Honey Cardamom Custards With Strawberry Orange Compote Food

BAKED CARDAMOM-SCENTED RICE PUDDING WITH ORANGES IN HONEY & POMEGRANATE SYRUP

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2 and butter a wide 1.5-litre ovenproof baking dish. Put the butter, sugar, cardamom, pudding rice and milk in a saucepan and bring gently to the boil, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Add the cream, a pinch of salt, orange zest and vanilla and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 4 mins, stirring, until you can feel that the rice grains have become slightly swollen. Pour into the buttered baking dish and bake for 2 hrs, uncovered. The rice should be cooked but not dry or sticky. It might need a little longer, but keep an eye on it.
• Meanwhile, make the compote. Heat the orange juice, pomegranate juice, molasses, honey and sugar, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Simmer for 8 mins until reduced slighty. Transfer to a jug. If you have more than 300ml, reduce it by boiling a bit more. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Strain, cover and chill in the fridge.
• Cut the top and bottom off the oranges to form a flat base. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut away the pith and peel. Cut the fruit into slices, catching any juice if you can (add it to the syrup). Put the oranges in a bowl, pour on the syrup and serve with the rice pudding.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COMPOTE RECIPE

Steps:

• Wash and hull the strawberries, then slice them in half, or in quarters if they are large.
• Chop the rhubarb stalks . In the end, you're looking for 2 cups each of chopped strawberries and rhubarb.
• In a medium pot, combine the strawberries and rhubarb over low heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar. Stir constantly until all of the sugar is dissolved.
• Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb pieces start to fall apart. When the compote is about as thick as applesauce, turn off the heat.
• Taste, and add additional sugar if you desire more sweetness. Keep a light hand with the sugar, though; too much sweetness will bludgeon rhubarb's distinctive flavor. If you do add additional sugar, turn the heat back on to low and stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Fill clean canning jars with the strawberry-rhubarb compote, leaving half an inch of headspace. It is not necessary to sterilize the jars for this recipe.
• Tap the bottom of each jar gently but firmly on the palm of your hand to settle the compote and release any air bubbles, or run a clean spatula or chopstick around the interior periphery of the jar to release any trapped air.
• Screw on canning lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (Adjust the time if you are canning at high altitude .)

ALMOND HONEYCOMB CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Thoroughly butter a 12 1/4-by-11 2/3-inch honeycomb pull-apart dessert pan, making sure to cover all the detailed nooks and crannies. Lightly dust the pan with all-purpose flour (sifting the flour over the top of the pan works best; tap out excess).
• Beat the butter, salt and 1 3/4 cups of the sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed, until well combined (the butter does not need to be fluffy), about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated (the mixture will first appear loose and broken, but will eventually come together). Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and beat into the butter mixture; reserve the pod for another use.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the almond flour until combined. Add the all-purpose flour and beat on low until combined. Add the whiskey and beat on low until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Tap the pan firmly on the counter a few times to force batter into the edges of the pan.
• Bake the cake until golden brown, the edges begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center and edges of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate; carefully remove the pan and very lightly brush away any excess flour from the top of the cake.
• Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to peel wide strips from half of the orange (about 6 strips).
• Boil the cardamom pods in 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture is very fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the honey and the orange peels. Let sit for 5 minutes. Strain the mixture through a mesh sieve into a small glass measuring cup; discard the solids. The mixture should be very thin and slightly warm; gently re-heat if necessary. Slowly drizzle the mixture over the warm cake, allowing the cake to soak up the honey before adding more. Let the cake cool, about 1 hour.
• Just before serving, heat the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon water in small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup honey until combined, then remove from the heat and drizzle over the top of cake, allowing the honey to slowly drip over the sides and into each honeycomb.

HONEY-CARDAMOM CUSTARDS WITH STRAWBERRY-ORANGE COMPOTE

Steps:

• For Custard:
• Combine 2 cups milk, whipping cream, vanilla bean, orange peel strips, ground cardamom and salt in heavy small saucepan. Cook milk mixture over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear around edge of saucepan. Remove from heat and let steep 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove softened vanilla bean from milk mixture. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk mixture; add bean. Heat milk mixture again until tiny bubbles appear around edge of saucepan. Remove saucepan from heat, add honey and stir until honey melts. Using fork, beat egg yolks and whole egg in medium bowl just until blended. Gradually mix hot milk mixture into egg mixture. Strain custard into large measuring cup with spout.
• Pour custard into four 1 1/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Set dishes in 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Add enough hot water to baking pan to come halfway up sides of dishes. Cover baking pan loosely with aluminum foil. Bake custards until knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer dishes to rack and cool completely. Cover custards and refrigerate until well chilled, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead.
• For Compote:
• Place sliced strawberries in medium bowl. Using small sharp knife, hold oranges over same bowl and cut between membranes to release segments, allowing juice and segments to fall into bowl. Squeeze orange membranes over same bowl to release any juice. Mix in 1 tablespoon honey and ground cardamom. (Compote can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Place custards in dishes on plates. Top with compote and serve.

STRAWBERRY ORANGE SALAD WITH CARDAMOM SYRUP

Steps:

• To prepare the syrup: Lightly crush the cardamom pods with a mortar and pestle or the back of a knife. Not too small as they will be strained from the syrup.
• Place water, sugar and cardamom in a small saucepan. Heat on medium for 2 or 3 minutes until the sugar is melted and the cardamom begins to infuse the simple syrup. You should not have any bubbling and the syrup should be translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.
• To prepare the salad: Wash and hull the strawberries. Halve or quarter the berries and place in bowl.
• Take the oranges and trim the tops so they will sit nicely on your cutting board. Trim down the side of the orange with a knife to remove the peel and all visible pith (white part. You are trying to keep as much of the orange flesh on the fruit. Split the orange in half and trim out white in the center. Cut orange halves into 4 to 6 segments depending on the size of the fruit. Place oranges in the bowl with the strawberries.
• Pour the syrup over the fruit salad and stir.
• Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes. If you are chilling longer, periodically mix to make sure all the fruit is in good contact with the syrup.
• Serve.