Egg Custard Tart, Blood Orange Poached Rhubarb and Syrup

Here's a thing you should know about me. I LOVE custard, in any shape or form it may come in.  Crème Anglaise; proper custard; custard slices, Portuguese custard tarts; banana's and custard (favourite comfort food ever) or just simply a beautiful egg custard tart.  Anyway it comes to me, I will happily devour. 

It was a truth that I had previously never doubted that I would never be any good at making pastry.  "It's just too difficult" I thought, "It'll just always go wrong and then it'll be a waste".  But then I thought - how hard could it be to make some harmless pastry.  Turns out that all I really needed to do was roll up my sleeves and go for it.

Following on from my last post about cheat ingredients where I shared my loved for ready made puff pastry, I've decided to carry on the theme for a little bit longer (if you let me indulge)!  I've long been a fan of mid-week puddings, but even with the best will in the world having the time to knock something up can be difficult!  

Egg Custard Tart, Blood Orange Poached Rhubarb and Syrup

Here’s a thing you should know about me. I LOVE custard, in any shape or form it may come in.  Crème Anglaise; proper custard; custard slices, Portuguese custard tarts; banana’s and custard (favourite comfort food ever) or just simply a beautiful egg custard tart.  Anyway it comes to me, I will happily devour. 

A good egg custard tart can easily be ruined by using rubbish eggs, or the wrong custard-to-pastry ratio (the pastry being incidental really, just a vehicle for holding the custard in place), and although simple it is a dessert best not rushed less you end up with lumpy custard or an overcooked tart.  Not good.

Continue reading “Egg Custard Tart, Blood Orange Poached Rhubarb and Syrup”

Squash, Feta and Rosemary Pastry Tart

It was a truth that I had previously never doubted that I would never be any good at making pastry.  “It’s just too difficult” I thought, “It’ll just always go wrong and then it’ll be a waste”.  But then I thought – how hard could it be to make some harmless pastry.  Turns out that all I really needed to do was roll up my sleeves and go for it.

Turns out that I’m actually pretty darn good at making my own pastry.  Not as an every day thing you understand – I’m not that committed, but certainly in a batch and ahead of schedule and freezing down portions for later use is right up my street and the kind of vision of effortless mid-week cookery that I can handle without working myself up into a frenzy!

Continue reading “Squash, Feta and Rosemary Pastry Tart”

Super Quick Rhubarb Fool Tarts

Following on from my last post about cheat ingredients where I shared my loved for ready made puff pastry, I’ve decided to carry on the theme for a little bit longer (if you let me indulge)!  I’ve long been a fan of mid-week puddings, but even with the best will in the world having the time to knock something up can be difficult!  

Ready made pastry cases are a boon, and the recipe below for a simple, tasty filling will make you look like a mid-week-dessert-creating-rockstar!   And you’re welcome!

Ingredients (makes 6):

  • Packet of six ready made sweet shortcrust pastry cases
  • 150g of rhubarb chopped into 5cm pieces (fresh or frozen, it doesn’t matter)
  • 3 tbsp of sugar
  • 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste
  • 2 tbsp of water
  • 250ml ready whipped cream
  • Small handful of freeze dried strawberry slices
  • Fresh mint leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Place the rhubarb, sugar, vanilla bean paste and water in a saucepan, cover with a lid and heat over a medium heat until the rhubarb has softened and cooked through to be able to mash.
  • When cooked, check for sweetness and tartness balance and add additional sugar if needed, but don’t overdo it on the sugar as you need to have the tartness of the rhubarb coming through.
  • When cooked through, spoon out into a bowl and allow to cool, and mash with a fork.
  • In a pestle and mortar, grind down the freeze dried strawberries until they are a powder (this is a really satisfying thing to do!)
  • When the rhubarb mixture has cooled slightly, scoop out the ready whipped cream and gentle fold together.  Don’t over stir otherwise the cream will collapse!
  • Spoon out generously into the pastry cases.
  • Garnish with a line of freeze dried strawberry powder and a sprig of fresh mint.

And…enjoy!

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