New Header

If you cast your eyes to the top of the page you will see that Apple & Spice now has a brand new header. Mainly due to lots of help from my technical wizz of a sister, thanks Caz!

Pronto Pizza

This is something I threw together for dinner when I got in from work, tired, hungry and with limited supplies in the fridge. It only takes between 30-40 minutes from dry ingredients to munching, quicker than ordering a takeaway. It involves using a pizza dough base that can be rolled out straight away without having to be left to prove, speeding up the process no end.

What I love about pizza is that they hold the same kind of concept as a sandwich, meaning there are almost unlimited variations on what you can use for toppings. For my pizza I used what I had to hand which involved, sun dried tomatoes, half an onion, sweetcorn, chili, a couple of fresh tomatoes from my garden and some lovely Smoked Applewood cheese. I also added lots of oregano to the pizza base itself as I have found this to be a great way of adding flavour to a pizza without worrying that the herbs will burn to a crisp on the surface.

I keep fresh yeast frozen in little pieces in my freezer, ready to use when the urge takes me but instant yeast would work just as well. I find that heating a baking tray in the oven while I make the dough and then transferring it straight to the hot tray helps to make a nice crispy base and prevents it from sticking to the tray.

I threw the pizza together, had a quick shower while it was in the oven and then settled down to munch it in my pajamas in front of the TV. Ahh bliss.

No Prove Pizza
For the dough
15g yeast
½ tsp caster sugar
125g strong plain flour
1 tbsp olive oil50ml warm water
30ml milk
1 tsp dried oregano

For the toppings
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 sun dried tomatoes
2 fresh tomatoes
½ small tin sweetcorn
½ onion
½ red chili
Cheese of choice (I used Smoked Applewood)
2 tbsp polenta or cornmeal for base

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and place a baking tray into the oven to heat up.
Put the milk, warm water, sugar and yeast into a bowl and mix until combined.
Weight out the flour and add the rest of the dough ingredients and mix together until a firm dough has formed (add more liquid if necessary).
Dust a work surface with flour and kneed the dough for a couple of minutes until smooth.
Roll out the dough until only 3-4mm thick. Then lift up the dough using a rolling pin and scatter the work surface with a generous layer of polenta.
Place the dough over the polenta and gently press down and move the dough around so the polenta sticks to the dough base and moves around freely.
Spread the tomato paste over the dough, leaving a small border around the edge.
Scatter over the rest of your chosen toppings and then cover in a layer of grated cheese.
Remove the tray from the oven and side the pizza onto it. Return quickly to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Eat and enjoy.

Fig Filled Oaty Squares

Apologies for not updating for so long, things had been a little hectic and stressful recently but I think things are all sorted out now.

These oaty squares are very quick and simple to make. They are not much to look at but the texture and flavour make up for their less than photogenic properties. They basically involve a sticky, chunky fig puree sandwiched between two oaty layers.

The oaty layers are firm and crumbly, slightly reminiscent of shortbread and they are the perfect carrier for the sticky fig centre. The figs themselves are dried figs which mean they add a lovely sticky sweetness and a great texture and crunch from the tiny seeds contained within them.

They have a healthy yet satisfying feel to them. The perfect snack for beating the morning munchies, full of fibre and slow release energy while still being sweet enough to feel like a treat. They were the treat of choice for the Monday Munchers this week and were indeed munched on happily.

Other dried fruit fillings work well, as long as they are sticky. Dried peaches, apricots or prunes would be perfect. They are traditionally made with dates and are then known as Memorial Bars (although I’m not sure why).

