A Raunchy Proposition

I’ve never been one to pander to such indecent propositions; I’m just not that kind of girl, however when this proposal was put forward by Jeanne of Cooksister! in her Waiter, there’s something in my… event, this proposition proved too cheeky to resist. The proposition? Topless Tarts. (Cue burlesque music and feather boa striptease)

I can’t help but give out a little schoolgirl chuckle when saying what the theme is for this month’s WTSIM event. And who can keep a straight face when saying those two words one after the other, topless – tart? I know that it turns me into a giggling juvenile, sniggering as if I were a 10-year old. And I can see you now, attempting to thwart that grin creasing on your face, a million mischievous visions conjured up in your imagination at the mention of a topless tart.

So I know were talking about topless tarts, but this is still strictly a food blog and I certainly do not want to solicit any questionable material on my site; so make sure you're minds don't somehow stray into the gutter. This post is rated G, so don't get any ideas. The kind of tart I am referring to is the food variety, and the topless part only refers to its lack of a pastry covering.

So I'm sorry to disappoint you if you were looking for a more adult type of tart, but I think this one will appeal to you just as much as the other kind. It's Glazed Lemon Tart that is less naughty and more nice.

I have never been a huge fan of lemon tarts filled with curd, I always find the curd too sharp and acidic and I end up scrunching my face into ridiculous contortions while eating them because I find most curd tarts too sour for my tastes. So as opposed to a lemon tart filled with curd, this lemon tart's filling is sweetened with condensed milk and made light with egg whites.

The result is a feathery-light filling that isn't too sour and is just sweet enough. I did reduce the amount of condensed milk by about 145ml, which just gave the right balance of sweet and sour. The great thing is this tart is tempting inside and out, the vanilla flecked pastry adds that little bit of oomph to the dessert. And I think the best part is the caramelised crust that provides that little bit of juxtaposition between the spongy filling and crunchy crust. And what better excuse to be using a blowtorch around the kitchen.

Check out the round up of more topless beauties later this week at Cooksister!

Glazed Lemon Tart with Caramelised Oranges
Recipe adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller
Serves 8



SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Blowtorch (not necessary but advantageous)

FOR THE VANILLA BEAN PASTRY
185g plain all-purpose flour
120g pure icing (confectioner’s) sugar
115g chilled butter, coarsely chopped
½ vanilla bean, scraped seeds, pod discarded
2 egg yolks

FOR THE TART FILLING
4 egg yolks
250g condensed milk
2 lemons, juiced and with rind finely grated
2 eggwhites
55g (¼-cup) caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

FOR THE CARAMELISED ORANGES
220g (1-cup) caster sugar
1 orange, juiced
30ml Cointreau
4 oranges, thinly sliced

TO MAKE THE PASTRY
Process flour, icing sugar, butter and vanilla seeds in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add egg yolks and process until pastry just comes together.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Bring pastry to room temperature.
Lightly grease 8 x round fluted flan tins with removable base.
Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick and line flan tins, trimming excess pastry, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Blind bake pastry for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
Carefully remove baking paper and pastry weights and bake for another 5-10 minutes until crisp, then cool.

TO MAKE THE FILLING
Whisk egg yolks in a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water until thick and pale.
Add condensed milk and lemon juice and stir to combine.
Pass through a fine sieve, then add lemon rind.
Using an electric mixer, whisk eggwhites until soft peaks form, then slowly add sugar and whisk on high until sugar has dissolved and meringue is glossy.
Add meringue to lemon mixture and fold gently to combine.
Pour into prepared tart cases and bake for 10 minutes or until centre has just set (don’t let the top colour too much).
Cool, then refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until cold.

TO MAKE CARAMELISED
For caramelised oranges, combine caster sugar and 200ml water in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes or until golden.
Add orange juice and Cointreau, stirring to dissolve sugar, then pour over sliced oranges in a heatproof bowl.
Cover and refrigerate until needed.

TO SERVE
Dust tarts with caster sugar and, using a blowtorch, gently caramelise top. Serve immediately with oranges and double cream.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Finally, It's here.

I feel like one of those bad parents, like a deadbeat dad who says he's going to take you to the circus but never gets around to it and next thing you know, the circus has packed up and left town. Why, because I made a promise that I still haven't delivered on. Perhaps that makes me the perfect politician, I don't know, but I feel guilt-ridden for making everyone wait so long for the surprise I was teasing you all with months ago.

I don't know what the retribution is for undelivered promises, but hopefully this little offering will prove a worthy penance. And no, the offering isn't that injured Bichon Frise I was talking about earlier, but it's actually this little saccharine opus, a vanilla-scented mascarpone cheesecake with spiced redcurrants and pashmak.

Now that's a mouthful in more ways than one.

And, I guess it's safe to make the big reveal and divulge what the secret ingredient I was so excited about is. They are, *virtual drum roll*... red currants! Some of you might be taking a collective gasp of air, thinking, cool. While some of you are thinking, so what?

Well, redcurrants aren't something I usually come across in the shopping aisles in my neck of the woods. I have never seen them sold fresh here in Australia; not in any grocery or farmer's market, so you have to understand the thrill of such an exotic find. They didn't come fresh, rather snap frozen, although this was good enough for me as they still bore the plump juicy redness that made them look as is they were just picked right off the bush. I couldn't resist and bought two punnets worth, which isn't a complete splurge if you ask me, but in saying that, you will definitely be seeing more of these babies in the future.

