Blue cheese and fig preserve biscuits

Update 2025:   When I made these a second time, I used a different blue cheese, Treasure Cave out of Wisconsin, which was milder and saltier.  It gave a cheesier taste in the final product, and I didn't need to add the sprinkle of kosher salt.  I also rolled them a bit thinner, possibly too thin, and got around 100 biscuits.  (I count around 70 in that photo of the first time.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

I made these for a holiday party at work. Pretty straight forward recipe, although I made two small changes. I thought walnuts would be a good addition and so added them as a topping, but because the biscuits are so small, the nuts had to be chopped smaller than desirable. (Unless you put one large piece on, which might look better.) I also sprinkled some kosher salt onto the jam after baking to elevate the sweet/salty thing going on. I added nutmeg, but I'm not sure it was detectable.

My changes are shown in italics. Here's what I used:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled  (I used Trader Joe's crumbled blue cheese.)
ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
fig preserves (about 3 tablespoons)
chopped walnuts (optional)
kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the flour, baking powder, butter, blue cheese, black pepper, and nutmeg in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the dough just comes together and starts to form a ball.  Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to pull the dough together. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick with a floured rolling pin. Cut rounds out of the dough with a floured 1-inch cutter and transfer the rounds to an ungreased baking sheet.  Using the back of a round half-teaspoon measure or your knuckle, make an indention in the top of each dough round. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of fig preserves into each indention, using your finger to push the preserves as best as possible into the indentations.  Sprinkle walnuts on top of preserves, if using.  Bake the savories for 10 – 14 minutes (mine were perfect at 12), until the pastry is just turning light golden around the edges.  Sprinkle preserves with kosher salt.  Let cool on the baking sheet until firm enough to handle, then remove to a wire rack to cool.

These were very easy to make, but were a bit time consuming.  I hesitated in using the full 1/4 teaspoon of jam because I was afraid it would melt and run, but it didn't melt much at all.  (It also never got "bubbly" as the original recipe suggests.)  Furthermore, the cheese is a little bitter, so the sweetness is necessary.  Don't skim on the jam.  The added salt on top also helped cut the bitterness and was a good addition. 

Conclusion:  These were a hit, although I found them a bit dry (the kind that sucks the moisture out of your mouth) and I detected the cheese only as bitterness and not really as "cheese".  Perhaps a different brand or style would produce a different result. Apricot jam would also be a good choice.

Recipe:   Blue Cheese and Fig Savouries via The Runaway Spoon

August ABC challenge: Croûte d’abricots (apricot and almond tart)

 

I have access to the BEST apricots ever, but the season is short and early here, so I knew I had to get on this recipe.  (And my lavender was in bloom.) Nonetheless, when I went to my favorite apricot vendor to buy the fruit, he was already out for the season.  But his peaches were in, so I bought several yellow and white peaches.  They looked a little green still, but he said they were ready.  I was skeptical.  Unfortunately, they did not fair well on the way home, and the riper ones became so bruised I barely had enough to get some decent slices.  (The unripe fruit was still perfect.)  Not only that, but they didn't taste good.  This was not a good year for stone fruits.  I was so disappointed.  But I salvaged what I could, dipping the slices in sugar to try to sweeten them up a little.

I've noticed that, so far in this challenge source, the consistency of my doughs never match that of the originator.  For example, she says to "pour" the batter into the pan -- I had a thick, sticky mass that I had to carefully pat down.  She must be using giant eggs.  I also noticed that my honey was rather stiff, so maybe that was the problem.  By the way, although there are dramatic differences in the flavor of various honeys, I've never been able to distinguish lavender honey from clover honey from any other variety.  I used sage honey.

I didn't have a small tart pan, so I used a pie pan from Marie Callendar's, which measured 7 inches across the bottom.  Other than the honey, the only other change to the recipe I made was to increase the salt.

Here's what I used:

50 g beurre noisette
120 g almond flour
50 g (lavender) honey
1 3 pinches of salt (using a pinch measuring spoon)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon dried, organic lavender
icing sugar to prepare the tart pan
4 to 6 fresh apricots, stoned and quartered

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Brush an 8-inch shallow tart pan with butter and dust with icing sugar.

Make the beurre noisette by slowly melting the butter over a low flame until nut brown and the milk solids have toasted. (No need to strain.)  Set aside and leave to cool. In a bowl (or the butter pan), stir together the almond flour, honey, egg, salt, and lavender flowers.  Add the brown butter and whisk until smooth.  Pour into the tart pan and spread evenly. Press the apricot quarters in the mixture, arranging them the way you like best.  Bake for about 35 minutes.  Keep an eye on the crust and make sure it does not brown too fast, otherwise turn the oven down to about 320º F from the point of perfect crust color.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool and firm up slightly before releasing it. When cooled completely, dust with icing sugar and serve.
 

I checked this at 30 minutes and it looked a little dark on the edges, but not quite done in the center, so I turned the temperature down and left it another 5 minutes.  It was still hard to tell if it was done because it gets rather juicy.  For appearances sake, I would have preferred it be less dark on the edges.  I didn't try it until the next day, and by then the peach juice had soaked into the base, so it wasn't dry.  I don't know if it would have been dry if I'd had it right away.  Whipped cream was a great addition.

Conclusion: This was good, and surprisingly light.  It's not very sweet either, so it could be eaten plain for breakfast, or dressed up with whipped cream as a dessert.  I think it would have been much better with the apricots -- they have more flavor and that bit of tartness that would contrast nicely with the somewhat bland almond base.  There was only a hint of lavender, which was just the right amount.  A little lemon zest would also be a nice addition to the base.

Recipe:  Croûte d’abricots with lavender & honey via Weekend Bakery.