New Decade, New Confidence (and a Strawberry Tart Recipe!)

It’s Jeanne here this week! 

Dad is on holiday enjoying himself with model railway layouts, with his chums in Missenden Abbey. So, I'm taking a quick break from looking after the Cobham shop in order to, hopefully, write a decent, or at least engaging, email. Despite the creeping fear this challenge has brought on, I'll try my best not to let it overtake me and just say what feels right. 

As Dad said in his email last week, I've just returned from a 2-week holiday in Costa Rica to celebrate my birthday! It’s the big 30 and I knew I wanted to be abroad, and when going to long-haul destinations, I generally book tours with a company I've had very good experiences with (IntroTravel for those who are interested) and highly recommend for my age group (18 - 40 ish). 

I had a brilliant time there and really enjoyed seeing the wildlife the country has to offer. I was told we were fortunate to see the number of animals that we did and luckily, I have a decent camera, so I was able to take some good quality photos too. 

The locals were really lovely and the food was excellent, especially if you like fresh fruit.    Although I really enjoyed the main dish in Costa Rica, called 'Casados', a traditional dish made with rice, beans, fried plantains and a choice of meat, by the end of the holiday I was looking forward to the variety of food we have back home.

For the past year I’ve been wondering how I’d feel when I turn 30. All of my friends have been depressed about reaching this milestone, as being in their 30’s just doesn't feel young anymore! I know, sad isn’t it, 30 is still young. Since they thought this, I thought I’d feel the same. But I haven’t!  And thank God I haven’t! Instead, I’ve actually been excited to go into my 30’s. Excited that I'm already not caring as much as what others think of me and this should only continue. Excited to gain more confidence in myself as a person and in my looks. Voicing my thoughts more. Following my own path and not the same route as everyone else because it’s the norm. Not being afraid to do “me”.

The other thing I’d like to get better at, is to ask questions when I don’t know something with (hopefully) no shame. This has been one of my greatest weaknesses, not putting my hand up when I didn’t know something. I saw people do it at school and then get shamed for it and even now I see some adults being dismissive that someone doesn’t know what they know. So, to protect myself, I’d pretend I knew what they were talking about. I'm also excited to take those risks, learn from them, take more risks again, learn again and repeat while not feeling shame, or when I do feel dismissed, to have the confidence to stand my ground and say 'that hurt me'. This isn’t an entirely easy journey, I do get moments where I’d like to take the easy route, but I know I won’t improve if I do.

Ok, onto products now. 

One of the things I learned in my past-life as a professional pastry chef (South Lodge Hotel and Pennyhill Park) was to make the best use of seasonal products.  Since it’s summer… well it doesn’t feel like it right now but aside from that, there is an abundance of strawberries everywhere and on our website, we have a recipe of mine which is a classic strawberry tart.

Simple flavours but I feel it’s so good I could just have a bucket of this and be very content! If you are interested in making one, then you can find the recipe here. 

I've included a pretty detailed method, to help those that need the extra bit of info if you aren’t very confident in baking but wanted to give it a go.

Here are four products that I find really useful for this recipe, but also for general use. 

The first one is the strawberry huller. I remember when I first saw this, I was a young teenager that was (and still is) absolutely obsessed with strawberries, so this gadget was right up my street. I’ve seen some people struggle with this at times and where I’ve seen it go wrong is at the end when they are trying to get the stalk to come out and it doesn’t. 

The tips to remember are:

• Press the green button on the top of the huller down to open the claws slightly wider than the width of the stalk.
• Push it partially into the strawberry depending on the size of the stalk.
• Release the green button completely and you’ll see and feel that the claws have a better hold of the stalk.
• Twist and then it comes off like magic.

This gadget could also be used for tomatoes but with their tougher skin, you have to use a bit more force.

Next product is the Demeyere Saucier. Expensive piece of kit, but it is one of the best things Demeyere have made. I remember when mum was alive and I’d watch her talking to people in the shop about Demeyere pans, the thing that she said time and time again, was if she was stuck on a desert island and could only have one pan, it would be the saucier. Also, when we went on holidays to Centre Parcs or in France, she’d bring that with her. She just couldn’t live without it. So, I use the saucier to make the crème pâtissier because I never get any lumps (due to the conical shape) and always get creamy results.  This is just one of the many things (melting chocolate, scrambled eggs, ramen, risottos, curries, sauces ...... )  that this wonderful pan is suited for.

Another product I use in this recipe, and really like, is the Zeal Spoonula. It’s a spatula that has more of a spoon shape to it, hence the name that we have gone for, Spoonula. The edges are flexy but still strong enough that it doesn’t lose its design of actually scraping food out of a bowl. The silicone that is used is soft, so I don’t experience it sticking to the bowl as I scrape, it just glides. Although, I do need to add that it only glides when you get the angle right, so if you experience it sticking, then usually a change in the angle should do the trick. 

Lastly and quite importantly I use Silverwood Flan tins. 

You could use a Quiche tin (the difference is that quiche tins have big flutes whilst flan tins have small flutes) I personally like the finesse of the smaller flutes when it comes to making tarts. Plus, quiche tins are deeper than flan tins, so you’d need more pastry, more creme pat and then it could feel like there aren’t enough strawberries to the ratio of pastry to creme pat. 

When it comes to bakeware, Silverwood is the best of the best, there is no one better than them. With their aluminium body, they suck in the heat super damn quickly, so it will bake things a little bit quicker and if you were making a simple sponge, the quick heat absorption shocks the cake, adding more air, so as a result you get lighter sponges. 

I can confidently say this because I’ve tested Silverwood against other brands, over the years, using the same cake mix, same size tin, same weight in each tin and every time the sponge in Silverwood’s tin was lighter and with an airier texture. 

Another thing mum used to say a lot when making quiches or tarts was that Silverwood is so good that you can get away without blind baking, you won’t get a soggy bottom. If you are in a rush, then yes this is true. If you have the time, I would still recommend blind baking as you will get a crispier pastry as a result.

As you can tell I am a real fan of baking with Silverwood, for those who are already, or would like to get into baking, then I'd really recommend investing in Silverwood bakeware. With no non-stick surface to wear out, you'll buy once and never replace them (and be supporting a rare British company that still manufactures here in the UK). 

Currently discounted by 7-8%, to encourage you to try out Silverwood and this recipe of mine, this weekend we're offering you an EXTRA 10% OFF, just use the code SILVER10 at checkout or say who you are when coming into Reigate or Cobham. 

I trust you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend. 

Warm regards,

Jeanne