Burleigh Pottery Autumn Collaboration
With cooler nights and mornings, September has arrived. A glorious month - one of bounty, cozy moments, crisp mornings, and bright skies. As a big tea drinker, I do love that it’s beginning to cool down here on the island. It’s been so unbearably hot and we finally were blessed with a few nights of much-needed rain. It was on one of these rainy and cozy mornings did I bake a few tea treats for a collaboration with Burleigh Pottery, a renowned British pottery company. Established in 1889, each piece is handmade and meticulously hand-finished making them family heirlooms. I recently shot their latest Asiatic Pheasant collection in a rich Edinburgh green for autumn. It’s a gorgeous color for the season that serves equally well for the upcoming holidays. The Asiatic Pheasant design has been cherished and served on many tables since the late 1800s. I will treasure mine for years to come. The collection will be shortly released and can be found on Burleigh Pottery’s site.
I hope you enjoy these two autumnal treats for afternoon tea or a quiet moment at home.
Happy autumn,
Alanna
x
Brown Butter Spiced Madeleines
Makes one dozen
8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter
2 eggs, room temperature
½ cup (100g), light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Confectioner sugar for dusting
Using a pastry brush, lightly grease the madeleine tin with melted butter and place it into the freezer to chill.
In a small sauté pan, add the butter over low heat. Melt the butter completely and continue to brown the butter by swirling it in the pan. Once it has browned with little brown bits in the pan, pour it immediately into a small bowl to cool. Allow it to cool in the fridge. (It will burn quickly so keep an eye on it as you prepare the eggs.)
Using a hand-held or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add the eggs and sugar.
Whisk the eggs and sugar for 7-8 minutes on high speed until creamy and foamy. You should be able to draw with the tip of the whisk in the mixture. In the last minute, pour in the vanilla.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves.
No longer using the electric mixer, slowly add ¼ of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Using a rubber spatula, slowly and gently fold in the dry ingredients into the mix until there are no longer any flour streaks. Continue to add the dry ingredients, gently folding it into the batter until fully incorporated It’s important to treat the batter very gently to retain the air within the whisked eggs.
Slowly add ½ of the browned butter into the batter, gently folding it in until fully incorporated, followed by the remaining half. Gently fold the butter in until no greasy streaks remain.
Place the mixing bowl into the fridge to chill for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C.
Once the batter is chilled, remove the madeleine tin from the freezer.
Scoop one tablespoon of batter into each madeleine mold. They will fill out in the oven.
Bake the madeleines for 8 minutes and then rotate the pan in the oven and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes. They should be springy to the touch but have a golden-brown edge.
After 1-2 minutes, use a fork to remove the madeleines from the tin.
Allow the madeleines to cool before lightly dusting with confectioner sugar. They are best
served immediately but if not, store the plain madeleines in an airtight container and serve with a fresh dusting with confectioner sugar.
Roasted Butternut Squash with Gruyère and Cheddar Mini Tart
Makes 5 x 4” diameter tarts or 6 x 3” diameter tarts
For the pastry dough:
1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
`½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon granulated white sugar
8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg yolk
¼ cup (59 ml) ice water + more if necessary
For the filling:
1-1½ cups 250 g butternut squash cubed into ¼” pieces
extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 small yellow onion, diced
extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine
½ cup (110g ) whole milk ricotta
½ cup (120 g) crème fraiche
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh sage, minced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
½ cup (60g) sharp English cheddar, grated
½ cup (60g) Gruyère, grated
Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C and gather a small roasting tray.
To make the pastry dough, combine the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl.
Grate the butter into the bowl. Stir the butter into the dry ingredients, coating it with flour until they resemble small flakes.
Crack in the egg and pour in the ice water.
Working with your hands, gently combine the dough into the bowl until it resembles a shaggy mess. Gradually add a few more tablespoons of ice water, just enough to bring the dough together. Turn it out onto a work surface and form dough into a rough ball. Overworking/overmixing the dough will make it tougher. Set the dough in the fridge to chill for at least one hour.
Line the roasting tray with aluminum foil and add the butternut squash to the tray. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the butternut squash, coating them evenly. Sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Roast for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and tender, turning them occasionally. Once roasted, place the butternut squash into a small bowl and set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the diced onion to a small sauté pan over low-medium heat.
Sauté the onions, frequently stirring until they turn translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Once they start to soften, lower the heat and allow the onions to sweat, stirring occasionally for about 40-45 minutes until they caramelize. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the white wine and give them a stir.
Whilst the onions are caramelizing, continue to prepare the pastry dough.
Pull out the dough from the fridge and roll out the dough on a very lightly dusted work surface. Divide the dough into 5 equal portions. Roll out each portion to a rough circle, about ¼” thick. Gather 5 x 4” diameter or 6 x 3” diameter nonstick fluted tart tins.
Place the rolled dough round into the tart case, pressing the dough into the sides of the tart. Cut away any excess for a clean edge finish with a serrated knife. Continue to roll out the remainder of the dough for the other tarts.
Prick the inside base of the tart with a fork.
Line each tart case with a small piece of parchment paper. Fill the case with dried beans or pie weights.
Blind bake the tarts for 10 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool.
Whisk together the ricotta, crème fraîche, thyme, sage, a ½ teaspoon of salt, and black pepper in a mixing bowl.
Combine the caramelized onions and butternut squash.
To assemble the tarts, add one heaping tablespoon of the onion and butternut squash mix to each tart.
Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of cheddar cheese and gruyere cheese over the onions and butternut squash. It’s ok. It looks like a small mound; it will melt down.
Pour a tablespoon of the ricotta and crème fraiche filling over the cheese just until it fills the tart.
Sprinkle another small pinch of any remaining grated cheese and a pinch of fresh sage or thyme over each tart.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbling along the sides.
Allow the tarts to cool for 10 minutes before removing them from their tart case.
Serve warm.
