Trio of Miniature Fruity Desserts for a Special Birthday Celebration

My mum celebrated a very special birthday in January and rather than have a huge party with everyone she knows, she decided it would be nicer to have a series of celebratory dinners or outings with her different circles of friends and family. One of her wishes was to have a dinner party with 8 of her (and my dads) oldest friends. Rather than let her slave over her own birthday dinner, my sister and I volunteered to cook the meal for her in exchange for freedom over the menu and keeping it a secret until they were sitting round the table. She was more than happy to that suggestion and so the fun and whispered discussions began. First we planned the main course, and wanting to make sure we made something that suited everyone we sent round an email to the guests asking if there were any foods they didn’t like. It’s a good thing we did as here is an example of the feedback we got “carrots, lamb, salmon, shellfish, mushrooms, green veg, beetroot, anchovies, smelly cheese and cabbage.” Oh well, that was the lamb, prawn and beetroot stew out the window then ;)

We decided to do two main courses in the end, to ensure there would be something for everyone. We chose Oriental Chicken by Delia Smith that was marinated in a sticky fragrantly spiced sauce and a Pork, Bean and Chorizo Stew that was in the winter BBC Good Food magazine. It caught my eye as it was a recipe for 10 people which was just what we were after. We decided to make a huge batch of rice and serve it with chanterelle carrots, tender stem broccoli, French beans and ciabatta for dipping so people could pick and choose and those wanting to avoid carrots etc could do so. My sisters boyfriend R also agreed to come dressed up and be the butler for the evening which meant that with 10 guests, the three of us and my brother who was hiding in the side lines we were really having to cook enough food for 14 people and as we didn’t know who would want which dish, we cooked enough for 10 servings of each, so really we could have fed 20!! We had to do a last minute dash to my grandparents to borrow some of their saucepans as we didn’t have enough large ones to cook all the veg in.

We decided against a starter and instead did a variety of canapés for people to nibble on while sipping Kir Royal (Chamapigne and Crème de Cassis mixed) on arrival. We did blinis with crème fraiche and smoked salmon or green olive and coriander tapenade for the salmon haters. As well as some homemade Parma ham puff pastry twists, mini Thai poppadoms with a chili, cream cheese and coriander dip and spiced nuts.

I’m the baker of the family and so the dessert was left up to me, although my sister did of course give her opinions. We decided that elegant miniature desserts were the way to go. I wanted to give a choice and so came up with the idea of doing two different dessert trios – with either a chocolate or a fruity trio option, but with similar components on each. I only realised later this meant I had to make six different desserts – I can’t resist a challenge! Then cheese, grapes, crackers and chutney to finish with coffee and chocolates.

We were having the party on a Saturday and my sister was working away from home all week which meant it was up to me to shop for and buy all the food, some of the drinks and serving dishes etc. You should have seen the three page shopping list I took with me to Tesco’s – 20 chicken thighs, 2kg carrots, 3kg pork etc. I was having to swing my whole body along with the trolley to try and get it to turn corners by the end, good thing a small child didn’t run into my path or else they might have been crushed. I have never done a shop like it but it was rather thrilling! It then didn’t all fit in the boot of my car – it’s only small. Once home I then realised I had to try and not only find fridge space for all the food, but I had to try and hide most of it too as we were keeping the menu a secret. I ended up hiding some things too well and it was a game of hunt the crackers for the cheese during the evening (they were behind some books on the bookshelf – obvious place for them really!)

I wanted to serve the desserts on flat plates and I knew I wanted the desserts to all be individual and miniature and spent a while browsing through all the shops in town looking for suitable plates and serving dishes. Every time I thought I had found something I liked they never had 10 of them. I was thinking of serving some mini crème brulees in tiny glass bowls but when I found some plain white egg cups I knew I had to use those – they were just perfect. Do you know what we used as plates in the end for the desserts? Bathroom floor tiles! My parents redecorated their bathroom a couple of years ago and we still had two packs of spare tiles tucked away in the garage. They were a little on the large side, but nicely flat, quite neutral and when washed and polished they did the job perfectly.

So without further ado here are the recipes for the fruity dessert trio which comprised of a mini lemon tart served with a butterfly tuile courtesy of this months Daring Bakers challenge, an almond and blueberry frangipane square which was topped with a small blob of ice cream and an egg cup crème brulee! It’s a shame he photos are a bit poor, it was dark by the time we got round to serving dessert. See back soon for the chocolate trio.

