Cherry Pie

 

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

In July we went to Garsons Farm in Esher and we picked some lovely cherries. I pitted them and then put them in the freezer, intending to make a cherry pie. Since it’s bank holiday weekend and the weather has been a bit miserable, I thought it was the perfect time to make my pie.

 

I already knew I was going to use my favourite sweet pastry recipe - pâte brisée – but I made a double batch so I could freeze some to use for another pie. I made the pastry the day before and kept it tightly covered in the fridge. Then I took it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before I needed to use it, to allow it to soften up to make it easier to roll out.

 

But it took me a little longer to find a recipe I liked for the filling. Nearly all of the recipes I found said to just mix the cherries with sugar, some cornflour and other flavourings and place straight onto the prepared raw pie crust. But I didn’t like this idea as I thought it might be too watery and make the pastry soggy.

 

Then I found a recipe on The Food Network website and the method of cooking the cherries first with the sugar and cornflour until the mixture was nice and thick seemed ideal. I didn’t have enough cherries, so I adapted the recipe quantities by reducing the amount of sugar and cornflour.

 

My filled pie before baking – the filling is thick and delicious!

 

 

Since I had less cherries than the recipe stated, I used a slighter smaller 7-inch metal pie dish.

 

My pie took longer than 50 minutes to bake – more like 70 minutes – as the pastry underneath was still a little bit underdone. But after 50 minutes the top looked really lovely and golden brown, so to stop it burning I covered the pie with some foil.

 

TASTE TEST:

This was the first time I’d ever made a cherry pie and I was pretty impressed. The recipe for the filling was incredibly easy and it worked a treat. I will definitely use this method for other fruit pies, as I have a stash of blackberries and blackcurrants in the freezer.

 

Everyone liked the pie, although Steve said the cherry flavour could have been stronger – but he thinks this is because he’s used to a very synthetic cherry taste from shop-bought products. I personally thought it tasted quite strongly of cherries!

 

Sadly I’ve not got any more cherries in the freezer, but I will try using Hartley's Fruit Filling Black Cherry which comes in tins, as I’ve read it’s very good.

 

The recipe below is how I made my pie – you can find the original recipe on the The Food Network website.

 

 

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: round 7-inch tin

 

Sweet Pastry Ingredients (makes enough for 2 pies):

• 500g plain flour
• 30g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 200g butter, chilled

 

Sweet Pastry Directions:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. Put the sugar, butter and eggs in the well and gently rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs, then press the dough together to form a ball of dough until it is smooth and pliable.
3. It’s a good idea to let you pastry rest before cooking. You can either roll the dough out on a lightly floured board until it is about 3mm thick and line your tins and then chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or stick the whole lot of dough in the fridge to use the next day.

 

Filling Ingredients:

• 3 cups frozen cherries
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tablespoons cornflour
• ½ Tablespoon butter, to dot
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar, to sprinkle

 

Filling Directions:

1. Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries release considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from the heat.
2. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornflour together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well.
3. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornflour.

 

Assembly Directions:

1. Preheat the oven Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C.
2. Use your favourite pie dough recipe. Prepare your crust. Divide in half. Roll out each piece large enough to fit into an 7-inch pan.
3. Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter. Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake for about 50-70 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Danish Pastries

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

I really wanted to challenge myself, so I decided to make the Danish Pastries recipe from the October 2009 issue of BBC Good Food magazine. I’ve made Flaky pastry before, which is quite similar in its method of laying the butter over the dough and creating layers by folding and rolling three times.

 

I have to say that this Danish Pastry dough was a lot more difficult to work with and my arms were killing me after all the rolling (but it’s good when you can make cooking your exercise workout). I found the dough to be very uncooperative in that it kept contracting and shrinking back when I tried to roll it. It also wouldn’t adhere to itself when I folded it, so this lack of cohesion gave me some problems with shaping the dough.

 

Here are the unbaked pastries: a raisin wheel, an apple pinwheel, an apple turnover triangle and an apple turnover square.

 

The apple turnover squares unfolded as they baked, which is a shame but they still turned out much better than I expected. I wasn’t that confident that the dough would produce all those lovely layers, so I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the oven door and saw that they had worked!

 

TASTE TEST:

The pastries were nice and crispy on the top and a little stodgy underneath, but I think that’s because I started cooking them at the top of the oven and then I moved them to a lower shelf because they were browning too much. I will cook them in the middle of the oven next time (I have frozen the rest - they were still just as good when defrosted and then baked).

 

Steve and I thought the pastries were a little bit salty, but his parents didn’t think so. I used Anchor salted butter, so next time I will leave out some of the salt in the dough (salt regulates the yeast's activity) or use unsalted butter.

 

So would I make these again? I will try making Danish Pastries again, but I won’t use this dough recipe again as it was too laborious with putting it in the fridge after every roll – I think this was unnecessary as the Flaky pastry recipe I’ve used before doesn’t require this. I think I will try this Rough Puff recipe next time as it is more simplified.

