Colour lovers: Nautical

These are colours of the sea side: Navy blue, the colour of water and the ocean and in combination with coral and white unmistakably nautical. colourlovers

Update from my garden: peas

Today I picked my first peas.

Palmiers

Palmier is a delicate pastry in the shape of a leaf or a butterfly made of puff pastry and sugar. The word is French meaning palm leaf but they are known under other names as well: pig's ears, elephant ears, prussiens or Cœurs de France. And now to the recipe:

PALMIERS

ready-made puff pastry
sugar
ground cinnamon
ground cardamon

Pre-heat the oven to 200° C . Combine the sugar and the spices. Roll out the puff pastry to 4mm thick. Sprinkle about half the sugar mixture onto the pastry and gently roll the rolling pin over the surface to press the sugar in. Turn the pastry over and repeat on the other side with more of the sugar. Now fold the sides in so they meet neatly in the middle. Flatten and sprinkle with a bit more sugar in between folding. Alternatively you could roll the sides up as well.
Cut the folded pastry into 1cm thick slices and place to chill in the fridge for about 15 min. Then take out and arrange on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper leaving enough space between them as they will puff up. Bake for 15 min.

Illustrations

Colour lovers: Wisteria lane

Wisteria has now finished blooming in most areas but this palette is a tribute to the amazing colour and fragrance this plant brings in spring. colourlovers

Raspberry dessert

RASPBERRY PUFF PASTRY DESSERT
This is my version of a mille-feuille (meaning "thousand-leaf" in French) with raspberries and cream. Super easy and so delicious. All you need is:

1 ready-made puff pastry
150ml whipping cream
fresh raspberries
sugar and vanilla essence to taste
icing sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and cut the puff pastry into squares of equal size so they can be stacked neatly later. Put them on a baking tray with grease proof paper and sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake in the oven until puffed up and slightly brown. Take out and let cool down. In the meantime whip up the cream and add the raspberries, vanilla essence and the sugar. Then layer the dessert starting with the pastry. Add a couple of raspberries on top and dust with icing sugar. Voilà!

Put a smile on my face

David Sykes 'Light breakfast'

Golden raspberries

These golden raspberries were delicious and not very different to their red counterpart in terms of flavour really.

Colour lovers: melon-choly

Not only great on a hot summer day this palette is all about the colours of a freshly cut watermelon with it's smooth exterior rind and the juicy, sweet interior flesh. colourlovers

Tea and greens

Mini quiche with asparagus

With asparagus in season right now you should try this super easy recipe. I have made mini ones but for a larger tart you will only need to adjust the quantities (roughly times 3-4) and bake longer.

QUICHE WITH ASPARAGUS

Shortcrust dough (home-made or store bought)
1 bunch apsaragus
1 egg
1 small tub yogurt
handful of grated cheese
1 twig fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Blanche the asparagus to be still al dente and keep heads aside for later. cut the ends in small rings. Blind bake the dough in your pastry shells and set aside to cool down slightly. Whisk the egg and mix with yogurt, the spices and the asparagus rings. Fill the shells with the mixture and add the asparagus heads and bake until golden brown.

Colour lovers: London Underground

This palette is based on colours used by the London Underground for some of their tube lines: Jubilee (Pantone 430), Metropolitan (Pantone 235), Northern (Pantone Black), Piccadilly (Pantone 072) and Victoria (Pantone 299). colourlovers

The first diagrammatic map of the Underground was designed by Harry Beck, an Underground employee, in 1931. He drew up the diagram in his spare time while working as an engineering draughtsman at the London Underground Signals Office. London Underground tentatively introduced it to the public in a small pamphlet in 1933 and it immediately became popular. The Underground has used topological maps to illustrate the network ever since.