Mini Lemon Tart
Recipe adapted from Delia Smiths Winter Collection
Ingredients
2 lemons
2 eggs
60g caster sugar
70ml double cream
10 – 12 mini sweet shortcrust pastry cases (see below)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grate the zest from the lemons and set to one side.
Beat the eggs and sugar together until combined but you don’t want them to thicken, so don’t overbeat.
Add the juice from the lemons and the lemon zest.
Finally gently beat in the double cream.
Divide between the 10-12 mini pastry cases and bake for 12-15 minutes until set.
Leave to cool before serving. I served mine with a butterfly tuile biscuit from the January Daring Bakers challenge.


Sweet shortcrust pastry
Recipe from Bake by Rachel Allen
Ingredients
200g plain flour
1tbsp icing sugar
100g cold butter
1 medium egg

Method
Put the flour, icing sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse gently until the mix starts to resemble chunky crumbs.
Beat the egg and add half to the flour mix, blitz again, adding more egg until the crumbs begin to stick together but it is still crumbly in texture.
Pour the pastry mix onto a large square of clingfilm, gather the film together and squeeze the pastry into a dough. Flatten slightly and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry until around 3mm thick (Rachel suggests between two sheets of clingfilm to avoid adding extra flour).
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Cut out circles of pastry and press into miniature tart tins. Trim off any excess. Chill for a further 30 minutes.
Lay a small square of clingfilm on top of the pastry tins and fill each cavity with baking beans or rice. Gather the clingfilm around it to use as a weight.
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, then remove the rice weight and bake for a further 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp.
Set aside until ready to use.
Makes 20 mini tart cases or one 20cm tin.


Blueberry & Almond Frangipane
Ingredients
110g butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
50g self raising flour
60g ground almonds
½ tsp almond extract
½ tsp baking powder
100g fresh blueberries

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line an 8inch/20cm baking tin and set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the eggs and almond extract.
Add the flour, ground almonds and baking powder and beat until well incorporated.
Spread the batter into the cake tin and scatter the blueberries over the top (they will sink to the bottom during baking).
Bake for 22-25 minutes until risen, golden brown and springy to the touch.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Leave bottom side up – as this will show off the blueberries.
Cut into squares or rectangles and serve with a small scoop of ice cream.


Mini Egg Cup Crème Brulees
Recipe adapted from Delia Smith
Ingredients
4 egg yolks
3tsp cornflour
1½ tbsp caster sugar
380ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g caster sugar for the caramel

Method
Put the cream into a small saucepan and allow to heat gently until just beginning to simmer.
Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cornflour together until well combined.
When the cream is hot, slowly pour over the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time.
Whisk to ensure it is smooth and then, pass the mix through a sieve back into the pan.
Stir constantly over a low heat until the mixture starts to thicken. DO NOT allow to boil or it will split.
When the custard coats the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and immediately divide between the egg cups or other moulds, filling nearly to the top.
Allow to cool before covering with cling film and refrigerating for at least 4 hours.
Shortly before serving, place the sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has melted and a golden caramel has formed. Shake the pan from time to time, but do not stir during the melting stage.
When melted, spoon or carefully pour a layer of caramel over the top of each custard. Allow to stand for 1 minute to set before serving.
Makes 12 egg cup crème brulees.
If making bigger crème brulees in ramekins, then you can scatter the sugar for the caramel over the top of the custards and caramelise under the grill or with a blowtorch if you prefer.

Banoffee Pie

I made this dessert a few weeks back for a family BBQ. It was very quick and easy to make, mainly because it was more a matter of putting components together rather than baking, especially as I cheated slightly with the toffee sauce. I used Dulce de Leche rather than make my own, which saved time.

I did make my own pastry and used a third of the recipe given here for cinnamon hazelnut pastry as I thought these flavours would go well with the toffee and bananas. After the pastry had blind baked it was simply a matter of adding the toffee sauce, some sliced bananas, fluffy mounds of whipped cream and a light shaving of chocolate to finish the dish. You could speed up the process even more by using ready made pastry or even just a crushed biscuit base.

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients
400-500g shortcrust pastry
400g Dulce de Leche
200ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 large ripe bananas
20g dark chocolate

Method
Roll out the pastry and line a 9inch/22cm fluted tart tin with it. Then place in the fridge to firm up for 15-20 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200C.
Prick the base of the pastry and blind bake (with baking beans or a bag of rice) for 12 minutes before removing the baking beans and baking for 10 minutes more until crisp and golden in colour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Spread a thin layer of the toffee sauce over the base of the tart.
Slice the bananas into thick rounds and arrange over the toffee sauce.
Spread the remaining toffee sauce over the bananas until they are well covered.
Add the vanilla to the cream and whip until soft peaks forms. Spread over the filling and decorate the top with a little grated dark chocolate.
Refrigerate until required.


