Laurie’s Cobalt World Blog

I really must be a slow mover - at least in some areas. I’ve been thinking about hosting an afternoon tea in honor of my mother for several years now. This year, I’m actually going to do it.

I am so excited about it. It will be held on Mother’s Day and the guests will include our local family.

Following the English example, this tea will include both male and female guests. We often think of matrons with floral dresses and large hats sipping tea, but teas were originally for everyone.

Before I go further, let me say that a tea need not be elaborate. Tea and cookies or tea and scones is enough. But I’ve decided on quite a bit more for this tea.

It will be a full tea and an afternoon tea, but not a high tea. I’m setting it at 5:00, about as late as you want to schedule an afternoon tea. Since there are other mothers on my guest list, I want to give them as much time as possible for their other Mother’s Day activities.

If this were a high tea, the menu would resemble a full meal much more.

Since it is a full tea, we will be having three courses: scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets.

I’ve decided to make apricot scones and I will serve them with homemade lemon curd, raspberry jam, and clotted cream.

Clotted cream is not available in my town, or even in the next town. But I do know a place in Winston-Salem, the closest city, where I can get it at a gourmet market.

I’ll probably be trying out my lemon curd recipes between now and then. The last time I made it, it was a little too tart for my taste. Once I’ve settled on the best one, I’ll post the recipe either here, in my newsletter, or on my website.

The next course will be tea sandwiches. I’ve decided on turkey with cranberry mustard and my favorite tea sandwiches. These tea sandwiches are cream cheese-based, a popular choice.

I first made these sandwiches in 1979. Since it wasn’t a tea, I made the sandwiches a little bit bigger than finger size. In fact, I used two different colors of bread (pumpernickel and rye, if I recall correctly) and made an alternating design.

First I froze the bread. Then I used a sturdy, sharp cookie cutter to cut the bread into decorative rounds. Using a smaller cookie cutter, I cut out a design in the middle of half of the slices. I believe it was a simple flower shape. I popped out the centers and switched them. Then I assembled the sandwiches using a solid bottom and a decorative top.

The filling is simple to make, but will get a lot of attention from your guests. It’s really good.

Favorite Tea Sandwich Filling Recipe

2 3-oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 oz. bleu cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. minced dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise (not salad dressing)

Mix all ingredients well. Place in the refrigerator for several hours to blend flavors. Bring to room temperature before filling sandwiches. Lightly spread bread with a thin coat of butter before filling.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of filling.

I’ll be able to make those sandwiches a day ahead of time, carefully wrap them airtight, and store them in the refrigerator until about 1/2 hour before serving time.

We’ll talk about the sweets, tea, flowers, invitations, and music another day.

Laurie

“Compote” seems to be a word not well known among the younger generations, but it is well worth holding onto. Compote is a very versatile and very delicious dish, either served alone or with other equally delicious offerings.Compote is a fruit dish, often served warm. Frequently it is a mixture of fruit rather than a single fruit, sweetened and perhaps flavored. Compote can be made sugar-free and/or fat-free. It can be made from dried fruit, fresh fruit, frozen fruit, or canned fruit. There are no hard-and-fast rules, but rather many choices and many successful combinations.

Compote can either be served as a dessert or as a side dish. For side dishes, think of less sweet mixtures of apples, pears, cranberries, or rhubarb. Pork and apple compote is a classic combination as is poultry with cranberry compote. I’ve even seen onion compote recipes for hamburgers.

I generally think of compote as dessert or as part of a sweet breakfast entrée. At least those are my favorites!

The compote can be the main part of the dessert or can be used as a topping for ice cream, panna cottas, angel food cake, pancakes or blintzes, shortcake, biscuits, or cheesecake.

Dessert compotes may be topped with ice cream, served with cookies, or served alone in an elegant compote dish (footed serving dish) for a simple, but stunning dessert.

Dessert compotes generally all have the same basic ingredients:

• Fruit or a mixture of fruit, about 3 cups
• Liquid such as water, wine, or juice, about ½ cup (more for dried fruit)
• Flavorings such as lemon zest, vanilla extract, nutmeg, cinnamon, or liquor
• Sweeteners such as sugar, maple syrup, sugar substitutes*, molasses, brown sugar, between ½ and 1 cup
• Butter (optional, but delicious), 2 to 3 tablespoons
• Pinch salt *If using a sugar substitute, you may need to add a thickener such as cornstarch with the liquid to tighten up the compote. In sugared recipes, the syrup is often cooked until it thickens. Sugar substitutes lack that quality. 

Some compotes are baked, but most are cooked in a saucepan for about 15 minutes. The entire preparation of warm compote can easily be less than ½ hour.

To make compote, first mix your liquid, sweetener, and flavorings (save vanilla extract until the end, if you are using). Cook for about five minutes until the syrup begins to thicken. If you are using fruits that take different amounts of time to cook, add them in order from the longest cooking to the shortest. Apples, pears, dried fruits, and firmer fruits should be added first. Peaches, canned fruit, plums, apricots, and softer fruits should go next. Berries, especially raspberries, should be added near the end as the firmer fruits are nearly softened.

Add butter, stir, and serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

Brainstorm combinations. Do you like apples, raisins, and cranberries together? How about mixed berries? Summer fruits? Dried fruits? Oranges and cranberries?

Match flavorings with fruits: cinnamon or vanilla for apples, nutmeg for blueberries or peaches, lemon with berries.

