Ashley's Naming Ceremony Part 2

On Sunday morning I decided to leave Steve asleep in bed nursing a small hangover, a painful wisdom tooth and the start of a nasty cold as I swung by the Canterbury Players Warehouse to pick up some final costume pieces for our production of 'Tis Pity She's A Whore which goes on this week.  Some of the others were there trying to load the van with the set pieces to get them to the theatre.  It looked tricky and the drills were coming out to take some of the struts off in order to make everything fit.  I felt guilty that I couldn't stay and help but I needed to get back home to shower, change and head to Chilham Village Hall for this little dude's naming ceremony!

Chilham Village Hall is a beautiful C15th timber framed barn located in the Kentish downs.  The entire village seems to have come straight from a fairytale, it is simply the most picturesque village I have ever seen.  It's also 10 minutes from my front door conveniently enough!   We arrived bright and early (and in my case swinging - I was in full 1950's party dress complete with petticoats.  I need to start wearing petticoats more often, they are so much fun!) and started the busy process of setting up and decorating the space ready for the 50 or so guests who were due to arrive in the next half an hour.

Leanne, one of Ashley's godmothers is a dab hand in the baking department and arrived bearing this absolute wonder of a cake.  She is ridiculously talented!   It not only looked fantastic but tasted divine as well.

Meanwhile in the kitchens the grandmothers and grandfathers were busy sorting out the food and drink that everyone had made and bought with them, getting the ovens going at full blast and making the table decorations.  This was a true event of love where everyone got stuck into help to make the day wonderful.  Whoever bought the ham can come again; it was divine with an amazing glaze with a flavour that went right through!  I contributed my Pasteis de Nata, Slutty Brownies and Basil Lemonade, all of which I think went down well!

Once everyone had arrive it was time to get stuck into the proceedings.  The godparents all took their places on the stage with everyone staring up at them and solemnly swore to be a good influence on Ashley's life and not to get him into trouble (too often).   

A candle was lit for Ashley by his parents and the little boy beamed his way through the entire ceremony.  I've only ever been to Christenings, not Naming Ceremonies before and the personal touches in this were beautiful.  Steve read a particularly relevant poem about the sleep deprivation parents feel with their little angels and Ashley must be one of the only children in the world to get a patented Truckle poem!  

I should explain this a little more - our friend Neil is a bit of a wordsmith and at all parties, birthdays and events he writes and dedicates a poem to the lady or gentleman of the moment.  This one was kept particularly clean compared to most (Mrs Truckle made sure of that!).

After a moving video that Sasha had made showcasing photos from the moment she discovered she was pregnant right the way through to the present moment it was time for photo's out in the drizzly weather and then food and drink from the buffet while the children played with the various play stations around the hall.

 

James and Sasha had even organised a Baby Sensory class to keep the smallest tots (and their parents) amused during the afternoon.  I'm still not convinced that the parents weren't having more fun playing with bubbles and what looked suspiciously like light sabers than the children were.

Ashley was one very spoilt little boy with plenty of presents and cards to get stuck into.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar always makes an appearance for some reason at baby events.  There is an appeal from James and Sasha though - if you gave him a pair of shoes with no card can you let them know so that they can thank you!

The last event of the afternoon was the formal cutting of the cake (Sasha did joke that it was like a second wedding!)  10 seconds after I took this picture Ashley reached down, grabbed the giraffe whole and rammed him in his mouth.  If the guest of honour thinks it's time to start eating the cake it would be rude for the rest of us not to follow suit!

Finally, Ashley gave Steve a lasting reminder of the day with his gift.  It was a really special day, one Ashley won't remember unfortunately but hopefully will be able to look back on photos and stories of the day to see how many people he has in his life who love and care for him. 

Pasteis de Nata

Pasteis de Nata are little Portuguese egg custard tarts originating from Belem, Lisbon.  Unlike British custard tarts these are light and fluffy with a really soft and subtle custard flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon in a bed of puff pastry.

I first learned how to make these a few years ago when the recipe was delivered through my door in my Spice Box from The Spicery.  I'm going to dedicate a whole post to this wonderful company as they have completely broadened my cooking horizons!

These little tarts are a favourite of my husbands and I made two batches of them for his godsons' naming ceremony this weekend.  When I checked back at the end of the buffet there was not one left!

It is believed that these tarts were originally made before the 18thC by Catholic monks at the Jeronimos Monastery at a time when the convents and monasteries produced huge quantities of eggs as the egg whites were used for starching clothes (such as the nun's habits) and in wineries.  There was a large quantity of egg yolk left over and so the monks and nun's invented these sweet pastries as a way to use up the leftovers!

For 12 tarts you will need:

300 ml Jersey milk (or really good quality whole milk if you can't get Jersey)
4 medium eggs
130g caster sugar
15g cornflower
2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry (make your own if you really want to impress!)
2 cinnamon quills
1 bourbon vanilla pod (or 1 tbs vanilla bean paste)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A muffin or yorkshire pudding tin
A pastry cutter

Pre-heat the oven to 220*C / gas mark 9

Grease your muffin tray

Cut the pastry into rounds, slightly larger than the diameter of the moulds and press the pastry to cover the sides and the base

Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the freshly scraped vanilla seeds and the empty pod if you are not using paste.  Note here - I recently discovered vanilla bean paste.  It's pricey at £7 a bottle, but there are a huge amount of servings in it, with 1 tbsp being the equivalent of 1 vanilla pod.  Seeing as a vanilla pod is about £2 these days a bottle of this stuff is far more economical if you use them a lot!  DO NOT use vanilla essence or extract, it will not have the same flavour!

Break the cinnamon quills into small pieces and add them to the milk and vanilla.  Add the sugar and  gently heat the whole lot to dissolve the sugar.  The moment it starts to boil take it off the heat and leave it to cool.

Put the cornflower into a jug and strain in a splash of the milk mixture to make a really smooth paste.  Strain in the rest of the milk, stirring continuously (it is sometimes easier to strain the milk first and then add it to the cornflower if like me you struggle to juggle a jug, a spoon, a sieve and a saucepan with only two hands!)

Separate the eggs and beat the yolks.  Hang onto the whites if you fancy starching your nun's habit (or making pavlova).

Pour the milk and cornflower mixture into the egg yolks, stirring continuously.  There should be no lumps!  Fill the pastry cases to just below the top and carefully place in the top of the oven.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the pastry around the top is crisp and brown.  Sprinkle the ground cinnamon over the top.

They will keep for about 2 days...if they last that long!

I had a lot of pastry and custard left over after making my batches.  I thought I would give a giant version of these tarts a go.  It was an unmitigated disaster.  The custard caramalised and burnt, the edges of the pastry caught and blackened while the middle layers of the pastry were still raw.  I'm determined to crack it though!