Another sweet round

So much has happened lately as per usual. Sometimes it's hard to believe how I made it. Some days are plain tough and then it gets better. Some days are long and some are super short. It is what you make of each day that counts. I like to bake during the weekend because I have ample time. Sometimes all you need is something sweet to cheer you up.

I have been following Masterchef and I am always amazed by the level of knowledge, creativity and cooking skills shown by the contestants. It's incredible to be able to cope under the pressure and present beautiful dishes with this incredible level of plating. #platinggoals

This is a group of desserts I have prepped and been compiling over the few weeks. I shall be posting more soon. 

Matcha custard tart with red bean filling

Macaron with lemon buttercream

Pandan cake layered with coconut cream

Mini carrot apple and sultana muffins

Mini chocolate tart with mini macaron

Anzac cookie

Almond flourless carrot cake

Bacon Peas Mushroom Quiche

For Easter lunch last Sunday, I decided to make a quiche.This was, believe it or not, my first time baking a savoury tart. I have, in the past, made quite a few frangipane tarts and what else. This was certainly in my to-do list. I'm glad I chose to make it on this particular feast day because we all enjoyed ourselves.

For my filling, I went for bacon, peas and mushrooms. I made my shortcrust pastry from scratched the night before. I believe what makes a good tart is most importantly the pastry- I want a nice light, crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth texture. For this I always follow the rules of thumb- 1 part butter, 2 parts flour and a couple drops of ice-cold water. This time I also added an egg yolk, since I had in on hand. I firstly blind-baked my tart shell. I then cooked my filling and prepared my egg-cream custard (3 eggs and 200 ml cream). Once the pastry is baked, I laid my cooled filling and poured the cream mix over. To finish off my tart, I grated some cheddar cheese and put it in the oven until I have a nice golden brown surface. This was definitely tasty and suited for a perfect lunch. You should, of course, pair the tart slice with some greens or salad, to balance it all out. 

Happy Weekend. It's been sunny so far- great weather!

Lemon curd mini tart (Recipe)

After trying the lemon meringue pie from the Dessert Garden at the Twilight Hawkers Market, I was so keen to try making my own. I did a lemon curd version without the meringue, but I shall one day try with both. I used a shortcrust pastry for my tart cases. To stay true to my cookbook challenge, I carefully chose the lemon curd recipe from 'My Little Mini Cakes & Treats Book' which contains all the desserts that anyone would loved to eat. It is a tiny book with so many gorgeous photos and recipes. Don't we all like recipes that come with photos. I think it is what draws people to try a recipe in the first place- at least it works for me. The lemon curd tart is made up of simple ingredients- butter, lemon, sugar, flour, egg yolks- but is so delectable. It goes to showcase the use of these few ingredients at their best.

Recipe for lemon curd mini tart 

Makes: 10 mini tart approx.

Ingredients for the tart base:
130g AP flour
65g butter
A few drops of cold water

Method:
1. Prepare the tart base by mixing butter and flour, until resemble crumbs. 
2. Add water little by little until it forms a dough.
3. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest for at least 1/2 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 180C.
5. Roll out dough from the fridge into your tart mould (I used a mini muffin pan) and prick with a fork. 
6. Bake for about 15 minutes at 180C 

Ingredients for lemon curd (Adapted from My Little Mini Cakes & Treats Book)
2 lg egg yolks
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1/2 tbs lemon zest, grated
2 1/2 tbs lemon juice
100g unsalted butter. cubed

Method:
1. Beat egg yolk and sugar in a heatproof bowl.
2. Add zest, juice and place bowl over a bain marie (saucepan with simmering water)
3. Stir in butter and let the sauce thicken for about 10 minutes (it will be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon).
4. Place in a bowl and cover surface with cling film.
5. Let cool completely.

To assemble:
1. Place lemon curd in a piping bag.
2. Pipe into the tart cases.
3. Decorate with some berries or tiny macaron.

4. Serve and enjoy.

Tasting platter from the Dessert Garden (from top left clockwise):

Raspberry tart, Nutty tart, Lemon meringue tart and Fudgy tart. 

They were all yummy, but my favourite was by far the lemon meringue tart, with the crisp meringue.

Galette des Rois and Mixed berries Custard Tart

This is simply a photo round of my galette des rois and custard mixed berry fruit tart.

I have been making Galette des Rois over several years now for the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. I especially like it- I mean who doesn't like flaky pastry and sweet almond filling. I personally cannot wait to bake it around that special day. I have posted my recipe here.

As for the custard fruit tart, this was quite simple to assemble. Firstly I fully baked a semi-sweet shortcrust pastry tart. Then I cooked some custard (using custard powder). Once cooled, I whipped up some cream until stiff peak and fold it into the custard. The result is a light and creamy 'custardy' filling perfect for my tart. I covered my cooled tart base with some melted chocolate. After it has firmed up, I poured the filling and then topped it up with some frozen berries. I did not take care to defrost them- my mistake. If I ever do it again, I would used fresh berries as the frozen berries released a lot of water into my filling which did not set the filling as expected. Anyway, you learn from your mistakes. Otherwise the tart was delicious and thanks to the chocolate film, the base remained super crunchy.

