Tarte au Citron (Lemon tart) with organic lemon essential oil

A lovely pudding either for winter or summer, this classic French treat can be made even more zesty & Provencal by adding a dash of Florame’s organic lemon essential oil. It’s best to make this on the morning of the day you want to serve it up.

Equipment

20-23cm/8 or 9” flan dish/shallow cake tin
Fork
Pastry weights or uncooked dry beans
Blender/food processor
Cling film or clean plastic bag
Rolling pin
Greaseproof paper
Whisk
Grater

Ingredients
For the pastry
150g/5oz butter
275g/9.5oz plain flour
1tsp grated lemon rind
2tbsp sugar
Up to 3tbsp chilled water

Icing sugar for dusting


For the filling
6 eggs
150g/5oz white sugar
150ml/5 fl oz double cream
75ml/2.5oz fresh lemon juice
1-2 drops of organic lemon essential oil

Instructions

First make the pastry. Chop the butter into small pieces then put it, the flour, grated lemon rind and sugar in the blender and whizz on high until the mixture looks like sand. With the motor running on low, add the chilled water in small drops until the mixture forms a soft dough – you may not need to use all 3 tbsps of the water. Wrap the dough in cling film and put in the fridge for 30 mins.
Turn the oven on to 200C/Gas 6.

Just before you take the pastry out of the fridge, lightly flour your kitchen work surface. Then roll the pastry out on the floured area as thinly as possible. Lightly butter and flour the flan tin then line the dish with the pastry and trim the edges. Prick the bottom with a fork, cover with greaseproof paper and fill with the pastry weights or beans. Bake for 20 minutes until firm but not brown. Carefully remove the paper and weights, and return the tart case to the oven for five minutes to dry the pastry base further, then remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Turn the oven down to 160C/Gas 3.

Beat the eggs and sugar until creamy. Gently whisk in the cream, then the lemon juice and drops of organic lemon essential oil.

Pour the filling into the tart case and bake for approx 45 minutes, or until the filling has just set, and is lightly golden. Cool the tart to room temperature. Dust with icing sugar and voilà!

Pumpkin pie with nutmeg and ginger essential oils

This is a classic recipe for both Halloween and Thanksgiving - in fact it's a great autumn recipe for a very versatile vegetable and it's really easy to make. Florame's recipe has the added twist of using nutmeg essential oil and ginger essential oil to really give this pie some lovely warm flavours.

For the shortcrust pastry base I'd recommend you buy a ready made one from the supermarket which you can just roll out.

Equipment

Large knife

Spoon

Blender

Steamer

20cm/8in pie dish

Large bowl

Ingredients

500g/1lb pumpkin flesh

200g/70z shortcrust pastry

2 eggs, beaten

100g/4oz caster sugar

4tbs milk

1 drop nutmeg essential oil

1 drop ginger essential oil

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 220C/425F/Gas mark 7. Cut the pumkin into slices removing any seeds and cottonwoolly type inside strands and cut away the outer skin. Then chop in to 2.5cm/1inch pieces & steam over a pan of boiling water for approx 15-20mins until tender. Drain thoroughly then puree in the blender.

Roll out the pastry and line the pie dish. Trim the excess off the sides so it looks neat & turn the excess into leaves to decorate the top of the pie.

Beat the eggs with the sugar then add the pumkin puree milk and the 2 drops of essential oils. Mix thoroughly then pour into the pastry case. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and bake for a further 30mins or until the filling is set.

Serve up warm with either cream or ice cream. Gorgeous!

Apple and blackberry pie with organic rosa geranium essential oil

A lovely autumn warmer with a floral twist. Florame’s organic bourbon geranium essential oil, aka rosa geranium essential oil, adds a subtle floral fragrance and taste to this classic autumn pudding, giving it a hint of rose petals. It’s absolutely yummy and the addition of the bourbon geranium organic essential oil will mean your apple pie stands out from the crowd!