Fig Filled Oaty Squares
Ingredients
250g ready to eat dried figs
200ml water
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g rolled oats
120g plain flour
115g soft brown sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
120g butter

Method
Grease and base and sides of an 8inch/20cm square cake tin (loose bottom preferably) and line completely with greaseproof paper.
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Chop the figs into small pieces using a pair of scissors. Place into a saucepan along with the water and vanilla and bring to the boil.
Allow to bubble for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture has become sticky, thick and pureed.
Remove from the heat and set to one side.
Place the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
Chop the butter into squares and rub through the dry mixture, using your fingers, until well incorporated. The mixture should be starting to stick together in small clumps.
Press half of this oaty mixture into the base of the tin and press down firmly.
Spread the cooled fig mixture over the surface and of the oaty layer before scattering over the remainder of the oat mixture and gently pressing down until firm.
Place into the oven for 30-35 minutes until firm and turning lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for half an hour before un moulding. Then allow to cool completely for a couple of hours before slicing, as this will help prevent the bars from crumbling.
Cut into 16 squares and store in an airtight container.

So this is what Brownies are supposed to taste like!

I have never been that fussed with brownies, having rarely eaten one that I didn’t find either too soft and gooey or too cake like, even when I baked them myself. I knew they were adored by many people but I never fully understood the attraction… that was until I baked these brownies. After biting into one of these soft, moist, sticky, sweet, chocolately squares I was in heaven, not to mention amazed. So this is what a good brownie is supposed to taste like! I can’t believe what I’ve been missing! They were not oozing undercooked batter or tasting like fluffy sponge, instead, they were slightly dense with a sticky moist crumb that disintegrated and coated your entire mouth as you ate them.

These brownies were this weeks offering to works Monday Munchers. What, you may wonder, made me decide to bake brownies when I have never been that impressed with them? Well, I had originally planned to bake cookies this week but then I remembered that we had a new colleague joining our small NPD team at work and I wasn’t sure what they would like. As I was browsing my bookshelf, Leith’s Baking Bible caught my eye I decided to select a recipe from there. I came across a whole section dedicated to brownies and decided these would be perfect as not only do most people love brownies but they are also full of chocolate, something which never fails to please. I added in white chocolate chunks to make them even more chocolately and because I think it makes them look pretty. They were a huge success at work and people were fighting over the last piece. I must confess that three pieces didn’t make it into work, but in my defense they were the corner pieces.

So now thanks to Prue Leith, I am a brownie convert. Want to cheer someone up? Give someone a present? Need to ask someone for forgiveness and want to sweeten the deal? Then these brownies are the answer. I urge you, drop what you are doing and go and bake some.

Ultimate Brownies
Recipe adapted from Leith’s Baking Bible.
Ingredients
140g butter
200g dark chocolate – around 55-60%
180g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs
85g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
80 white chocolate

Method
Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and line the base and sides of a deep 8inch/20cm square tin and set to one side.
Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place into a large bowl along with the butter. Melt gently over a pan of simmering water until smooth. (The water should not touch the base of the bowl)
Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the vanilla and the sugar. The mixture will be slightly grainy at this stage.
Beat the eggs in one at a time until thick and glossy.
Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until no flour streaks remain.
Chop the white chocolate into small chunks and fold in the brownie batter.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes until slightly risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs, rather than wet batter, sticking to it.
Allow to cool almost completely in the tin. The brownie will loose its puffed up look and become level.
Remove from the tin and cut into 12 squares.
Store in an airtight container lined with greaseproof for up to three days.

The Beautiful Fig

I was extremely lucky in that on my recent visit to the shops I happened upon some fresh figs, in packs of four, that they were reducing to the ridiculous price of only 30p despite still having 2 days until their best before date. I had tasted fresh figs for the first time this summer and not wanting to miss such a bargain I grabbed a couple of packets and returned home happy. They really are a thing of beauty, with moody purple skins and ruby red centres. They were soft and succulent with a softly sweet taste and texture with a most individual smell. It was only after enjoying one with my lunch that I realised I still had 7 figs left and there was no way I would be able to eat them all in time. Later on as I was browsing through my favourite blogs I came across Ivonne’s blog - Cream Puffs in Venice, where she had just announced that she is this month’s host of the popular event, Sugar High Friday. Not only that, but her theme of choice was figs!! It was obviously meant to be and I decided there and then to enter with my own figgy concoction.

