Feijoa heaven

A very sweet colleague and fellow foodie P, recently left generous bag of freshly picked feijoas on my desk.  She had recently been introduced to a friend's "feijoa crumble" and hasn't stopped raving about it.

I'd never eaten a feijoa.  When I opened the bag and emptied them into a bowl, immediately an incredibly pungent and delicious smell arose - not fundamentally dissimilar to quince.

Ok so they don't look appealing.  Almost like an unripened fig.  Cutting them open, they don't look terribly appetising either.

Not to be disheartened, I pondered for a while on what to do with them.  I thought about P's crumble fixation, and entertained the idea of doing an apple/feijoa combo crumble.  But I need to do some baking to take into work tomorrow to celebrate some birthdays, and a crumble isn't really convenient for that purpose.  I decided on adapting my tried and tested friand recipe.  I sliced about 6 feijoas in half and scraped out the insides with a teaspoon, then mashing roughly in a bowl with the back of a fork.  I also decided to keep the raspberries and lemons in the recipe, adding some sliced almond to the top just before putting them in the oven.

Sen-SATIONAL.  I've said it before, I'll say it again:  I wish I could somehow record smell in this blog.  The aroma that wafted out of my oven when I took them out, was completely out-of-this-world-good.   I couldn't resist biting into a warm one - let me promise you, it was very, very good.  The feijoa made the friands super moist and the flavour was a bit like passionfruit in nature.  The raspberries and lemon were definitely worthwhile too - sweet feijoa against tartness works really well.

When life hands you lemons...

The last time I visited my mother in law she gave me bags and bags of lemons from her trees.  I use lemons frequently but even for me it was a lot!

Today I baked up a batch of friands, using one of the lemons and also a small amount of lonely looking raspberries that were sitting in my freezer.  I just have to share this recipe with you as it's super simple, and friands kick butt over muffins any day.  And the great thing about this recipe is that you don't have to fiddle around with half a dozen egg whites either.

Raspberry and lemon friands (makes 12)

Ingredients:

-  Juice and finely grated rind of one lemon

-  100g unsalted butter, melted & cooled

-  1/3 cup plain flour

-  180g icing sugar

-  3 eggs, lightly whisked with a fork

-  100g almond meal

-  frozen raspberries, approx 36

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees, and line a 12 hole muffin pan with patty cases.

Sift icing sugar and flour into a large bowl, mix in almond meal.  Add lemon juice, rind, melted butter, and eggs - stir until combined.

Spoon mixture into cases (they should be about half full), then top each one with a few frozen raspberries.  Put into oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and slightly golden on top.  

Best eaten warm with a big strong cup of tea.

Tarta De Santiago

I promised I would post up the recipe for the delicious "almond lemon cake" I made as part of the "spanish birthday feast", so, here it is!

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups ground almonds
3/4 cup Flour
1 1/4 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
8 Tbsp butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp baking Powder
1/2 cup Water
zest of 1 Lemon
icing sugar to decorate
1 tsp ground cinnamon
 
Method:
 
Preheat oven to 180c, grease and line the bottom of a round springform cake pan.
 
Beat eggs and sugar until pale and creamy, add butter, sifted flour, baking powder and water, and beat again until well combined.  Stir almond meal into batter, gently fold in, together with lemon zest and cinnamon.  Bake in oven for approx 50 mins until risen and lightly browned on top.
 
To decorate it the traditional way, a paper cross is put on the top of the cake and icing sugar is sprinkled over, then the paper is removed to reveal the cross pattern.  This cake is made in honour of "Saint James" the patron saint of Spain. 
 

To really make the cake "zing" - serve it with a lemon sauce.  You could use heated lemon butter, or do as I do and combine a mix of one part lemon juice, one part water, two parts sugar; heat in pan until sugar dissolves, then simmer for a few mins to reduce.  Pour over the cake, or serve to be tipped over each individual slice.

Free-form fig pie

Adapted from a Donna Hay recipe and lovingly baked for tonight's dinner party with the gorgeous K - a fellow fig lover - this pie is dead easy, delicious, and the fruit makes it seem semi-healthy. 

Free-form fig pie

In a food processor, put two cups of plain flour and 185g cold chopped butter.  Process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then with the motor still running, slowly add approx 2 tbs iced water until the mixture just comes together as a dough.  Take the shortcrust pastry out of the processor, knead briefly until it forms a ball, then wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, combine 3/4 cup almond meal, 1/4 cup caster sugar, and enough melted butter to form a spreadable paste.  Roll out dough in a circle, to 3mm thickness.  Spread paste around middle, leaving approx one inch around the outside.  Arrange four finely sliced figs over the paste, then fold in the dough around the outside to hold the contents in.  Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake in a 180deg oven for approx 20-30mins until lightly browned around the edges.  Serve as is, or with cream/icecream.  Some suggestions for future pies around tonight's dinner table included peaches, apples, raspberries, nectarines, or strawberries!