Tag: Armagnac

Auction alert: Antiques, Collectables & General sale including jewellery

Bottle of Napoleon Sempe Armagnac

Eastbourne Auction will shortly be holding their Antiques, Collectables & General including jewellery sale. The online only auction starts on Wednesday 7th September 2022 from 10am. A humongous 2,454 lots will be available over the 3-day event.

There are a few of our regular favourites up for grabs; Troika studio pottery, Whitefriars studio glass and quite a few lots of various light elm Ercol furniture. One of my favourite items is the unusual Bernard Rooke vase.

The buyer’s premium stands at 30% inc. VAT (with a minimum of £2.40 per lot). Bidding is also available via The Saleroom and EasyLiveAuction. Please check each website’s additional charges.

We can arrange packing and / or shipping on your behalf for smaller non fragile items. We will email you a quote detailing the shipping method, and will ship when you have approved and paid for this service… For fragile and larger items we recommend Mailboxes Tunbridge Wells.

Troika St Ives Pottery cube vase

Lot 2: Troika St Ives Pottery cube vase
Hand painted with circles, 8cm high
Estimate: £50 – £100

Whitefriars bamboo glass vase

Lot 5: Geoffrey Baxter for Whitefriars bamboo glass vase
In indigo or pewter, 20.5cm high
Estimate: £80 – £150

Laurence Stephen Lowry - 'Level crossing with train'

Lot 15: Laurence Stephen Lowry – ‘Level crossing with train’
Pencil signed print in colour, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, published by Patrick Searle 1973, mounted, framed and glazed, 59cm x 48cm excluding the mount and frame
Estimate: £1,000 – £2,000

Oiva Toikka for Iittala, Finnish glass bird paperweight

Lot 27: Oiva Toikka for Iittala, Finnish glass bird paperweight
Paper label and signed to the base, 14cm in length
Estimate: £30 – £50

Square silver plated mirrored cake stand

Lot 55: Square silver plated mirrored cake stand
Relief decorated with grapes on a vine, housed in a painted wood box with brass handles, the stand 14cm H x 46cm W x 46cm D
Estimate: £40 – £80

Bottle of Napoleon Sempe Armagnac

Lot 121: Bottle of Napoleon Sempe Armagnac
Housed in a Baccarat decanter
Estimate: £40 – £80

Bernard Rooke, studio pottery vase

Lot 169: Bernard Rooke, studio pottery vase
Decorated in relief with fossils, impressed mark around the footrim, 13.5cm high
Estimate: £30 – £50

Soholm, Danish mid century style wall plaque

Lot 246: Soholm, Danish mid century style wall plaque
Enamelled with flowers, impressed marks to the reverse, 33.5cm x 33cm
Estimate: £30 – £50

After Eric Ravilious - British Pavilion brochure 1939

Lot 377: After Eric Ravilious – British Pavilion brochure 1939
Woodcut engraving in colour, mounted, framed and glazed, 20.5cm x 13.5cm excluding the mount and frame
Estimate: £50 – £100

Eight vintage Homepride Spillers figures

Lot 627: Eight vintage Homepride Spillers figures
10.5cm high
Estimate: £20 – £40

Set of six Ercol ash and light elm stacking chairs

Lot 791: Set of six Ercol ash and light elm stacking chairs
74cm high
Estimate: £200 – £400

Scandinavian mid century design plaque

Lot 909: Scandinavian mid century design plaque
Hand painted with a female and stylised birds, signed F Ruth, 37cm x 25cm
Estimate: £30 – £50

Cakes & Bakes: Prune and almond tart with Armagnac

Slice of home-made prune and almond tart with Armagnac with a dollop of crème fraîche | H is for Home

About a month ago, we were watching an episode of Food Unwrapped where they investigated the benefit of prunes in keeping you… ahem, ‘regular’.

The presenters did a little compare & contrast experiment where, each day, one of them drank a glass of prune juice, another ate a couple of plums and the third ate a few prunes. The last proved to be by far the most effective way of upping your fibre intake.

Rolled shortcrust pastry | H is for Home

The programme took a trip to Agen in France which apparently produces the best prunes in the world. That was it, I was straight online to order myself a bag of Agen prunes.

They didn’t lie, Agen prunes put all other prunes in the shade when it comes to taste and size. I’ve begun eating 3 prunes each morning and I can attest that the workings of my alimentary canal are markedly smoother than previously!

Blind baked pastry case | H is for Home

I searched through all my cookery books looking for a tempting recipe to try so as to mix my prune intake up a little. Eventually, I came across a prune and almond tart with Armagnac in Rick Stein’s French Odyssey. I don’t think I’ve not previously posted any of his recipes despite the fact that we love a lot of the food he makes.

Armagnac-soaked Agen prunes lining a pastry case | H is for Home Filling poured over prunes in a pastry case | H is for Home

We’re not big brandy drinkers and I couldn’t find anywhere that sold miniatures, but decided to invest in a bottle of Armagnac for this and future recipes – it’s often called for in both sweet and savoury dishes.

Stein’s instruction is to soak the prunes for an hour prior to using them. However, I think a more extensive soak (overnight / 8 hours or so) would improve matters.

Prune and almond tart with Armagnac | H is for Home

Not that the tart wasn’t incredibly good anyway – believe me, it was! Pairing it with a dollop of crème fraîche really works too.

Click here to pin the recipe for later!

Prune and almond tart with Armagnac
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
2 hr
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
2 hr
For the pastry
  1. 225g/8oz plain flour, sifted
  2. ½tsp salt
  3. 130g/4½oz butter, chilled & diced
  4. 1½-2tbs cold water
For the filling
  1. 300g/10½oz mi-cuit (semi-dried) Agen prunes, stoned
  2. 4tbs Armagnac
  3. 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  4. 35g/1¼oz ground almonds
  5. 55g/2oz caster sugar
  6. 200ml/7fl oz crème fraîche
To serve
  1. icing sugar (for dusting)
  2. additional crème fraîche (for serving)Home-made prune and almond tart ingredients
Add ingredients to shopping list
If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it
Instructions
  1. Put the prunes into a bowl with the Armagnac and leave to soak for at least an hour, turning them occasionally to help them absorb the alcohol
  2. Put the flour and salt in a food processor or mixing bowl. Add the butter and work together to the fine breadcrumb stage
  3. Stir in the water with a round-bladed knife until it comes together into a ball
  4. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and kneed briefly until smooth
  5. Rest the pastry in a fridge for about 30 minutes before using
  6. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a greased, loose-bottomed flan tin (2½ cm deep, 24cm diameter)
  7. Prick the base all over and chill for 20 minutes
  8. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/400ºF/Gas mark 6
  9. Blind bake the pastry case for 15 minutes then remove the blind baking gubbins and bake the case for a further 5 minutes
  10. Set the case aside and reduce the oven temperature to 190°C/ºF/Gas mark 5
  11. Drain the prunes over a bowl to reserve the remaining Armagnac
  12. Add the ground almonds, egg, sugar and crème fraîche to the Armagnac then beat together until smooth
  13. Distribute the prunes over the base of the pastry case and pour over the almond mixture
  14. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes away clean
  15. Allow the tart to cool before dusting with a little icing sugar
  16. Serve with additional crème fraîche
Print
Adapted from Rick Stein's French Odyssey
Adapted from Rick Stein's French Odyssey
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/