{ Mélanger :: to mix }

It is a perfectly normal reflex.  When baking a homemade apple pie, you reach for cinnamon.  No?  I think it is safe to say that cinnamon is intrinsically connected with the humble apple pie.  So it was a hard decision to temporarily disregard this natural food pairing for my final item during savoury sweets month.

The nutty, spicy and rather citrusy flavour of ground coriander was my spice of choice instead when putting together these modest little pies.

Apple holds up very well to the addition of flavours, and I must (surprisingly!) admit it took to this little substitution with much enthusiasm.  The end result was a lovely combination of tart apple, a punch of spice with subtle citrus overtones to round out the flavour.

It would be hard for me to walk by cinnamon once more in any future apple pie efforts, but I enjoyed the experiment.

{ Coriander spiced apple pies } Original recipe by Julia @ Mélanger

If you do not overwork the pastry, you will be rewarded with a perfect flaky, buttery pastry that melts in your mouth.

* Ingredients *
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
250g / 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and frozen
1/3 cup iced water
Filling
800g / 28oz canned baking apple
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground coriander
Finish
Milk, to brush pastry
Sugar, to sprinkle on pastry

* Directions *
For the dough, mix the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine.  Add the butter and pulse gently to roughly incorporate into the flour mixture.  Do not over mix – it is fine to have some butter chunks showing.  Again pulsing the processor, slowly add in the iced water until the dough starts to come together.  Once again, do not over mix.  Tip the dough out onto a floured board and gently knead for a few seconds to bring together.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  In the meantime, prepare the apple mixture.  Combine the canned apple, flour and spice in a bowl.  Set aside.  To prepare the pastry, remove from the refrigerator and cut into eight even pieces.  Roll out each piece larger than your individual pastry cases.  Line the base of each pastry case with the prepared dough so there is a little overhang.  Top each with one quarter of the prepared mixture.  Brush around the edges of the pastry with milk.  Then layer the pies with a final circle of pastry.  Crimp the edges of each pastry layer together.  Chill the prepared pies for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.  Place pies on baking tray and brush with more milk and sprinkled sugar.  Cut vents in the centre of the pies and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4 individual pies

You know those days that can switch 180° on you in a split second?  One minute you are happy as a clam.  Next minute you are thrown into a spin.

Welcome to my Saturday.

While out and about running errands during a beautifully sunny, Brisbane autumn day, I was in my car on my way home satisfied with what I had accomplished.  Then, before I knew it, someone decides to join me in the lane I am traveling in, quite abruptly.  Next thing you know, two cars have collided, and I am completely stationary.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

All will be repaired, but things like that sure can rattle a person.  I know I was off kilter for the remainder of the weekend.

Despite feeling out of sorts, I was grateful for one thing.  The comfort of baking.  Life can spin out of control but what a reassuring feeling to quietly walk into a kitchen, gather a few ingredients, and create something special.

That is exactly what I did.

For me, there is nothing like chocolate to soothe an unsettled soul.  In this case, a Chinese five spice chocolate mousse.  Inspired by a Belinda Jeffery rich chocolate cake showcasing the same spice (and a cake my husband continues to beg I make again), I whipped together these little aromatic pots of calmness.  The peacefulness in the kitchen during the process went a long way to calm me from the recent events.

How amazing is baking?

{ Chinese five spice chocolate mousse } Original recipe by Julia @ Mélanger

* Ingredients *
200g/7oz dark chocolate
30g/1oz unsalted butter
2 teaspoons Chinese five spice
3 large eggs, separated
1 cup thickened cream

* Directions *
Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  As the chocolate is melting, add the Chinese five spice powder.  Add the egg yolks and stir to combine well.  Set aside to cool.  In the meantime, beat the egg whites until you form soft peaks.  Whip the thickened cream until almost firm.  Fold the cream into the chocolate mixture.  Lastly, fold in the egg whites trying to keep the mixture as light as possible.  Spoon into serving glasses and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  To serve, top with dollop of cream and a light dusting of Chinese five spice.

Serves 6

It all started innocently enough.  I was walking by a bookstore, minding my own business, not once gazing at the array of cook and baking books on offer (I am trying to cut down my obsession), when this book almost lurched off the shelf and into my hands by itself.  Seriously.  Well, almost.

Something in the corner of my eye grabbed my attention.  It was a set of familiar words.  Spain.  Morocco.  Italy.  France.  Sweden.  My mind raced as I tried to place the origin.  “Of course, all the countries Mr Mélanger visited on his last trip around Europe literally just before meeting me!”

After over four months of holding fast to a self-imposed cookbook purchase embargo, I whipped up a copy in my hands.  I started to get that rush back.  And one quick flick through the new Jamie Oliver cookbook and I was immediately salivating – perhaps not advised to be reading cookbooks around lunch time.  I quickly sold myself on the virtues of the book.  It is a sign.  Mr Mélanger would love to read some recipes of the places he traveled.  I must buy it.  For him.  And as books go, it was almost as cheap as chips so I would almost be losing money if I did not purchase it.

