Thursday 13 November 2014

Baby, it's cold outside

Fanny Cradock has had us all thinking about Christmas for months now, getting a selection of teatime treats prepared and practiced for the Big Day. Finally the weather is starting to catch up. It's chilly. Before we move on to the next partwork, Christmas Drinks (yahoo!), Fanny provides a Bill of Fare to wrap things up, and hopefully keep us feeling wrapped up warm. What could be more comforting and cosy than a big bowl of freshly steaming soup followed and a belly-pleasing, fresh straight-from-the-oven Apple Flan. Maybe I'm not learning as much as I thought here though, or I have been incredibly bad at it. Or is Fanny paying me back for not following all the instructions as intended? Fanny certainly has something different in mind, and it's not going to keep me warm. Cold soup and cold flan.


Leek and Potato soup has always been a favourite of mine, but I never really knew if served cold it's called Vichyssoise. I'd always thought it was some kind of fishy soup (you'll gather that my grasp of languages isn't brilliant, surely if they sort of rhyme then that's a good translation, right?) so I've never gone near it. Have I been missing out on a favourite?


Fannys soups are normally much simpler and just as tasty as the ones I usually make. This Vichyssoise is no exception. It's packed full of leeks and potatoes, cooked in stock and that's about it. The finished soup is hearty and full of flavour. Once the leeks and potatoes are simmered until soft, Fanny suggests rubbing them through a sieve to break down. Perhaps this is Fannys way of keeping me warm after all, but instead of using a bit of vigorous elbow grease to pummel the cooked vegetables, I just whizz them up in the blender. I was tempted to leave a sieve sitting around the kitchen and pretend, you know just in case Fanny is watching me. It's possibly the lack of warmth addling my brain. Once 'sieved' some milk and cream is added to the soup. Then serve it icy cold with a few chopped chives. Simple. Or heat it up if Fanny isn't looking.


For pudding it's Fannys version of Tarte Tatin, or Upside Down Apple Flan, again something I've never tried to make. All the recipes I've seen require a heavy frying pan flung in the oven and I just don't have one. Luckily for me, Fanny doesn't seem to either as she uses a perfectly ordinary Victoria Sponge tin instead. Genius.


Fanny lines the tin with greaseproof paper, greases it with butter and sprinkles it with sugar. She then arranges a thin layer of very finely sliced Apple around the tin, and covers with a disc of perfectly ordinary shortcrust paste. Fanny suggests a complicated manoeuvre involving two metal fish slices (does anyone have TWO of them in their kitchen?) to lift and place the pastry. Sorry Fanny, I just lift mine up using my hands.


For how long to bake this is anyone's guess, all Fanny says is until it looks a 'strong biscuit colour'. Then, it should be covered in four layers of clean cloth (which seems very precise) and refrigerated until very cold. The Tarte Tatin should be inverted before serving, the greaseproof paper carefully peeled back and a very thick layer of icing sugar sifted generously over. As with all Fannys desserts. Under no circumstances should you eat it hot, oh no, it just won't be as good and Fanny will come after you. If you do, please be careful as the sugar-y sweet and sour, slight,y caramelised apples may burn the roof of your mouth. Not that I'd know you'd understand. Oh no.

20 comments:

  1. She may have blasted poor Gwen Troake for her menu planning but some of Fanny's Menus (love her Fannerism (= eccentric mannerism of La Cradock), of employing the term "Bill of Fare"), are bizarro combinations of courses!

    Those avocado green vinyl Partwork folders are so arkward to read in bed, but this is how I am currently keeping warm on winter nights. While laughing my ass off.

    I am sure that Fanny is watching you - inevitably at times with scorn, sometimes with condescending pride & occasionaly with jealousy, when you pull of a bloody triumph.


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    1. Ha ha thanks! They are awkward to read in bed, but I do most nights too!

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  2. Both look lovely and perfect to combat dreich Scottish weather!

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    1. It's certainly got dreary lately, roll on Christmas!

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  3. My house has THREE metal fish slices. I don't know how, either.

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    1. You are clearly Fanny-proofed then, I must restock!

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  4. Love your tarte tatin, in fact I am planning to blog one later this week. Fanny's version is a cross between a tarte tatin and a tarte au pommes. Current French tatins tend to have huge chunks of apple rather than the delicate slices. You've got to get the right robust apples otherwise it will end up in a horrible mush but when you do they turn to amber. Reading your blog is getting me feeling very festive. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Thanks! The apples formed a very thin but solid layer, like a jelly almost! Quite tasty, but not like any Tarte Tatin I've had before... There is another more festive version coming soon! #Spoilers

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  5. My poor brain just cannot compute or tolerate cold soups but if I pretend this is served hot then it looks delicious!

    That tarte tatin looks wonderfully simple yet very very tasty. Definitely one to bookmark I think. :)

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    1. I do like some cold soups, but this one is way better hot! The Tarte is ridiculously easy but really quite tasty! Let me know how you get on...

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  6. Cold leek and potato soup? I'm not quite sure I can work that one out. The tart tatin looks delicious though!

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  7. Reading those Part Works in bed lead me to having a dream about Fanny the other night. Not to bore you with the gory details but we ended up in a go cart with Fanny driving.
    I am planning on cooking one of her Christmas cakes but cannot decide - which would you recommend? I may give it the tutu net frill decoration demonstrated in one of the Christmas parts.

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    1. They are both good, but try the White Christmas one if you fancy something different. The dark one is gorgeous too though! Let me know how you get on, don't forget to make your own fondant. Best to get Jphnnie on standby with the UHU for the frills...

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  8. Ha ha thank you!

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    1. Let me know what you decide anyhoos... I posted about them both, so have a peek. Remember, clean hands,

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  9. White Christmas cake it shall be.
    THANK YOU for posting the recipe as it is so far as I know only avaliable in "the booklet" which currently is selling for £95!!!
    I was going to buy the fondant but feel rather ashamed about that.
    Rest assured I shall Scrub and scrub downstairs ;-)

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    1. It's ridiculous, I've seen it for sale for anything up to £2000 believe it or not, quite a mark up on the original 50p! My guess is it's rare because people cling on to it! Let me know if you need anything else...

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  10. I'm not a big fan of a cold leek and potato soup, tried it a couple of times, but give me hot any time. Though there are some lovely cold Russian soups that I enjoy in summer. An unusual recipe for tarte tatin, all those I have tried had much chunkier apples, but why not.

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    1. Yeah, very thin apples, but it's tasty, like a thin layer of jelly really... I'd recommend it for a change! I think Fanny just made things up based on things she ate herself... Thanks!

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