peach melba tart

I'm an unashamed Autumn/Winter-person. That doesn't necessarily mean I love extremely cold weather, given a Brisbane Winter hardly reaches below 10C. I do, however, loathe the humidity, squinting, and sunburn that Summer generally involves. As the years pass by, I think I'm becoming more tolerant and can now appreciate more daylight hours. I accept that beautifully thick rhubarb stems are less readily available. I'll even admit that lemon lime & bitters tastes better on a warm Summer's afternoon. But what I really miss during my favourite cooler seasons are raspberries. And peaches. And this Summer, haven't the raspberries been spectacular?

Ingredients (generously serves 6)
Recipe from delicious. More Please

For pastry:
1 2/3 cups plain flour
2 tbsps icing sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
180 gms chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg yolk

For filling:
3 ripe peaches
200 mls pouring (thin) cream
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
2 eggs, plus 1 extra yolk
1/4 cup caster sugar
250 gms raspberries

2 tbsps flaked almonds, toasted
icing sugar, to dust

For the pastry, process flour, icing sugar, vanilla seeds and a pinch of salt in a food processor until there are no lumps. Add the butter and process until sandy. Add the yolk and 1 tbsp chilled water, processing until the mixture comes together in a smooth ball. Remove pastry from food processor (kneeding a little if necessary), cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Grease a 12x35cm loose-bottomed tart pan. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3 - 5mm thich and use to line the pan, pressing gently into the base and sides. Trim to fit, then chill for 30mins.

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line pastry with baking paper and fill with pastry weights (or uncooked rice/beans/lentils) and blind bake for ten minutes. Remove weights and baking paper and bake for a further 5 minutes until pastry is golden and dry. Reduce the oven to 170C.

For the filling, blanch the peach halves in a large saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute. Remove, allow to cool slightly, peel, then place on some paper towel and gently pat dry.

Heat the cream and vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling point. Gently whisk the eggs and extra yolk with the sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the whisked eggs. Remove vanilla pod.

Place the peaches, cut side down, in the tart shell and scatter with half the raspberries. Slowly pour the cream mixture into the tart shell, and bake for 30 - 40mins until the custard is set. Cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar and serve with a scattering of flaked almonds.

I freaked out a little in finding that my tart had set so soon - after about 20 minutes! So please keep a good eye on it during the cooking period to avoid the disappointment of over cooked or even burnt custard. delicious also suggest using Careme vanilla bean sweet shortcrust pastry, as they do quite often throughout this book, and doing so would make this simple recipe even quicker. Sounds good to me!

Recommended baking soundtrack: Thee Oh Sees - Warm Slime. 

golden raspberry custard tarts

Early yesterday morning, when most people were still in their warm, warm beds, I was skipping breakfast (I never EVER do this), fumbling to find car keys, and driving through the cold and darkness of 6am. And now, when most people are working or resting hangovers, I'm here eating raspberry tarts. It all evens out, really.

The insane starting hour was to get to Eumundi Markets at a reasonable time before the masses do. And there are masses. A mission intended for scooping up some baby clothes for my sister turned out to be unsucessful, but quickly turned into a very fruitful food shop. It was here that I tasted probably the best strawberries I've had in recent memory, and picked up some beautiful slut red (Nigella's words, not mine!) and golden yellow raspberries.  

The flavour of golden raspberries is really much the same. A little less sweet maybe? So, to use these lovelies at their very best, I've whipped up some simple tarts to make my favourite day of the week even sweeter. You can, of course, use regular raspberries. Or strawberries. Or whatever!

Ingredients (makes 12)

For pastry cases:
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
185 gms cold butter, chopped coarsely
1 egg yolk
2 tsps iced water

For custard cream:
1 cup full-fat milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped)
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tbsps cornflour
1/3 cup thickened cream, whipped

For raspberry coulis:
100 gms raspberries
1 tbsp icing sugar

2 punnets (approximately 60) fresh raspberries
icing sugar, to dust optional)

To make cases, process flour, sugar and butter until crumbly. With motor running, add egg yolk and enough water to bring ingredients together. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and then refrigerate for 30 mins.

