Dorie's Fruit Terrine and Vintage Pan Giveaway

I was very excited to read Dorie Greenspan's blog post highlighting her recipes for today's Parade Magazine because there was a gorgeous summer fruit terrine. I have some beautiful blackberries from my farm box that needed to be used, and honestly, I can't imagine a more light and refreshing summer dish! I had another reason to be excited, and you'll find out about that a bit farther down in this post... (unless you happen to have been tipped off by the post title!)

n.o.e.'s notes:

- This terrine highlights beautifully ripe berries along with citrus fruit. I used 1.5 cup each of blackberries and raspberries. I didn't quite use all of the sections from my 1 grapefruit and 2 navel oranges, but as you can see, my terrine was packed with fruit. I peeled the citrus sections (which I find terribly tedious, but very pretty).

- I used grapefruit juice, because I thought its tartness would be a terrific counterpoint to the sweet berries.


- Here's a piece of advice: first stir in the citrus and any sturdy berries that you are using, such as strawberries or blueberries, then gently fold in tender berries such as blackberries and raspberries. This was slap-the-forehead-obvious to me right after I added the blackberries. Which I did first. As I stirred in the other fruit, very gingerly, the blackberries began to disintegrate. I never got the fruit distributed well enough, and little blackberry bits are quite visible in my terrine.

the verdict:

With just a tiny bit of sugar added, this terrine is not much more than fruit plus a bit of juice. But its so pretty and so refreshingly healthy that it would be a great brunch dish, or a light finish to a meal, served with yogurt or creme fraiche.

And now we come to the main reason that I was excited to see Dorie's recipe. I knew it would be perfect in my long loaf pan. I was already planning to write a blog post today about this pan, and Dorie's recipe gave me a simple refreshing recipe to show it off.

It is a vintage pan, in a very hard-to-find size (10 1/4" x 3 5/8"), and with its straight sides it is perfect for terrines, pates, and even layer cakes - it produces nice rectangular slices. It is equivalent to a "one pound loaf pan" so is ideal for quick breads and yeast breads. Because it is slim, breads cook more quickly and evenly, with much less chance of having a too-done outside and under-done inside.

My mother has cooked in this type of pan since she was first married in 1950, and my pair are my favorites of all of my baking pans.

And... drumroll, please!

You have a chance to win your very own rare vintage pans - I am giving away a pair to celebrate my one year blogiversary!!

This kind of pan is scarcer than hen's teeth, so I was thrilled to locate some! These are a bit worn, scratched, and dinged, but they are nice and shiny inside so will release their contents well (especially when lined with parchment, see pictures below). They are aluminum, so I always hand-wash mine to protect the finish.

If you are interested in winning this pair of pans, leave a comment to this post by Friday, July 24 at noon Eastern time, making sure that I have a way to contact you, either by comment on your blog or via email. I will choose the winner with the help of a random number generator. I'm happy to ship these pans anywhere in the world, so feel free to enter no matter where you are located.

I cook and bake in my pans all the time. Here are some of the things I've posted in the past year:

French Riviera (Yogurt) Cake:

Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte:

Cranberry Coffeecake:

Berry and sorbet mosaic:

And finally, I need to give special thanks to my husband Jim, who is my #1 supporter and taste tester! Over the past year he has gotten quite used to waiting for his food (he even asks now, "Did you photograph this?") and to providing comments "for the record." He's even written some guest verdicts for the blog. Thanks, Jim!

Our wedding anniversary was yesterday; here we were 28 years ago:


[Update: I'm happy to report that Amy of My Famous Recipe has won the vintage pan giveaway!]