BAKE

I can’t believe that I got to cook for and meet one of my foodie heros last week, who’s latest cookbook has been sitting on my coffee table since Christmas.  I may have the coolest job ever.  Last week my boss was the resident chef at a pop up restaurant in Marylebone. The Vietnamese menu was fantastic, I nibbled on leftovers as much as I could.  I hadn’t realised how much I missed the humour and camaraderie of working in a team of people.  The constant joking and teasing (‘don’t mess up that ice cream cake it’s for Yotam Ottoleghi’ was whispered over my shoulder more than once – even on the days he wasn’t attending) and the support from experienced staff as I found my feet on the steep learning curve.  It’s a week I won’t forget in a hurry, but at the same time the whole experience is blurred together in a haze.  Dinner service sped by in a flash, every night I was shocked when after the last plate of dessert went out that the time has fast forwarded in a blur from 7.30pm to gone 11.

I wanted to share with you one of the dishes from the five course menu, but having helped make it all five days in a row for several hundred people I couldn’t quite bring myself to make it again in my own time.  So instead, here is a play on the dessert, using some of the same flavours to create a decadent sugary breakfast instead (one of my favourite weekend indulgences)with a Vietnamese twist.  Frances occupation of Vietnam in the 19th and 20th centuries introduced a lot of french cooking into the local cuisine.  Bahn mi, a baguette filled with Vietnamese herbs and meats being an obvious example.

One of my favourite French breakfasts is Madeleines (and croissants… and pain au chocolat… and brioche…). I’ve flavoured them here with pandan, you can buy the extract in some asian supermarkets, or it’s really easy to make yourself from the leaves (you can buy them in the Vietnamese shops on Mare Street, Hackney).  Pandan has quite a difficult to describe flavour, it’s floral and citrusy with a hint that’s almost grassy whilst being quite delicate which makes it work wonderfully with the light sponge of madeleines.  To add a tart aspect, as on their own I find these little cakes a little too sweet, I’ve made a simple lime curd.  By replacing the usual butter with coconut oil it creates a tropical flavour without being overpowering, or changing the texture or consistency.  If you don’t have any coconut oil (but you should, it’s the best ingredient/makeup remover/moisturiser/hairmask!) you can swap it like for like with unsalted butter.

One Year Ago: Clementine Cake inspired by The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Two Years Ago: Asparagus Soup
Three Years Ago: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

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