If you want to make your own toffee sauce, here’s how:
Ingredients
115g butter
115g light brown sugar
400g sweetened condensed milk
Method
Place all the ingredients into a pan and heat gently, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and the ingredients well incorporated.
Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring constantly until it changes to a deep caramel colour.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool before using.
DO NOT touch the caramel it will be extremely hot!

Mini Walnut Cake Pies

A few weeks ago I read a post on Bake or Break about mini pecan pies in the form of cupcakes. They looked great and I was so intrigued by this pie/cake combo that I decided to try them out for myself.

I halved the recipe as I didn’t want to make too many and as I didn’t have any pecans to hand I substituted walnuts. The recipe came together in a flash and I was excited when they went into the oven. They came out looking like miniature pies but with a slightly spongy top. I decided to let them cool in the tin for a while as they looked a little fragile, but I think I left them too long as they got quite stuck. Thankfully most of them made it out of the tin intact.

I’m not sure if I undercooked mine, but they still had soft and sticky centers, definitely more pie than cupcake but by no means a disappointment. They were very sweet but this worked well with the buttery walnuts and as they are quite small they didn’t come sickly. They were a hit with friends and I loved how quick and simple they were to put together, no messing around with pastry required and yet you end up with yummy little pies.

Mini Walnut Pies
Recipe from Bake or Break blog
Ingredients
115g walnuts
55g plain flour
200g soft brown sugar
140g butter
2 eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Grease a muffin tin with oil and set to one side.
Finely chop the walnuts and melt the butter.
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.
Fill each well ¾ of the way full with the batter.
Bake in preheated oven for around 18-20 minutes.
Allow to cool for only a few minutes before removing from the tins.
Great eaten hot or cold.
Makes 8 - 10

Blueberry Frangipane Tart

Over the weekend I was having a sort through my freezer and found some frozen blueberries and a block of pastry and decided to use them to make a tart for the Monday Munchers.

An almond frangipane was my tart of choice, for not only do blueberry and almonds go well together but the tart is also easy to make and does not need refrigerating meaning it could sit happily on the desk at work.

The tart came together in a very short time. I used the blueberries from frozen and loved how they created little pools of inky purple in the batter as they thawed, baked and bubbled. I added a layer of jam under the fruit and frangipane (I used the rhubarb and plum jam I made the day before but any jam would work well.) It has the duel purpose of adding flavour but also helps to seal the pastry and prevents it from going soggy. The frangipane was soft and moist with a wonderful almond flavour that worked well with the blueberries, themselves having intensified in flavour during baking.

The tart was well received at work and made a nice change from the usual cakes or cookies I take in. I am sure you could use any kind of fresh or frozen berry in place of the blueberries and even flavour the frangipane too, chocolate or orange springs to mind but have fun and experiment.

Blueberry Frangipane Tart
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry (homemade or shop bought)
100g frozen blueberries
100g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g ground almonds
½ tsp almond essence
3 tbsp jam of your choice (I used my rhubarb and plum jam)

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C and place a baking tray into the oven to heat up.
Roll out the pastry until around 4 mm thick. Line a 23cm round tart tin with the pastry 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.
Spread your jam of choice over the base of the pastry case. Scatter over the frozen blueberries and drop spoonfuls of the frangipane mixture over the top and spread gently to form a smooth surface.
Place the tart tin onto the hot baking tray and bake for 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 160C and continuing to bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the tart is slightly puffed and golden brown.
Brush the surface of the tart with a little warmed apricot jam and leave to cool before removing from the tin and serving.
Serves 8 - 12

Daring Bakers January Challenge – Lemon Meringue Pie(s)

This month’s culinary challenge was chosen by Jen from The Canadian Baker and I was thrilled when she announced it was to be lemon meringue pie. I love lemon meringue pie and but haven’t eaten one for a number of years. Just thinking of the tangy lemon filling topped with clouds of sweet fluffy meringue takes me right back to my childhood. After dinner on Sundays, my mother would always produce a special homemade dessert and lemon meringue pie was one of my favourites. Unfortunately we didn’t have it all that often as my siblings refused to eat any form of dessert that didn’t include the word ‘chocolate.’ So I was delighted at this months challenge yet also slightly daunted, would I be able to recreate a dish that lived up to my childhood memories?