I had some pastry in the freezer so making a tart was by first choice. I decided to quarter the figs to show off their spectacular centres and to make up an almondy frangipane mixture in which to bake them. I made a last minute decision and spread a layer of my plum and vanilla jam over the base of the pastry case before adding the filling, turning the tart into a stylized version of a Bakewell tart.

I am really pleased with how it turned out. The figs looked amazing with their rich red centers and speckles of tiny seeds and the baking really brought out their sweet, yet slightly earthy flavour. The frangipane was soft, moist and full of almondy goodness. The layer of jam in the base helped to prevent the pastry from going soggy and added a sweet fruity flavour boost with a subtle hint of vanilla. All the flavours mingled together producing one very tasty and pretty tart. It was so quick and easy to put together and yet looks special enough to serve at a fancy lunch or dinner party. Its lovely served warm but I think it tasted even better when allowed to cool to room temperature.

You have until the 24th of September to create your sweet fig inspired recipes. The full details can be found here.

Fresh Fig Frangipane Tart
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry (homemade or shop bought)
6 fresh figs
80g butter
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
75g ground almonds
½ tsp almond essence
3 tbsp jam of your choice

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Roll out the pastry until around 4 mm thick. Line a 23cm round tart tin with the pastry and set to one side.
Cut the figs into quarters and set to one side.
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well until incorporated.
Stir in the ground almonds and the almond essence. The batter should be fairly thin.
Spread your jam of choice over the base of the pastry case before pouring in the frangipane mixture.
Arrange the sliced figs decoratively on the tart before placing into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 160C and continuing to bake for a further 20 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown.
Allow to cool before removing from the tin and serving in big slices.
Serves 8

Update: The round-up can be viewed here.

Chubby Rascals

These are actually Fat Rascals, which are a traditional Yorkshire treat. They are a cross between a scone and a teacake, quite dense, crumbly and stuffed full of currants and candied peel. The origin of their name is unkown but I believe it has something to do with the glace cherries and sliced almonds which are arranged into a sort of mischevious (and slightly scary) face on the top of each rascal. I also like to believe that it could also be because these fat, thick, scones were a favourite with children who were affectionately called ‘rascals’ our equivalent of called someone a ‘cheeky monkey’ these days. However, this is just my own speculation. Anyone else have any ideas on the origin of the name?

I made these for Monday Munchers at work. I got the inspiration to make them after sampling one on a recent visit to Betty’s Tea Shop in Harrogate which is famous for these afternoon treats. Mine turned out slightly thinner than they should have done, not quite as fat as the originals and so I have called mine Chubby Rascals.

They have a light buttery crumb thanks to the sour cream included in the batter. This also makes them quite rich and filling. The candied peel added a lovely sweet and zesty flavour. They were very much enjoyed but I think next time I will try not to roll them out so thinly in the hope they turn out a little fatter. They are lovely to munch on as they are but spread with butter and jam they become a really special afternoon treat.

Chubby (Fat) Rascals
Ingredients
100g butter (or half butter and half lard)
350g plain flour
75g currants
25g candied mixed peel
1 heaped tsp baking powder
75g caster sugar
150ml sour cream
Glace cherries
Sliced or whole blanched almonds

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
Rub the butter into the flour using you fingertips until no big lumps remain.
Mix through the sugar, baking powder, currants and peel.
Add the cream, reserving a little as you may not need it all, and mix to a stiff dough.
Flour a work surface and gently roll out the dough until it is 2cm thick.
Stamp out rounds using a pastry cutter and place on the baking tray.
Cut a glace cherry in half and place on the top of each rascal along with 3-4 almonds in the design of a face.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown.
Cool slightly before munching.
Makes 8 – 10 Rascals

Banoffee Muffins

These are muffins are what I made for the Monday Munchers at work last week. I’m afraid the post is quite overdue but things have been a bit hectic recently.
They are banana muffins with a Dulce De Leche Caramel Toffee filling, turning them into banoffee muffins.

