Classic Custard Tart

I've had custard on my mind ever since I decided not to make last week's TWD selection of Floating Islands. I absolutely adore custard and while I wholeheartedly avoid the bright yellow goop that passes for custard at the supermarket, strangely I don't make it very often at home.

I decided it would have to be baked to pass my food safety limitations at the moment, so custard tart it was!

What elevated this from the mundane was the fact I used whole fresh nutmeg for the first time. I know, where have I been?? Just like when first I tried a fresh vanilla bean, this was spectacular.

We loved this tart. So simple and elegant and not too sweet. You can find the recipe I used here. The only change I made was to the pastry - leaving out the egg yolk and water, replacing them with just enough apricot juice to bring it together. This added a lovely subtle flavour and most importantly, meant I could eat some uncooked. I love pastry!!!

Tuesdays with Dorie: No Islands Here

So, the egg thing. Normally I love them but I now have one track pregnancy brain and cannot possibly allow myself to eat anything not totally cooked through. That means no floating islands. Sorry Shari!

I promise I will do better next week!

Tuesdays with Dorie: World Peace Cookies and 2 Awards!

I'm so happy someone chose Dorie's World Peace Cookies. I've seen them floating around the blogosphere for probably 12 months but have never gotten around to making them. Thank you Jessica of Cookbookhabit!

As with most slice and bake cookies these were a breeze to whip up. And even better without any egg in the mix I could eat the cookie dough! So I did ... lots!

I know many people found them very crumbly to slice. I had the same problem but they did squeeze back together pretty well. Any bits leftover, well, I ate them!


The taste test ...

Sensational. What else can I say? I really loved these and can see them becoming a regular. I ended up using salted butter (because that's all I had left) and added a few grinds of salt from the grinder so I have no way of knowing how close to the required amount I actually got. Next time I'll make them exactly as is.

All my taste testers agreed these were probably the best chocolate chip cookies they'd eaten! Although my husband still prefers the Whopper Drops - in his mind that is now the standard against which all Dorie's cookies are measured! :)

UPDATE - they taste great frozen ... so much for hiding them in the freezer!

It makes me so happy that other people do actually read and enjoy my blog. Over the past few weeks I have received 3 awards from 2 lovely bloggers - the Lemonade Award from Cakelaw and My Baking Heart and the Fabulous Blog Award also from My Baking Heart.

Thanks ladies, you made my day! If you haven't already checked out their blogs make sure you do!

The rule of the awards are:
1. Put the logo on your blog/post.
2. Nominate other fabulous blogs which show great attitude
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let your nominees know that they have received the award by commenting on their blog.
5. Link this post to the person who gave you this award.

I am passing both awards on to the following bloggers:

Annie of Annie's Eats
Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies
Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes
Heather of Sherry Trifle
Mary of The Food Librarian
Prudy of Prudence Pennywise
Wendy of Pink Stripes

Daring Bakers January - Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

What a lovely simply recipe! I was delighted to have something light to make this time around. And yet again this is something that I probably would never have gotten around to making on my own.

The recipe calls for the mixture to be either piped or stenciled. Having not solved the mystery of our missing piping bag I went for the stencil option. There was only one problem. I failed cutting in kindergarten (seriously!) and my skills haven't improved much since then!

I had managed to save an ice cream container from a week ago and decided to make a simple circle. Unfortunately I forgot that I was not actually after a perfect circle cutout, but rather the circular shape left behind and I butchered it. Bugger.

Then I went freehand to create some faintly circular shapes. These actually worked really well but the humidity was a killer. Within about 10 minutes my beautifully firmed up tuile bowls were as flat as pancakes (I managed to perk one up for the photos).

I also dug out some stencils I have which are designed to make pretty cocoa shapes on top of a cappuccino.



I made half the recipe because I only had 1 egg left when I started and got what you see in the above photo.

Tuiles
Yield: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams sifted confectioner’s sugar
a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams sifted all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not over mix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week; take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter / spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly coloured. Use this coloured batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. Or: place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

I paired them with a gorgeous mango sorbet but the possibilities are endless.

My husband didn't bother with any niceties and ate his like a taco!

I think mine was prettier :)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

This week we made a gorgeous gingerbread thanks to Heather of Sherry Trifle. I made this to feed the troops on our moving day yesterday. Nothing like a chocolate fix in the midst of a hard morning's work!

It was an absolute breeze to whip up but I ended up with a slightly different result than intended because I misread the recipe! I was most of the way through when the recipe said to stir through the chopped chocolate. Woops! I melted all the chocolate instead of just 2 ounces. I added it all anyway and hoped for the best.

I also changed the icing, just melting the chocolate and butter together and adding enough icing sugar to get the consistency right.

The taste test ...

Oh. My. God. This was incredible! If this was a mistake I want to make many, many more of them! The end result was moist, rich and almost fudgy right in the middle and the fresh ginger gave it a wonderful depth of flavour (dark chocolate covered ginger is one of my favourite treats!).

This is probably in my top 3 Dorie recipes so far. Thanks Heather!

Happy Australia Day!

Today is the day we celebrate the beginning of modern Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788!

There is a lot of discussion this year, particularly since the naming of an aboriginal Australian of the Year, about whether January 26th should be celebrated at all. I for one think it should, but there should also be another day (a celebration? acknowledgment?) which is more inclusive of indigenous Australians.

To me Australia Day says hot weather, bbqs, the JJJ Hottest 100 and lots of sport on tv. We spent the day moving practically every piece of furniture we own in a big switcheroo that will make room for our new bub (who will be here in just 12 weeks!!!)