The lemon pie involves three separate components that are all prepared and then assembled together and baked. A pastry crust, a lemon filling and a meringue topping. We were free to choose the size of the pies we made and I decided to make miniature ones using a muffin tin, rather than a traditional large pie.

The crust came together well and I was able to stamp out my 12 pastry rounds from the first rolling, which was good as it meant I didn’t overwork the dough by having to re-roll it. However, I only used about two-thirds of the pastry and so I rolled the excess into a ball and froze it for future use.

The lemon curd filling involved a little more work, but this was down to the work involved rather than it being difficult. The recipe called for 180ml of lemon juice but I ended up with just under 150ml after juicing my bag of 4 lemons and so had to go with that. It didn’t seem to affect the lemon flavour too much, which was still very prominent. A word of advice when it comes to grating/juicing lemons. If you wash them or have wet hands then remember to dry them before attempting to slice them, or you may suffer the consequences. I attempted to cut a wet lemon in half using a big sharp knife and…well lets just say I ended up cutting something else – ouch! As I made miniature pies I also ended up with too much lemon curd (can you see a pattern emerging?) but I was more than happy about this, as the curd was so wonderfully tangy and bursting with citrus twang that I could quite happily have stood there and eaten the lot on its own, but instead I chose to bottle it and I now have now have a lovely jar of homemade lemon curd in the fridge – yum!

The topping was quick and easy to prepare and I ended up with an absolute mountain of meringue. If you want to make little pies I suggest you halve the meringue recipe below.

I was delighted with how the pies turned out. They stuck slightly to the sides of the tin but I found running a greased knife around the edge before attempting to remove them from the tin helped. I think they look very cute and just the right size for sharing around easily. My pastry could probably have done with a little extra cooking as it wasn’t that crisp, but the meringue topping was lovely and fluffy, their airy bubbles dissolve on your tongue in a matter of moments. My favourite part of the pie, by far, was the lemon curd filling – oh it’s just dreamy! Silky smooth, yet thick so that it coats your tongue and tingles your taste buds with a burst of tangy lemoniness that made me swoon. I think next time I may forgo the meringue and just add extra filling, I can’t praise it enough, I’m salivating just thinking about it. All in all the pies lived up to my childhood memories, although my mum still holds the edge when it comes to pastry. Thanks Jen for choosing such a divine pie.

Check out the Daring Bakers Blog Roll to read about fellow Bakers pies.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10inch pie or lots of mini ones

For the pastry crust
165g cold butter
275g plain flour
50g caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
80ml cold water

For the lemon curd filling
475ml water
150g caster sugar
40g cornflour
5 egg yolks
55g butter
180ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest (around 1 lemon)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the meringue topping
5 egg whites
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
120g caster sugar

For the pastry
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the lemon curd
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.
Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the meringuePreheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack.
Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust, although it’s still delicious eaten the following day too.

Festive Mince Pies

Christmas is nearly here, the tree is up, the decorations are displayed and thick fluffy jumpers are making an appearance. The festive baking is well underway and along with it come mince pies. Those little pastry cases full of boozy fruits, sugar and spice that everyone seems to feel must always be on hand to feed unexpected guests and well wishers. They have become associated with the last few days before Christmas, in my family at least. This year I had the added bonus of being able to make mince pies using my own homemade mincemeat (fruitmince) that I made a few weeks previously.

Its had time to mature, the flavours have mingled and its sweet sticky fruitiness has developed. I found another bonus to making my own mincemeat, which was because my mixture was heated before being jarred, the suet had dissolved throughout the mixture meaning that when I baked with it, it didn’t bubble over the edges of the pastry, making the pies stick to the tin as I have found with other mixes. This is because when the suet is left raw, it creates extra ‘liquid’ when it melts and often bubbles over the top of the pies. Having the suet already melted also means you can fill the pastry cases with even more mincemeat without the fear of it bubbling over.

I decided to make a batch for this years last offering to the Monday Munchers. I decided to make them more festive by cutting out Christmassy shapes of pastry for the tops, rather than using a round disc of pastry like most store bought ones. I used a star, holly leaf and a Christmas tree cutter. I also dusted them with a snowy shower of icing sugar before serving which made them look extra festive.

