Lemon Curd Tart

If you’ve never tried making a lemon tart at home, I have to warn you, once you have, you will never go back those commercially prepared ones. Many people have complained that most recipes they have tried did not strike the right balance between sweet and tangy. I don’t know how this recipe fixes this problem, or what the perfect scientific balance is between sweet and tangy, but take my word for it, this is brilliant. At least for me.

You may find from the picture that the crust is a little thick; I did that on purpose. The crust is amazing. You can buy a pre-baked tart crust or use frozen shortcrust pastry and just make the lemon curd. But if you have the right machinery, I urge you to make it yourself. It really takes 3 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to chill in the freezer, during which time you don’t have to do anything. And the flavour is worlds better. You’ll thank me...

As you can see, I didn’t include a picture of the sliced lemon tart or even a decent photo of the whole tart, because it was devoured before I got a chance. That’s a good sign don’t you think?

Please note: the recipe may seem long, but that’s because I have trouble being concise and I wanted to include all the details. It really doesn’t include more than a handful of actions... I promise J

Sweet tart pastry (or cheats shortcrust pastry)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups plain flour

2/3 cup caster sugar

1 tsp table salt

150g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg yolk, cold

1 tbsp thickened cream, cold

½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Combine flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a standmixer with paddle attachment, or in a food processor. Throw in the butter and turn on your machine on low until butter is the size of peas and partially incorporated into the flour mixture. The lumpiness is good here, as it makes a flaky pastry, so don’t over-process your butter.

Add the egg yolk, cream and vanilla and mix until the dough is like wet sand. If you find the dough is still too dry, you can add a bit of the egg whites too.... go slowly though.

Tip it out onto a floured surface or a sheet of baking paper. Press into a ball and roll out dough to fit your tart dish. It should ideally be about ½ centimetre in thickness. You can either roll on the floured surface, and then lift the dough by rolling it around your rolling pin and unroll onto your tart tin. Or roll in between 2 sheets of baking paper and inverting onto the tart tin.

Press into tart tin, until you are happy with the shape. If parts of the dough tears, don’t worry, just use the scraps to fix any holes; you won’t be able to see it once baked. I usually fold the overhanging dough back in, to create a double layer crust. You can do as you wish.

Stab the base a few times with a fork. Wrap in cling to avoid the crust from drying out, and leave in freezer for at least 30 minutes. This is the magic trick to prevent the crust from shrinking when baked.

Blind baking

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Lay a sheet of baking paper over the frozen tart crust, and fill with pie weights or uncooked rice. The weight prevents the base of the tart from rising too much when baked. If you find it has risen, just press it down with the base of a spoon.

Bake for 15 minutes, and remove baking paper and pie weights. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until the edges are a deep golden brown.

Remember: colour = flavour; but like with anything, don’t overbake until it is dark brown or (gasp...) black. I don’t think I need to tell you why that’s bad.  

 Meanwhile, prepare the curd. Refer below.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2/3 cup thickened cream

4 eggs, whisked until whites and yolks are combined but not aerated, at room temperature

40g butter, at room temperature

200g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

Method:

Firstly, I say all ingredients need to be at room temperature, that’s because it’ll take shorter to actually cook. But it’s not mandatory. You’ll just have to pour over the hot stove a bit longer if everything’s fridge cold.

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl and place over a pan of simmering water (ie double boiler), making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water.

Stir consistently until custard is thickened. Should take about 8-10 minutes.

Once tart shell is cooked, lower oven temperature to 140 degrees.

Pour custard into the baked tart shell and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are set, but the middle still jiggles slightly when you softly shake the tart tin.

Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate thoroughly until set, about 2 hours.

For serving, dust with icing sugar, or decorate with candied lemon slices.
Source: Tart shell from Williams Sonoma; Lemon Curd from Exclusively Food.

Chicken, almond and parsley salad

I want to share with you the 2 course lunch I made today. It’s main and dessert. Both totally necessary components to make a satisfying meal. I’m one of those people who would forgo entree in order to have dessert. For me, the main is for the stomach. Dessert is for the heart and soul.

On the menu today was the best salad I have had; even surpassing the Thai beef salad I have been obsessed with for the past few weeks.

Dessert was a tangy, sweet Lemon Tart. All home made, including the tart shell. Jealous? I’ll try not to rub it in... too much. J

The salad has chicken breast marinaded in Marsala and lemon juice. Vinegar is added to the leftover juices in the pan after baking the chicken, to make a gorgeous, smoky vinaigrette.

Combined with the scent of parsley and the added crunch from the almonds, the whole thing becomes a simple, yet extremely yummy meal. Healthy too. Not bad for an afternoon’s work.

As with the lemon tart, well, you’ll just have to wait till the next post...