Redcurrants, a member of the gooseberry family are typically more sour than the gooseberry and blackcurrant varieties, however they are excellent cooked down in sauces, syrups, jellies and preserves. High in potassium, vitamin C and fibre, this fruit may be little but it packs a big punch.

Now it took quite some time to muster up the inspiration to do something that would prove a worth compeer to the unintended hype that it was given. How could any fruit live up to such grandiose expectations. When people were emailing me and leaving comments about how they were waiting with bated breath as to what this surprise was, I found myself pressured to live up to all the ballyhoo it generated.

The only choice I had was to do something spectacular and the only thing I could think of was a mascarpone cheesecake. Now the only thing I needed was a recipe. That's when a visit to West Ryde library became a serendipitous event.

I was waiting for my car to be serviced and needed somewhere to park myself for the next couple of hours, I was already spending a fortune on this car, so a trip to the shopping mall wouldn't have been the wisest move. I needed somewhere where I wouldn't have to spend any money and I could wile away the hours undisturbed. Where else but a library.

So off I went into the magazine section and perused the different options, trashy, fashion, home and garden, architecture, business, but wait there was a food section. So off I go digging through the back issues of Australian Gourmet Traveller and I stumble across the 2006 March issue. And I guess the rest of the story explains itself.

I also found recipes for grapefruit soufflé and Amaretti parfait which you might see later on, but this was the one I was most excited about. The original recipe had spiced blueberries but I figured redcurrants would do just as well.

So just imagine a luscious cheesecake with spiced red currants topped with a little cloud of Persian fairy floss, it's seductive. It's almost sickening to call the dish seductive. Just in the same way you don't want to but can't help calling a fig or a fresh summer salad one of those "sexy" foods, this one was truly up there in its inherent sensuality.

Just look at it, with it's come-hither mien. From it's pretty primrose complexion to it's velvety centre, the splash of blood red syrup oozing down the sides and the billowing tuft of spun sugar, its gastronomic allure at its most persuasive. And forgive me for turning this dish into something that sounds more like a trashy Mills & Boon novel but I just can't help it. I promise I'll stop with the sychophantic prose but I cannot help but be a an adoring fan.

If you are wondering what that white puff is on top of the cheesecakes, it is Pashmak- Persian fairy floss. I guess the thing that sets pashmak apart from the typical fairy floss you find at the carnival is that the recipe uses sesame oil and flour. The texture feels a little like wool and it doesn't dissolve as easily on your tongue as normal fairy floss. The packaging doesn't really tell much about how pashmak is made, although this is the little blurb on the back of the pack:

" pashmak is a persian recipe for candy floss or cotton candy. much effort has gone into making this product by hand. traditionally it is served plain with tea or coffee and makes for an exotic accompaniment to a variety of modern desserts. may be used as a garnish or served on petit fours plates."

So there it is, the secret has been revealed and I can now sleep at night knowing that I didn't let you down. Next time I make a promise I hope it doesn't take this long for me to fulfil it. I guess this is where you can insert the adage better late than never.

Vanilla Scented Mascarpone Cheesecakes with Spiced Redcurrants and Pashmak
Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller March 2006
Serves 8



75g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
100g mascarpone
150g cream cheese
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp plain flour
1 tbsp pouring cream
Persian fairy floss

SWEET PASTRY
90g unsalted butter, chilled
50g icing sugar
125g plain all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk
25ml ice water

SPICED REDCURRANTS
125ml fruity red wine
100g granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
5 strips of lemon/orange rind
150g red currants

TO MAKE THE PASTRY
Combine the butter, icing sugar and flour in the bowl of a food processor and pulse for 1 minute or until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the egg yolk and pulse for 30 seconds, then add the ice water and pulse until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

MAKING THE CHEESECAKE
Combine the caster sugar, lemon zest, vanilla beans, mascarpone, cream cheese, egg and egg yolk in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a medium bowl and whisk in the flour and cream.
Whisk until just combined.

Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thickness and live tart tins.
Trim the edges. Line tart cases with parchment paper and fill with pie weights.
Bake for 10 minutes then remove pie weights and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. When cooled, remove from tins.
Fill tart cases all the way with mascarpone mixture.
Place tarts on a baking tray and bake at 220ºC for 8 minutes then reduce heat to 100ºC and bake for 15-20 minutes.

MAKING THE SPICED REDCURRANTS
While the tarts are baking, make the syrup.
In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine the wine, sugar, vanilla beans, stick of cinnamon, star anise and orange rind and stir until all the sugar has been dissolved.
Bring to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
Remove cinnamon stick, star anise and orange from syrup and discard.
Add the redcurrants and simmer for another 5 minutes.

To serve, place tart on a plate and spoon over some redcurrants and top with a tuft of pashmak (Persian fairy floss).

Insipred, At Last

After a short hiatus from baking and blogging, I have finally found the inspiration to pick up the wooden spoon once again and get back into the groove. It was only fitting that this luscious Strawberry Brulee tart from Bourke St. Bakery in Surry Hills would be just the thing to shake off all that blah that I found myself in. Not to mention the trip we took to the Hunter Valley for a wedding- who doesn't love a good excuse to go away to the country?

Besides going away on our short-lived road trip, I've been keeping myself busy working on other projects, but now that I've given myself sufficient respite from the kitchen I am ready and raring to get in there and get my oven mitts back on. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, or should I say the stomach?

