WAITING FOR SPRING... HONEYED TAPIOCA AND ORANGE CURD PUDDINGS - PUDDINGS DE TAPIOCA AU MIEL ET À L'ORANGE CURD

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
- George Santayana

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
- Anne Bradstreet

Being someone who tends to feel easily stressed out about nothing and overwhelmed by upsetting situations, I guess it will not come as a revelation if I told you that, very much like cats, I am a creature of habit with little taste for radical or excessive change. Hence, I need stability and don't mind repetitiveness as it gives me a sense of comfort, security and it lets me achieve a certain control over life and helps me focus on what is important.

Of course, adding small amounts of variation to our routine isn't all that bad as it forces us to explore different horizons, take risks and open up to new experiences. Those unforseen events add some contrasting spice to our existence and are a welcome wake-up call when things are getting far too cozy and dangerously monotonous. At the end, it's all a question of finding the right balance between solacing permanence and refreshing novelty - too much of one or the other can be harmful to us.

Well, the same can be said about seasons. Imagine how insipid, boring and sad our days would be without weather fluctations, the perpetual transition of cycles and earth's ever-permutating rhythms. Although, each of us always finds a reason to moan about spring, summer, autumn or winter, I'm pretty sure we'd all go ballistic and suffer from severe depression if it would be Disney-like sunny and warm all the time or if our table was graced week after week with the same vegetables and fruits. Time would seem endless and we'd miss out on the best nature has to offer: the constant and spellbinding metamorphosis of our environment. Simply inconceivable for a lover of climate and agricultural variety like me.

This year, October, November, December, January and Febraury have been wonderfully wintry and extremely generous in snow. I've had a blast walking through the frosty, white and surreal looking countryside surrounding Geneva and I've thouroughly enjoyed staying at home doing some cocooning, but lately, I have grown tired of Jack Frost's icy embrace and now dream of admiring the verdant green scenery during my weekly strolls and fantasize about sitting on the balcony, sipping on a cup of coffee while listening to the mad chirp of sparrows. Besides, I can hardly wait to eat ramsons/ramps, fresh garlic, asparagus, baby carrots, fava beans, rhubarb and strawberries again.

Now that February is behind us and the vernal equinox is approaching, excitement is in the air and people as well as animals are starting to become fidgety. After a long period of cold and dullness, everybody is ready to welcome spring - our savior - with open arms and there's not one living soul who isn't relieved to finally be able to soon turn the page on all the gloom and inclemency of the last months.  

Aaahhh, there's nothing quite like getting caressed by the soft rays of the Easter sun, squinting against the bold late March light, relishing the warm April breeze, experiencing a slight gust of grassy air, being deafened by the enthusiastic carol of the birds and blinded by the flowers in bloom!

So while impatiently waiting for the magical transition to take place and heavy rain replaces snow as Switzerland's landscapes turn brown, I keep myself busy and sane with cooking activities. Within the walls of my humble, yet snug kitchen numerous heartwarming delicacies are created and nothing can affect me - not even the gloom outside; a little corner of paradise and epicurean lair where I can forget about the greyness of the skies above, the ugliness of certain people and leave my fears, worries as well as troubles behind...

Last Saturday, after visiting my favorite Asian supermarkets (Asia Store & Thu Hang in Pâquis, Geneva - for addresses check out this link) and buying a shipload of food (noodles, condiments, sauces, spices, tofu, pastries, etc...), I decided to revisit a childhood classic and prepare a healthy dessert with the tapioca pearls I purchased there and some leftover Tarocco oranges I had in my fruit basket. The result was incredibly pleasing and even P. loved my "Tapioca And Orange Curd Puddings" despite his aversion to this cassava speciality and its weirdly chewy texture.

Those elegant Maroccan flavored verrines are delightfully refreshing, voluptuously creamy, exquisitely fragrant, zestfully citrusy and magnificently balanced with the slight sharpness of the orange curd. An exceptionally good, refined and gluten-free treat which will rejoice tapiocaphiles and tapiocaphobics alike!
 