Ingredients:

Serves 2

1 large chicken breast – usually the ones you get from the chicken shop are quite large and can serve 2. If you are using those bought from supermarkets, then use 1 breast per person

1 tblsp Marsala or other rich sherry

1 tblsp garlic oil

1 tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 large bunch of continental parsley

Generous handful sliced almonds – toasted in a dry pan for a few minutes, tossing often, until slightly bronzed

Generous pinch Maldon salt

1 tblsp vinegar – I used apple cider vinegar because that’s what I had on hand, but you can use any mild vinegar you like, though I don’t really like balsamic vinegar here

Method:

Combine Marsala, garlic oil and lemon juice in a zip lock bag, add the chicken, massage a bit and let marinade at room temperature for 15 minutes or in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Empty contents of the zip lock bag into a small roasting tray, including the marinade. Put it in the oven to bake for 40 minutes, basting the chicken a few times.

Test whether chicken is cooked by piercing the thickest part of the breast, if the juices run clear, then it is done. If there are still signs of blood, it needs more time.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before cutting into pieces, however you like.

Add the vinegar to the pan juices and whisk together.

Arrange the parsley on plates (this is not used as a herb here, but the actual leafage of the salad).

Add the chicken pieces, scatter over the almonds and salt; and drizzle over the vinaigrette.

Eat to your heart’s content.  

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I can’t claim credit for the idea of making red velvet cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. It is predictable, but like a classic chocolate mud cake, it’s never old. Above all, when the bright red-hued cupcakes are frosted with the creamy off-white frosting and topped with little sugar hearts... they are look so beautiful that I feel I deserve a minute silence to honour what I have just created. Or perhaps it’s the same thing as all children looking beautiful to their own mothers.

You be the judge.

Red Velvet has only been introduced into Australia in recent years. It’s just a chocolate cake with LOTS of red food colouring. The taste however, is a little deeper than that. And no, it’s not the food colouring that gives it its distinctive taste, since I’ve used a “no taste” red colouring.  And the cream cheese icing is just the perfect pairing. They really go together like bacon and eggs.

I really can’t think of a reason NOT to make this... hmm... maybe apart from the fact that for the few hours afterwards, you might end up looking like you’ve just killed an animal with your bare hands. And oh, the batter is one of the most delicious I’ve tried. So go make these NOW, and save some batter in the bowl for you to lick off later J

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes: (this amount makes about 24 cupcakes)

2 ½ cups cake flour (to make cake flour: for every cup of plain flour, replace 2 tablespoons with corn flour)

1 ½ cups caster sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa – sifted

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 ½ vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk (or plain runny yoghurt or sour cream)

2 tbsp red food colouring*

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp distilled white vinegar

For the cream cheese frosting

300g cream cheese, chilled

100g butter, at room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract (you can use imitation vanilla here)

3 ¼ cups pure icing sugar, sifted

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line muffin/cupcake pans with wrappers.

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; ie flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of the electric mixer, (or another large bowl if you are doing it by hand), mix together the rest of the ingredients until smooth.

*Note: don’t use the Queens liquid food colouring you get from the supermarket. The colour won’t be as deep. I use Wilton gel colours, which are concentrated. You can get it online or at speciality stores such as Wheel and Barrow, House or the David Jones food hall. For the Wilton gel colours, 2 tablespoons is equal to the entire 28g bottle. Mix it with a tablespoon of water before adding to the batter.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet, until you have a very smooth batter.

Fill cupcake wrappers 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean when pricked.

(So easy right???)

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together on low to medium speed on the electric mixer until combined and smooth (you can do this by hand, but unless you want to substitute it for going to the gym, I wouldn’t recommend it).

Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. You will realise that adding the sugar will make the mixture floppier, don’t worry, it’s natural. Make sure you don’t over beat the mixture though, as it will turn soupy and you can’t get it back.

Decorate cupcakes per your imagination.

Recipe source: Adapted from Annie’s eats

Ruby red grapefruit and cranberry muffins

Never thought I would ever hear this... but I’ve just been told that chocolate is getting boring. So I’ve been given the task of baking something that is delicious and above all, is not chocolate or vanilla.

I made a batch of orange and poppyseed muffins the other day, but thought that was a little predictable, and frankly, not that exciting. Then I came across a recipe for “essence of orange muffins” in a favourite baking book of mine. Now I had various challenges on my hands:

1.       I had no oranges on hand

2.       Didn’t have enough sugar

3.       Refer to problem stated above

A quick raid through the fridge and pantry yield the following:

1.       I have a lone ruby red grapefruit

2.       Found an (unopened) bag of dried cranberries leftover from making mince pies during Christmas

3.       Other sweet items discovered which could counter the shortage in sugar include chocolate chips, honey/golden syrup, butterscotch chips (which I got from a recent trip to the states) and sweetened condensed milk

Long story short, I decided on a grapefruit and cranberry combo. And thank goodness for the size of the grapefruit, which yield enough juice to substitute for 2-3 oranges.