And it's great to see that you all didn't stay away from the blog while I was gone...

Pictures from our weekend in the Hunter Valley coming soon.

When Bloggers Lose Their Fizz

What happens when you don't feel like blogging?

Well, you don't.

I needed to be fair on this magnificent orange and date tart, so I thought that I would wait until I was in a blogging frame of mind, lest I give it a foul review just because I wasn't feeling all too generous with my words. I don't know exactly what it was; a culinary funk, blogger's PMS, just lazy? But what I do know is that although I kept eating and baking, I just wasn't in the mood for documenting it with the sheer enthusiasm and veracity that I normally possess. Let's just call it a pause in the culinary freight train that has become my life since the inception of this blog.

I know for the past year and a half, I have been relentless in baking, cooking and chronicling my every move in the kitchen and the market. I must admit, I got a little tired of it all. I just wanted to make something, and eat it straight away and not have to wait until it has been adequately captured and recorded for the purposes of blogging. I just wanted to make something and not have to worry about its plating, its appearance, its colour scheme, what accessories to use, what background, what shots?

As much as I would like you to think that I just plonk a plate in front of the camera and the pictures practically take themselves, well that is quite the contrary. And while I don't go into as much detail and aren't as meticulous as other bloggers who create magnificently flawless images that I covet, I do put some thought into the images. And now,my brain hurts. I think I have reached a creative brick wall and I need some time to climb over it, or to somehow tear it down.

So now here I am, a few days later, when I've shaken the cobwebs off my dusty brain that I bring to you this tart. I'm still feeing a little rusty, a little creatively dry, and I'm still waiting for that new eureka moment but I cannot keep shut about this tart. I made it about a week ago, but I just couldn't shake off the thought of not sharing this with you. I might be in a bit of a blah stage right now, but this tart is nowhere in the vicinity of blah-dom.

I don't know what it is exactly about a tart that makes me swoon. Is it the lovely melt in your mouth pastry? The dainty filling inside? How it always manages to look so innocently wicked? I don't know what it is but this tart has it all, a rustic elegance that is luxurious yet still modest and austere. It isn't overreaching, but it's got enough good to get you to love it.

I have never paired dates and oranges before, and it simply wasn't a flavour combination that I would think up off the top of my head. But what I do know now is that it works. I now cannot fathom how citrus flavour cannot go with anything. It seems like their flavours perfectly meld with whatever it is paired with and this tart is no different. The citrus breaks up the inherent sweetness of the dates and provides a little tang to go with all that sugar.

Dates can be incredibly sweet, but the great thing is that their sweetness is natural and with it comes the goodness of fibre and lots of vitamins. Who doesn't want a little helping of fibre and potassium when eating their dessert? Add little glob of thick double cream and there you have a little slice of bliss.

The cardamom syrup also adds a little bit of sugar and spice to the mix, but if you find the tart by itself sweet enough then I don't think the syrup is all too necessary. The tart might get a little dry the next day without the syrup, but I really don't think that it will last that long.

Like I said, I might have run into a brick wall creatively, but I hope this doesn't steer you away from trying this tart. You never know it might just be the thing to jolt me back into the creative groove. Sugar has all sorts of effects on me.

And don't fret, I will still be writing posts. I just thought I should warn you that I'm not feeling all that inspired right now, you know, just in case I let out a half hearted rendition that will leave you all befuddled in the same way that opening of the VMA's have. Need I say any more, here is the recipe for Orange and Date Tart.

Orange & Date Tart
recipe from Delicious Magazine 2002
serves 6



250g plain flour
110g pure icing sugar
110g unsalted butter, chilled
1 egg
16 fresh dates, pitted, halved
5 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
450ml cream
1 orange, zested
thick double cream, to serve

Cardamom syrup
10 green cardamom pods
1 orange, zested
6 oranges, juiced
225g caster sugar
2-3 tbs brandy

Preheat oven to 190°C.
Place flour and icing sugar in a food processor and process to combine.
Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add egg and process until a smooth ball.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out pastry on a floured surface and use to line a rectangular tart pan with removable base.
Line pastry with baking paper and fill with rice or pastry weights.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights and return to oven for 10 minutes until crisp and golden.
Place halved dates in pastry case.
Reduce oven temperature to 160°C.

Beat egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl until combined.
Stir in cream, then strain.
Stir in zest and pour over dates.
Bake for 30 minutes or until just set. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, to make the syrup, use a mortar and pestle or rolling pin to lightly crush cardamom pods.
Remove seeds and discard pod.
Place seeds in a pan with remaining ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring, to dissolve sugar.
Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Set aside to cool before serving with the tart.
Serve with a dollop of double cream.

Another day, Another Donna Hay

Issue 8. It's the one I'm having a love affair with at the moment. And yes, you guessed right, it's a Donna Hay Magazine- the autumn issue, number 8.

So far I have baked this, this and this from issue 8 and it’s not stopping there. Somehow Miss Hay has managed to compile all of my favourite cold weather recipes into this one issue. There’s a lot more where that came from and there’s still a gaggle of recipes I have book marked and there’s still a whole month of winter left. You still haven’t seen all of issue 8.

