Egg custard tart

Easy peasy, and very pleasant, this variation ont he old english classic while surprise you with its simplicty. Feel free to add berries such as rapberries, gooseberries, logan, blue or cranberries to make an even more enjoyable tart.

You will need: (makes 2)

2x30cm blind baked sweet pastry tart cases

12 Whole eggs

750ml of Milk

750ml of Double cream

2 Vanilla beans, opened

Nutmeg

240g of Caster sugar

Whisk eggs and sugar till pale

Warm milk and cream with the vanilla beans

Add the two mixes together, very gradually  while whisking

Pour into 2 30cm flan tins lined with blind baked sweet pastry, do the pouring by the stoves or oven as to prevent spillage while transporting to the stoves

Bake for 40 minutes at 170 degrees

Dutch Apple Tart

Image courtesy of ifood.tv

Upon request for Kelvyn (and for the express benefit of Pip), I hereby present one of my favourite incarnations of apple pie - the Dutch apple tart. It presents a topped presentation approach to the apple pie, which differs from the usual apple pie that we all know and love - but do not be fooled - this recipe is just as (if not more) delicious, and can be presented and devoured in similar ways. Its pretty cheap to produce, and if you can come accross free apples *cough* then its even better. I do however reccomend you try eating this dish with cinnamon & cognac anglais, or butterscotch sauce. Normal custard varieties will suffice as an accompaniment, but these sauces will maximise your pleasure.

Hope this serves you well Kelv & Pip. It's delicious.

Ingredients (makes a medium sized apple tart in a flan dish)

250g sweet shortcrust pastry (or a prebought flan dish)
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 cooking apples, peeled and sliced (or 6-8 eating apples)
shot of brandy
3 tbsp brown sugar
tbsp butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 180C

Roll out the sweet pastry and add to a greased flan dish. Blind bake the flan case and allow to cool and dry. Cut each apple in half vertically, then slice up the apples into even slies and layer on top of the flan case, overlapping as they go. You'll build a veritable mountain of apple slices, here - make sure they line the outside as evenly as the middle - the tip here is to work inwards. When all your apples are added, sprinkle with cinnamon , then put in the oven for about 20 mins, until apples begin to soften and colour. At this point leave the tart in the oven, and in a pan add the butter until metled then fold in the sugar until a uniform paste is reached. add the brandy and cook until alcohol has burned off (about 20 seconds). Pull out the tart and glaze with the sauce, then return to the oven for a further 10-15 mins until cooked. Pull out and allow to cool.

Portion and serve. If you need ot reheat each slice just sprinkle a littel sugar and a tsp of butter and return to oven until warm.

Classic Plum Tart

Before and after glazing

This recipe is one I've been thinking about doing for a while - although my thoughts had oriented around a plum and rosemary tart, this is one that i think could be adapted to incorporate such an animal. That said, praise be to this dessert anyway as its startlingly good on its own, full of late autumn and winter promise.  With the added boon of finding some reduced plums in the supermarket yesterday, I am more than happy that this is an omen of good things.

No road to wonderfulness is easy however, and this recipe does take a bit of time. That said, it is more than well  worth the wait (and the weight, he chuckles). You wont be disappointed.


500g of sweet pastry
800g of plums halved and stones removed
A little icing sugar
2 tablespoons of apricot jam
1 tablespoon of brandy
Creme patisserie (see below)

Crème patissiere

2 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
40g of Corn flour
350ml of milk
1 vanilla pod split and scraped

Method

Blind bake the pastry case, and dry out (you can cheat and buy one, i wont tell)

Cream together the egg yolks and sugar then work in the corn flour

Bring milk and vanilla pod to the boil then allow to cool slightly

Pour the milk onto the eggs and whisk (using a bain marie)

Rinse out the pan return the custard to the heat and cook out gently stir all the time do not over cook and scramble, do not allow the mix to stick and burn

Spread crème patissiere onto the flan case

Roast the plum halves cup side upper most, sprinkle with icing sugar cook for 20 minutes

Arrange the plums on the tart

Heat up the apricot jam and brandy and glaze the plums

Chocolate "Nemesis" Torte

Image courtesy of ITV food

Definitely one not for the fainthearted - calling all chocolate lovers out there....

This is probably one of the more ultimate of chocolate desserts, comprising enough dark chocolate to cause offence, and a luxurious sweetness that demands to be loved. Its a beautiful recipe, and the origins of this recipe cannot be revealed (lest i be shot down in flames from the catering community). Ill say this, it was a dessert from the secure confines of a well known French chef. And that's more than I'm willing to divulge...

