When someone says cherries all I can think of is one tempting cherry sitting majestically atop a very fancy portion of Black Forest gâteau for dessert and its only the dexterity of your hands that will guarantee you get to pop the tasty little treat, of course, cherries have very many applications in baking as I was to find out at the baking day for bloggers organised by French Glacé Cherries(FGC).
We baked delicious Valentine’s treats developed and demonstrated by French baker and blogger Cindy Robert from Petit Gâteau and Food for thoughts.
To get us settled in we had some rather innovative sweet and savoury nibbles – FGC chutney with blue cheese, FGC oatcakes, FGC & chocolate brownies, mini smoothies, mini cheesecakes and my new favorite party nibble idea – crispy bacon rolled around a cherry – it’s so so good!
Images above Courtesy French Glace Cherries
A few interesting facts about French Glacé cherries They retain their flavour, shape and texture throughout the baking process. As such, they offer unbeatable quality, and reliable results every time. Good To know that they are not just apt in a traditional fruit cake, but equally at home in savoury recipes.
A Slice of History
The love affair between French confectioners and the UK goes back as far as 1868.It was then that business man Mathieu Wood, who was travelling in Provence at the time, discovered candied fruits from the Apt region and decided to import and sell them in his shops. It didn’t take long for the quality reputation of Provence glacé fruits to spread to the UK and beyond.
Images Courtesy French Glace Cherries
Around the same time, the British love of the outdoors and the development of the picnic and camping trends encouraged a preference for food that was easy to carry around. The fruit cake became very popular as it was easier to carry than the traditional pudding and offered something a bit more original. Candied fruits and French glacé cherries in particular are fun, novel and allow for a great amount of creativity in recipes. No surprise they quickly became a perfect addition to the fruit cake, and thus an integral part of British baking culture.
We were to bake along with Cindy, who had created two exclusive treats: French Glacé Cherry (FGC) Jelly cakes (a cherry twist on the traditional Jaffa cake) and FGC and Pistachios financiers (also known over here as friands).
I must say baking in a group is really fun vis-a vis’ my usual solitary experiments and that too at the venue which was Central Street Cookery School, at St Luke’s Community Centre was an utterly enjoyable experience.The cookery school is exceptionally well equipped and is a perfect place for all sorts of lovely kitchen experiments ! That is a very happy me melting some chocolate chips -ummm
An attentive audience we were …
My French Glacé Cherry (FGC) Jelly cakes progressed quite well and we got to carry back our bakes home, such fun I say , I had a lovely tea session with my neighbour H and her 5 year old daughter she thoroughly enjoyed the taste of these Jaffa cakes !
But my heart was in the FGC and Pistachios financiers, their eggy aroma and perfect for valentines day shape ummm ,lucky us we got the cute moulds to take home in our rather generously stuffed goody bags with the most cheerful apron I’ve got so far in bright cherry red 🙂
Did you know that it takes about 10 days for a tray of fresh cherries to become glacé cherries
Image Credit: French Glace Cherries
Disclaimer: I was invited by French Glace Cherries to attend the event and bake with Cindy using recipes developed by her. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
