Baking Mad!

I read in one of the Sunday papers over the weekend that men find baking sexy. As someone who's had to sign up to 'Slimming World' to help reduce the less positive benefits of baking, it's news to me. Perhaps it's more to do with the essential time required to lavish the ultimate expression of love on a loved one, rather than the inevitable splattering of flour on one's nose and grease and gunge on one's 'pinny'. Our sexy, female size eight role models wouldn't be seen dead in a dirty apron and hairband. Having said that, the black and gorgeous ex-model and car mechanic, now 'patissiere extraordinaire', Lorraine Pascale, has become the hottest prime time TV chef in town.

Trends in food move as quickly as trends in cars and fashion. You only have to look back at your old cookery books to see how
much things have moved on and tastes and styles of cooking have changed. We have all become much more multi-cultural for one thing. But baking is different. Of course, there are national variations to do with the availability of certain key ingredients, but essentially baking remains in a class of its own [I use baking here in the sense of baking cakes and puddings, rather than anything cooked in an oven]. It remains the stuff of memory, of long forgotten afternoons when mums and grandmas put something freshly baked on to the table to welcome us home. In this sense, it has always been about love for it is the ultimate gift. It is always proffered 'de la coeur', for why else would you give so much precious time when, even in France, supermarket shelves are full of ready made sweet temptations?

But baking is also, in many ways, pure chemistry. You do things in one way, weighed and measured exactly with a specific amount of heat for a certain time, and you get one thing. You jumble all the component parts around, adding more of something here and less of something there, and you get something totally different. It is a unique combination of art and science, which is perhaps another reason why its mysteries are so enticing. For, if it's a patisserie or cake, joy oh joy, you get to indulge your artistic self to your heart's content. Bliss! Heaven! Dare I say the 'O' word? Matisse or Monet couldn't have been happier with the fruits of their labours!

Perhaps men think women are sexier when they bake because they are happy. There must be a lot of endorphins flying around a warm and cosy kitchen after a cake has been iced! In a world where we have surrendered so many of our traditional skills to mass produced commercial alternatives, the sheer pleasure of personal achievement at something we have created ourselves is, sadly, the exception rather than the norm for most people. I'm not sure whether my output this weekend could be considered 'sexy' but it was certainly prolific. With teenage kids around for half term, it certainly went down a treat. I actually made my own puff pastry for the first time [wow, did I feel chuffed!], some choux buns for profiteroles and chocolate sauce [guaranteed to make my children dote on me for at least a day!], and a 'pate sucre' for some frangipani tarts for a family reunion. Who needs the 'Hummingbird Bakery'?

SIMPLE PUFF PASTRY

Stir together in a mixing bowl with a metal spoon 150g plain flour, 100g diced cold butter and 5-6 tablespoons of cold water until everything comes together in a dough.

Lift onto a sheet of clingfilm, cover the ball of dough and put in the fridge for half an hour. Do not knead the dough.

Dust your work surface with plenty of flour and roll the dough into a long rectangle. Fold into three then turn the dough at a 90 degree angle and roll, then fold, again. Repeat this process eight times. Leave the dough in its folded state and put in the fridge for another half an hour. Roll out and prick the base, leaving an inch around the edge for a border. Add fillings as desired. I used creme fraiche, diced bacon and mozzarella but you could use anything that you have in the fridge that takes your fancy. Prosciutto, mozzarella, mi-cuit baby tomatoes and basil would be good. Any fruit in season, finely sliced and covered with a glaze, would work well too. So would berries or figs. Bake in a moderately hot oven until golden and puffed up around the border.

PATE SUCRE

Rub 75g butter into 175g plain flour until the lumps have disappeared and your mixture smells buttery and is a lovely yellow colour. Sieve 75 g icing sugar in to the mixture and stir through. Add a large egg, 'biologique' if possible, and mix through quickly with a knife. When the mixture clumps together, bring it together with your hand. If it seems a little too dry to bind, add a spoonful or two of milk to loosen it. When you are happy that the consistency is that of a soft pastry dough, wrap it in clingfilm and chill for at least an hour.

PLUM AND FRANGIPANE TARTS

You can use any fruits in season for this, as well as 'pruneaux d'Agen', which taste exquisite with almond.

Preheat the oven to 200C and place a baking sheet inside to heat.

6tbs plum jam [or apricot for apricot tarts, raspberry, strawberry etc etc]
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g caster sugar
3 medium 'biologique' eggs
200g ground almonds
1/2 tsp pure almond essence
100g plain flour
6 ripe plums

Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about half a centimetre and line a 23cm loose bottomed fluted flan tin or 6 individual flan tins. Spread half the jam on the base.

Cream together the butter and flour with an electric mixture until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the ground almonds, almond essence and flour. Spread the mixture evenly over the pastry base.

Stone and halve the plums and carefully place them skin side up in the frangipane mixture. Place on a pre-heated baking tray and bake for somewhere in the region of 45 minutes until the frangipane has risen well and set. Test with a skewer after 30 minutes.

Heat the remaining jam with 2 tablespoons of water and sieve out any pips or skin or rind. Brush over the top and serve either warm or cold with cream or vanilla ice cream [home-made if possible].

CHOUX PASTRY

75g butter, cubed
115g plain flour
3 medium 'biologique' eggs, beaten
100 mls water
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 200C

Put the butter into a medium saucepan with 200mls of water and bring to the boil, until all the butter has melted. Then tip in all the flour and a pinch of salt, and remove from the heat.

With a wooden spoon, beat the mixture hard for about 20 seconds until it comes away from the sides of the saucepan and forms a ball. You need good muscles for this! Leave to cool, then start beating in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is soft and shiny. It needs to have a consistency which can be dropped with a spoon onto the baking sheet [you may not need to use all of the third egg to reach a dropping consistency].

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment - you should get about 20 balls out of the mixture. You can be posh and use a piping bag but I prefer a more rustic 'blob'. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 30- 40 minutes. Do not be tempted to open the oven door for at least half an hour. The profiteroles should be golden brown and sound 'hollow' to the touch.

Cool and fill with whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

100g good dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
15g unsalted butter
2 tbs 'Golden Syrup'
3 tbs water

Break the chocolate into pieces. Bring 3 tbs water and the butter to the boil in a small saucepan, then stir in the chocolate and 'Golden Syrup' until blended and smooth. Pour over the profiteroles and indulge! Sex doesn't get much better than this.