And obviously you haven’t seen the last of Donna Hay. If I could paint a picture of how I want my dream kitchen to look like, well it would look like a Donna Hay Magazine- clean and crisp, modern with a few vintage twists. I absolutely love her taste, and not to mention the eye candy in every issue, it’s food porn at its grandest. And I actually hate calling it food porn, because it sounds rather vulgar, but unfortunately it is probably the most apt way of describing it.

Anyway, enough of the love struck fanatical prose about Miss Hay. I don’t know how I went through the whole season of autumn without making anything using pears. Luckily I found these beautiful beurre bosc pears at Aboutlife, still at their peak. I usually start looking for pears as soon as autumn rolls in, however this season it seems as if my attention was directed elsewhere. So here I am to rectify this gross neglect.

Beurre Bosc pears are characterised by their unique rich yellow russeted skin, its creamy firm and juicy flesh, which makes it ideal for desserts, especially poaching. This tart starts off, with pears that are poached in a vanilla syrup and then arranged over pastry filled with almond frangipane.

The tart is decadent without being too much, if you know what I mean. The almond filling is spongy and light but provides that little bit of richness while the vanilla-soaked pears provides the sugar rush. It’s a great combination of flavours and textures.

Making the tart is quite therapeutic too. Poaching the pears perfumes the air with a beautiful fragrance of vanilla and making the pastry, as in, massaging and rolling out the dough can be quite a soothing exercise. As long as you aren’t making these tarts in a hurry, the whole process, although somewhat lengthy can be satisfying in the end. Especially when the reward at the end is biting into one of the tarts.

I never knew pastry making to be so relaxing; tart making for me usually ends in a big fluster where I am all wound up at the end, barely enjoying the finished result. I have never had much finesse with pastry, but this time because, I left the tarts rather unfinished-rustic, so to speak, I wasn’t so hung up about them looking so pretty like I normally do. I never seem to make pretty tart cases anyway and I thought there was no reason to force it now. So the guise of these un-pretty tarts is, rustic. And that works for me. But if you are a pastry virtuoso, then by all means, pretty the tart up.

The tarts come out of the oven golden and aromatic. You can bake them slightly longer and brush the tops with the extra vanilla syrup to get more caramelised pears, or you can just leave them as is. I made both and preferred the more caramelised version, but really it's up to you. If you ever try these tarts, try to use beurre bosc pears, as they are perfect for this type of cooking.

Rustic Vanilla Pear and Almond Tarts
adapted from Donna Hay Magazine (Issue 8)
serves 6



FOR THE PASTRY
145g unsalted butted, chilled an cubed
2 cups plain all-purpose flour
¼ cup caster sugar
2 tbsp ice water

FOR THE PEARS
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
¼ cup maple syrup
3 beurre bosc pears, halved and cored

FOR THE FILLING
75g unsalted butter
½ cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 cup almond meal
2 tbsp plain all-purpose flour
1½ tbsp Bailey’s Irish Crème

TO MAKE THE PASTRY
Place the butter, flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a soft dough.
Shape into a ball and wrap in plastic.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

POACHING THE PEARS
Place the water, sugar, vanilla bean or extract and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the pears and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender.
Remove from the saucepan and allow to cool on a chopping board.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll out pastry between two sheets of parchment paper to 3mm thick and line 6 tart tins.
Allow for some dough to overhang on the edges.
Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with pie weights.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove the weights and paper and bake for another 10 minutes or until just light brown.
Remove pastry shells from the oven and set aside to cool.

TO MAKE THE ALMOND FILLING
Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy.
Beat in the egg and then fold in the almond meal, flour and Bailey’s.
Spread the filling over the pastry making sure you cover the base completely.
Slice the poached pears and arrange them over the almond filling.
Bake the tart for 50 minutes.
(Alternatively you can brush the tarts with the left over syrup and bake them a little longer or until the pears are slightly caramelised.)
Serve at room temperature with a thick dollop of cream.

I Got A New Rack...

Get your minds out of the gutter! What were you thinking, I meant a spice rack.

After cluttering our cabinets with countless jars and sachets of herbs and spices, I have finally found a new home for all my spices to live in. They proudly hang on the wall in small clear bottles marked with handmade labels, an arm’s length away from the stove. No longer do I have to stoop down on the floor, flashlight in hand, searching for rosemary and cinnamon in a dusty cavernous cupboard like some sort of geologist. No one should have to go through all that trouble just to get to some rosemary.

Also, most of you will probably be glad to know that I did receive my very own ice cream maker this Christmas. I can just make out the sound of a collective “woohoo!” resonating throughout the blogosphere. It seems that my insistent pleading proved convincing enough. I think if I hadn’t pestered everyone with the most obvious of hints to the verge of possible collapse, I would have just gone out and bought the darn thing myself.

I am determined to make all things iced this summer. That said, I still haven’t found enough time to make ice cream as yet; I’ve been caught up doing absolutely nothing during my holidays. I think I was born for the holiday, if this could be an occupation, I would be at the top of my game. Jen is my name, and lounging is my game. Although when I do go back to my “normal” routine, not that my life is ever routine or normal, ice-cream-making will be high on my list of things to do.

My new spice rack still needs new bottles and my brand new Krups ice cream maker

Well, now that the New Year has been appropriately rung in and the vestiges of severe party-going has all been done away with (except for the bags under my eyes); all there is to do is look at what’s ahead. There’s an excitement that I get at the advent of every New Year, perhaps it’s just the post-Christmas sales, but there is something about the start of the year that I find thrilling. I suppose that it is the opportunity for a new beginning, another clean slate, no matter how well or how dreadful the year 2006 was for you, there is the chance to start over and do it all again, perhaps this time better.