And the taste? Well, I just came home from the gym so didn’t want to ruin my efforts by gorging on muffins at 10pm. I used my roommate as guinea pig, and have been assured that they are fabulous. So there.

Lesson learnt? It’s not what things are made to do, but what they can do that counts. So when you are stuck, go find substitutes. Don’t be afraid to experiment J

Ingredients:

This makes24 regular sized muffins or 8 Texas pan-sized muffins.

250g butter (melted and cooled slightly)

1 cup milk (full fat, low fat, skim, whichever you have on hand. No soy please)

½ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (from 1 large grapefruit)

½ cup sour cream (light, full fat, whichever)

2 large eggs

3 ½ cups plain flour

1 cup caster sugar

1 ½ tbsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Zest of 1 grapefruit

1 x 170g packet of dried cranberries

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line 2 x 12 muffin pan with wrappers.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, juice, sour cream and eggs until combined. Whisk in the butter. You need to do this quickly, or the chill may solidify some of the butter which will cause your batter to be lumpy later on.

Shift together the dry ingredients (ie rest of the ingredients from the flour) into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.

Fill muffin cases ¾ full. I find an ice cream scope very useful when filling muffin cases.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden around the sides, or a toothpick inserted (or other testing instrument) comes out clean.

Enjoy warm. They can be cooled and frozen, in which case, when you want to eat them, defrost at room temperature and reheat in a moderate oven for 5 minutes.

Note: I find it easier to zest citrus before its juices have been squeezed out. So plan your movements accordingly.

Recipe source: adapted from the Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

Black Forest Trifle

Nigella had said “whatever the problem, trifle is always the answer”. I agree with this to some extent. It depends on the people you are feeding, and what else you are serving it with. This black forest trifle is made up of custard, fruit, jam, chocolate sponge and cream. Yes I know, you may feel weighed down just thinking of ALL these components being eaten together. But it’s surprising light and enjoyable to eat... even on a hot summer’s day after a full meal. Trust me.

The sponge soaks up the jam, the syrup and some of the custard, giving the whole thing a wonderful mousse like texture. Then you’ve got the cream, whipped till soft peaks... light and floaty... like a “kiss on the tongue” (again, quoted from Nigella). This is really something that needs to be tasted to be believed.

So whether you’ve got 4 people, or 20, or even just 1, I think you need no further excuses to make this. And the fact that the whole thing is so ludicrously easy...well... just go do it! Be prepared to enjoy the rewards!!!

Helpful note: I bake a lot. So when I have substantial trims left over from levelling other cakes, I freeze it for such an occasion as this. This may sound a little too thrifty, but trust me, it works. The sponges really need to be stale for this to be perfect, as it will absorb more of the syrup, jam and custard. If you use a fresh sponge, you might find that the components don’t meld as nicely. If you don’t have stale trims, then try to buy a sponge that is towards the end of its useful life; or a fresh one, which you then leave to become stale.

Another note: You can see from the photo that I don't have those clear layers... that's because I wasn't patient enough to wait until the custard was at the right thickness. So yeah. Be patient.

INGREDIENTS:

500g stale chocolate sponge/pound cake

1 jar St Dalfour Black cherry jam

1 jar (400g approx) Morello cherries, with syrup reserved

Custard:

100g best quality dark chocolate

300ml milk (full fat)

300ml cream

8 egg yolks

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa (best quality dutch processed, sifted)

Topping:

600ml thickened cream

20g dark chocolate

METHOD:

Serves about 20 people (adjust measurements accordingly to feed less/more people as desired)

Before you start: you need a trifle bowl, or any large clear glass bowl. There is no need to be too precise with the amount of sponge cake you need, as it is more about the layers you can create with the sponge and bowl available, rather than weight and measurements.

Custard:

Melt the dark chocolate and leave aside to cool.

Heat cream and milk in a large saucepan until just below boiling point. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar and cocoa together until combined in a large bowl; don’t worry too much about lumps at this stage.

Pour hot cream and milk into the egg yolk mixture whisking as you go. Stir in the melted chocolate. Pour the entire thing back into the saucepan.

Cook over low/medium heat until thickened. Stirring all the time using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula. Do not take your eyes off it. It is adequately thickened, if you can draw a line on the back of the wooden spoon/spatula and the sides of the line does not bleed into one another.

Pour into a large bowl, cover the top of the custard directly with cling to avoid a skin forming. Leave aside to cool. You can also leave the custard in the fridge to speed up the process, but don’t forget about it, or else it will set to the thickness of crème brulee, which cannot be poured onto the sponge layer later.

