BORRAGO NEWSLETTER #2 A NICE PEAR
As Autumn gets into its swing, we celebrate the juicy deliciousness of a perfect pear, as both food and drink. These little beauties can morph from hammer to mush overnight, but right now, they are perfect. And there is the opportunity to win a pair of our beautiful Borrago jiggers in this month's competition.
A Lovely Pear
With it getting colder and the weather closing in, people start to think of hot and mulled drinks. Try this cocktail as a great halfway house, full of spice, but smooth as silk.
This is a delicious and warming cocktail that feels like it is doing you a lot of good. Snuggle up with a hot glass and enjoy it soothing flavours.
Ingredients:
1 segment of star anise,
½ teaspoon honey (we use our own)
100ml boiling water
25ml Borrago #47 Paloma Blend
Method:
Place the star anise and honey in a heatproof glass and pour over the boiling water. Stir to dissolve the honey and allow to step for a couple of minutes. Pour in the Borrago and serv e.
Competition time.
We have a pair of our beautiful jiggers to give away. To be in with a chance, send a pear or pair related joke to hello@Borrago.com and we will pick our favourite two to win, the punnier the better! Congratulations to the winners of last months honey, we hope you are enjoying it. We have a few more jars for anyone who missed out and would really like some.
Tart TTH
This is a spiced, caramelised upside-down pear tart. It has been one of my signature dishes for a long time, hence the initials which are a bit easier than the full description. It is warm, full of flavour and utterly delicious both hot and cold. It can be dressed up for a smart dinner party or dished out for friends. It serves eight officially, but is better for six…
Ingredients:
200g Brown sugar
110g unsalted butter
4 pears peeled, cored and cut in six lengthways to make long segments
185g flour
270g castor sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 big eggs
150ml sunflower oil
1 pear peeled, cored and coarsely grated
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
Borrago poached pears (optional)
8 small pears peeled
100ml orange juice
100ml Borrago #47 Paloma blend
2 cardamom pods
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ star anise
400ml water
200g caster sugar
Method:
Put the brown sugar and butter in an 8 inch one-piece cake tin or pan (I use a saucepan if I can’t find one). Heat until it foams and mixes together into a smooth caramel liquid. Place the pear slices decoratively in the bottom. You will see these, so make it as pretty as you can.
In a mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix, don’t be afraid to let a machine do the work. Once it is all mixed, pour over the pear slices and put into a preheated oven at 180*C for an hour. It is cooked when a skewer comes out of the cake cleanly. Let it cool a little and turn out onto your serving plate while warm. There is caramel at the bottom, so you can’t do this when it is cold.
I like to serve it with poached pears and vanilla ice cream.
To make Borrago poached pears, put all the ingredients except for the pears and Borrago into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the Borrago and pears and allow to simmer for 15 to 30 minutes depending on the size of your pears. They are done when they have gone soft and yield to a knife. For an extra cheffy finish, take a small slice off the bottom so it can stand up straight, dust it with caster sugar and blow torch to caramelise.
We hope you have enjoyed this newsletter and look forward to chatting more next month. Say hello on social media with @BorragoDrinks.
Thank you for making it to the end, until next time, all the best Tom TH