One thing that I intend on doing better this year is pastry. After being knocked back several times from the Bourke St Bakery pastry course because there were no vacancies, I have decided to work on my pastry skills myself. I just don’t think I have the dexterity and finesse that most people do when it comes to pastry. Most times I am at the thing like a 3 year-old with play-dough, kneading, moulding and pressing the dough as if I was making bread. Sometimes I just don’t have the patience for it, and since I lack this virtue so imperative to making pastry, I am forced to take shortcuts that defeats its whole art.

But this year it's different. This time around, I followed the recipe to the letter, abiding strictly to all the instructions stated. The sheer beauty of this pastry recipe is that there is no need to roll the dough out, unless you are so inclined. But why would you go through all that rolling, dusting, and lifting, risking the likelihood of tearing the thing when all this pastry requires is to be pressed into the tart tin.

This recipe and this method disguises my clumsiness with pastry and you wouldn’t even suppose that I fumbled my way through the recipe. And although I have come to the stark recognition that I have a long way to go at becoming one poised and self-assured patissier, I always have this recipe to fall back on.

These Almond Berry Tartlets were made using Dorie Greenspan’s pâte sablée recipe and Donna Hay’s almond berry filling. It seems that the theme of berries and summer cannot escape me and I am again posting another recipe including berries. If you are from the northern hemisphere where berries are long gone, I’m sorry, I know that all this talk of summer and berries might be deflating just going into your winter, but bear with me while I go ga-ga over berries. All this public display of affection towards berries might be making some uncomfortable; I probably look like those maudlin lovers kissing and cuddling in a crowded train, oblivious to the prying eyes stealing glances at them. But I just cannot conceal my affections, and all you will probably hear for the next two months are berry this and berry that.

But I hope you will still stop by and say hello, this berry thing is probably just a phase.

Pâte Sablée
adapted from this book

1¼ cups plain all-purpose flour
½ cup icing (confectioner’s) sugar
¼ tsp salt
110g unsalted butter, frozen and cut into small cubes
1 large egg yolk

MAKING THE DOUGH
Place flour confectioner’s sugar and salt in a dry bowl and whisk to combine.
Place frozen butter and the flour mixture into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mix resembles pea-sized grains.
Slowly pour in the egg yolk a little at a time, through the spout of the food processor while pulsing one or two times in between pouring.
When all of the egg yolk is in, pulse a few more times for longer until the dough forms larger clumps.
Using a spatula, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead the dough just to incorporate any remaining dry ingredients.
Shape dough into a ball and wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

PRESSING THE DOUGH
The beauty of this dough is that it doesn’t need to be rolled, it can simply be pressed into your tart pan.
Cut the dough into 6 portions and work with one portion at a time keeping the other portions wrapped in plastic and in the refrigerator.
Press the dough evenly over the base and sides of the tart pan, making sure that there are no cracks and holes.
Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough for all the tart pans.
Freeze the crust for up to 1 hour before making.

BLIND-BAKING THE CRUST
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Remove the crusts from the freezer and prick with a fork two or three times.
Line the crusts with little pieces of parchment paper and place pie weights on top.
Bake the crusts for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool the crusts without removing them from their tins.

Almond Berry Tartlets
from this book
makes 6

6 pre-made pâte sable crusts (see recipe above)
90g unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 cup almond meal
1 tbsp plain all-purpose flour
½ cup berries
icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 150°C.
Place butter and sugar in a bowl and bet until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg, almond meal and flour, and beat until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into prepared tart crusts and smooth over the tops.
Press 5-6 berries in each tart just enough so that their tops can still be seen.
Dust with icing sugar and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden.
Remove from oven and cool before serving.

Martha...not what she's cracked up to be (Chocolate Espresso and Mascarpone Tart)

If I could have a dessert everyday for the rest of my life, I think it would have to be this tart. Okay, perhaps I cannot promise any sort of long-term commitment to this tart or any dessert for that matter; it’s a fickle world out there for desserts. But for the meantime, this one is my favourite. I found the recipe for this Chocolate Espresso and Mascarpone Tart on Martha’s website and I would like to claim that the recipe is a winning “Martha” recipe, however this one actually was a complete blunder.

The tart turned out beautifully, as I eventually learned how to read between the lines; the lines of non-existent instructions that would have been advantageous in aiding to complete the task. The recipe, that I obtained from the internet was so flawed and fraught with inconsistencies (a reoccurring theme I find with most of her internet recipes), I can’t say that Martha was much help.

At the risk of sounding like a little miss know-it-all, it was only until I started making my own deductions that the recipe made sense. The ever so perfect and seemingly immaculate Martha, with her pristine kitchen benches and her faultless ironed shirts on this occasion was more of a hindrance than a help. Her ingredients list was missing certain essential items and also included some that are actually not necessary at all. Let’s just say that I had to make an extra trip to the grocery store, midway through the recipe to purchase another tub of mascarpone cheese because “something” went awry with the original tub. I was only following instructions but this relatively simple recipe became a bewildering and time-consuming exercise that if ultimately did not pay off in the end, I would have probably discarded it altogether- recipe, tart and Martha.