I had three extremely ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter and I just knew I had to do something with them. They were so ripe in fact that I barely had to mush them, they were practically self mushed when I peeled them. I have often made banana cakes or muffins with the addition of chocolate or nuts but this time I wanted something different and decided upon a toffee filling. I was initially going to buy a can of condensed milk and make the caramel toffee myself but when I went to buy some there was some Merchant Gourmet Dulce De Leche Caramel Toffee in a bottle on the shelf next to it. It was only 9p more expensive than the can of milk and I decided that for the time and effort it would save the extra 9p was worth it.

I also replaced the butter in the recipe with natural yoghurt as I had a tub in my fridge that needed using up. The result was a slightly closer textured and moister muffin which I was pleased with. The muffins were extremely bananary and tasted wonderful alongside the toffee sauce. People enjoyed taking bites of their muffins and watching the toffee centre ooze out.

Overall these muffins tasted nice and the flavours worked well but I felt they still seemed to be lacking something. I think next time I might try adding a cream cheese icing to help cut through the sticky sweetness.

While at work I realised that if you made banana and coffee muffins you could still call them banoffee muffins. I think this would actually be quite fun to try, you could give them to people saying they were banoffee muffins and then they would get a surprise when a coffee filling instead of a toffee one came out. I mentioned this to people at work and they were quite for a few moments before saying they thought I had been working too hard and that was I feeling ok. What?! What wrong with that – it’s true! Sigh, my mind wanders in mysterious ways.

Banoffee Muffins
Ingredients
3 large overripe bananas
150g plain natural yoghurt
125g soft brown sugar
300g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs
50ml vegetable oil
Dulce De Leche Caramel Toffee (I used Merchant Gourmet)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a muffin tin with muffin cases and set to one side.
Peel the bananas, place them into a bowl and mash with a fork until very soft and mushy.
Put the yoghurt and sugar into a mixing bowl and mix together until all the sugar dissolves and you have a caramel coloured yoghurt.
Fold in the banana mush followed by the eggs and then lightly beat the mixture until no strands of egg are left.
Sift in the flour, mixed spice and baking powder. Beat the mixture using a wooden spoon and then finally stir in the oil until well incorporated.
Divide the cake mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes until well-risen and golden brown. A skewer should come out clean when inserted into the thickest part of the cake.
Transfer the muffins to a cooling wrack. Once cold, hollow out a small circle from the top part of the muffin using a small sharp knife.
Cut the excess sponge away from the hollowed out section until you have a sort of flat ‘lid’ left.
Fill the hollow with the toffee caramel sauce and replace the muffins ‘lid.’
Serve as they are or slightly warmed with custard for a quick dessert.
Makes 14 muffins

Famous Four MeMe

Margaret from Kitchen Delights has tagged me for MeMe appropriately called Famous Four.

Four Jobs I’ve Had:
1) Volunteering on Friday afternoons in my local charity shop. I used to get Friday afternoons off when studying my A Levels and decided to do something useful with the time. I did pricing, sorting and till work with a very friendly bunch of ladies.
2) Working Saturdays in the restaurant of my local garden centre during my 2nd year of A Levels. I had to cut and arrange the food for the chiller cabinates, learn how to make all the coffees, serve customers and was often in charge of a separate coffee only drinks bar. It was very hard work and I was on my feet for the entire day and they only used to give us 15 minutes for our lunch break and sometimes this wasn’t until 2:30pm. They were made to change this to 30minutes just before I left but they weren’t too happy about it.
3) I did some temping work during the uni summer holidays. I worked as a receptionist for a media company and it was very dull and boring.
4) I am now on my placement year as part of my course for uni and am working as a New Product Development Technologist for a fruit company. We come up with new fruit ideas, test them out in the test kitchens, run trials through the factory and then launch them into stores. It’s great as I get to be creative and also get to eat a lot of fruit.

