Scrumptious Strawberry Almond Crumble

I'm not a dessert fan and really not a fan of crumbles so you can imagine my surprise when I LOVED this!  It's probably the almond! Or the strawberry?  Either way it's easy and SO delicious!

A fabulous recipe by Nigella! Strawberry Almond Crumble.

I love almond and try to incorporate them into desserts whenever I can so when I saw Nigella make this on tv I had to have to give it a try.
Lucky for me the food network converted the recipe to cups and tablespoons! Here it is 

It's all very simple, and you're likely to have all the ingredients at home.. basically it starts with strawberries in a pie plate sprinkled with almond meal, sugar and vanilla.


The topping comes together when you work the cold cubes of butter into the flour and baking powder mixture with your hands (so much fun!).  Then toss in the coarse sugar and shaved almonds and sprinkled over the fruit

Bakes in 30 minutes on 400 F.

REALLY easy last minute dessert! Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or even just a drizzle of heavy cream (As Nigella did!)

Sweet and Salty pan fried plantain: Nature's dessert

I call this nature's dessert, because it's soft, starchy, sweet and fruity and no fussing required, just a ripe plantain, pan fried and sprinkled with a pinch of salt.  A perfect indulgence, I think.

If you like sweet and salty things and you want an easy dessert (healthy too, maybe?) then you'll love this, and even if you're not a fan of banana/banana desserts like myself (you'll probably love it if you're a banana lover) then give it a try. 

A plantain is that starchy banana that is usually green and found in the Caribbean/African section of your local grocer.  You want to find a ripe one that is almost yellow, if not then just set it on your kitchen table and wait for it to ripen.

It should be almost black, really, that's when the sweetness comes out, this could take a while but just forget about it and when it's ready it's only a matter of seconds to whip this dessert up.

Heat a bit of oil in a skillet on medium high. 

Peel your plantain by cutting off both ends with skin on and then pulling the peel off the middle part. 

Slice into 1/2 inch rounds or on a bias/diagonal so you have more surface area on each piece to brulee. 

Add your pieces to the pan, do not overcrowd so do it in batches (I did it in 2) and brown both sides flipping and making sure they don't burn (they've got sugar in them so they will brown quickly) 

Now set them on paper towel and sprinkle with salt.  Enjoy them right away when they're still slightly crispy. 

Just eat with a fork, and here I had some Forever nuts tea from David's Tea to go along with it. 

So good! 

Easy Custard

Custard

2 3/4 cups milk

7 large egg yolks (or more)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup sifted corn starch

Vanilla

2 tbsp butter, chopped in cubes and at room temperature

Directions:

In a heavy bottom saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat.

Meanwhile in another heavy bottom saucepan whisk your egg yolks, sugar and corn starch together until you get a creamy yellow mixture.

When the milk simmers at the point just before boiling remove from heat, get your whisk ready and pour a bit into your egg mixture whisking to temper it..... now it's safe to add it all and whisk.

Set the pot back onto the heat (medium-medium low) and whisk until it thickens.

Have a bowl and a strainer ready (the strainer just for a smoother finish but mine had no lumps or anything) Once it thickens strain it into the bowl (scraping the strainer to get it all through)

Begin stirring in your butter cubes, little at a time until it's all incorporated, luscious, smooth and shiny.

Cover with a cling wrap to avoid a film in the top of your custard and let it cool, then you can set it in the fridge.

Here it's served with slices of banana and in the last shot a dollop of honey whipped cream (leftover from the beehive cupcakes)