But it’s safe to say that all is not lost, the recipe’s only redeeming quality was its final result and if you think about it, this is what matters most. After a tub of mascarpone cheese and some eggs going to waste, all I can say is the tart is sensational but don’t even bother with the recipe online. That’ll teach me to read a recipe all the way through before commencing, something I have been known not to do often.

Suffice to say, the tart was a booming triumph, despite the misadventures in the kitchen. I don’t think I would be giving this tart such glowing reviews if the end result even slightly mirrored the disaster that ensued from merely following the recipe.

The ganache topping immediately melts in your mouth and the crisp delicate chocolaty crust is absolutely delicious, I could easily eat the crust all by itself. I love the marriage of textures in this tart, and what does it for me is the combination of the crumbly pastry and smooth and creamy mascarpone filling and ganache. Make sure you use the highest quality chocolate as you will definitely taste this in your ganache and only the best will do. On a warm summer’s day, this tart is sure to melt fast, so my only advice is to make sure you eat it faster than the rate that it is melting! Here is the complete recipe.

Chocolate Espresso and Mascarpone Tart
serves 8

THE GANACHE
220g bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao), roughly chopped
300ml heavy cream (45% milk fat)
2 tbsp ground espresso beans

THE PASTRY CASE
1 cup plain all purpose flour
¾ tsp fine sea salt
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
110g unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp heavy cream

THE FILLING
350g mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp icing (confectioner’s) sugar
zest of one lemon

MAKING THE GANACHE
Place the chopped chocolate into a medium heatproof bowl, set aside.
In small heavy-based saucepan, bring the cream and espresso to a boil, carefully stirring until the cream has just boiled.
Pour though a fine sieve over the bowl of chocolate and let stand for two minutes.
Using a rubber spatula, gently mix the cream and chocolate continuously until the mixture becomes smooth and silky.
Allow to cool to room temperature, about 1 to 2 hours.

MAKING THE PASTRY CASE
Sift flour, salt and cocoa powder into a medium bowl, set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix until combined.
Gradually sift flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the cream and mixing after every addition. The mixture will be quite sticky.
Gather the dough into a ball and shape into a thick rectangle, wrap in clear plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour (or can be kept overnight).

Roll out dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper to about ½cm thick, enough to cover a tart pan 36x13cm.
Gently lift the dough, with the help of a rolling pin and transfer to the tart pan.
Press the dough into the pan and trim the edges using the rolling pin; use the left over dough to cover any holes or thin surfaces on the pan.
Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 180˚C.
Before baking, prick the base of the pastry shell all over using a fork.
Line with some parchment paper and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice or beans.
Place in the oven for 18 minutes, then remove pastry weights and replace in the oven for another 2-3 minutes at 220˚C or until the shell has crisped up.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before unmolding.

NOTE: The dough can be kept in the freezer, tightly wrapped for up to one week.

MAKING THE FILLING
Place mascarpone cheese and lemon zest in a medium bowl.
Sift over icing sugar, making sure that all clumps are removed.
Mix the sugar and cheese until smooth.

ASSEMBLING THE TART
Whisk ganache on medium speed until soft peaks form. Ensure that the mixture is at room temperature, not warmer or colder, or else your ganache will seize or become grainy.
Using a flexible spatula, smooth mascarpone filling evenly over the bottom of the tart shell.
Then spoon your ganache over the top of the mascarpone, or if you wish, you may pipe the ganache over the filling.
Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Football, Tentacles and Mascarpone Tarts

I don't care much for AFL (football) but G follows it rather capriciously, so that turns us into Swans bandwagon jumpers come grand final time. I have to admit this Sunday’s grand final match was a nail-biter and just as I was getting into the spirit of the grand final and just when there appeared to be some hope of Sydney winning, our optimism was dashed after a 1 point-score difference at the end. I was just about to say that I am not one to toot my own horn, but here I am tooting a horn that is my own. What can I say, I’m still riding the wave of my recent success in HHDD #5, it’s not everyday that you can say that your tart is a winner and dub thyself queen of tarts. So after a disappointing AFL grand final, I think we needed something to celebrate. So hooray for the tart!

Now that my pastry skills, although still feeble are looking quite promising have been affirmed by this slight victory (apparently by one vote); I have decided to share this Lemon Mascarpone Tart which was made not long after the olive one. It is not too often that a tart I make is a success, especially when blind baking is required, but this one surprisingly was. Just like Alice’s chase for the rabbit, the perfect pastry crust seems to forever elude me. I’ve made a number of tarts ever since my maiden voyage into pastry making and tragically many of them need to be forgotten about; hopefully lost in some oblivion as they were too disastrous to recount. Many previous tart experiences have been spent immediately devouring the luckless morsels in a pathetic attempt to feign their failed existence.

In this instance however the desire to devour these tarts were not out of wanting them to vanish for fear of embarrassment but rather because they were to my amazement, a success. Personally, I love mascarpone, every time I eat the stuff it is met with the resounding exaltation of a hallelujah chorus. This might sound peculiar but I would happily dive into a vat of mascarpone any day and if this could somehow be arranged, I am there! There is something about its sweet creamy nature that just lends to not only being dived into but more practically being tarted up, topped with some fresh berries and a dusted with icing sugar. Essentially you could use any type of fresh berry over these tarts, the mascarpone filling is quite versatile, it just so happened that I had mulberries in the fridge that day.