Four Places I’ve Lived
1) Until I was six I used to live in a little cottage in a tiny village in Bedfordshire. It had a park and a wood right next to the house and I remember trying to ride my bike through the wood and getting my stabilizers jammed into the roots of trees.
2) We then moved to a larger but still small village set more in the countryside. This is where my family are still living now. Its surrounded on two sides by fields and we have a section of the garden that’s full of trees and apple trees which I love.
3) Two years ago I left home to go to university in Sheffield where I lived in halls with a bunch of people I had never met before. I didn’t particularly enjoy it (the accommodation) as we got burgled 4 times, had mice in the kitchen, water came through the ceiling from the floors above, the toilet fell off the wall and we even once had drug addicts lurking behind the building. (I moved to a much nicer place with some friends for my second year)
4) I’m now living in Leeds where I had to move for my placement job. I have rented my own flat on a lovely residential street that is just far enough away from the city centre not to get all the hassle and noise and yet still close enough to go shopping. I really love it here.

Four Places I’ve Holidayed
1) During my childhood we used to go to Lanzarote which is part of the Canary Islands. It’s got great weather and I remember being amazed at seeing real palm trees and huge cactus’s.
2) We also had a few family trips to Newquay (which is by the sea) accompanied by my grandparents. My granddad adores the coast, especially the sea and taught us all how to body board. We used to rent a beach hut for the day to store our things in and we always managed to get the same one. Number 54 which had a blue front door.
3) When I was 16 I went on holiday with my grandparents alone to Tuscany in Italy. The food, the weather and the views were all wonderful. It’s true what they say about the ice cream in Italy, it was certainly the best I have ever tasted.
4) Just this year my family and grandparents all went to France to celebrate my grandparents golden wedding anniversary. It was a fantastic holiday, we stayed in a really tiny traditional village and got to explore lots of local markets, eating fresh apricots, figs and tomatoes and stuffing ourselves with bread, cheese, olives and pastries.

Four Favourite Foods
1) Some people may find this strange but I really could not live without apples. I have to eat one practically every day or I deprived. They are so crisp and fresh and make that lovely ‘crrrrrisp’ sound when you bite into them. There are also so many varieties to choose from. Tart acidic Bramley apples for cooking or sweet juicy apples for everyday eating (although I do like eating the odd bit of cooking apple too). My favourite is probably Royal Gala for their sweet crisp flavour although Braeburns and the much underrated Jonagold are also good when in season.
2) Freshly baked bread. I love everything about bread, its smell, taste, texture and versatility. You can add fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices or different grains to end up with a whole variety of different breads. My preference is for granary, sourdough or rye bread as I like quite dense loafs that have deep flavours. I also love a really chewy crust. I can’t stand pre-sliced fake white ‘bread.’ Anything you can pummel with your hands that then springs back to its original shape or turns to goo when you mush it is not bread in my opinion.
3) Oats in the form of muesli or porridge. There is something so comforting and satisfying about chewing on milky oats when scattered with soft raisins, dates and chunks of nut. All the textures and flavours go together so well, whoever came up with muesli is a genius. Similarly I love a big steaming bowl of porridge when feeling down or cold. It’s like being given a hug from the inside. At the moment I love flavouring my porridge with chopped dates and cinnamon.
4) My forth choice has to be cake. I adore cake in all forms. Give me a big wedge of cake over chocolate any day. Again, it’s so versatile, from light sponges to dense fruit cake, there is something to suit everyone. My favourite type of cake changes according to mood but I would never say no to a slice of carrot cake. I love its moist spicy crumb dotted with chewy raisins, chunks of nut and topped with a creamy lemony icing – yum!

Four Places I’d Rather Be
1) In London having a foodie day exploring the likes of Harrods, Fortnum & Masons, Selfridges and the newly opened Whole Foods store which I am longing to visit.
2) Back in France sampling more bread, cheese, pastries and maybe a few chocolates.
3) Mexico. I have never been but I have heard that there are places where you can watch someone make up your own specially chosen chocolate from scratch. They pound the cocoa beans and mix it with your choice of flavours of spices and present it to you in a molten mass. This sounds amazing to me and something I long to witness. Plus I would really like to try some authentic Mexican food.
4) Back home with my family, baking treats for afternoon tea.