 

I decided to not copy out the recipe for the dough and fillings as you can find the recipe here and it would make this post extremely long!

 

MY OWN ADDITIONS:

I wasn’t keen on all the fillings that the Good Food recipe suggested, so I decided to make my own apple filling which worked really well.

 

Ingredients for the apple filling:

• 3 eating apples (I used Gala) peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
• 25g butter
• 50g white sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

 

Directions for the apple filling:

1. Place half the apples into a saucepan with the butter and sugar and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the apple and cook for another 10-15 minutes until soft (adding the apples in 2 stage will allow some of the apple to be more pulpy and the rest will have more bite). Allow to cool before using.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I made the dough by hand instead of in the food processor.
• I used Egg Glaze Spray from Lakeland to glaze before baking. They are still just as good without an egg glaze.
• It was a cold day so they didn’t double in size after shaping them and leaving for 30 minutes. I did try putting them in the oven after it had been heating for 10 minutes and then turning it off, but this just made the butter start to melt, so NOT a good idea! So I just baked them straight after my little experiment and they turned out OK.
• I iced them after letting them cool for about 5 minutes.

Ecclefechan Tarts

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

You’re probably wondering, what the heck are Ecclefechan Tarts?! Well Steve and I only became aware of them last year when we attended a Sainsburys Christmas Press Show and we were offered one to try.

 

It is a traditional Scottish tart which is a combination of treacle tart and mince pie and it is a traditional recipe from Ecclefechan in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.

Although they’re available in Sainsburys all year round, we haven’t actually bought any since we tried them. Instead I decided to try making them myself and I managed to find a recipe online. I plan to make these as Christmas gifts, so this is sort of a trial run to see how it works out.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Unfortunately the recipe didn’t state how much pastry was needed or how many tarts it made. So I just used the 225g of homemade Pâte Brisée (Sweet Shortcrust Pastry) that I had in the freezer. I managed to make 12 tarts from this amount of pastry, but I had so much filling leftover that I think I could have made double the amount of tarts. I have put the leftover filling into a airtight container and stored it in the fridge for another time.

 

The recipe doesn’t tell you to put a lid on the tarts and the ones we had at Sainsburys didn’t have lids, but I had little bit of pastry leftover so I thought I’d made some little Christmas trees to put on the top and I think they look good. They don’t look anything like the ones from Sainsburys as they’re not as deep and the treacle has turned quite a dark colour on mine, but that is the most delicious part of it!

 

 

I wasn’t sure how these were going to turn out as the recipe seemed a bit strange with the vinegar, but you can’t taste it. I added less fruit than the recipe suggested because it seemed like too much. I also whizzed up the nuts using my mini-chopper so they were quite fine instead of just chopping them by hand as I think it gave the filling a better texture.

 

TASTE TEST:

Steve and I really liked them and they tasted just as good as the Sainsburys ones (well we think they did, as we ate those ones back in July 2008 so it’s hard to remember!) and Steve’s Mum did like them but thought they were a bit too sweet. We all agreed though that they’re much nicer than mince pies and would prefer to have these at Christmas!

 

• Makes: should make at least 24 tarts
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: 2 x 12 bun tins

 

Ingredients:

• At least 500g (I think!) Sweet Shortcrust pastry/Pâte Brisée
• 125g (4oz) melted butter
• 200g (6oz) soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar (I just used white wine vinegar)
• 200g (7oz) mixed dried fruit (I used sultanas and currants)
• 50g (2oz) nuts, finely chopped ( I used walnuts and almonds)

 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the sugar and melted butter together, then add the beaten eggs.
2. Stir in the vinegar, then add mixed fruit and nuts.
3. Roll out your pastry to about 2mm thick and cut out circles to line your bun tins. (As you’re not blind baking the pastry first, put your lined tins in the fridge for about 10 minutes to prevent them shrinking).
4. Fill each pastry case with about a Tablespoonful of the mixture (give it a good stir first as the fruit and nuts will sink to the bottom of the bowl).
5. If you have leftover pastry then you can cut out shapes to lay on the top as lids.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C until golden brown.
7. Leave to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack (I usually wait until the tin is cool enough to handle but don’t leave them too long in the tins otherwise the treacle will set and you’ll have a job getting them out!).
8. Eat them whilst they’re warm!

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I used up the other half of the filling by making 9 tarts, but this time I used a slightly bigger cutter so they were deeper and could hold more filling. I baked them for 25 minutes.
• As an experiment I have put one tart in the freezer and I will thaw it out and reheat in the oven to see if they can be successfully frozen. This will be handy as I plan to give these as gifts so I can make them in advance. Watch this space! These freeze perfectly! Just defrost in the fridge overnight and then pop into a preheated oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C for 15-20 minutes.

Profiteroles (Choux Pastry)

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

After watching the episode of Good Eats called ‘Choux Shine’ I decided to follow Alton Brown’s advice of using bread flour when making choux pastry. I didn’t use his recipe though, I just used bread flour instead of plain flour in a recipe I already had, because his recipe makes 48 profiteroles and I didn’t want that many. I’m not sure the bread flour makes a huge difference, but they did puff up in the oven and didn’t deflate when I took them out, which is the problem that some people have.

