Brioche with pate and plum paste

The reign of the brioche is coming to an end. I thought we'd finish with a big ol' fatty bang. And their ain't nothin' in this world as banging as pate. Pate makes me tingle all over, and it's not because the livers are past their used by date.

Let me be clear: this is teaming one butter-rich ingredient with another butter-rich ingredient. It's butter squared, and that's the way I like it. To cut through the crazy-richness, we go on a sweet ride with plum paste.

Plum paste goes with pretty much all the great things in life: cheese, pate, steak, rillettes. You know, the good stuff. It's sweet and sticky and helps to bring down the fat-factor of the brioche and pate. You can test how the paste is going by popping a teaspoon or so in the fridge to see if it sets. But I personally think that's a fast track to Burn Town, because by the time you've popped it in and pulled it out again, the mixture bubbling away on the stove could be turning to toffee. Get a thermometer. You'll use it all the time, trust me.

Birthday danishes

It's been over a month since Matty's birthday. I've been meaning to post about these little beauties since then, but have been more than a little distracted. It's time to unleash their deliciousness on your unsuspecting eyes.

Danish pastry is basically a combo of a delicious yeasty dough and puff pastry. The theory is you mix the dough, roll it out, place butter in the middle, fold over and repeat for a couple of turns. Sounds easy, right? Hahaha! Fools!

This is a delicate operation, but great for a challenge if you have some hours up your sleeve. My tip is to soften your butter enough for it to be easy to work with, but don't make it melty (melty is seriously a word. It's French for galoopy, which is derived from the Latin word sloppy-galoppy). As with other pastries, you need to keep the handling to a minimum to avoid activating the proteins (aka gluten). You also want to keep the beautiful pastry/butter layers distinct, which means no tearing of the pastry - a tough ask when you're on the third fold. Resting time in the fridge is important too: you don't want to harden the butter too much, but you need to let the dough recover from each roll. 20 minutes between rolls is pretty good.

Pancakes with grilled nectarines and whipped vanilla butter

Have you seen the ad where the man weeps because stonefruit season is nearly over? It may be a little dramatic, but that's how I feel at the end of summer. Nectarines are my absolute favourite and knowing their time in the sun is almost done is more than a little upsetting. I guess their demise signifies the end of barbecues, beers in the sun and icecream in cones for another year, so it's not all about healthy fruit.

It's not too much of a problem if you use firm nectarines in this recipe. Given you're sauteeing the fruit, they soften in the pan and caramelise nicely no matter how ripe they are. You could also use peaches in this dish - try to find a freestone variety so they're easier to cut up.

You might read "whipped butter" and reconsider making this dish. If you're anti-butter, this is probably the wrong place for you. By all means go easy on it but this dish really needs the moisture and richness the butter provides. The vanilla scent doesn't hurt either. And you can tell yourself it's whipped so it's mostly air. That would be mostly wrong, but whatever helps you sleep at night...

Matt and I enjoyed this in our sunny backyard one Sunday morning recently. In typical Melbourne fashion, it was spitting when I set the table, but the sun shone brightly as soon as we sat down to eat. Cup of tea, shot of coffee and fruity pancakes: a fabulous summer farewell.

Ingredients 

1 cup self raising flour
1 egg
2 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
100ml milk

2 nectarines
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp butter

Whipped vanilla butter

100g butter, softened
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

To make the pancakes, whisk together the ingredients briefly. Try not to over mix or your pancakes will taste like old boots. Chill for 30 minutes while you make your other components.

Cut your nectarines into eight pieces. Heat a heavy frypan over medium heat and add the nectarines. Caramelise on both sides, then add the butter and sugar. Cook and coat the nectarines.

To make the whipped butter, mix all three ingredients in the mixer on high until the butter is pale and creamy.

Heat a frypan over low heat and add a pat of butter. Spoon 1/4 of the pancake batter in the pan and cook until the underside is golden. Flip over and cook until a similar colour. Repeat with the remaining batter, using more butter when required.

To serve, top the pancakes with the nectarines and a quenelle of butter.

Peach and raspberry frangipane tart

I grew up in stonefruit heaven. Each summer, we'd eat peaches and apricots until our little tummies felt like they would burst. I thankfully avoided the right-of-passage: picking fruit over the summer. I saw how utterly ruined my sister was after a day on the fruit blocks and promptly begged the local supermarket for a casual job.

Passionfruit marshmallow

Right now in Australia, we've been hit with passionfruit fever. That's not some kind of tropical disease affecting your libido either. Passionfruit are cheap, in abundance and so tasty at the moment.