Tasty treats for Mother's Day

YORK always seems to look at its best when the daffodils are out against the City Walls; the stone and yellow spring flowers seem to complement each other perfectly somehow – and wasn’t nature clever to make everything look so pretty in time for Mother’s Day?

Whatever you have planned for the annual celebration, a nice afternoon tea-style pudding rarely fails to please, so I have chosen a couple of recipes which might help.

The first recipe combines lovely old-fashioned flavours, while the second pairs a traditional tarte tatin, with its deep toffee-appled fruit, with a Wensleydale cheese ice-cream.

Apple tart and cheese are a good Yorkshire combination and this ice-cream uses a good Yorkshire cheese. We have something similar on our menus at The Star Inn The City if you’d like to try it but don’t have the time to make it (in fact, you could always bring your Mother to try it with you!)

Warm Yorkshire curd tartlette with boozy prune ice-cream and golden raisin purée

(Serves four)

Ingredients

Curd mixture:

90g soft brown sugar

5g All spice

3 eggs, beaten

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

40g melted butter

450g curd

75g raisins

Pastry:

225g plain flour

115g diced butter

1 egg yolk

15-30ml chilled water

Method

Combine all curd mixture ingredients together in a mixer for about ten minutes, then set aside.

For the pastry, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and mix to a soft dough. Add water, if necessary. Roll pastry out and line 4 x 10cm tartlette cases, make sure your tins have been greased or they are non-stick.

Chill in the fridge for about ten minutes. Remove from fridge, fill each case with the curd mixture and bake in a moderate oven at 190C/Gas Mark 5 for approx 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Boozy prune ice-cream

Ingredients

100g pitted prunes

200ml brandy

60g sugar

8 egg yolks

150g caster sugar

300ml cream

Method

Heat brandy up in a pan with the sugar and allow the sugar to melt. Pour over the pitted prunes and leave them in the fridge overnight to marinate. Remove the prunes the next day and allow to drain a little.

To make the custard, heat the cream up in a saucepan. Beat the yolks and the sugar together. When the cream is warm, pour a little over the yolks and stir well. Pour the yolk mixture back into the cream, then strain.

Chop the prunes and add them to the custard. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn until ready. (NB: The prunes can be stored in the brandy in an airtight jar to improve and maximize the flavour.)

Purée of golden raisins

Ingredients

500g golden raisins

100ml Verjuice or grape juice

50ml mead

150g sugar

Method

Place all ingredients into a saucepan and allow to simmer until the liquid takes on a syrupy consistency. Strain off the liquid and retain. Purée the raisins until smooth. If the mixture is too dry, add back the liquid saved from cooking to achieve the required consistency.

Serve slightly warm to give a nice contrast with the ice-cream. Place the tartlette in the centre of the plate with a generous spoonful of the purée on the top. Serve with a scoop of the ice cream and, if wished, decorate the plate with raspberries and/or dots of raspberry purée and a little sprig of mint

Ampleforth Abbey apple tarte tatin with Wensleydale Cheese ice-cream

(Serves four)

Apple Tatin

200g puff pastry

100g sugar

30g butter

4 Ampleforth apples

10g icing sugar

Dissolve the sugar in a pan with a little water on a medium heat, and allow to caramelize, remove from the heat, and stir in the butter.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Arrange the apples in the pan over the caramel creating two layers. Place the apples back on the heat until the caramel bubbles.

Roll the pastry out and cut a round enough to cover the pan. Place pastry over the apples, but ensure you tuck the edges in. Dust the pastry with sugar and bake at 200°C/Gas Mark 5, until golden. Turn out straight away, pastry side down.

Wensleydale Cheese ice-cream

500ml cream

125ml milk

4 egg yolks

125ml caster sugar

3 tbsp glucose

100g Wensleydale cheese

Heat the milk and the cream up in a thick-bottomed sauce pan. In another bowl, mix the yolks, glucose and the sugar.

When the milk and cream are hot, add the cheese and allow to melt. Pour the liquid over the egg mixture, and then strain. Allow to cool and then churn in an ice-cream machine, until ready.

To serve, place a blob of the ice-cream on top of the tatin and garnish with edible flowers, if wished. An extra chunk of cheese and a few sultanas also look good.