 

 

I’m not a huge fan of cream, so I filled them with ice cream instead. The chocolate sauce is really gorgeous and so easy to make. This quantity of sauce will be enough for 6-8 people, so I just put the remainder in the fridge where it can stay for 3 days.

 

I will try Alton’s recipe next time, as this recipe only makes 12 and they went down very well, so I’m sure that more will be needed for next time!

 

• Makes: 12 profiteroles
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C then reduce to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: a deep saucepan, a baking sheet lined with parchment or Magic Non-Stick Liner.

 

Ingredients:

FOR THE CHOUX PASTRY

• 25g butter
• 150ml water
• 50g plain or bread flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 egg, beaten

FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE

• 100g plain chocolate (I used Asda Value)
• 150ml double cream
• 2 Tablespoons golden syrup

FOR THE FILLING

• Vanilla ice cream (I used Carte D'Or)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C.
2. Sift the flour onto a piece of greaseproof paper.
3. Put the butter and water into a deep saucepan and heat until the butter has melted. Bring to the boil.
4. Then add all the flour at once and quickly lift off the heat, beating hard with a wooden spoon until you get a smooth, thick paste that comes away from the sides of the saucepan (about 30-40 seconds). If necessary replace the pan over the heat and beat for a few minutes.
5. With the pan off the heat, add the egg yolk and beat really well until it is incorporated (it might seem like it has curdled and won’t mix in, but persevere!), then add the beaten egg a little at a time (you might not need it all) beating continuously. The mixture should be thick and shiny and be able to stand up on its own.
6. Place the choux pastry into a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe blobs in a circular motion onto the lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes at Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C, then reduce to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 20 minutes, until they are golden brown and feel dry to the touch.
8. Remove from the oven, then use a skewer to poke a hole in the bottom of each one to allow the steam to escape and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Split the profiteroles in half, then sandwich the halves together with a generous teaspoon of vanilla ice cream.
10. To make the sauce: Place the chocolate, double cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan and gently heat until the chocolate has melted and the sauce is smooth and glossy. Pour over the profiteroles.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I recommend watching Alton’s ‘Choux Shine’ episode to get a really good idea of how to make choux pastry, as he shows you what the texture should be like. It’s also quite an amusing episode!
• Since my piping bag busted, I used a plastic food bag instead (like Alton suggests) and it worked really well.
• I made the pastry by hand, which was fine, but when I try Alton’s recipe I will use a mixer because it is a much bigger quantity and it will be easier to incorporate all those eggs!

‘Choux Shine’ episode Part 1

‘Choux Shine’ episode Part 2

 

Flaky Pastry

This might sound complicated to make but once you get used to where to put the butter and the folding, it’s really very easy. I used this to top my Chicken Thigh Pie.


Ingredients for the Flaky Pastry:

• 100g plain flour
• 38g cold butter
• 38g cold lard
• 4-5 Tablespoons water

Directions for the Flaky Pastry:

1. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl, then add half the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add 4 Tablespoons of water to the mixture and blend lightly together with a palette knife. If the mixture isn’t coming together easily and there are dry bits in the bottom of the bowl then add more water a ½ Tablespoon at a time (there are many factors that affect pastry-making, so only use measurements as a guide).
3. Once you can bring the mixture together with your hands into a soft but not sticky dough, then you can roll it out into a long rectangle, about 30cm long, onto a lightly floured board until it is about 5mm thick.
4. Mark the rectangle of the dough into thirds, without cutting all the way through.
5. Dot the top two thirds with half of the lard, then fold the bottom third up to cover the middle third.
6. Fold the top third down to enclose all the fat. You should now have a small rectangle.
7. Using your rolling pin, seal the edges by pressing down firmly. Give the pastry a quarter turn clockwise.
8. Roll again to form a long rectangle and repeat steps 4 to 6 but this time use the remaining butter.
9. Fold and roll again, but this time use the remaining lard.
10. Fold and roll for the last time without any fat being added.
11. Cover the pastry with cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before using.

* I thought a diagram would be useful so here are my best efforts using Photoshop and Steve’s help! (click to enlarge):

Jam Roly Poly

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

After my moderate success with Simon Rimmer’s Jam Roly Poly, I was determined to try a different recipe in the hope that it could be much better. As if by fate, a recipe for this pudding appeared in the November 2009 issue of my BBC Good Food Magazine, so I had to try it.

 

It is a completely different recipe. First of all, the cooking method is in the oven with a tray of hot water at the bottom to help create a moist environment, whereas Simon’s recipe called for a steamer. Secondly, this recipe has no sugar or eggs and uses milk instead of water.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I had every faith in the Good Food recipe so I followed it almost exactly the first time I used it. It was a good recipe as I found the texture was much nicer than the steamed version as it was slightly crispy on the outside, but still soft inside. But then I added my own tweaks as I found it wasn’t sweet enough, so I added sugar to the dough. It also wasn’t as golden brown as the Good Food one, so I unwrapped it to expose the top for the last 15 minutes to allow it to get more crunchy.