They went down very well and were full of flavour. My only small disappointment was that the mincemeat was not that boozy. You could tell there was some there, but it wasn’t overly obvious, but then again this allowed the flavour of the fruits to shine through so I suppose it depends what flavour you want. I’m sure a blob of brandy butter would help enhance the boozy aspect.

These are a must have in my family at this time of year, even for people who don’t like mice pies, they still expect to see them on the table. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without the site and smell of baking mince pies.

Mince Pies
Ingredients
½ jar mincemeat
500g sweet shortcrust pastry
Milk, caster sugar and icing sugar to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up. Make sure you have a bun tin to hand.
Flour a work surface and roll out two-thirds of the pastry until around 4mm thick.
Cut out circles of the pastry and place into the bun tin, ensuring the circles are wider that the top of the bun hole in order to fit properly.
Spoon heaped teaspoons of mincemeat into each pastry cup.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out festive shapes and add to the tops of the pies.
Brush the pies with milk, cream or egg wash and dust with a lightly sprinkling of caster sugar.
Place the mice pies into the oven onto the hot baking tray (this helps ensure the base of the pies get crisp too) and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire wrack.
Serve when still warm with a snowy dusting of icing sugar.
Makes around 14 mince pies

Tomato & Broccoli Quiche

Do you ever have days where you wake up and instantly know exactly what you want to eat that day? I had one of those cravings last weekend and my craving was for quiche. I attempted to ignore it but it wouldn’t be pushed away and after a quick rummage in the fridge I found I had all the ingredients I needed, it must have been fate.

I decided to make a broccoli and tomato quiche. One, because I had lots of broccoli to use up (it was on offer and I brought rather a lot) and two, I had some lovely tomatoes growing outside my door that were just begging to be used. I decided to sue one tomato that was still green as well as I think the vibrant green colour is wonderful; it also adds a different flavour.

The quiche was very easy to prepare and after a short mornings work I was able to satisfy my craving and enjoy a slice for lunch. I had some cold the following day (I’m quite partial to cold quiche) and found the flavours had developed more. The recipe for the filling is a big vague as I just used what I had to hand, but that it one of the beauties of a quiche, you can fill them with a whole assortment of things.

Tomato & Broccoli Quiche
For the pastry
200g plain flour
120g butter
1-2 tbsp cold water

For the filling
½ tbsp olive oil
1 head of broccoli
1 medium onion
3 tomatoes
2 tsp fresh thyme
3 eggs
250ml milk or double cream
Salt and pepper

Method
To start, make the pastry. Sift the flour into a large bowl, cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour using your fingertips until the butter is well dispersed in the flour and little clumps are forming.
Sprinkle over half of the water and bring together using a round bladed butter knife, adding more water when needed.
When larger clumps are forming use your hands to form the dough into a smooth ball.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until 5mm thick. Use the pastry to line a 9inch tart tin, being sure not to stretch the pastry or else it will shrink on baking.
Cut the excess pastry away and place the lined tin in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Finely dice the onion and lightly fry with most of the fresh thyme in the olive oil until softened, then set to one side.
After chilling, prink the pastry with a fork and blind bake for 12-15 minutes until just firm and lightly golden. While it’s baking prepare the filling.
Cut the broccoli into small pieces and slice the tomatoes. Beat the eggs, milk/cream, salt, pepper and any leftover thyme together in a bowl or jug.
Remove the pastry from the oven and spread the softened onion over the base.
Arrange the broccoli and tomato slices over the top and carefully pour over the egg mixture.
Return to the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until set and golden brown on top.
Allow to cool slightly before un-moulding and serving.
Make 1 9inch quiche.

P.S. I had quite a bit of left over pastry and so I did what I used to love doing as a child, and made some jam tarts. I used some unusual flavoured jams to make them a bit more interesting – lemon & ginger, and blueberry & lavender. I took the tarts into work the following day, and although jam tarts are best eaten the day they are made, I received no complaints.

Mums ‘Foolproof’ Shortbread Biscuits

Apologies for not having posted for a while. This week I was hit by that nasty flu/cold virus that appears around this time of year. I’ve had lot of soup and hot drinks and am now feeling almost ‘normal’ again.

A few days ago I received an email from Luisa who asked me if I had any recipes for shortbread that could be made into mince pies. I think it’s a little early to start making mince pies but by a freaky coincidence I had chosen to make shortbread biscuits for works Monday Munchers.