Prepare the sponge:

Cut the sponge into slices, spread with jam and sandwich together. Squeeze sponges into the base of the bowl until the desired layers have been reached.

Pour over the reserved syrup from the Morello cherries; make sure all the sponges are sodden with syrup. If you prefer an alcoholic version, you can use cherry brandy, kirsch or other cherry liqueur.

Scatter the cherries over the sponges, making sure, some are pushed to the sides so they peak out above the sponges.

Once the custard is cool and thickened adequately, but still pourable, pour over the cherries and sponges and leave the whole thing, covered with cling, in the fridge to set. Preferably overnight.

Once ready to serve, whip the cream to soft peaks, and spread over the custard. Shave the chocolate over the cream.

Serve greedily into bowls using a large spoon and ready to be wowed...

Recipe source: Adapted from Nigella Feast by Nigella Lawson

Let's Party!!!

Black Forest Trifle



Things don’t always happen as you want them to. But the best we can do is plan... and have a backup plan in case the first plan fails. However, having a back up to the backup plan may be overdoing it. If your back up plan fails too, then I believe you should just accept defeat and move on.

There are people who somehow stumble through their days without a list, or let alone having any sort of plan in their minds. I am not one of them. In any one day, I will always have my list of things to do clearly written down. I enjoy the ticking off. It doesn’t make me more organised, it is just my strategy for making sure no matter how many directions I get pulled throughout the day, I can always go back to my list and still have an idea of where I really should be heading.

Now when I’m planning a party for close to 20 people, I go into full military operation mode; and I plan my timetable at least the weekend before, which includes:

·    Plan and finalise the menu - make sure all components complement one another. Also take into account the appetites of your guests and whether the food is suitable for the weather etc. You are inviting your guests over for a reason. That reason is to enjoy themselves and walk away with happy bellies (ie not so stuffed they feel like they need to starve themselves for the next week; or worse, so hungry, they go away and get Maccas afterwards).

·    Plan the shopping. I usually do shopping in 2 goes, so that I don’t overload myself and my fridge. And if I forget something the first time, I can always get it during the second trip.

Have I scared you off already?

      ·    Plan when to do the cooking, including any make-ahead food, so that I am not running around in circles on the morning of the party.

      ·    Plan presentation of the food. Because the last thing I want to worry about 30 minutes before guests arrive is finding out I don’t have enough plates to fit all the food.

My motto is... If I’m calm preparing for the party, then I will be calm during the party and the atmosphere will be a lot better. A few tea lights burning here and there will help too.

It’s really not that scary, and I really enjoy the whole process. I hope I have at least inspired you rather than scare you away...

This is my menu for a recent lunch party I held for 17 people:

Appetisers: 

Rice paper rolls



 Corn chips and vegetable platter with homemade guacamole and red kidney bean dips

(the vegetables were really a “hope over triumph” measure, in case someone wanted to be healthy... they shouldn’t be penalised)

Smoked salmon potato cakes with dill mayonnaise

Vietnamese rice paper rolls

Prawn cocktails


Mains:

Potato rostini

Ginger & wholegrain mustard cocktail sausages (I used pork and veal sausages)

Chinese BBQ pork

Caprese pasta salad

Potato Rostini

Desserts:

Black forest trifle (this is fabulous even if I do say so myself)

Rhubarb and Muscat Jelly

Mango pudding (made by a dear friend Albert Lau)

Rhubarb and Muscat Jelly



Drinks:

Chambord and lemonade

Lemon lime bitters (the REAL deal, not from concentrate)

Beer and wine

Recipe: Smoked salmon potato cakes with dill mayonnaise
(more recipes to come later!)

Smoked Salmon Potato Cake with Dill Mayonnaise

 For the potato cakes

3 Large Eggs

125 ml whole Milk

2 spring onions finely sliced

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

60 g instant mashed potato mix

40 g Plain Flour

½ teaspoon Baking powder

½ teaspoon Lemon Juice

For the topping

Mayonnaise

200 g Smoked Salmon

small bunch fresh Dill

Method

For the potato cakes

In a jug, whisk together the eggs, milk, spring onions and olive oil. Weigh and whisk in th e potato mix, flour, baking powder and lemon juice. Batter should be the thickness of double cream, ie can be dolloped without flowing everywhere.

Heat a non-stick fry pan on medium heat and dollop tablespoons of the mixture onto the hot frypan. Cook as you would normally with pancakes, but for this one, it doesn't have to have bubbles coming through before you flip. Usually 30 seconds a side is adequate.

For the topping

Add a dollop of mayonnaise on top of each pancake after they have cooled. Cut off strips of smoked salmon and arrange the curls on top of each pancake. Top with a feather of dill.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

Photos courtsey of friend Jonathon Wong