[Sca-cooks] Lamingtons, Fairy bread, Pavlova OH MY!!!

[Susan Laing]

>What are lamington cake, fairy bread, or pavlova?
>--maire from artemisia

Hmmm..... how to describe to those in far distant lands so it makes sense...

Lamingtons are sponge cake, covered in chocolate frosting and rolled in
shredded coconut (usually served in small squares or in fingers) -
occassionally an inner layer of jam & cream are added :-p

Fairy bread is a "weird children's birthday party item" - first take white
bread, spread with butter or margarine and sprinkle over the top with sugar
100's & 1000's (possibly known as sugar dots in the US) - seriously icky to
my taste buds but I've seen near riots of under 5's when it's been served at
parties

Pavlova is a meringue based dish (Meringue is whisked egg whites with sugar
added and then baked in the oven) - topped with cream and kiwi fruit and
strawberries and passionfruit and more cream and... you get the idea? - when
my scottish cousins came out to visit this last year I made sure I made them
a super-dupper whizz-bang Pavlova for dessert... they liked it but preferred
the "Tart of Good Cherries" (recipe below) that I'd also made (they were
excited to be eating medieval food down under). Oh - and the high-light of
their trip to Australia? Meeting Steve Irwin (aka "The Crocodile Man") at
his Australia Zoo.... Go figure.... :-p

Mari

*************
Mari's Recipe File - "To make a good tart of cheries"
Modified cherry filling recipe by Mari de Paxford (Susan Laing)

Taken from "The Good Huswifes handmaide for the kitchen" (original
publication date approx 1594)

"Take your cheries and pick out the stones of them, then take raw yolks of
egs and put them into your cheries, then take sugar, Sinamon and ginger, and
cloves, and put to your Cheries and make your Tart with all the egs, your
tart must be an inche high, when it is made put in your cheries without any
liquor, and cast sugar, sinamon and ginger upon it and close it up, lay it
on paper and put it in the oven, when it is half baked draw it out, and put
the liquor that you let of your cheries into the tart : then take molten
butter, and with a feather annoint your lid therewith.  Then take a fine
beaten sugar and cast upon it, then put your tarte into the oven again, and
let it bake a good while, when it is baken drawe it forth and cast sugar and
rosewater upon it and serve it in"

Ingredients for cherry filling for one tart flan
2 tins pitted black cherries (approx 425 grams per tin = 850 grams in total)
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar plus additional teaspoon for sprinkling on finished tart
1ml ginger (powdered)
1ml cinnamon (powdered) plus additional teaspoon for sprinkling on finished
tart
1ml cloves (powdered)
1 sweet short pastry flan - precooked in 420 Farenheight oven (or 210
Celsius) for 10 minutes to ensure base is firm before adding liquid

Place cherries, juice, sugar & spices into saucepan - allow to simmer gently
on low heat for approx 10 minutes - stirring occasionally.  Remove from
heat.  Drain cherries - reserving spiced liquid.

Whisk egg yolks together, adding a small amount (approx ¼ cup) of cherry
spice liquid a dribble at a time (** NOTE - must be added slowly and
gradually or egg yolks will curdle and go stringy)

Place drained cherries back into saucepan - over a low heat - with 1 cup of
cherry spice liquid and gradually add egg yolk mixture.  Stir gently for one
to two minutes - mixture will thicken slightly.  Remove from heat

Gently ladle cherries into tart flan - carefully arrange fruit in one layer
and gently pour in spiced liquid - avoid over filling pie flan as liquid
will rise slightly with cooking.

Combine teaspoon each of sugar and cinnamon and gently "dust" evenly over
top of tart

Place in a pre-heated oven (420 F or 210 C) and bake for approx 10 to 15
minutes - until edges of flan are golden brown.  Then serve it forth with
Cream..

**Cooks notes -

* Tart flan can be any good short sweet pastry recipe; Pampas Short Sweet
Pastry or a premade but uncooked frozen flan from the supermarket.
* If making individual tartlets (approx 3 or so inches wide) cherries should
be halved or quartered depending on their size  (recipe will make up to 24
tartlets if cherries are quartered and an additional ½ cup of spiced liquid
is added [you may wish to add one extra egg yolk for thickening of spiced
liquid] )
* Taste of tart is more spicy than sweet - and smaller portions are
therefore suggested, with liberal does of cream
* In regions where fresh cherries are plentiful and cheap,  remember to
first wash well, remove pits and stalks and that the cherries must be cooked
"down" to give a good syrup.  I suggest cooking with approx 1 litre of water
with 1 cup of sugar over a low heat in a lidded pot until cherries are
tender (much as you do when creating filling for an apple pie)
* The original recipe calls for a sprinkling of Rose Water - I find this
unneccessary due to the sweetness of modern cherries, however it can be
added if the cherries are very tart