No recipes today, but we really enjoyed our lunch of homemade sausage rolls and potato salad. Yum!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Berry Surprise Cake

This week Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen chose Dorie's Berry Surprise Cake. This was a fun project and really anything with strawberries and cream is a winner to me!

I decided to be brave and quarter the recipe so I could use my little 10cm springform pan. I was really worried when I spooned in the batter because it looked like a pancake, coming maybe 1/2 cm up the sides of the pan! It did rise though and all went well until I touched the top very lightly with my fingertip to see how firm it was getting and of course it instantly deflated! Oh well.

I was never going to be able to create a 'nest' in something maybe so small so I split it, smeared each half with raspberry jam (there was no point making the sugar syrup without the alcohol) and piped on the filling to form a hollow in the centre for the fruit. I used fresh strawberries with maybe 6 frozen raspberries.

The taste test ...

Fabulous! Like I said, I think anything with strawberries and cream is perfect! To me it was a bit of a twist on a strawberry shortcake, scones with jam and cream or even trifle. All of which I love. I will definitely try this again full-size, maybe for a special afternoon tea. Thanks Mary Ann!

A Confession

My name is Susan, and I am a bakeaholic. Big shock considering I have a food blog and bake for both Tuesdays with Dorie and Daring Bakers!

I don't really do the whole New Years' Resolution thing but seeing my thighs have been expanding along with my pregnant belly I though I would take the first week of January off.

No baking at all.

I lasted 3 days.

It wasn't even that I wanted to eat something I made, I actually really missed the process of baking - playing with butter and flour, getting my hands dirty, having the kitchen smell homey.

So I bring you Dorie's Peanut Butter Crisscrosses (or what you bake when you shouldn't be baking and don't really have any ingredients). I ate 2 of these and the rest are in the freezer for later when the mood to eat but not bake strikes me.

Peanut Butter Crisscrosses
From Baking - pp78-79

2 1.3 c plain flour
1 ts baking soda
1/2 ts baking powder
1/4 ts salt
Pinch nutmeg
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c chopped salted peanuts (I left these out because we didn't have any)
About 1/2 c sugar extra for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with paper.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
Beat the butter in a mixer on medium until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Ad the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl, then on low speed add the dry ingredients mixing until only just combined. The dough should be soft and mushy. Mix in the chopped peanuts.

Pour the extra sugar into a small bowl. Using a level tablespoonful of dough, roll into a ball in your hands then drop in the sugar, rolling it around to coat. Place on a baking sheet leaving 2 inches between them. Dip a fork in the sugar and press into each ball of dough to make crisscrosses.

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets if you need to. When done the cookies with be lightly coloured and still soft. Cool for a few minutes before moving them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Makes about 40 (I did half the recipe and got 15 big cookies)

Dorie's Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf

Sticking with the cornbread theme I decided to make this loaf to use up the rest of my buttermilk and cornmeal. It came together ridiculously quickly (just like yesterday's muffins) and smelt amazing in the oven!

I went with fresh granny smith apple and dried apricots for both the colour and sweetness.

Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf
From Baking - p43

1 cup buttermilk
5 tbs unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 1/4 c plain flour
3/4 c cornmeal
1/2 c sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1/2 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts nutmeg
1/4 ts salt
1 apple or pear, peeled cored and cut in a small dice
1/2 cup diced dried apple or pear (or apricot in my case)

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat to 180 degrees. Butter and line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (i never place cake pans on a rack as Dorie suggest because everything burns that way).

Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter and eggs.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Fold in the liquid ingredients using a large rubber spatula until everything is just moistened. Stir in the fruits and scrape batter into prepared tin.

Bake for about 1hr (or 45 minutes in my case) or until a thin knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a rack and cool right side up.

Delicious warm out of the oven or freeze in slices for making great toast the next day!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Savoury Corn & Pepper Muffins

Much as I loved last week's pick I was very happy with something simple and savoury this week!

I am not a huge fan of chilli, preferring warmth to heat in terms of spiciness so I did make a few changes to the recipe. I also jumped on the bandwagon and served these with Beef and Bean Chili. They were the perfect accompaniment.


The taste test ...

Fresh out of the oven when it was almost too hot to handle and smeared with butter ... yum! My one issue would be that I think there was too much baking powder. Or too much combined with the baking soda? Once they cooled down I could really taste it and the crumb was very hard despite not over-mixing.

I'm glad I left out the jalopenos and most of the chilli - I only used 1/2 ts of mexican chilli powder and that was perfect to give a hint of warmth which contrasted beautifully with the more spicy Chili.

Overall a thumbs up! Thanks to Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake for this week's pick.

Tuesdays with Dorie: French Pear Tart

This week's recipe was chosen by none other than Dorie herself! How cool is that? And even better she selected a recipe I have been eying off for ages - the French Pear Tart.

I absolutely adore pears. I have some on my cereal every single morning, fresh when available and canned for the rest of the time. Being the middle of summer fresh pears aren't available so I went for the best quality canned ones I could find.

This recipe was a cinch to pull together, although the pastry was slightly tricky. I hate blaming everything on the weather but the heat and humidity really do play havoc with pastry! It took 3 attempts to roll it out properly (with chilling time in between) but I eventually got there. I pre-baked it as per the recipe and although the crust got a littler darker than I would have liked the end result was perfect.

The taste test ...

Absolutely divine. I lost count of the number of times N said 'this is really good. you should make this again.' Admittedly it was very sweet but I think this sweetness comes from the pears themselves. Perhaps there would be more contrast with fresh pears? Either way, we loved it and will definitely be making this again sometime. Thanks Dorie!