Four people I tag are:
Gigi from Gigi Cakes
Andrew from Spittoon Extra
Barbara from Winos and Foodies
Myriam from Once Upon A Tart

Carrot & Chickpea Soup

I had had some dried chickpea lurking in my cupboard for far too long and so decided to turn them into soup. I often thicken my soups with beans or pulses as I find they are a great way of getting extra fiber and minerals into your diet. They also add quite a creamy texture to the soup, especially the white beans such as butter beans.

You will see below in the recipe that I have stated to use either 450g dried chickpeas or 900g canned. This is because dried chickpeas will absorb water as they soak overnight and will increase in both size and weight, meaning you need only half the quantity of dried to pre cooked.

I paired my chickpeas with carrots and fresh thyme that I have growing on my windowsill. I am sure that dried thyme or other herbs would work equally well. The soup turned out very thick, which I love as it actually makes it feel more like a meal compared to thin watery soups. It had a lovely flavour with a slightly earthy overtone. I served it with a thyme infused bagel I made a while ago and it was very comforting. The leftovers were great to take to work for lunch the following day. It also freezes well.

Carrot & Chickpea Soup

Ingredients
450g dried chickpeas or 900g canned chickpeas.
3 large carrots
1 onion
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Small knob of butter
5 pints vegetable stock

Method
Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight. Drain the water away, rinse them and then simmer in plenty of water according to pack instructions.
While the chickpeas are cooking, heat the butter and oil in a large pan.
Roughly chop the onion and carrots and add to the pan. Add the fresh thyme and cook for several minutes until the onions are softened and just starting to brown.
Pour over the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes until the carrot is softened.
Once the chickpeas are cooked, drain away their water and add to the soup, or add drained chickpeas from a can.
Allow the soup to cool slightly before blending until smooth using a hand blender or a liquidiser. The chickpeas will cause the soup to thicken.
Serve in big bowls with fresh bread.
Serves 4-6

Daring Bakers August Challenge - Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart

For the past few months I have kept an eye on what challenge the group known as ‘The Daring Bakers’ had been set that month. I loved the concept of it. A group of baking fanatics all given the same recipe, baking it and posting about it on the same day and discussing the results. I found it amazing the way the same recipe and different peoples interpretations of it could produce such varied results. Some had failures while others had roaring successes, either way they had a great time and were brave enough to take up the challenge.

Recently I found myself longing more and more to be a part of this group, to become a Daring Baker. It was seeing the results of the last two challenges, bagels and a strawberry mirror cake that spurred me into action. I emailed the founders, Lis and Ivonne, asking permission to join and after sitting with crossed fingers I was accepted and sent my first recipe challenge. I have never felt so excited. I was dancing round my room and the fact we had to keep it secret until the posting day made it even more exciting. This months challenge was chosen by Patricia and Veronica and they selected a Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart.

My first thought upon seeing the tart was ‘oh yum, that looks divine.’ Reading through the ingredients I realised there were quite a few but nothing I wouldn’t be able to get hold of. Upon reading the recipe I realised it was going to take some planning but feeling confidently excited I set to work.

The first task was to make the chocolate hazelnut pastry, as this needed time in the fridge overnight before rolling out. I decided to go ahead and make the whole batch even though only 1/3 of it is needed for the tart, as the rest would keep in the freezer (who wouldn’t want a lovely batch of hazelnut pastry in the freezer?) My first mini challenge was finding the hazelnuts. The recipe stated using ground hazelnuts, which I found impossible to get hold of. Instead I bought some fresh nibbed hazelnuts and decided to grind them down in the food processor. This worked well and I ended up with some small, almost paste like hazelnuts and some still in small chunks which I was quite pleased with as I thought this would add a nice texture. I prepared the rest of the pastry following the recipe to the letter whereupon I was struck by my first bought of doubt. The pastry was a lovely chocolaty brown colour, smelt amazing and tasted pretty good too, but was it supposed to be the texture of thick buttercream? I doubled checked the recipe, no I hadn’t left anything out. How was that supposed to be rolled out? Feeling a little apprehensive I squished it into a log shape, wrapped it in clingfilm and placed it in the fridge.