Nectarine peach mousse tart (Recipe)

We are officially in Summer and nectarine is in season. Following my frangipane tart, I had an urge to make another tart. However I was juggling among so many choices of flavour. My mind was set for a matcha white chocolate tart, but then after some 'googling' around, I came up with the idea of making a peach mousse tart. This mousse is fresh, light and summery, not overly sweet and slightly tart and goes perfectly with this sweet shortcrust pastry. To make it extra special, I covered it with sliced nectarines and some flaked almonds. After this success, I'm planning to make more of this fruity tart combination. We'll see.

Recipe:

Sweet shortcrust pastry 

250g AP flour
125g cold butter
1 egg
1-2 tbs of cold water

Pulse the flour and butter in a food processor,then  add egg and water until just combined. Do not overmix.
Transfer to a clingfilm wrap and then let dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Roll dough into your tart mould.
Blind bake in the oven at 180c with the pie weights for 15 minutes and another 15 minutes without. Cover the edges with aluminium foil to prevent the pastry from over-browning if necessary.

Let cool and start making the mousse.

Peach mousse
450g of sliced canned peaches
300 ml of heavy cream
3-4 tbs of sugar
1 packet of gelatine
Zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon

Drain the canned peaches, reserving the liquid. Blend the peaches in a food processor. Leave aside.
Whipped cold cream until soft peak, adding the sugar in the process. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice. Carefully fold in the peach puree into the cream. Taste and adjust for sweetness and tartness accordingly.
In a small pan, heat 5 tbs of the reserved peach syrup, until boiling point. Mix in the gelatine with 3 tbs of the syrup and then mix in the mousse. Reserve 2 tbs of syrup for the glaze.
Dollop on the cooled tart case.

Topping and glaze
3-4 nectarines
Juice of half lemon
1 tbs apricot jam
2 tbs of syrup, heated above
Handful of toasted flaked almonds (optional)


Thinly slice nectarines. Drizzle with lemon juice. Cover the entire surface of the tart with the nectarines.
Mix the apricot jam and syrup and then brush over the nectarines.
For an extra special touch, finish off with some flaked almonds.

Place in the fridge to set for about 2 hours or so. Enjoy!

Frangipane Tart (Recipe)

I love frangipane filling. It is similar to crème pâtissière, but made with almond instead for the custard.
Lots of almonds used in this recipe for a very tasty tart. It has to be my favourite tart.

Recipe:

For the tart base:
250g AP flour
125g butter
A few drops of cold water

For the filling:
75g sugar
100g softened butter,
125g almond meal (ground almonds)
2 eggs
1tsp almond essence
1tbs AP flour
A dollop of cream (about 2 tbs)

For the topping:
1 cup of flaked almonds

For the glaze:
2tbs of apricot jam with 2tbs of warm water

Method:
Prepare the tart base by mixing butter and flour, until resemble crumbs, add water little by little until it forms a dough.
Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest.

Prepare the filling by creaming butter and sugar. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix.

Roll out dough from the fridge into your tart mould and prick with a fork. Blind bake for about 15 minutes at 180C in a preheated oven.

Pour filling on to the crust, top with the flaked almonds, and then bake for another 25 minutes, until set.

Once out of the oven, brush with the apricot glaze and enjoy.

Apple and sweet potato tarts

Over the last two weeks, I have made two tarts and I am very happy with how both turn out. First tart is an apple one, with frangipane filling and the second tart is a sweet potato one, with, of course, sweet potato filling. I have used the same shortcrust pastry base for both tart crust with the ratio 2:1 of flour to butter. The only exception was to add some almond meal for the sweet potato crust. It really gave a crunchy base which was what I was looking for.

SHORTCUT PASTRY

For a 9inch tart pan

Ingredients:
250g all-purpose flour
125g butter
5-8 tbs of cold water

Variation:
50g almond meal

Method:
1. Cut your butter into small cubes.
2. Put the butter and sifted flour in a food processer. Pulse until the mixture resemble crumbles.
(Otherwise, useyour thumb and index finger to form the crumbs)
3. Add a tablespoon of water at a time, until it forms a dough.
4. Put the dough on a flat surface and form into a ball. Cover with cling wrap and rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge

5. Remove from the fridge. Roll out dough in between 2 baking paper.
6. Place onto the tart dish. Prick with a fork. Place a piece of baking paper and your baking beads or rice.
7. Put back in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
8. Blind bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees. Remove the baking bead and bake for another 10 minutes.
9. Your tart shell is ready to be used.

APPLE TART

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SWEET POTATO TART