And if you are not feeling that adventuresome, try this favorite compote recipe of mine:

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• dash salt
• 1 lb. bag of frozen mixed berries (about 3 cups)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• vanilla bean ice cream

Mix the water, sugar, lemon zest, and dash of salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil for five minutes. Add the berries and stir gently. Bring to a full boil again, reduce heat, and simmer for two minutes.Remove from heat, add butter, and stir. Cool to room temperature or chill. The compote thickens as it cools.

* * * * *

 Serve in individual dessert cups. Top with vanilla ice cream just as you serve the compote.

Laurie

My brother married his childhood sweetheart. It’s a sweet story, but doesn’t sound all that unusual. What’s unusual about the story is that there was a 25-year interruption between the time they were sweethearts and the time they got married.

When my brother falls, he falls hard. But their parents thought they were too young to be serious and broke off their relationship.

My brother didn’t date another girl all throughout highschool. And he never forgot his first love.

Nearly twenty-five years later, she decided to look him up. And three weeks after that, they were married.

My brother had never married. He spoke of her often throughout the years. He had compared every woman he ever met to her. It was like a dream come true for him when she called him out of the blue.

My brother and I are very close. So when I got a phone call from him, before he said anything about having met a woman, I knew he was getting married. He just had that, “I have a huge announcement to make” sound in his voice.

So our family got together and planned a small wedding reception for them. I made the wedding cake. I rarely make cakes anymore because I suffer from tendonitis in my arms. But this cake was really worth it.

I hate a cake that looks gorgeous and tastes awful. It’s worse than a cake that looks awful and taste awful. At least your expectations aren’t elevated before your disappointment!

So the inside of this cake is home-baked and the outside is cream cheese frosting. Here’s the recipe (for a regular-sized cake - the wedding cake took several recipes):

• 2 sticks of butter, at room temperature (please do not use margarine)
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans. Set aside.

Divide eggs. Beat yolks and set whites and yolks aside. If you get any yolk in the whites, discard them and start again.

Combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.

Combine buttermilk, vanilla, and pecans. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar well. Add beaten egg yolks to the mixture and blend well.

Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, stirring well after each addition. End with the buttermilk mixture.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form but the whites are not dry.

Add a small amount of the egg whites to the batter and stir. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter. It is okay if tiny specks of egg white remain unincorporated.

Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for a few minutes before turning cakes out onto cake racks to completely cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe makes ample frosting to fill the cake, ice it, and decorate it, if desired.

• 2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 2-lb. bag powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups chopped pecans, optional (delete if you are going to pipe decorations)

Beat ingredients together until smooth. If you are using the frosting as icing, you may need to add a little more powdered sugar to make it stiff enough to smooth and hold the piped decorations.

* * * * *

Here’s a little caution about nuts. If you are making the cake for a group that you do not know well, either delete the nuts or add a notice saying that the cake includes nuts. Nut allergies can be deadly.

For the wedding cake, I used nuts since we knew everyone invited to the reception. But I only used nuts in the frosting that I used between the layers as filling since I wanted a smooth surface for decorating.

Along with the cake, we gave my brother and his wife the blown glass wedding topper. Another idea is to give the cake and a cake stand as a wedding present.

So, all’s well that ends well. My brother gets the girl, you get my favorite cake recipe, and I - hopefully - get you to look at my gorgeous new pedestal cake plates.

Sounds like we’re all winners here.

Laurie

A good number of years ago, my husband and I had the opportunity to host my family for Christmas dinner. Before that time and ever since, our tradition is to go to my parents’ home for Christmas. Somehow I managed to get the family to travel to Atlanta, where we lived at the time. I can’t really remember how we did that.

We were very excited about this meal. I researched recipes for weeks in advance. We ordered a standing rib roast. I tried out recipes to be sure they weren’t flops before the “big day.”

When the time came, my family was a bit dismayed that we weren’t having turkey and dressing as always. It was a bit difficult to win them over, but course by course, they changed their minds and began to enjoy the qualities of each dish.

I have to say that of the approximately 17,000 meals I’ve had in my lifetime, that one is a definite standout (don’t get out your calculator - I’m 46).

One of my favorites from that meal was Potato Gruyere Gratin. It was not difficult to make, but it made a big hit with my family members, who were expecting mashed potatoes instead.

We made a recipe that served 12, but I’m going to post a version that serves two so that you don’t have to wait for a large crowd to enjoy it.

• 1 medium baking potato, about 8 oz., peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 red potato, about 4 oz. , unpeeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp. of minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. of fresh thyme leaves, chopped, or a scant 1/4 tsp. of dried
• 1/8 tsp. of salt, slightly rounded
• pinch of coarse ground black pepper (slightly more if you are a fan)
• 1 1/2 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp. of butter, softened

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease or spray a 12 oz. au gratin baker or au gratin dish or other shallow baking dish.

Spread half of the potato slices in the dish. Mix the garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and cheese and spread half over the potato slices. Top with remaining potato slices, overlapping, for an attractive top. Pour broth over the potatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese mixture. Dot with butter.

Bake 30 minutes. Tilt pan to spoon up broth to baste potatoes. Bake 30 minutes longer or until top is browned and potatoes are tender. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Whether or not you purchase your au gratin dish (rarebit) from me - although I hope you will - I would love for you to try this recipe and hope enjoy it as much as we do.

Laurie