 

I used greaseproof paper the first couple of times I made this recipe and it sticks like mad, so I used non-stick baking/parchment paper instead which has a coating on it and therefore the roly poly doesn’t stick.

 

So below is my adapted recipe:

• Serves: 6
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C

 

Ingredients:

• 50g salted butter, cold and cut into chunks, plus extra for greasing
• 250g self-raising flour, plus extra for rolling
• 50g vanilla sugar
• 25g normal white sugar
• 50g shredded suet (I used vegetable suet)
• 150ml milk, plus a drop more if needed
• 150g of strawberry jam
• custard, to serve

 

Directions:

1. Put a deep roasting tin onto the bottom shelf of the oven, and make sure that there's another shelf directly above it. Pull the roasting tin out on its shelf, fill two-thirds with boiling water from the kettle, then carefully slide it back in.
2. Heat oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
3. Tear off a large sheet of foil and non-stick baking paper (about 30 x 40cm). Sit the baking paper on top of the foil and butter it.
4. Tip the butter and flour into a large bowl and rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the vanilla sugar and white sugar and the suet. Then pour in the milk and work together with a metal spoon until you get a sticky dough. You may need a drop more milk, depending on your flour.
5. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, quickly pat together to smooth, then roll out to a square roughly 25 x 25cm. Spread the jam all over, leaving a gap along one edge, then roll up from the opposite edge. Pinch the jam-free edge into the dough where it meets, and pinch the ends roughly, too. Carefully lift onto the greased paper, join-side down (you might find a flat baking sheet helpful for this), loosely bring up the paper and foil around it, then scrunch together along the edges and ends to seal. The roly-poly will puff quite a bit during cooking so don't wrap it tightly. Lift the parcel directly onto the rack above the tin and cook for 1 hour, then unwrap to expose the top for the last 15 minutes.
6. Let the pudding sit for 5 mins before unwrapping, then carefully open the foil and paper, and thickly slice to serve.

Mini Bakewell Tarts

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I had about half the frangipane filling from my French Apple Tarts leftover, so I thought I’d experiment a little bit and try making these Bakewell Tarts. I have no idea what the traditional recipe is as there seems to be no consensus, but this is my version and I think it works well. The almond flavour is very mild, which suits me as I don’t really like almonds all that much, especially slivered almonds! But you could add those on top or you could add some almond essence to the filling mixture.

They were really easy to make and tasted delicious! Steve asked me to put some icing on his ones, so I just made up a simple glace icing and spread it over the top. I prefer them without icing as it’s a bit too sweet for me.
Unfortunately as this was an experiment I don’t have exact quantities to give you.

Rough Directions (!):

1. Roll out your Pâte Brisée/Sweet Shortcrust pastry to about 3mm thick, cut out circles and line shallow bun tins. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Blind bake for 10-15 minutes at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C until light golden brown.
3. Spread about 1 teaspoon of strawberry or raspberry jam over the bottom of each tart.
4. Spread about 2 teaspoons of the frangipane filling over the jam. I used mine straight from the fridge so it was quite solid, but it melts once it’s in the oven so don’t worry about spreading it too evenly.
5. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the filling has set – it should feel spongy when you press it with your finger.
6. Take them out of the tins and cool on a wire rack.

Pâte Brisée (Shortcrust Pastry)

This pastry is the French version of shortcrust pastry and it is suitable for both sweet and savoury dishes, such as French Apple Tarts or Quiche. It is a lovely flaky, crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth pastry and the egg yolk gives a lovely rich taste. Once you have made this pastry you will never buy shop-bought again!
It is incredibly easy to make and it is actually quite a forgiving pastry, so it is easy to patch up any tears when lining your tins.

You can make this in the food processor, but I prefer to make it by hand as you get a better feel for how much water you need to add. I have given directions for both methods though.

• Makes: approx 345g of pastry
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C

Ingredients:

• 185g (6.5oz) plain flour
• 15g (½ oz) sugar (omit for savoury dishes)
• 90g (3.5oz) butter, cut roughly into pieces
• 1 egg yolk
• pinch of salt
• 1-3 Tablespoons of water

Directions By Hand:

1. Sift the flour onto a board or into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. Put the sugar (if using), butter and egg yolk in the well and gently rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add about 1 Tablespoon of the water and bring the dough together gradually - don't try and force it together, just add a little more water. Knead very lightly until you have a smooth dough.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board until it is about 3mm thick, then line your tins. Prick the bases with a fork to prevent any funny air pockets forming.
5. CHILLING: it is important to chill your pastry before you bake it as it needs time to rest, because kneading the dough works the gluten in the flour and you want it to relax. I like to line my tins with the pastry first and then chill, but if you’re finding it difficult to roll your pastry then chill it for about 30 minutes in the fridge before rolling out. Your pastry will happily sit in the fridge overnight as long as it is well covered to prevent it from drying out. You can also freeze it.
6. BLIND BAKING: You should first bake your pastry without any filling so that it is practically cooked. You want the pastry to be light golden brown and you should be able to remove the cases from the tin to check the bottoms are brown too (but don’t remove them as you need to cook the filling!).
   If you’re making a large tart: place some greaseproof paper over the pastry, then fill the tin with an even layer of baking beans (or uncooked rice or dried lentils, which you can re-use but not eat!). Bake at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for about 15 minutes, then remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake for a further 5-10 minutes to dry out the base.
   If you’re making small tarts: then there isn’t any need to use baking beans, provided your pastry is well chilled first. Bake at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for about 15 minutes.
7. You can now add your filling and continue baking as per the recipe.