The textural juxtaposition of the crisp pastry and the soft mascarpone filling is reason enough for me to eat it. For me, texture is just as vital as flavour to engaging someone’s palate. There are some things I simply cannot eat because of how they feel in my mouth. I am by no means an arbiter of taste but I definitely think texture is a significant aspect to the art of eating and the aesthetics of taste. I know that I still have trouble eating baby octopus because the small suctions on their tentacles just give me the heebie-jeebies. I was never one for eating cephalopods anyway, especially octupus.

Tentacles aside, if you love mascarpone this is the kind of tart you will consider selling your grandmother for. Okay, I probably wouldn’t go as far to say you should start trading family members on the black market but this tart is very good. I cannot remember where exactly I got the recipe from but it was sort of a mish-mash of several recipes simplified to create a filling in less than ten minutes and the Pâte Brisse recipe is a sweet version of the one I used for the olive tart. Seeing as that I bought a sizeable quantity of mascarpone tubs, there will most definitely be more mascarpone recipes to come. Here is the recipe for the tarts.

Lemon Mascarpone Tart with fresh Mulberries
Makes 8

Pâte Brisse

240g plain all-purpose flour
180g unsalted butter, frozen and diced
50g confectioner’s sugar
3-4 tbsp ice cold water

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, place flour, butter and sugar and pulse until you get coarse crumbs.While continuing to pulse, pour ice water through the spout and mix until the dough comes together in a ball.Knead for 2-3 minutes and form into a ball.Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Bake the pastry dough blind, using parchment paper and pastry weights in prepared cases at 150˚C for 10-15 minutes.
Remove weights and turn temperature up to 180˚C and bake for a further 8 minutes.
Carefully remove pastry cup from moulds and let cool on a wire rack.

Filling

1 cup mascarpone
½ cup heavy cream
¼ confectioner’s sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 punnet fresh mulberries

Combine all ingredients in a dry bowl and mix until the mixture becomes smooth.
Cover bowl in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Fill each pastry case with up to 3 tablespoons of prepared filling and top with a handful of mulberries.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Queen of Tarts

I won, I won! (said in Ralph Wiggum's voice)

Looks like the acquisition of that food processor actually paid off because you’re looking at the winning entry of Hay Hay it's Donna Day #5! So kudos to the processor who I have consequently decided to dub Jim; he’s an efficient, handy all-rounder so I thought Jim would be a fitting name. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that I was the winner and you can rest-assured that the moment was duly celebrated with some gelato and pastries. This is just the thing I need to give me more confindence in pastry making.

This event was hosted by Tami of Running with Tweezers and the winner was determined through a ballot, so a BIG thank you for those who voted for me. I am very grateful and although I really didn't think I had any chance of winning, I graciously accept the honour of being crowned the queen of tarts this month. I was told that winning isn’t everything, but when it comes with an Amazon.com gift voucher attached, I am not one to complain.

So thank you again Tami for hosting this event. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the next instalment of Hay Hay it’s Donna Day #6 coming up soon.

Tart e Cucina

Something’s not right. It’s a perfectly glorious sunny day outside and I am in the kitchen. Strangely nowadays, I’m quite happy to stay indoors, even on beautiful spring days like these, so as long as I am in the kitchen making something. Sounds absurd, but have I become a kitchen recluse?

At times I catch myself edging to my front window pushing back the curtains and peering through the venetians, a bit like Jimmy Stewart, a la Hitchcock’s Rear Window sans the broken leg and wheelchair. I watch the sunlight filtering down, not a drop of it being spent on me and it seems like something is amiss, especially when in Australia catching rays is the national pastime.

I admit I haven’t yet become a full-fledged recluse; it hasn’t reached that creepy all blinds down, sit in complete darkness stage yet. It’s just that since I brought home a new addition to my kitchen menagerie, I haven’t been able to tear myself away from it. You see, I got myself a new food processor and now I find myself constantly looking for things to shred, pulse, blend and puree. The minute I opened the box, tore open the pristine layer of un-popped bubble wrap to reveal my shiny new accessory, I began the search for something to process. Being the food geek that I was, I couldn’t wait to start processing; I would have even resorted to shredding some bubble wrap if it weren’t for G persuading me not to.

So it has been a week of confining myself to the kitchen trying out my new gadget, and possibly causing myself some severe vitamin-D deficiency as I haven’t seen sunlight for days. Obsessed with finding new things for it to do, I have now turned to pastry making, and lots of it.

I have tried making pastry dough by hand before, but I find the best way to achieve consistently smooth dough is to use the food processor. Although it’s rather bulky and cumbersome, my food processor (duo) has become the essential ingredient to pastry making. Even when under the constant threat of eviction due to the declining amount of available real estate on my kitchen bench, the food processor still holds its place. And really, it’s only been living there for a week, I wasn’t going to kick it out just yet. I have decided that perhaps it is the jaffle iron’s time to go. There just isn’t enough room there both the both of them.

So here is a magnificent Three Olive Tart courtesy of my new processor. I can’t remember where I found this recipe for Pâte Brisse, but it is near perfect. Now I am quite hesitant to dub any recipe as the be all and end all of all pastry recipes, I think the search for the perfect pastry crust will continue long after the apocalypse, but for its utter simplicity, this recipe produces one of the finest crusts I have ever tasted. Buttery, crisp and flaky all at once, I think these are the indicators of a great crust. It needs to be sturdy enough to hold the filling yet delicate enough that every bite melts in your mouth.