Honeyed Tapioca And Orange Curd Puddings
Recipe by Rosa Mayland, March 2013.

Makes 6 verrines.

Ingredients For The "Orange Curd":
220ml Freshly squeezed orange juice (Tarocco)
1 Tbs Lemon juice
110g Castor sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tbs Cornflour
2 Tbs Unsalted butter
Ingredients For The "Tapioca Pudding":
3/4 Cup (120g) Small pearl tapioca
1 3/4 Cups (420ml) Milk
1/2 Cup (120ml) Water
1/3 Cup (115g) Light runny honey
1 Tsp Orange blossom water (optional) or pure vanilla extract

Method For The "Orange Curd":
1. In a medium pan, combine all the ingredients together.
2. Put over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture thickens (custard-like consistency).
3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
4. Pour equal quantities of the curd into the verrines and let cool while you prepare the tapioca.

Method For The "Tapioca Pudding":
5. In a large saucepan, combine the tapioca, milk, honey and orange blossom water (or vanilla extract) over medium high heat.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
7. Let the mixture cook until the tapioca looks translucent and the pearls are chewy in texture, about 20-30 minutes.
8. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally and divide in between the verrines with the orange curd. Refrigerate the puddings.
9. Just before serving, top with chopped nuts or decorative sugar.

Remarks:
You can also make orange curd with Moro or Navel oranges or just replace the orange curd by any other curd of your choice (lemon, rhubarb, strawberry, raspberry, etc...).
If you want your tapioca puddings to be a little richer, then replace the water by single or double cream.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as dessert or as afternoon treat with some jasmine tea.

Puddings De Tapioca Au Miel Et À l'Orange Curd
Recette par Rosa Mayland, Mars 2013.
 
Pour 6 verrines.

Ingrédients Pour "l'Orange Curd":
220ml de Jus d'orange (Tarocco) fraîchement pressé
1 CS de Jus de citron
110g Sucre cristallisé
2 Oeufs
1 CS de Maïzena
2 CS de Beurre non-salé
Ingrédients Pour Le "Pudding De Tapioca":
120g (3/4 tasse) de Tapioca (perles du Japon)
420ml de Lait
120ml d'Eau
115g de Miel clair liquide
1 CC d'Eau de fleur d'oranger (facultatif) ou d'extrait de vanille pure

Méthode Pour "l'Orange Curd":
1. Dans une casserole moyenne, mélanger tous les ingrédients ensemble.
2. Faire chauffer à feu moyen et remuer constamment jusqu'à ce que le mélange épaississe (il doit avoir la consistance d'un custard).
3. Retirer du feu et incorporer le beurre.
4. Verser le curd (en quantités égales) dans le fond des verrines et laisser refroidir pendant que vous préparez le pudding.

Méthode Pour Le "Pudding De Tapioca":
5. Dans une grande casserole, mélanger ensemble le tapioca, le lait, le miel et l'eau de fleur d'oranger (ou la vanille), puis faire chauffer à feu moyennement élevé.
6. Porter à ébullition et réduire la température.
7. Faire cuire à feu doux jusqu'à ce que le tapioca soit translucide et que les perles soient tendre, pendant environ 20-30 minutes.
8. Laisser refroidir à la température ambiante, en remuant de temps en temps et verser dans les verrines (sur l'orange curd et en quantités égales). Réfrigérer les puddings.
9. Juste avant de servir, garnir de noix hachées ou de sucre décoratif.

Remarques:
Vous pouvez également fabriquer votre orange curd avec des oranges Moro ou Navel, ou bien tout simplement remplacer l'orange curd par le curd de votre choix (citron, rhubarbe, fraise, framboise, etc ..).
Si vous voulez que votre pudding au tapioca soit un peu plus riche, remplacez l'eau par de la crème légère ou double.

Idée de présentation:
Servir pour le dessert ou à l'heure du goûter avec du thé au jasmin.