Directions using Food Processor:

1. Place flour, sugar (if using) and butter in the food processor bowl. Using the pulse action, pulse for 30 seconds or until mixture is like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the egg yolk and 1 Tablespoon of water; process a further 20 seconds until mixture forms a dough. Adding more water bit by bit if you need to.
3. Follow on from Step 4 in the above directions.

COOK’S NOTES:

• The secret to good pastry is to handle it as little as possible, so don’t try to mix the ingredients or knead the dough too much. Having cold hands is also a bonus as you don’t want all the fat in the dough to melt whilst you’re handling it.

French Apple Tarts

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

These tarts look really pretty and elegant and are tasty to boot! The filling is frangipane, but it doesn’t taste too strongly of almonds which is what puts me off things like Bakewell Tart.

These taste great on their own, but would be even better with some custard or home-made ice cream.

• Makes: 12 tarts
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: a 12 cup shallow bun tray

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 185g (6.5oz) plain flour
• 15g (½oz) sugar
• 90g (3.5oz) butter, cut roughly into pieces
• 1 egg yolk
• pinch of salt
• 1-3 Tablespoons of water

Ingredients for the filling:

• 90g (3.5oz) butter, softened
• 90g (3.5oz) sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 level Tablespoons flour
• 90g (3.5oz) ground almonds
• 2 small dessert/eating apples
• hot apricot jam to glaze

Directions for the pastry:

1. Sift the flour onto a board and make a well in the centre.
2. Put the sugar, butter and egg yolk in the well and gently mix in with the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add about 1 Tablespoon of the water and bring the dough together gradually - don't try and force it together, just add a little more water. Knead very lightly until you have a smooth dough.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board until it is about 3mm thick.
5. Using a cutter that is a little bigger than the holes in your bun tray, cut out 12 discs of pastry. Line your bun tray, prick the bases with a fork and chill for about 30 minutes.
6. Bake at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for about 15 minutes until light golden brown and the cases can be removed from the tin (but don’t remove them as you need to cook the filling!).

Directions for the filling:

1. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, add the egg yolk and beat well.
2. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating well after each addition. Mix in the flour and ground almonds.
3. Put roughly a heaped teaspoon of the filling into each pastry case, but don’t overfill them.
4. Peel the apples, cut them into quarters and remove the core. Cut them into very thin slices but keep them together. Press the apple slices down on the board to fan them out, but still keep them together. Carefully place a few slices of apple onto each tart and press down into the filling.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the apples are tender and the almond mixture has set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
7. Brush the tops with hot apricot glaze.

COOK’S NOTES:

• Making individual tarts, you will have some pastry and filling leftover.
• If you wanted to make one large tart: you would need to blind bake the pastry using baking beans for about 20 minutes. After adding the filling and apples, bake the tart at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and bake for a further 15-20 minutes.
• Choosing a cutter: my bun tins were 7cm in diameter, so I used a cutter that was 7.8cm in diameter, which was a perfect fit.
• Preparing in advance: you can make the pastry and the filling the night before and store covered in the fridge. Follow the pastry directions up to Step 5 but cover with cling film to stop it drying out. It is actually better for the pastry to be cooked from chilled (prevents it from shrinking), so you can pop the whole tray straight in the oven when you’re ready to cook.

Sausage and Tomato Quiche

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

When I made my Leek and Bacon Quiche I came up with the idea of doing a Breakfast Quiche with sausage, bacon and mushrooms. I wanted to add some cherry tomatoes and now that Steve likes my home-grown ones, I decided to just do a Sausage and Tomato quiche (plus we didn’t have any bacon as we’d had Bacon Sarnies the day before!).

I thought the tomatoes tasted fantastic so I’d definitely put them into a quiche again.

I used the pastry that I’d previously made and put into the freezer. I defrosted it in the fridge overnight and it had little white spots all over it. It looked a bit like mould, but it didn’t smell off and Steve said it was probably just the fat in the pastry that had separated. So I just kneaded the pastry until it was smooth and it was fine to roll out.