It’s best to make the pastry in the morning or at lunch time to give it enough time to chill in the fridge. Try to use organic ingredients if you can, particularly for the flour as it’s likely to be unbleached.

Equipment you’ll need

2 x large bowls
Food mixer
Greaseproof paper
Cling film or clean plastic bag
Rolling pin
Pastry brush
Oven dish e.g. Pyrex (approx 12” x 7” x 1” deep = 18cm x 31cm x 2.5cm)
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Apple or potato peeler
Small bowl


Ingredients

For the pastry
225g/8oz unsalted butter – softened to room temperature
50g/2oz caster sugar
2 x large eggs
350g/12oz plain flour

For the filling
600g/1lb of cooking apples
110g/4oz blackberries
2-3 drops of organic bourbon geranium essential oil
150g/5oz caster sugar

To brush the pastry
1 x large egg
1tbsp milk
15g/½ oz caster sugar

Instructions

First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using a food mixer starting on low speed then increasing to medium speed. Then add the two eggs and beat in for several minutes on medium speed. Reduce the speed to low and add in the flour. When completely mixed in, turn the pastry out on to the greaseproof paper, flatten into a round, wrap either in cling film or plastic bag and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Once the pastry’s been chilling for a few hours pre-heat the oven to 180°/gas mark 4 (approx 160° if using a fan oven).

To make the pie base, take the pastry out of the fridge and roll out approx two thirds of it to approx 3mm (approx an 1/8 of an inch) and line the oven dish with it.

Then roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness to form a lid and set to one side.

For the filling, peel, quarter then dice the apples and put in a large bowl. Add the blackberries, the 2-3 drops of bourbon geranium organic essential oil and sprinkle with the 150g of caster sugar then mix together.

Pile the fruit mixture into the lined dish and drape the lid over the top sealing the edges with water. Chop any excess pastry off and fashion into leaves to decorate the top.

Finally beat the remaining egg with the milk and brush on to pie lid. Pop in the oven and bake for approx 45 mins until golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it rest for approx 5 mins then sprinkle with the remaining caster sugar and serve. Fab!

Homemade cheesecake with organic essential oils

This is a foolproof cheesecake recipe which my grandmother used to use. It doesn’t require any baking but you should make in the morning as it does require a few hours in the fridge to firm up. I’ve adapted it by adding Florame’s organic essential oils to the mix to really give it some punch!

For this recipe I’ve chosen to use cinnamon essential oil and organic sweet orange essential oil. However you can obviously supplement these with lemon, bergamot, mandarin, lavender or any other edible essential oil that takes your fancy.

Equipment
8-9inch cake tin or other suitable dish
2 x wooden spoons
2 x smallish saucepans
A blender/mixer or a rolling pin and plastic bag
An electric whisk
Large bowl
2 x medium bowls
1 x small cereal sized bowl
Spatula

Ingredients
For the base
8 oz/230g digestive biscuits
4 oz/100g butter (melted)
4 oz/100g brown sugar
2-3 drops cinnamon essential oil

For the top
6 fl oz/150 ml water
Half a pack of orange jelly cubes or equivalent vegetarian gelatine
10 oz/300g Philadelphia cheese
6fl oz/150 whipping or double cream
3-4 drops organic sweet orange essential oil

First make the digestive biscuit base. Crush your digestives either in a blender or put them in a clean plastic bag and smash them up with a rolling pin.

Take one of your wooden spoons and put the smash biscuits and brown sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add the cinnamon essential oil to the melted butter then slowly add the melted butter to the biscuit mixture stirring all the time to ensure that all the crumbs and sugar are coated. Once mixed, tip out into your cake tin and spread evenly across the base then press down to ensure a firm bottom. If you want a thicker base, just bulk up the quantities above. You can pop the base into the fridge whilst you make the top.