The recipe is from my Mum and one that she got off the back of a packet of Stork margarine when at university. They are so quick to make and I have memories of her baking them when she was expecting friends round for morning coffee. They are called foolproof as they always produce nice crispy biscuits even if you over handle the dough a bit. However, I’m sure you could use butter instead for a more authentic shortbread.

The dough comes together in your hands in under 10minutes and is easy to roll out and stamp biscuits from. The dough resembles pastry in its qualities and I’m certain it would lend itself very well to little pies or tarts. It produces a crisp, crunchy biscuit with a slightly crumbly texture. It also takes well to the addition of choc chips, currants or vanilla.

So Luisa, give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. If you were wanting more of a soft, crumbly shortbread for your mince pies I have found some other recipes that look promising and have attached the links at the bottom of the page.

Mums ‘Foolproof’ Shortbread Biscuits
Ingredients
4oz (105g) Stork margarine
6oz (175g) plain flour
2 oz (55g) caster sugar
Add choc chips or currants if desired.

Method
Preheat the oven to 150C.
Place all the ingredients into a bowl and rub them together using your fingers.
When mostly combined and clumps start to form, work/kneed the dough into a ball.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to around 5mm thick, and cut out rounds, re-rolling any excess dough.
Place on baking sheet and scatter over a little extra caster sugar.
Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until ever so lightly golden at the edges.
Transfer to a wire wrack to cool.
Makes 12-14 biscuits.

Cranberry Mince Pies by Gordon Ramsay:

Mini Mince Pies made using ground almonds in the pastry by Waitrose Magazine:

Shortbread Pastry by Heston Blumenthal from The Guardian Newspaper:

Shortbread Pastry Banana Tarts from Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative:

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.

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)

Quiche or Tart?

I am just about to start my last week of uni before heading home for the Easter holidays. Looking through my cupboards at lunchtime I realised I had a large amount of red onions and eggs that would need using up before I left. The first thing that came to mind was a quiche. After a short rummage I unearthed some sweetcorn which I thought would look very pretty alongside the red onions and so I set to work.

The pastry was very easy to work with, although it was rather a nuisance to get out of the tin once cooked. However, I didn’t grease the tin beforehand which is probably the reason. I will have to remember to do that next time. In the end I have decided to label this as a tart rather than a quiche as in my opinion a quiche should lots of eggy mixture surrounding vegetables and a tart is lots of vegetables stuck together with eggy mixture and mine is the latter. (Confused yet?)

The tart has a naturally sweet flavour due to the red onions and sweetcorn which go well with the crisp pastry and smooth eggy filling. On cooling, the red onions turned almost the dark blue colour of blueberries, which looked very pretty next to the bright yellow of the sweetcorn. I think it could have done with a little more thyme as it only gave a very subtle flavour. Next time I will try to get hold of some fresh thyme.

I love baking the straggly shaped left over pastry on the baking tray along side the tart case. Mum always used to let us do this with any leftover pastry she had and it always brings back fond memories. They are great to nibble on when hot out of the oven, dusted with a sprinkling or sugar or spread with a little jam.

Red Onion and Sweetcorn Tart
For the pastry
130g plain flour
55g butter
Pinch of salt
1½ tbsp cold water

For the filling
400g red onions
75g Sweetcorn
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
120ml milk
1 tsp dried thyme
Pepper and salt for seasoning

Method
Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl and add the butter. Using a round bladed knife, work the butter into the flour using a cutting action.
When the butter is evenly distributed through the flour, rub the mixture together using the tips of your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the cold water a little at a time and work it in using the knife. Then form the mixture into a dough using your hands.
Form into a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Chop the onions in half and then shred them into strips.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onions and thyme. Cook over a fairly high heat until soft, sticky and sweet. Around 10 minutes.
Pre heat the oven to 180C. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until around 3mm thick. Carefully place into a 9inch fluted tin.
Roll the rolling pin over the top of the tin to remove any excess pastry. Then go round the edge of the tin pressing the pastry so that it rises slightly above the rim.
Prick the base with a sharp knife and place on a baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes.
Measure out the milk into a jug and add the eggs, pepper and sweetcorn. Whisk together until combined.
Remove the pastry case form the oven and brush the inside with a little of the beaten egg mixture and return it to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Take the pastry case out of the oven and add the fried onions over the base. Carefully pour over the egg and sweetcorn mixture. Place in the oven and leave to cook for 30 minutes until set and lightly golden brown.
Allow to cool or serve whilst still warm.

Serves 6-8 people depending on appetite.