Tuesdays with Dorie: (Not) Tarte Noire

No your eyes don't deceive you, that is definitely not a chocolate tart! This week's pick was an epic fail for me, resulting in a bowl of black sludge oozing fat. Yech. I have made ganache many times without any problems so I can only think the fat content of my cream was too high. Whatever it was it was totally unusable and ended up in the bin.

Having now run out of both cream and chocolate (soooo glad Lindt was 50% off this week so I only wasted $6 on chocolate instead of $12) I had to come up with another use for my tart shell.

Inspired by the Mystery Box challenges on MasterChef I searched the fridge/pantry and came up with condensed milk, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and lemon. Voila! The baked lemon custard tart was born!

As my tart shell was already fully baked I was a little worried it would get too dark upon baking again but I kept a close eye and had no problems.

Baked Lemon Custard Tart
(makes enough filling for 2 tarts)

400ml sour cream
1 tin of condensed milk
2 eggs
1ts vanilla paste
juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 tbs strawberry jam
Fresh strawberries and icing sugar to serve

Preheat your oven to 180/350 degrees. Place your prebaked tart shell on a baking tray. Brush the base with strawberry jam and set to one side. Combine all other ingredients in the food processor and blitz until very smooth. Pour the filling into the tart shell and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until set (firm but with a slight wobble in the middle). Tent with foil during baking if the crust is becoming too dark.

Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature then refrigerate for a couple of hours.

To serve, carefully remove the tart from the pan and place on a serving plate. Cover the top with sliced strawberries and a dusting of icing sugar.

The taste test ...

An absolute winner! The filling tastes almost exactly like a lemon cheesecake but a lot lighter (obviously without all the cream cheese). The lemon and strawberries complimented each other perfectly and the sweet tart crust was delish as always. Hubby was really looking forward to chocolate tart but even he wasn't too disappointed to get this instead!

My apologies to Dharmagirl of bliss: towards a delicious life for completely stuffing up her pick this week! To see how it should have been done visit the other TWD bakers here.

** Blogger seems to be eating my comments for some reason. I'm not sure who you are, but if you were one of the 7 or so people who commented this afternoon and your comment isn't here, that's why! Anyone had this happen before??**

Tuesdays with Dorie: Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes, a Trifle and some News

This week Wendy of Pink Stripes chose Dorie's Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes and as usual I tweaked the recipe. Honestly I can't remember the last time I actually made a recipe exactly as stated (apart from the Raisin Swirl Bread which was utter perfection!).

After realising these cakes were a variation on a standard pound cake I immediately thought trifle! We're not huge fans of rum (although I always have a stash for my Christmas baking) so I used just 1 ts in the batter. Surprisingly this was enough to create not only a great taste but a fabulous aroma while baking.

I made half the recipe (1 cake) and ended up with a mountain of perfect little cake cubes.

While in the past I have gone all out making a trifle, this time I went simple and no-fuss ... cake, jelly, tinned peaches and custard. I made a drenching syrup using some of the juice from my drained tin of peaches and this was a fabulous addition. I recently discovered Aeroplane jelly has a 25% reduced sugar variety with natural colours and flavours so that's what I used here in raspberry.
So regular readers may have noticed my blogging has become a little sporadic recently. I'm a little embarrassed to see just how long it has been since posting anything other than TWD, Daring Bakers or Daring Cooks.

My excuse? We've been cooking up anther little project around here. Due mid-November. Oh, and it's a boy! :-)

Daring Bakers June - Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Marscapone Mousse

Ahhh, pavlova ... the quintessential Aussie summer dessert. While I am more of a fruit and whipped cream pavlova girl, all the chocolate in this version made my husband a very happy man!

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I have never made chocolate meringues before so this was a great challenge for me. I made 1/3 of the recipe and got 4 lovely meringues. I baked them a little differently than stated in the recipe because I wanted them to have soft and fluffy middles. 45 minutes at 130 degrees C did the trick.

The marscapone mousse was more flowing than mousse-like but was absolutely delicious anyway. The marscapone cream/creme anglaise seemed like overkill to me so I topped my meringues with sliced strawberries and grated dark chocolate. This is a VERY sweet treat but the strawberries did cut through the richness of the mousse and the plain sugariness of the meringues.

