The One

Have you ever had a perfect food moment, when everything is just flawless: the food, the moment, the place and the people you're sharing everything with? Mine involves a snowy winter day, a sleigh ride, two people who are unfortunately no longer in my life and sitting in the windowsill in my favourite little country house, savouring every little bite of these beautiful plum dumplings. That day must have been one of the most perfect days of my life. It was many many moons ago, but every time I make these little treasures, it all comes back to me.
We all have an absolute, hands down, all time favourite food, right? You know, the food you would ask for for your last meal on this planet. Mine are plum dumplings. They're like sweet gnocchi filled with fresh plums, loadsa cinnamon sugar and rolled in toasted breadcrumbs. Some people like to serve them with sweetened double cream, but I prefer a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

I don't like a very potatoey flavour, so I use a little bit more flour than most recipes ask for. This will make them perfect when freshly made and served warm. The amount of flour you need also depends on the potatoes you're using. The dough must be soft, not too sticky so it can be rolled out easily.

Plum dumplings



Ingredients:

400 g cooked, peeled potatoes
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp semolina
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
16 to 18 small prune plums
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
powdered sugar and toasted breadcrumbs for serving

Deseed your plums. Mix caster sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Take each plum and fill them with the sugar mixture. Set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Push potatoes through a potato ricer in a large bowl. Add salt, egg, oil, semolina. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon. Now add your flour, in three parts and mix together with your hands. Work dough into a smooth ball. Add more flour if necessary.
Using a well floured working surface, roll out dough to make it 5mm thick. Cut dough using a sharp knife into about 18 little squares. Place a cinnamon sugar filled plum onto center of each square. Now shape them into small dumplings, using more flour if necessary. Cook them for about 15 to 20 minutes. Gently take them out into a sieve, letting excess water drip of. Place dumplings into the warm toasted breadcrumbs. Dust with cinnamon sugar and serve.

Back to the basics

I worry a lot. Usually about things that are beyond my control, which makes the whole thing pointless. So why worry?
Just try to stay on the positive side, right? Sure, easier said that done. I'm always in a roadrunner mood. Go, get it, now, fast typeathing. I get overly excited about the most trivial things. And when I have a cloud over my head, the last thing on my mind would be food. I cannot touch food, for the life of me. That may very well be the reason I haven't spent much time in the kitchen lately. That, and also the abundance of fresh local apples, that I have been devouring by the buckets (left no room for anything else). They're so incredibly crisp when freshly picked! I'd always go for a freshly picked apple over any apple dessert.
On my last trip to the farmers' market however I bought so many different types, that I just didn't know where to keep them.
So I made the simplest, most delicious apple squares I could think of. I've been enjoying these since I was a toddler. Never thought of them as dessert. They're a meal in their own right. Make them in the evening. Take the whole pan with you, go to your dark oak library, (I don't have one, but you go ahead and do it), close the door behind you, choose a leather-bound mystery, plant yourself comfortably in your reading chair and devour them while still warm. Don't expect a lot of leftovers.

Apple cinnamon squares

Dough:

300 g all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 large egg
125 g sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100 ml sour cream
1/2 tbsp vanilla

Filling:

3,5 to 4 lb of your favourite apples
1 tbsp cinnamon
Juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 375F.
Butter and flour a medium sized baking pan, knocking out excess flour.
For dough: mix all ingredients to form a smooth dough. Divide in two. Cover with a tea towel, chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
For filling: peel and grate all the apples. Squeeze them by the hand fulls to get rid of the excess juice. You should get about two cups of apple juice, depending on the apple. Put juice aside for later use.
Mix in cinnamon and lemon juice.
Roll out half of your dough, to fit your pan. Dough will be thin. Pour apple mixture evenly over dough in pan, cover with second rolled out dough. Prick dough all over with a fork and bake for about 35 minutes or until golden.

Olive oil doughnuts

Blackberry season is upon us. I went to the farmers market, spent a small fortune on a huge box of them. Had big plans for making this thick, dark, gorgeous blackberry cordial laced with mint and lime juice. But It seems like fall has really made its presence known as far as my health is concerned. I was down with a cold the past few days. So blackberry cordial NO, fresh, sweet smelling local blackberries eaten straight out of the box YES.
Let's hope this is just my immune system (wanting to get stronger) playing tricks on me and getting ready to dodge all the viruses that might come my way this winter.
When I'm sick I'm always hungry. Weird, I know. I have strange cravings. I'm not talking about a healthy helping of hot soup needed for that oh so essential boost of vitamins and overall comfort of the soul. Oh, no. I'm talking fried dough. Lots of it. Drenched in some sort of luscious syrup or dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. And in this case served with a big bowl of blackberries.
But let's keep this short, sweet and addictively delicious. These are the easiest doughnuts ever. They are shortened by olive oil and sweetened by freshly squeezed orange juice. The blackberries are just a bonus.

Olive oil doughnuts

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup table cream
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
60 g sugar
90 g icing sugar
475 g self raising flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Combine egg and 60 g of sugar in a large bowl. Add cream, orange juice, olive oil and vanilla. Add flour to make a soft dough. Knead until it all comes together neatly. Divide dough into 10 equal pieces, then form 15 cm cylinders. Pinch ends together to make doughnut shaped rings. Combine icing sugar with cinnamon. Heat oil to 350 F and fry doughnuts until golden (turning once) about 5 to 6 minutes. Cool completely. Coat with cinnamon sugar. Let go of your willpower. They're worth it.
Recipe adapted from GT magazine.