At home, browsing through the book, I stumbled upon some inspiration for this month.  It comes in the form of fennel and olive oil.  I love the related tastes of anise, liquorice and fennel.  Having used liquorice last year in some liquorice macarons, I wanted to extend my baking repertoire to a new but similar taste.  I had been toying with fennel shortbread but then saw Jamie’s recipe from Spain for these yeasty, thin olive oil biscuits flavoured with fennel.

Having a fairly standard all-butter shortbread recipe that I use, I decided that for my fennel shortbread creation, it was worth the gamble to also substitute some olive oil for the more traditional butter.  After all the effort that the book took to come home with me, it would be a shame to turn my back on such a suggestion!

The result?  Definitely a recipe I will repeat.  The rich, sandy texture of the shortbread is preserved despite the variations.  The fennel flavour is prominent as soon as you take a bite.  The olive oil flavour comes through at the end.  It is subtle, but there.

I have only ever made plain, standard shortbread before.  Although a tremendous biscuit in its original form, it sure does lend itself to other flavours.  There will certainly be more experimentation from me in the future.

{ Fennel & olive oil shortbread } Original recipe by Julia @ Mélanger

*Ingredients*
250g all purpose flour
160g salted butter
40g olive oil
100g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
Extra caster sugar, for dusting

*Directions*
Beat the butter, olive oil and sugar together in a mixer for a few minutes until pale and fluffy.  Slowly add the egg yolks and mix well.  Once mixed, then slowly add the flour and fennel seeds until blended.  In greaseproof paper, roll up the mixture into a log/roll and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.  When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C.  Cut out individual biscuits about 1/2 – 3/4 cm thick.  Dust with caster sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Makes about 2 dozen biscuits

He could not pick the flavour.  I gave him a small hint.  “It is from our garden,” I said proudly with a huge grin.  He takes another bite, more slowly this time.  I am transfixed on his reaction, but still no guess was forthcoming.  He then starts to call out all the herbs we have in the garden.  One by one.  He obviously hit on the flavour, eventually, but I was surprised the taste originally eluded him.  Perhaps testament to its delicate infusion.

My key inspiration for this dish was the baby rosemary plant Mr Mélanger had recently planted in our garden.  Already thriving with his solid attention, a few sprigs needed to be tested for the theme this month.

I love rosemary with strong citrus flavours in savoury cooking, so decided to pair the rosemary in this dessert with orange.  A couple of sprigs of rosemary were infused into the cream before making the basic custard for the brûlée.  The zest of one orange was also folded into the final mixture.  The end result was a typical creamy brûlée, with subtle suggestions of pine and some zing.

Will I make this flavour combination again?  I thoroughly enjoyed the injection of a less traditionally sweet flavour to balance the incredibly rich brûlée.  The subtly of the rosemary was surprising, and perhaps could make a repeat appearance in the Mélanger kitchen!

{ Rosemary & orange crème brûlée } Original recipe by Julia @ Mélanger

* Ingredients *
2 cups of heavy cream
6 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
2 sprigs of rosemary
Zest of 1 orange
Sugar, to finish

* Directions *
Gently boil the cream in a small saucepan until bubbles appear around the edges.  Remove from the heat and add the rosemary.  Allow to infuse for 20 minutes.  In the meantime, mix the yolks and sugar together.  Strain the cream and again gently re-boil.  Once the cream is ready, gently whisk the cream into the yolk sugar mixture until combined.  Transfer the mixture back into the small saucepan and cook gently until you can coat the back of a spoon.  At this point, gently mix in the orange zest.  Divide the mixture into 6 ramekins or moulds.  Place into a roasting dish and fill with water. Bake in a preheated 180 / 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Once cool, refrigerate until completely set, ideally overnight.  To finish, sprinkle the top of the baked custard with sugar.  With a blow torch, gently brown the sugar evenly.  Alternatively, place under a pre-heated grill to brown.

It can be subtle. It can be extreme. The injection of savoury ingredients into typical sweet dishes.

It is not a new trend, but I was intrigued by an article a friend sent to me a few months back. Though no stranger to adding savoury ingredients into my baking – salt to chocolate and caramel, pepper to biscuits and cookies, savoury herbs into sweet pies and slices — I was curious how far I would experiment.

As a conservative baker, I am not a huge experimenter and resolutely adore the classics. I recognise the value of solid, timeless dishes. They are tried and true. They have stood the test of time. They are like the white shirt and blue jeans of the baking wardrobe. But sometimes you want to jazz up your jeans and your plain white shirt. And on those occasions, I am happy to accessorise …. a little.

Since publishing Mélanger, I have created my own solid basic recipes for things like macarons, cakes, breads and the like. My baking interest in the past would always flick from random recipe to random recipe. I would embark on a new baking adventure with an always frenetic enthusiasm to try something new, every single time. But now, with my own basic recipes for classic recipes under my ever conservative tan coloured belt, I am eager to explore subtle twists to ultimately expand my own repertoire.

So this month is a challenge to take some classic recipes and twist them to introduce some unusual flavour combinations – and hopefully combinations that work – without compromising the original style of dish.

There are a few ingredients I am mulling over.  Fingers crossed they work!