The hardest part was taking a photo without someone's little fingers getting in the way! (Normally not a problem but Oscar is dairy intolerant).

Thanks to Dawn for a choctastic challenge this month! You can download a PDF of this recipe here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

Let me just say, I loved this cake. LOVED. So a big thank you straight off to Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes for picking it this week!

The name 'Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake' really doesn't do this cake justice. To me it was a cheat's version of a Black Forest Cake (which I adore) just without all the fuss. Ok and without all the booze too.

I made a half batch in an 8 x 4 pan and it still took 50 minutes to cook. I was glad for the chance to use my Wilton layer cake cutter but somehow still managed to end up with wonky layers. Sandwiched together with black cherry conserve, smothered in fabulous chocolate-sour cream frosting and topped with fresh cherries, it didn't matter in the slightest. This was delicious!

The cherries were a bit of an indulgence as it is definitely not cherry season here. These were imported from the USA and about $16 a kilo.

I'm so glad I only made half the recipe. As it was I ate 3 slices.

Great pick, Amy! You can find the recipe at Amy Ruth Bakes under today's date.

Daring Cooks June - Pâtés and Bread

Wow it feels like ages since I've done a Daring Cooks challenge. Actually that's not totally accurate. It's ages since I completed one on time and got around to posting it!

Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pâté recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.

I didn't follow the pâté recipes provided but I hope what I've done fits within the spirit of the challenge. I made a simple salmon mousse and the sandwich bread.

Salmon Mousse

1 x 415g tin premium red salmon, drained, skin and bones removed
250g cream cheese
approx 200g smoked salmon
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 ts gelatine powder

Spray 4 small dariole moulds (I used plastic) with olive oil spray then line with plastic wrap. Then use the smoked salmon slices to completely line each mould, coming right to the top and ensuring there are no gaps.

Place the lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat. Once warm sprinkle over the gelatine powder and turn off the heat. Stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved then set aside.

Place the tinned salmon and cream cheese in a food processor and process until very smooth, at least 2 minutes. With the motor running, drizzle in the lemon juice mixture and process for another minute or so until completely incorporated and smooth.

Pour the mousse mixture into each mould, tapping the mould on the bench to remove any air bubbles. Cover the tops with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

To serve, gently ease each mousse out of the mould and remove the plastic wrap. Garnish with sprigs of fresh dill. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving with fresh baguette or toast slices.

This mousse is intensely salmon flavoured but the lemon cuts through the richness. A perfect dinner party entrée.

Sandwich Loaf/Baguettes

3 tsp (15 ml) active dry yeast
2 2/3 cups (600 ml) whole milk (3.25 per cent fat), warmed to a temperature of 97ºF (36ºC)
2 1/2 tsp (12.5 ml) salt
2 tsp (10 ml) butter, melted
5 1/3 cups (750g) unbleached white bread flour, + 1/2 cup (75g), for working the dough
2 tbsp (30 ml) butter, for the loaf pan

To make loaves:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast and warm milk, and whisk to dissolve. Whisk in the salt and the melted butter. Gradually sprinkle in the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon.

When the dough becomes too thick to stir, knead it with your hands, for about 5 minutes, until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous dough that is soft and a little sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.

Knead the dough 20 strokes (still in the bowl), cover again, and let rest for 1.5 hours.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and divide in two. Form each half into a sausage. Transfer the dough to a greased baking sheet. Cover lightly and let rise in a draft-free area for 60 minutes, or until doubled in volume.

Fill a large baking pan with hot water (simmering is fine) and place in the oven. Preheat oven to 450ºF (240ºC). Using a very sharp knife cut 3 slits into the top of each loaf. Spritz the loaves with warm water and sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds (optional).

Put the loaves in then oven and bake for 10 minutes. Do not open the oven door during this time.

After 10 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 400ºF (200ºC) and continue baking for about 25 minutes, or until the loaves are nicely golden. Unmould and let cool on a rack.

Next time I would love to try the proper french bread recipe. It's been on my to-do list for ages but I just ran out of time. I was also worried how my starter would fare overnight considering how cold it has been lately.

TIP: I have always struggled with getting my dough to prove/rise well, especially in winter. But for this challenge I used a tip from Chocolatchic to proof the dough in the car! This worked spectacularly well and I think I will do it every time from now on.

Thanks for a great challenge!