BAKED APRICOTS STUFFED WITH ALMOND PASTE - MONTHLY MINGLE

With the arrival of hotter weather and to my biggest pleasure, some of my favorite fruits are starting to grace (super)market stalls. They are so fabulous that I can never get enough of them. Not one week passes by without me making either pies, pastries, cakes, trifles, crumbles, clafoutis or cobblers in my itsy-bitsy apartment kitchen.

The craze already begins in May when the first Swiss rhubarb stems (I know, it is a vegetable, but I mostly prepare it just like a fruit - that's how I like it best) and strawberries are available, then at the end of June they slowly get replaced by apricots, peaches, nectarines as well as all kinds of berries (gooseberries, redcurrants, raspberries, blackberries, etc...) and, finally in August, after an endless and interminable year of lusting, the king of all stone fruits makes it's appearance, my beloved Italian plum. Not forgetting that not long after, they are very closely followed by raisins and apples (and so on)...

Ah, Nature is indisputably plentiful and perfect! It never fails to make our senses work and months after month, it incessantly offers a vast array of wonderful produces, no matter the time of the year. Why would we want to buy vegetables or fruits that are not seasonal, stuffed with chemicals, were grown in non-humane ways, have flown miles to reach us, thus contributed to dirtying the air we breathe, are overpriced and taste like nothing when we have the opportunity to help our farmers, to enjoy organic or chemical-free goods, to treat our tastebuds rightfully, to not spoil our precious planet, our to and to follow the rythm of the seasons without letting ourselves get overwhelmed by stupid and incoherent needs?

You see, I am getting sick and tired of seeing people who crave the wrong food at the wrong moment, who are acutely detached from the Earth that they don't know if what they buy is grown in "laboratories" or naturally in fields, who think that it is normal to be able to find what they want when they want and who don't give damn about their despicable attitude or the effect it can have on their lives!

The beauty of consuming goods that were cultivated sustainably and in harmony with the environment is that you never get bored with them as those produces aren't generally available all the time, hence you can be assured that there's always a rotation. In that way, you look even more forward to eating those greengrocery items because you had to wait for so long in order to finally be able to savor them. The unbearable longing as well as the extreme yearning induced by the unfathomable break, the sheer joy that you feel when you know that a produce will soon be sold again and the exhilarating thrill you experience while taking your first bite of that highly anticipated vegetable or fruit is just incomparable and has to be cherished. Deprivation helps us appreciate them to a greater extend and not take things for granted. Fulfillment doesn't come through spoiltness...

Consequently, when I saw the very first Swiss apricots from Valais (some of the world's finest apricots), I was overcome with immense happiness. After having indulged in rhubarb for the past weeks, those amazingly fragrant, gorgeously juicy and vibrantly colored stone fruits offered a very welcome change.

Since my aim was to highlight their delightful sourness that is beautifully counterbalanced by their incredible nectarousness, which are both coupled with breathtakingly musky and heady aromas, I chose to make a refined North-African and Provence inspired dessert with that sun-engorged treat.

I searched online for quite a while before I stumbled upon what I was looking for. "Baked Apricots Stuffed With Almond Paste" it was going to be. Of course, there was no way I would prepare my round and orange furry little babies without making a few adaptations to the original recipe. I always have to add a personal touch to everything and I am constantly compelled to increase quantities as I'm afraid my food will not be adequably palatable. It is a bit of an illness. My nickname could well be "Madame Never Enough".

I kept the same amount of filling, but I decided to reduce the number of fruits as well as to incorporate a few drops extra almond essence and orange blossom water to the paste and for a more complex flavor, I thought it would be interesting to delicately infuse the syrup with a little lavender flower. An excellent decision!

The unique combination of tart apricots, sweet almond paste, pungent distilled water, marzipan-tasting almond essence and balmy dried lavender flowers is just out of this world. It results in an ambrosial and refined dessert which will get you hooked. Impossible to resist to such an exquisite delicacy...

This is my entry for Monthly Mingle hosted by Sukaina of the lovely blog "Sips And Spoonfuls". The theme is "Stone Fruits".