Ingredients

1 sweet pastry case blind baked (1.5 in deep x 10 in reccommended)

405g of dark chocolate
345g of caster sugar
270g of butter
6 eggs
150ml of water

Preparation


Cream eggs with 1/3 of the sugar

Boil the water add to this the remaining sugar, heat till the sugar is dissolved

Add the chocolate stir till chocolate is melted

Add butter and blend

Cool then add to the egg mix

Pour into a pastry case and bake at 140 degrees for 1 hour then turn the oven off then leave for another hour

Allow to cool, then devour.

Chocolate & Pear Tart

Going to a fireworks party wouldn't be complete without a little sweetness. This I concluded as I pondered the weekends events, and having set in motion some pear wine for the festive period, the leftover pears seemed to provide a wonderful element for a dessert for a hearty palate.

So I decided that the classic chocolate & pear tart would be perfect. Everyone likes chocolate after all. There were also other feelgood benefits attached to this ideal. My rabbit has developed a new found love for pear peel and cores, and the cat has been guarding the oven in the hope of liberating some of this wonderful dessert.

An approving bunny :)

Happy in the knowledge that everyone is kept content from its production, im sharing with you this simple but wonderful recipe.

You will need:


125g ground almonds
- 1 Blind baked sweet pastry case
• 2 large free-range or organic eggs
• 125g butter, softened
• 95g caster sugar
• 185g dark chocolate, melted
• 3 conference pears, peeled, cored and quartered

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Roll out the pastry until ½cm thick and use it to line a 24cm tart tin. Leave in the freezer to rest for at least 20 minutes, or longer if you can.

Bake the pastry blind for around 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then remove, set aside, and reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/325°F/gas 3.

Mix your almonds, eggs, butter and sugar together and stir in the melted chocolate while it’s still warm. Pour the mixture evenly into the pastry case and then press the pears into the chocolate and almond mixture.

Bake the tart for 45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the chocolate and almond mixture is firm. Serve warm with crème fraîche, ice cream or double cream on its own. Personally i like cinnamon and honey creme fraiche, but thats me.

Et Voila! 

Treacle Tart

Image provided courtesy of femalefirst.co.uk

Treacle Tart is a wonderful thing and is nice year round, but often presented from late summer through winter. Its surprisingly easy to make, and provides a wondrous accompaniment in a variety of settings, inclusive of elevenses, afternoon tea, or as a dessert at mealtimes. In the more social settings however i belive its best enjoyed with coffee.

Ingredients:

500g of Golden syrup

Juice of one lemon

500g of fresh bread crumb crusts removed

50ml of double cream

2 egg yolks

Line the flan tins with sweet short crust pastry , then blind bake

Warm up the syrup & lemon juice, then add the egg yolks and beat in very slowly

Stir in the breadcrumbs and add the cream

Pour into the pastry cases and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes or until it is light golden brown

Can be served with a variety of accompaniments inclusive of warmed pecan nuts, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, creme chantille or even double cream on its own.

Devour.

Old English Curd Tart

**** Make sweet pastry for 18 tarts roll out and chill

For the Filling:

100g of soften Unsalted Butter

50g of caster sugar

225g of Curd cheese

1 Tablespoon of Ground Almonds

Pinch of salt

2 eggs beaten

2 Tablespoons of Lemon Curd

Icing Sugar to finish off

Cream together the sugar and butter

Add curd cheese, ground almonds, salt and eggs beat until smooth

In the base of each pastry case spread the lemon curd, t

hen spoon in the cheese mix

Bake for 20 minutes

Finish with icing sugar

Classic Lemon Tart (Tarte Au Citron)

Image courtesy of waitrose.com

If there's one lemon dessert i like out there, its the classic lemon tart. Its wonderfully sweet, has a brilliantly clean flavour, and ticks every box for me with a lemon dessert. Ill be honest, its going to take a bit of time (leaving the lemon mix for 24 hours) but think if it this way - is time well spent. The prep time around this is minimal - its only a means of putting it together and if you really want to save yourself a bit of labour you can buy the flan cases (shhh). Its brilliant year round, although is favoured in spring and summer. But with the lemon's availability in supermarkets, its a winner any time of the year.

This recipe makes two, so if like many people who love lemon desserts, you'll end up eating one pretty sharpish. If you want to freeze one, it does freeze well. It also means that if you're called upon to produce one, you have only to defrost it.

Ingredients:

(Makes two)

12 Eggs

8 Lemons juice and zest

450g of Caster sugar

350ml of double cream

2 30 cm flan case

Whisk eggs and sugar till pale

Add to this the lemon juice and zest

Fold in the cream

Leave to stand for 24 hours & strain

Pour into two 30 cm flan cases lined with sweet pastry, which has been blind baked

Bake at 160 degrees till set. (the lemon mix should be firm to the touch)

Variant: For citrus tart use 6 lemon and 4 limes. To make orange tart use 6 oranges instead of lemons