raspberry or blackberry jam or jam of choice

**     i used blackberries that i picked last summer and froze

***   i used frozen berries

**** i had 4 egg whites i wanted to use up; i made custard from the yolks of the other two whites