We are thrilled that Tart It Up! Damson Sauce won a coveted Gold Star in this year’s Guild of Fine Food “Great Taste Awards” (2013).
Here’s what the judges had to say about it: “A rich deep burgundy colour. A good balance of sweetness and acidity, a good combination of flavours working well. A very pleasing product.
Please check out our list of stockists here.
Tart It Up! Damson Sauce wins a Great Taste * Gold Star 2013 Read More »
Last weekend I was asked to judge a local cake competition in Kilburn at Charteris Road’s “The Big Lunch”.
About 60 or so community spirited souls braved the squally weather bringing a dish or two to share on the long table strategically placed under a long gazebo.
There weren’t a huge amount of entries but the standard of those who did enter was very high. I was not allowed to submit a cake as I was judging but I did bring along a lovely cake made by Susan Broom of Babycakes (weekly at Queens Park Farmers Market) – it was a Guinness and Chocolate Cake….and disappeared within half and hour of being put out on the cake table.
I chose three winners – an assortment of beautifully decorated biscuits made by two young local bakers, a chocolate & raspberry cake with butter frosting (made by local community activist Josie Warshaw) and Liza’s Jazzy fruit cake which was really moist. I don’t normally like fruit cakes but this one was really good. All three winners got vouchers to spend at Gaza’s Hairdressers in Glengall Road.
There was also a fancy dress competition for the children and several small stalls one of which was Alice Godridge’s Stitch Your Soul selling her lovely handmade bunting to which I succumbed. It actually came in handy for the party I’d been invited to later that evening. I wore two strands of Alice’s bunting criss crossed over my outfit and was complimented on the originality of my Jubilee fancy dress.
Many thanks to the organisers of this “Big Lunch” – it was great to catch up with some familiar faces as well as meeting lots of new folks. I look forward to judging next year’s entries.
Prodigous Strawberry Pavlova
In between a hectic round of street parties over the Jubilee weekend, I wanted to make a dessert for a gathering on Monday evening. As I had several boxes of really good strawberries, eggs, home made caramel and a time limit …. strawberry pavlova was an obvious choice. I pre-made the meringue base on Sunday night, pre-prepared the strawberries and chantilly cream on Monday morning and went to a lunch time street party knowing all would be well.
The recipe is adapted from one by Nigella Lawson, substituting strawberries for her raspberries and using chantilly cream for extra ooomph. If you want to you could use strawberries and raspberries, adding passion fruit and lychees as Nigella does in hers. I find it all those different fruits too much for a pavlova! I much prefer the classic simplicity of strawberries, chantilly cream and meringue.
For the base
8 free-range egg whites
500g caster sugar
4 tsp cornflour
2 tsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp vanilla extract
For the topping
600ml double cream
45g icing sugar
2 boxes of strawberries (hulled, quarter larger ones & soak in bowl with caster sugar to taste).
Caramel to drizzle over.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and draw a 25cm/10inch diameter circle onto it with a pencil.
In a bowl or stand mixer whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed. Slowly whisk in the sugar one tablespoon at a time, until you get stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted out of the mixture.
Sprinkle in the sifted cornflour, adding the vinegar and vanilla extract to the egg whites and fold in gently with a metal spoon. I use a stand mixer so just give it a few revolutions of the whisk attachment to make sure everything is mixed in. It is the addition of the cornflour and vinegar which keeps inside of the pavlova soft and marshmallow like.
Spoon the meringue mixture on the baking parchment within your marked circle and using a spatula, flatten the top and smooth the sides.
Place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 120ºC/250ºF/Gas ½. Cook for an hour, then turn off the oven and leave to cool completely.
Once cool, remove the meringue based from the oven (you can keep it in an airtight container for a couple of days or store in a freezer for up to one month).
As the base can be quite fragile, I tend to trim the excess baking parchment off with scissors and find a large flat dish on which to assemble the pavlova.
For the topping I make chantilly cream by whipping double cream in a stainless steel bowl (glass will do) which has been chilled beforehand in the freezer. Wipe the bowl and pour in your cream and beat until cream forms soft peaks. Then mix in your sieved icing sugar being careful not to over beat. The cream should be firm but still light in texture.