~ Baked Apricots Stuffed With Almond Paste ~
Recipe adapted from "Dessert.net.au".

Serves 4.

Ingredients For The "Syrup":
75g (1/2 Cup) Castor sugar
3 Tbs Lemon juice
1/3 Tsp Dried lavender flowers
300ml (1 1/4 Cup) Water
Ingredients For The "Stuffed Apricots":
120g (1 Cup) Finely ground almonds
50g (1/2 Cup) Powder/icing sugar
45g (3 Tbs) Melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 Tsp Orange blossom water
1 Tsp Almond essence/extract
1 1/2 Tsp Water
1 Pinch Fine sea salt
800g Fresh apricots, washed

Method For The "Syrup":
1. Place the sugar, lemon juice, lavender flowers and water in a medium-small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, then let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until you get a thin sugar syrup.
2. Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F).

Method For The "Stuffed Apricots":
3. In a blender, mix together the ground almonds with the icing sugar until the mixture is very fine, then add the butter, orange blossom water, almond essence, water and salt. Pulse until you get a smooth and homogenous paste ressembling marzipan.
3. Make a slit in the flesh of each apricot and remove the stones.
4. Shape the almond paste into small balls and press one of them into the cavity of each apricot. 5. Arrange the stuffed apricots in a shallow ovenproof dish that you have previously buttered/greased and carefully pour the sugar syrup over them.
6. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
7. Plate the apricots and sprinkle with a little syrup from the baking dish.

Remarks:
Both the lavender flowers and the orange blossom water are optional.
You can also cut the apricots in half, stuff each half with almond paste and bake the halves, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.

Serving suggestions:
Serve warm or at room temperature with a cup of tea or coffee, for dessert or teatime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Abricots Fourrés A La pâte d'Amandes ~

Recette adaptée du site "Dessert.net.au".

Pour 4 personnes.

Ingrédients Pour Le "Sirop":
75g de Sucre cristallisé
3 CS de Jus de citron
1/3 de CC de Lavande séchée
300ml d'Eau
Ingrédients Pour Les "Abricots Fourrés":
120g d'Amandes en poudre (fine)
50g de Sucre en poudre
45g de Beurre non-salé, fondu
1 1/2 CC d'Eau de fleur d'oranger
1 CC d'Essence/extrait d'amandes amères
1 1/2 CC d'Eau
1 Pincée de Sel de mer fin
800g d'Abricots frais, lavés

Méthode Pour Le "Sirop":
1. Mettre le sucre, le jus de citron, les fleurs de lavande et l'eau dans une petite casserole. Porter à ébullition, tout en mélangeant occasionnellement, jusqu'à ce que le sucre soit dissout, puis laisser frémir pendant 5-10 minutes, jusqu'à obtention d'un sirop assez liquide.
2. Préchauffer le four à 180° C.

Méthode Pour Les "Abricots Fourrés":
3. Dans votre mixer/blender, mettre les amandes moulues et le sucre, puis mixer jusqu'à obtention d'une poudre très fine. Ajouter le beurre, l'eau de fleur d'oranger, l'essence d'amandes amères, l'eau et le sel, puis bien mixer afin d'obtenir une pâte homogène ressemblant a du massepain.
3. Découper une fente verticale dans chaque abricot et retirer les noyaux.
4. Former de petites boules avec la pâte d'amandes et remplir les cavités avec.
5. Mettre les abricots dans un plat à gratin beurré et verser un peu de sirop sur chaque fruit.
6. Recouvrir avec une feuille d'aluminium et cuire au four pendant 25-30 minutes.
7. Arranger les abricots sur une assiette et verser le jus de cuisson par dessus.

Remarques:
Les fleurs de lavande et l'esu de fleur d'oranger sont facultatifs.
Vous pouvez aussi couper les abricots en deux, les garnir avec la pâte d'amande et les cuire pendant 25-30 minutes, sans les couvrir.

Idées de présentation:
Servir pour le dessert ou pour les quatre heures, chaud ou à température ambiante et accompagner d'une tasse de thé ou de café.