As for the olives, I used Kalamata for the paste, black olives and green Manzanilla olives for the topping. Now you can use any three olives, or even just one or two, whatever you fancy, the recipe is quite versatile. The only thing I would suggest is to ensure that you do not add any extra salt to as the olives and anchovies provide enough saltiness. Unless you want the tart to taste like it has just swam out of the ocean, then by all means salt away, but in my opinion it really doesn't require any exta salt.

Now that I have satiated my need to pulse, shred and blend, I think I will go outside and enjoy some sunshine. Have a great weekend everyone!

Three Olive Tart
(serves 8)
adapted from an Olive Tart recipe this book



1 recipe pâte brisse (see below)
1 red onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp chopped mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, flat-leaf parsley, sage, oregano)
½ cup Kalamata Olive Paste (recipe below)
½ cup black olives
½ cup Manzanilla (green) olives
½ cup crumbled goat’s cheese
8 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
ground black pepper
olive oil to drizzle

Preheat oven to 200˚C and place a pizza stone in the centre rack.
In a sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they become translucent. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry dough into a circle roughly larger than the size of your pizza stone.
Carefully transfer dough to a large piece of parchment paper ensuring you do not tear the pastry.
Evenly spread the olive paste onto the dough 1 inch from the edge.
Add onions and sprinkle half the chopped herbs.
Scatter with black and green (Manzanilla) olives, goat’s cheese and anchovies.
Season with black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle remaining chopped herbs over.
Fold over the 1 inch of dough around the edges all the way around.
Remove pizza stone from oven and using the parchment paper, carefully transfer tart onto the pizza stone.
Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. You may have to turn the tart around halfway to brown the other side.
Tart can be served warm or at room temperature.

Kalamata Olive Paste
(makes about 1 cup)

1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
5 anchovy fillets
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, blend the olives, anchovy fillets, garlic, rosemary, and pepper to a smooth paste.
With the processor on, slowly add the olive oil until combined, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the olive paste to a small bowl, and set aside.

NOTE: This paste can essentially be made with any type of olive.

Pâte Brisse Recipe

240g plain all-purpose flour
180g unsalted butter, cold and diced.
A pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp ice cold water

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, place flour, butter and salt and pulse until you get coarse crumbs.
While continuing to pulse, pour ice water through the spout and mix until the dough comes together in a ball.
Knead for 2-3 minutes and form into a ball.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

slice of heaven!

This tart is also my entry into Hay Hay it's Donna Day #5 hosted by Miss Tami of the delectable blog, Running with Tweezers. She's a great writer and photographer and her blog is always a great source of humour and food inspiration. Check out the round up soon!

The Artful Tart: Better Late Than Never

I don’t know if I am speaking to the converted, but for me nothing attains maximum visual appeal better than a tart. When it comes to food, tarts constitute what I consider to be visual chow; where looking at one can be just as satisfying as devouring one. Turn anything into a tart and I promise you, you will have doubled its prettiness stakes. In the family of pastries the tart is the high-achieving, perfect scoring, can-do-no-wrong child. You could say it’s the Marcia Brady of pastries, even with a banged up nose its appeal isn’t lost. Really the tart can do no wrong. There’s something about its culinary chic and rustic charm that just appeals to me.

So, it's only been three days since my last excursion into pastry making, but I couldn’t restrain myself. Like a moth to a flame, I was lured once again by the exquisite torment and gratification that accompanied making my own pastry. I have yet to master the finer points of “Patisserie 101”, but I will give myself 10 extra points for the brazenness in which I have approached this task that was formerly beyond my capacity.

I have duly noted that this is a little late in coming, the deadline has come and gone, but for the sake of saving one of British culinary history’s disappearing gems, here I bring to you the Bakewell Tart. I had no previous intentions of participating, although my newly unearthed pastry skills beckoned for me to have a bash.

Andrew from SpittoonExtra came up with a one-off blogging event in an effort to revive this British dish from the ash heap. And I think that there really is no need for me to supply you a ten-page dissertation on the what, who, where, when and how of the Bakewell Tart. I think this has been adequately delineated on other blogs and websites, and besides isn’t that what a search engine is for? Anyhow, in order for this lovely dessert to remain in our gastronomic landscape, here I bring to you my adaptation of the Bakewell Tart.

NOTE: Instead of the traditional strawberry jam, I used a jar of St. Dalfour's Cranberry an Blueberry Fruit Preserve, a recent acquisition from last month's Sydney Good Food and Wine Show.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
90g unsalted butter, slightly chilled and diced
2 tbsp cold water

Sift flour, sugar and salt into a dry bowl.
Add the cubes of slightly chilled butter and using the tips of your fingers begin to rub the flour into the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Slowly add cold water and cut through the mixture with a knife until the dough comes together into a ball.
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Bakewell Tart
(makes 6 individual tarts)



½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp almond extract
1½ cups ground almonds
2 eggs
6 tbsp jam
crème fraîche, for serving

For the Frangipane:
Cream butter and sugar until combined.
Add the almond extract, eggs and almond meal and beat until smooth.
Set aside.

Assembling the tarts:
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Evenly spread a tablespoon of jam onto the base of each pastry shell.
Fill the pastry shells with the frangipane mixture.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the frangipane is browned on top and crispy.
Remove from oven and cool tarts on a wire rack.
Serve with some crème fraîche.