Meawhile, to make custard cream, combine milk and vanilla (paste or whole pod and seeds) in a small saucepan and heat over a low to medium heat until it just reaches the boil. Remove from heat.

Beat egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until thick and pale. Gradually pour hot milk mixture into eggs, whisking continuously so eggs do not scramble. If using an electric mixer, simply leave motor running.

Return custard to saucepan, and gently heat, stirring continuously, until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Pour into a large heatproof bowl, cover the surface with glad wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Grease 12 capacity cupcake tins. Roll out half the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface until about 3mm thick. Cut out 12 x 7.5cm rounds and press rounds into holes of tin. Prick bases of each with a fork. Repeat with remaining pastry and refrigerate for 30 mins.

For raspberry coulis, puree raspberries and sugar together until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a small bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 200C/190C fan-forced. Bake cases for 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Stand cases in tin for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Fold whipped cream through cooled custard in two batches. Once cases are completely cooled, spoon a small amount of coulis between each. Top with custard. Decorate each tart with raspberries and a dusting of icing sugar if you fancy.

Note: A good raspberry sauce (such as Cuttaway Creek) or jam will work just as well if you don't want to make a coulis.

Recommended baking soundtrack: Horse Feathers - Thistled Spring.

rhubarb & custard crumble tart

There are few things I love more than custard. So when I found out that my boyfriend - while we were in our courting days - hated custard, I felt like he'd slapped me. How can someone hate custard? I soon thereafter discovered he was basing this statement on his only experience with custard... the carton variety. Gasp! 

Surely a distaste for something so heavenly is negotiable, right? So shortly after, I made (really, I did force him to) try fresh, homemade vanilla bean custard. And he changed his mind. Of course. 

Since then - and it has been a while now - I make custard based desserts as much as possible. Baked custards, crème brulée, custard tarts, custard tea cakes, cupcakes, whatever I can. This lovely tart combines two of his and favourite things. And it's pretty amazing.

Ingredients

Recipe taken from Delicious June 2010 issue (which, on a tangent is perfect)

For tart:

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 eggs, plus 3 yolks

Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange

1 tbsp cornflour

300 mls thickened cream

2 vanilla beans, split, seeds scraped

400 gms rhubarb, chopped

20 gms unsalted butter, chopped 

1 sheet frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed

For topping:

1/2 cup plain flour

50 gms unsalted butter, cold and chopped

2 tbsps brown sugar

For filling, combine half the caster sugar with eggs, yolks, zest and cornflour in a bowl. 

Place cream and seeds of one vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Slowly pour hot cream over egg mixture, stirring. Return to a clean saucepan over a low heat and cook, stirring constantly until custard has thickened slightly (about 5 - 6 mins). Strain custard into a jug, cover surface with glad wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate until needed. 

Preheat a baking tray in an oven at 200C/180C fan-forced. Place the rhubarb in a single layer in another baking dish with remaining caster sugar and vanilla seeds. Dot with butter, drizzle with 1 tbs water and add vanilla pod. Roast for 15 mins until rhubarb is tender but keeps its shape. Carefully remove rhubarb pieces and set aside, reserving juices. 

Use pastry to line a 21cm loose-bottomed tart pan and prick base with a fork. Line with baking paper, and fill with pastry weights (or uncooked rice). Bake for 10 mins on hot baking tray. Remove the weights, and bake for a further 5 mins until pastry is crisp and golden. 

Meanwhile, for the crumble, place the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add butter and rub with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir through brown sugar. Scatter over a baking tray.

Pour cooled custard into the pastry case, then arrange the rhubarb on top. Place tart on the heated tray and return to the oven with the crumble topping. Bake both for 12 - 15 mins, shaking crumble tray throughout, until tart filling is just set and crumble forms golden clumps (it will harden upon cooling). Cool tart slightly before removing from the pan. 

Serve warm or at room temperature, scattered with the crumble topping and drizzled with reserved rhubarb juice. 

Recommended baking soundtrack: Songs of Green Pheasant - Songs of Green Pheasant.