The next morning I apprehensively opened the fridge door. My pastry looked the same as before. I tentively gave it a poke, and… success! It was now very firm and more pastry like. Hooray! Feeling elated I cut off the required amount and proceeded to roll it out using lots of icing sugar to dust the counter. As I rolled, it became softer, but I managed to form a large enough circle for my tart case. I decided to line the base of my tart case, even though it was a loose bottomed one, as I know from past experience that they can still sometimes be hard to get out. I decided to use a round fluted tart tin, one because it’s a little more decorative and two, because I didn’t have a straight edged one. After doing this I returned to my pastry only to find it had now gone very soft and stuck itself firmly to the counter. Oh nuts. I managed to unstick it and lifted it into my tart case. The base got there in one piece, but most of the sides just fell away. Feeling undaunted I tore little bits of pastry into segments and moulded it into the tin as I have previously done with other pastries. This worked well and I soon had an evenly lined pastry tin. I blind baked it, complete with baking beans and a layer of tin foil for easy removal. Once the allotted time was up, the pastry sides had puffed up slightly but not shrunk at all. Smiling happily I scrunched up the foil and removed the baking beans. The smile promptly fell from my face as the top layer of pastry base came away with the foil. What?! Nooooo! I hastily discarded the baking beans and scraped the pastry off the foil and arranged it back into the base of the tin (thankfully it was a little undercooked). I then put it back into the oven for a couple of minutes to firm up. This worked and I now had a fully baked pastry case. Hahha you silly pastry, you will not beat me!

As it cooled I set to work preparing the caramel filling. I wasn’t feeling too worried about this as I have made caramel once before and the instructions seemed pretty straightforward.

I slowly melted the sugar in a dry pan and swirled it until it turned a lovely golden brown. It then said to add the cream and butter to it, and as I hadn’t remembered to remove them from the fridge beforehand I thought that adding very cold cream to very hot sugar was a bad idea and that it would probably set instantly. So instead I heated it very gently in the microwave until it just felt a little cool rather than cold. I added them to the caramel and stirred, only for it to do exactly as I feared and set into solid lumps. I put the whole lot back on a very low heat and stirred slowly and ‘oh joy’ it all melted and blended back together with only a few small stubborn caramel lumps. I then had to add a flour and egg mixture and as I was by this point feeling a little frazzled I mixed the flour and then the added the eggs on top in a small bowl with the result that it formed a few stubborn flour lumps. Stupid girl, you should had slowly added the eggs to the flour to make a paste not just plonked the whole lot in together. I added it to the caramel anyway and then hit upon the idea of sieving the caramel into the pastry case, like when making a custard tart. This worked perfectly and meant I ended up with a silky smooth glossy caramel. (I would advise using a metal sieve as I suspect a plastic one might melt from the heat of the caramel). I placed it into the oven to bake and licked the sticky caramel remains from the saucepan with my fingers. It tasted amazing, so creamy and rich and it reminded me strongly of something from my childhood. I tasted some more and realised it tasted exactly like Werther’s Original, those set butterscotch, oval shaped sweets that always feature a grandfather and grandson in the adverts. Only this was even better, as this was soft and gooey. It came out of the oven with a lightly set sugary top, looking a bit like a treacle tart and it took a lot of restraint to prevent diving in with a fork there and then.

After it had cooled I prepared the chocolate moussey topping. This was so quick and easy compared to the rest of the tart. The recipe stated to smooth it into an even layer over the top of the caramel, but I wanted something more decorative than this. I had worked very hard over my tart and I wanted it to look more impressive. Instead I filled a piping bag and swirled the mousse over the top and decorated the edges with rosettes. I was thrilled with the outcome. It was now the afternoon and so I put the whole lot into the fridge to firm up before we feasted on it after dinner.