Spoon the cream onto the meringue base, spreading it outwards to the edge of the base. Then load on your strawberries and dribble on the juices (the addition of a little sugar to the cut strawberries encourages the juices out of the strawberries (masceration).
Finally take your caramel and if you need to soften it place the jar in a bowl of boiled water) and drizzle all over the top of the pavolva. Indulge and enjoy.
I will post a recipe for making caramel very soon. It really isnt difficult to make and can be stored in the fridge in a jars for several weeks. If you don’t have any caramel to hand, you could make a fruit couli using fresh raspberries and icing sugar. Whizz them in a food processor and blend into a smooth sauce and
ideally pass through a sieve to remove the pips. Drizzle liberally all over the strawberry & cream covered pavlova.
I’d like to give you a brief up-date since I launched Tart It Up! my new damson sauce at the end of March 2012. My business venture The Art of Puddings has taken an unexpected turn since the end of March, turning me overnight into food producer. This was certainly not in the grand schema but came out of my passion for damsons awakened by a chance encounter via the web. What a journey it’s been so far and still is….. Up until now I’ve had amazing support from a whole variety of people working in and around food – consumer, producers,market stall holders, environmental health officers, buyer and sellers of food products – not to mention loyal friends and family members. I’ve been humbled by the level of support that so many of you have given me over these past weeks. They all said the same thing – just go ahead and do it, you’ve got nothing to loose. So here I am doing it and having a lot of fun at the same time….(well most of the time!).
We sold 40 + bottles at Duckpond Market in Ruislip back in March and got a lot of very enthusiastic feedback from customers sampling at our stall which was brilliant. Friends and supporters have also been buying bottles of sauce and getting the word out. My friend Chris used Tart it Up! as a main ingredient in his home-made “Super Damson Relish” hot dog topping which he entered for a ‘topping’ contest organised by @BigAppleHotDogs, one of London’s foremost hand-crafted hot dog producers.
I’ve plunged straight into the deep end with Tart It Up! Armed with wooden spills and bottles of my sauce I offered samples to a number of differnet butchers and delis around town (Central London) – resulting in a win with several wanting to stock my damson sauce. I’ve also started taking pre-orders while I build up more stock which is also very encouraging. All the shops I’ve been into to date like the name, appreciate the look and feel of the bottle and most importantly they love the rich, tangy taste of Tart It Up! There’s no doubt in my mind that the versatility of this sauce has to be one of it’s main selling points.
I won’t pretend that producing, marketing and selling my sauce hasn’t been a steep learning curve. I’ve had to get to grips with the ins and outs of labelling requirements, weights and measures, food safety and shelf life testing. Not to mention bottle sourcing, pricing gun research, tamper proof seals and most importantly profit margins. I’ve also learned that a certain flexibility with pricing at this stage is helpful especially with a new product which is yet to prove itself in the big bad retail market.
Right now I’m making new stock and waiting for the 10th May when I’m due get my shelf life test result back from the food laboratory. Then I will be able to put a good length best before date on my bottles and start selling in earnest.
If you know a stockist in your area (Greater London) who might like to stock Tart It Up! then please do get in touch with me at info@theartofpuddings.com or ask them to contact me direct if they are interested.
Up-to-date information on Tart It Up! can be found on my Facebook page
Art of Puddings is dead excited to be launching our fantastic new damson sauce, Tart it Up! on Sunday, 18th March from 10am – 3pm at Ruislip Artisan Food Market, The Great Barn, Manor Farm Site, Ruislip HA4 7QL.
Come along and be among the first to buy a bottle or two of Tart it Up! and check out the other food producers in fabulous spacious setting while you’re there. We’ll be selling a seasonal selection of desserts shots and other sweet delights on the day. Plenty of free on street parking!
For further information and details of how to get to the market click on Ruislip Artisan Food & Craft Market
I’ll be peddling my fabulous pudding shots, jams, jellies and damson gin by the shot. PLUS my free prize draw where you could win a complimentary class worth £55.
Tickets for Friday night at: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/132416
Tickets for Sat daytime at: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/132417
Read all about it at: http://blogspot.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=57f067637f1f7be23ee2177c7&id=175a832fba&e=1e135d58ab
4th/5th Nov: Me and My Puds at Msmarmitelover’s Underground Night Market: Food Rave Read More »