To make the top first put the 150ml of water in a saucepan together with the half pack of jelly or vegetarian equivalent and put on a low heat, stirring continuously until the jelly has melted. Then take off the heat & pour into the small cereal bowl to help cool it down quickly & set aside. At this point add the drops of sweet orange organic essential oil to the jelly and mix in. Bear in mind you don’t want the jelly mixture to start setting in the bowl so you must do the next bit quite quickly.

Next whisk the cream until it is firmly whipped.

Then tip the Philly cheese into a large bowl and knead a bit with a wooden spoon to soften it up a little. Add the jelly mix to this slowly and beat it in until the two are blended well together. Then fold in the whipped cream.

Take your base out of the fridge and pour the topping over it using a spatula or flat knife to spread it evenly over the base.

Pop back in the fridge for a few hours then serve. Fab!

Crab apple jelly with organic essential oils

Autumn is apple jelly making season. This year we tried our hand at making crab apple jelly using organic essential oils. One batch we made with Florame aromatherapy's ginger essential oil. The other batch with organic clove essential oil. Either will give a real kick to your jelly. However, you can experiment with your own essential oils. In past we’ve made apple jelly with organic lavender essential oil and with organic sweet orange essential oil. Both are gorgeous.

To make the crab apple jelly:

Ingredients
2.5kgs/5.5lbs of crab apples washed & cut into halves.
1.75 ltrs/3 pints of water
2-3 drops of either ginger essential oil or clove essential oil
Sugar

Equipment
2 x large saucepans or jam making pans without lids
Jelly straining cloth
Large bowl
Several clean and sterilised jam jars with lids
Wooden spoon
Saucer (placed a freezer drawer or the fridge if no freezer available)
Teaspoon
A friend with a pair of oven gloves to hold your jam jars when you pour in the jelly

Put the crab apples in the saucepan & cover with the water. Bring to the boil then simmer for approx 1-1.5hrs until the fruit has turned into a mash. Whilst this is happening you can sterilise your jam jars. I use the same sterilisation liquid as you would for baby bottles. Once you’ve sterilised them, rinse them off then turn them upside down and put them in a low heated oven to dry off slowly.
Once the apples have turned to mash, suspend the jelly cloth over the bowl and strain the mash into it. Let the liquid juice from the mash strain out. Now, traditionally you’re supposed to leave the mash to strain through overnight without squeezing it so that the liquid is clear of must. However, if you’re impatient like me, after about an hour or so (once the mash is cool enough to handle) I start to squeeze the cloth to extract the maximum amount of liquid. Once this is done, discard the mash, rinse the jelly cloth through then strain the liquid through the jelly cloth again in order to get rid of any must. If you don’t do this your jelly will look cloudy in the jar rather than clear. The end result is that, rather like when you’re making wine, you should be able to see a lit candle with clarity whilst looking through your jar of jelly.

Once you’ve strained your liquid, measure it out into the other large saucepan. For every 600ml/1pint of liquid, add 450/1lb of sugar. Now, I like my crab apple jelly slightly tart so I tend to go for 400g of sugar per pint but this is purely a matter of personal taste.

Turn the heat up to maximum and stir in the sugar with the wooden spoon until it has dissolved. Then add your chosen drops of Florame organic essential oil. Start with 2 drops and taste. If you want a stronger flavour add 1 drop more, taste again and so on until you have the perfect blend. The jelly should start to boil rapidly in the saucepan. Whilst it’s boiling you’ll see an opaque film appear on the top of the jelly, skim this off every few minutes. Let it boil for approx 30mins. Then test whether it has reached setting point – take your saucer out of the freezer, trail a teaspoon of jelly on the saucer, wait about 5 seconds then draw the jelly towards you with the teaspoon. If a ripple appears as you do this setting point has been reached. If not, let the mixture continue to boil for another 5-10 minutes and try again. Remember to keep your saucer cold.

Once setting point has been reached, turn off the heat, take the jelly off the boil and pour into the jam jars. Once cool, tighten the lids on the jars, label and enjoy. You could of course go the whole hog and decorate the jars to give as unique personal gifts to friends and family.