I had tasted the individual components along the way, but eating the whole thing together as one was amazing. All the flavours worked so well. There was the nutty cinnamony pastry which complemented the caramel and chocolate top so well. The pastry turned out crumbly and full of flavour. The caramel was heavenly. Sweet, soft and creamy, yet still firm enough to hold its shape when cut. On its own it was a little too sticky but the light creamy chocolate mousse helped to cleanse your pallet and free your tastebuds, ready for the next mouthful. I had some mousse left over and so I serve some extra with each portion. It tasted SO good and I was so proud of my efforts. I had overcome the little hurdles and set backs that the tart had thrown at me, but this only made the achievement feel all the better. If the recipe had gone too smoothly it wouldn’t have felt like a challenge and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it so much. This way, I now truly feel like a Daring Baker and can’t wait to see what new challenge we will be presented with next month.

Would I make the tart again? Definitely, especially now I know the little snags and problems to watch out for and how to overcome them. I made this while I was at home for the weekend, as I wanted to have people to share it with. My dad ate three pieces in one sitting and even my brother polished off his plate and he doesn’t usually like ‘fancy’ desserts. I think if I made it again I would probably use dark chocolate for the mousse topping rather than milk, as I love dark chocolate and I think this would help prevent it from becoming too sickly sweet (meaning you could have a bigger slice!).

Thank you so much Patricia and Veronica for selecting this tart for our challenge. It is not one I would probably have chosen to make myself, but I had such a brilliant time making it and an even better time demolishing it. YUM!

P.S. we had the option of making some brittle caramel shards to sprinkle over the top of the tart, but I decided to leave these off as I am not a fan of brittle caramel. Plus, I thought the tart would probably be sweet enough as it was.

Here’s the recipe. It’s originally from Sweet and Savoury Tarts by Eric Kayser.

Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart

Makes One 9-inch(24-cm) square tart or one 10-inch (26-cm) round tart.

Chocolate Shortbread Pastry
Refrigeration: overnight
Yields: enough for 3 tarts - 9 ½ inches (24 cm) square or 10 inches (26 cm round)

A day ahead

Ingredients

1 cup (250g ) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150 g) confectioners’ sugar

½ cup (50 g) ground hazelnuts

2 level teaspoons (5 g) ground cinnamon

2 eggs

4 ½ cups (400 g) cake flour

2 ½ teaspoons (10 g) baking powder

1 ½ tablespoons (10 g) cocoa powder

Method

1. In a mixing bowl of a food processor, cream the butter.

2. Add the confectioners’ sugar, the ground hazelnuts, and the cinnamon, and mix together

3. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing constantly

4. Sift in the flour, the baking powder, and the cocoa powder, and mix well.

5. Form a ball with the dough, cover in plastic wrap, and chill overnight.

The following day
Ingredients

½ lb (250 g) chocolate shortbread pastry (see recipe below)

1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar

1 cup (250 g) heavy cream (30-40 percent butterfat) or crème fraiche

¼ cup (50 g) butter

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

2 ½ tablespoons (15 g) flour

1 ¼ cups (300 g) whipping cream

½ lb (250 g) milk chocolate

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 °F (160 °C).

2. Line the baking pan with the chocolate shortbread pastry and bake blind for 15 minutes.

3. In a saucepan, caramelize 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar using the dry method until it turns a golden caramel colour. Incorporate the heavy cream or crème fraiche and then add butter. Mix thoroughly. Set aside to cool.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat the whole eggs with the extra egg yolk, then incorporate the flour.

5. Pour this into the cream-caramel mixture and mix thoroughly.6. Spread it out in the tart shell and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Milk chocolate mousse:
7. Beat the whipping cream until stiff. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave or in a bain-marie, and fold it gently into the whipped cream.

8. Pour the chocolate mousse over the cooled caramel mixture, smoothing it with a spatula. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator.

For the caramel decoration (optional):
Melt ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar in a saucepan until it reaches an amber colour. Pour it onto waxed paper laid out on a flat surface. Leave to cool. Break it into small fragments and stick them lightly into the top of the tart.

Serves 6 – 12 (will-power dependant)