Oat and about

When cooking with milk substitutes, expect successes and failures.

With more lactose-intolerant guests eating in the restaurant these days, I have been playing with milk substitutes in some of our recipes. I began with oat milk, shamelessly attracted by the packaging. The milk is made from hulled grain and water, giving it a washed-out colour that’s somewhat disturbing. It made me approach the idea of a dairy-free recipe with deep suspicion, but its subtly nutty, sweet taste offered possibilities.

I tried one out on my unsuspecting daughter at the weekend. When I was a child, my mother used to make pancakes once a year, on Shrove Tuesday. However, my daughter believes pancakes should be served every day for breakfast. She eats them as fast as they come out of the pan. I sprinkle them with sugar and a generous squeeze of lemon juice, then roll them and cut them into 2cm lengths so she can eat with her fingers, slowly unravelling the spirals in her mouth. I replaced the usual milk with oat milk and the result was a light pancake with delicately crispy edges. She was none the wiser.

As for the rest of my attempts, they mostly met with spectacular failure, and I had to add some cream. So much for dairy-free desserts; I may try the oat milk in my coffee, instead.

When making these pancakes, always use organic eggs, as they tend to have deeper-coloured yolks, resulting in a ­better-coloured pancake.

Oat-Milk Pancakes with Berries

2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus a little extra for cooking

100ml apple juice_

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Sift the flour and sugar into a large bowl, then add the egg and egg yolk. Pour in half the oat milk and whisk together. Pour in the remaining oat milk and melted butter, whisking to a smooth batter. Season with salt and set aside for 30 minutes.

Wipe an 18cm frying pan with a little of the remaining butter and place the pan over a medium heat. When the butter starts to foam slightly, ladle about 60ml of batter into the pan. Tilt the pan so there’s a thin coating of batter covering the surface. Cook until the underside is golden and lacy and beginning to lift at the sides. Gently slide a fish slice or palette knife under the pancake and flip it over. Cook for another minute, then lift the pancake out onto absorbent kitchen paper. Keep it warm while you continue cooking. Divide the pancakes between 4 plates and scatter with blackberries. Pour the hot sauce over the berries and serve.

To make the sauce, melt the marmalade in a saucepan and add the other ingredients. Simmer for 3 minutes. The sauce will keep for weeks.

Serves 4.

I tried making this tart with only the oat milk, but it was awful, so I added cream. Hey, presto! I ended up with something gorgeous but no longer dairy-free. It’s lovely with currants soaked in brandy, or a dollop of whipped cream dusted with a little nutmeg.

Oat-Milk Custard and Nutmeg Tart

100g flour

a pinch of ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 180°C. In a food pro­cessor blend the flour, butter and salt until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Tip into a large bowl and add the yolk and water. Mix with your hands until a smooth dough forms. Cover the pastry in plastic wrap and chill for an hour in the fridge. Roll out the pastry on a floured board until it is as thin as possible. Line a 20cm shallow tart tin with the pastry, leaving a good 2cm overhang. Cover the pastry with tinfoil and fill with rice or pastry weights, then place in the oven on a flat baking sheet. Cook for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and rice. Brush the inside of the case with beaten egg and cook for 10 minutes until pale gold and crisp.

Heat the oat milk and cream with the vanilla pod in a saucepan, then remove from the heat and cover with plastic wrap. Stand for 30 minutes. Beat the yolks, eggs and sugar in a bowl until pale, then pour the oat milk mixture in through a sieve. Add a pinch of salt and the nutmeg. Pour the mixture into the pastry case and bake for 40 minutes or until it is still a bit wobbly in the centre. Remove from the oven and cool before serving.

Serves 4.

Use the pastry recipe above, then blind-bake in a deep 20cm spring-form pan, ready to be filled. I love a light and fluffy German-style baked cheesecake, but the richness needs a little fruit to help slice through it.

Wild Honey and Oat-Milk Cheesecake with Poached Nectarines

300g mascarpone

6-8 nectarines, washed

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the mascarpone and oat milk into a food processor and mix until thick. Add the honey, sugar and eggs and mix until smooth. Tip the mixture into the baked pastry case and cook for 40 minutes until set. Cool before serving in thick wedges with the nectarines.

To poach the nectarines, bring the water and sugar to the boil in a deep saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes then add the lemon zest. Score the grooves of the fruit with the tip of a kitchen knife and gently lower them into the syrup in small batches. Bring the syrup back to a simmer, then lower the heat and cook the nectarines for at least 5 minutes. Using ­a slotted spoon, transfer the fruit to a ­shallow tray.

Once all the fruit is cooked, bring the syrup back to the boil and reduce until thick. Remove from the heat and cool. Slice the nectarines in half and remove the stones. Place the fruit in a bowl and pour the syrup over the top.

Enough for 6.