• Makes: 1 quiche but enough pastry for 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour
• You will need: an 8-inch flan tin

Ingredients for the Shortcrust Pastry:

• 225g plain flour
• 55g butter, cold
• 55g lard, cold
• approx. 9 teaspoons water

Directions for the pastry:

1. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut the fat into small pieces and add to the flour. Rub the fat into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you shake the bowl, any big lumps of fat should rise to the surface, so you need to rub these in.
3. Make a well in the centre, then add the water and using a round bladed/palette knife, mix into a firm dough. Don’t force the mixture together, if you need to add another teaspoon of water to bring together the dry bits at the bottom of the bowl then that’s fine.
4. There is no need to chill this dough, so you can roll it out and use it straight away or store it in the freezer for another time.
5. You only need half the amount of pastry for 1 quiche, so split it in half and freeze whatever you don’t need - if you have a spare flan tin then it’s ideal if you line that tin with the pastry and then pop the whole thing in the freezer, then it’s ready to use for next time!
6. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
7. Roll out your pastry to 2-3mm thick and use it to line an 8-inch flan tin, pressing it into the flutes, then neatly trim away the excess with a knife. If your tin has a lip then make sure it is covered with pastry as when it bakes it will shrink. Then line the tin with some greaseproof paper and fill with a layer of baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, it should be pale golden brown. Remove the baking beans and the paper and return the pastry to the oven for about 5-10 minutes to dry out the base.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 4 sausages (I used Lincolnshire)
• big handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 75g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 large eggs
• 150ml double cream (I used Elmlea)
• salt and black pepper

Directions for the filling:

1. Grill the sausages until they’re golden brown. Slice on an angle about 5mm thick.
2. Arrange roughly half the sausages into the blind-baked pastry case, sprinkle on the cheese, then arrange the tomato halves and the rest of the sausage over the top in a pretty pattern.
3. Whisk the eggs with the cream, salt and pepper. Pour the liquid into the pastry case, being careful not to overfill it (you might not need all of it).
4. Place in the top third of your oven and cook for 25-30 minutes at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Serve hot or warm.

Mandy’s Millionaire’s Shortbread

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I had loads of leftover Butterscotch Sauce that I’d made hanging about in the fridge, so I decided to make Millionaire’s Shortbread. The Butterscotch Sauce is Rachel Allen’s recipe that I got from her book Rachel’s Favourite Food for Friends. The sauce is much runnier than in your usual Millionaire’s Shortbread, but it was still absolutely delicious!

The Shortbread recipe I used was the one on my blog and it worked really well. Obviously because it was thicker and cooked in a tin it wasn’t as crunchy, but it still had a really good texture.

• Makes: 16 squares
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: a large mixing bowl, an 8-inch square baking tin

For the Shortbread:

1. Make the shortbread as directed in the recipe, then press it into your 8-inch square tin, using the back of a spoon to smooth it flat. Bake on the top shelf for 20 minutes at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C until light golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin. Meanwhile you can make the sauce.

For the Butterscotch Sauce:

• 125g golden syrup
• 75g light brown sugar or muscovado
• 50g white sugar, caster or granulated
• 50g butter
• 100ml double cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and melt slowly, stirring all the time, then simmer for 2-3 minutes until smooth.
2. Pour the sauce over the cooled shortbread (you probably won’t need the whole amount, as remember I used leftover sauce. You can store any extra covered in the fridge for weeks.) then put in the fridge so it can set a little bit (or if you’re really impatient like me, chuck it in the freezer for about 10 minutes!).

For the Chocolate Topping:

1. Simply melt about 100g of milk or dark chocolate (minus any squares you have eaten!) in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then pour over the set butterscotch sauce and spread – you will have to work quickly as the chocolate will harden as it cools on the cold sauce. 100g of chocolate will give quite a thin layer of chocolate. If you want a thicker layer, use a couple of bars!

I keep this covered in the fridge. The butterscotch sauce stays runny, so it’s a bit messy to eat!

Leek and Bacon Quiche

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I’ve never made a quiche before and even though I like Quiche Lorraine, I thought I’d do something a bit different by making a Leek and Bacon one.
I made some shortcrust pastry which was really easy to do and the recipe below makes enough pastry for 2 quiches if using an 8-inch flan tin.
Steve and I did like this quiche a lot as the pastry was really nice and the filling didn’t taste too eggy, but we were discussing different fillings and agreed next time I’ll make a Breakfast Quiche with sausage, bacon and mushrooms. I’d like to add some cherry tomatoes but Steve wasn’t keen on that idea, so I’ll add caramelised onions instead.

• Makes: 1 quiche but enough pastry for 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C then Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour
• You will need: an 8-inch flan tin

Ingredients for the Shortcrust Pastry:

• 225g plain flour
• 55g butter, cold
• 55g lard, cold
• approx. 9 teaspoons water

Directions for the pastry:

1. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut the fat into small pieces and add to the flour. Rub the fat into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you shake the bowl, any big lumps of fat should rise to the surface, so you need to rub these in.
3. Make a well in the centre, then add the water and using a round bladed/palette knife, mix into a firm dough. Don’t force the mixture together, if you need to add another teaspoon of water to bring together the dry bits at the bottom of the bowl then that’s fine.
4. There is no need to chill this dough, so you can roll it out and use it straight away or store it in the freezer for another time.
5. You only need half the amount of pastry for 1 quiche, so split it in half and freeze whatever you don’t need - if you have a spare flan tin then it’s ideal if you line that tin with the pastry and then pop the whole thing in the freezer, then it’s ready to use for next time!
6. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
7. Roll out your pastry to 2-3mm thick and use it to line an 8-inch flan tin, pressing it into the flutes, then neatly trim away the excess with a knife. If your tin has a lip then make sure it is covered with pastry as when it bakes it will shrink. Then line the tin with some greaseproof paper and fill with a layer of baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, it should be pale golden brown. Remove the baking beans and the paper and return the pastry to the oven for about 5 minutes to dry out the base.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 2 medium sized leeks
• 25g butter
• 2-3 rashers of bacon, grilled and cut into pieces
• 75g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 large eggs
• 150ml double cream (I used Elmlea)
• salt and black pepper
• pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions for the filling:

1. Trim the leeks, discarding the dark green part. Wash the white part of the leeks and slice thinly into rings.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the leeks and mix well. Season with salt and black pepper. Cover with a piece of damp greaseproof paper and a lid and sweat the leeks until they are tender. Stir in the bacon.
3. Place the leek and bacon into the blind-baked pastry case and sprinkle on the cheese.
4. Whisk the eggs with the cream, salt and cayenne pepper. Pour the liquid into the pastry case, being careful not to overfill it (you might not need all of it).
5. Place in the top third of your oven and cook for 10 minutes at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C , then reduce the temperature to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

I served the quiche with Vichy Carrots: allow one large carrot per person and peel and cut them into even sized batons. Place in a fairly small saucepan and add a generous knob of butter, a pinch of sugar and some salt and pepper. Add enough water to the carrots so that they are barely covered, then boil rapidly for about 10-15 minutes, until the carrots are tender and the water has evaporated so that you are left with a lovely buttery glaze.

Chicken Thigh Pie

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I’ve adapted a Rachel Allen recipe to create a filling with a creamy sauce. I
made the pastry myself and it was lovely and flaky, but ready-made puff pastry would be good for this too.

Next time I will add a bit more beurre manié (equal parts of flour and butter mixed to a firm paste) because the sauce was a bit thin after the pie had been baked – I think the frozen peas released a lot of water.
This was quite a time consuming and labour intensive meal to prepare, but it was worth it as both Steve and I really enjoyed it. You could of course cut loads of corners by using ready-rolled pastry and cooked chicken, but I get so much pleasure out of cooking that I prefer to cook from scratch.

I called this Chicken Thigh Pie as that is the part of the chicken I like to use, but you can use breast if you prefer and adjust the cooking time of step 1 for the filling.

• Serves: 4 people if served as part of a 3 course meal (or 2 very greedy people for a dinner)
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 8/450°F/230°C for 15 minutes, then reduce to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 15 minutes.
• You will need: a shallow 1 – 1¼ pint capacity ovenproof dish

Ingredients for the Flaky Pastry:

• 100g plain flour
• 38g cold butter
• 38g cold lard
• 4-5 Tablespoons water

Directions for the Flaky Pastry:

1. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl, then add half the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add 4 Tablespoons of water to the mixture and blend lightly together with a palette knife. If the mixture isn’t coming together easily and there are dry bits in the bottom of the bowl then add more water a ½ Tablespoon at a time (there are many factors that affect pastry-making, so only use measurements as a guide).
3. Once you can bring the mixture together with your hands into a soft but not sticky dough, then you can roll it out into a long rectangle, about 30cm long, onto a lightly floured board until it is about 5mm thick.
4. Mark the rectangle of the dough into thirds, without cutting all the way through.
5. Dot the top two thirds with half of the lard, then fold the bottom third up to cover the middle third.
6. Fold the top third down to enclose all the fat. You should now have a small rectangle.
7. Using your rolling pin, seal the edges by pressing down firmly. Give the pastry a quarter turn clockwise.
8. Roll again to form a long rectangle and repeat steps 4 to 6 but this time use the remaining butter.
9. Fold and roll again, but this time use the remaining lard.
10. Fold and roll for the last time without any fat being added.
11. Cover the pastry with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

* I thought a diagram would be useful so here are my best efforts using Photoshop and Steve’s help! (click to enlarge):


Ingredients for the filling:

• 500g chicken thighs, bone in
• ½ carrot, cut into chunks
• ½ onion, cut into wedges
• 300ml chicken or vegetable stock
• pinch of dried rosemary and thyme (or fresh if you have it)
• salt and black pepper
• 85ml double cream
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 3 rashers of bacon, chopped
• 6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2 Tablespoons of beurre manié
• 100g frozen peas
• ½ small tin sweetcorn
• 1 beaten egg, to glaze

Directions for the filling:

1. Put the chicken, carrot, onion wedges, stock, herbs and seasoning into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked and no blood appears when you cut into the chicken.
2. Remove the chicken and vegetables from the pan (you can discard the vegetables), reserving the stock for the sauce. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and cut the meat into bite size pieces. Put the chicken in the pie dish.
3. Whilst the chicken is cooking, gently fry the chopped onion until it is soft but not coloured. Add the bacon and the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Put this mixture into the pie dish with the chicken and mix well.
4. Put the reserved stock back into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the cream and whisk in 1-2 Tablespoons of the beurre manié. Boil the sauce for a few minutes to cook out the flour in the beurre manié and for the sauce to thicken. Pour the sauce into the pie dish over the chicken mixture and mix well. (If you are baking the pie immediately then you can proceed with the next steps, otherwise allow to cool before covering with the pastry).
5. When you are ready to bake your pie, add the peas and sweetcorn to the chicken mixture and mix well.
6. Roll out your pastry onto a lightly floured board until it is large enough to cover your pie dish.
7. Cut a strip 1cm wide from the outside of the pastry and place it on the moistened rim of the pie dish, then brush with water.
8. Carefully place the rest of the pastry over the pie mixture and seal the edges together by pressing firmly. Trim off the excess pastry and knock up the edges of the pie with the flat of your knife.
9. Make a small hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape and place a greaseproof paper funnel in the hole.
10. Glaze the top of the pie with the beaten egg.
11. Cook in a preheated oven at Gas mark 8/450°F/230°C for 15 minutes or until golden brown and then reduce to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 15-20 minutes.

Shortbread

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

Everyone said this is the best shortbread they've tasted and better than from a shop!

I’ve only made shortbread once before and I used Stork margarine which didn’t work at all! So I’ve learnt you must use butter, preferably unsalted, and these are really nice when they’re rolled quite thin, about 5mm thick.

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: a large mixing bowl, lightly greased baking sheets, a rolling pin, a 5cm fluted cutter

Ingredients:

• 100g (4oz) butter, softened
• 50g (2oz) caster sugar
• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• extra caster sugar to dip

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Sift the flour in a little at a time and mix to a stiff dough. Knead lightly until smooth.
4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board to 5mm thick (if your dough is cracking then just ease the dough together and be delicate with the rolling pin!).
5. Using a fluted cutter, cut circles approximately 5cm in diameter.
6. Place on the prepared baking sheets and prick lightly with a fork.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown.
8. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then place upside down in the caster sugar so that the biscuits are well coated.
9. Cool on a wire rack.

Duck Puffs

MUNCH RATING: 3/5 

 

This is Ching-He Huang’s recipe, but I have adapted it slightly to suit the ingredients I had.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Ching’s original recipe says it makes 10 Duck Puffs, but you will have lots of filling leftover, which is fine as I used it in some stir-fried some noodles (the duck tastes like Aromatic Crispy Duck so would be nice in wraps with cucumber and spring onion).

 

I have also changed the way the pastry is rolled out, as Ching’s way results in a lot of wasted pastry, so if you do it my way then you should get 16 Puffs out of 1 block of pastry.

 

They were quite time consuming to make, but I think they would be good for a dinner party as they can be prepared in advance and then popped into the oven for the last stage. I served them with cucumber and carrot matchsticks.

 

TASTE TEST:

The duck filling is gorgeous, but the puff pastry makes them a bit dry in the mouth. I would prefer to just serve the filling in wraps.

 

• Prep: 30 mins plus 20 mins marinating time
• Cook: min 1 hr 50 mins
• Can be frozen before baking

 

Ingredients:

• ½ finger-length piece fresh root ginger, grated
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons plum sauce (I used Hoi-sin sauce instead)
• 1 tablespoon groundnut/vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons clear honey
• 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice (this is my addition)
• 2 duck legs, skin on (make a few cuts into the skin & flesh)
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced (I didn’t have any!)
• 1 340g block ready-rolled puff pastry (I used Jus Rol)
• a little flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten

 

Directions:

1. Marinate the duck: Mix the ginger with the soy and plum sauce (or hoi-sin), oil and honey (and Chinese 5 spice) in a deep dish, then add the duck legs, turning to coat. Cover and chill for at least 20 mins.
2. Cook the duck: Heat oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C. Lift the duck legs onto a non-stick baking tray, then roast for 1½ hours until crisp and golden. Meanwhile, tip the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and simmer for 2 mins, then cool. When the duck is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and finely shred the meat. Mix with the cooled marinade and spring onions.
3. Prepare your pastry: Take your block of pastry and cut it into 16 even pieces. Dust your board and rolling pin with a little bit of flour and then roll each piece of pastry into a square.

YOU CAN MAKE TWO DIFFERENT SHAPES FOR YOUR PUFFS:

• Triangles: put 2 tsp of the duck filling in the middle of each square, brush the edges of pastry with a little egg, then fold the pastry squares in half, pressing to seal so you have a triangle shape.
• Half-moon: using a 9-10cm round cutter stamp out a circle from each pastry square. Put 2 tsp of the duck filling in the middle of each circle, brush the edges of pastry with a little egg, then fold the pastry circles in half, pressing to seal so you have a half-moon shape

To cook:

Transfer the puffs to a lightly greased baking sheet and brush with more egg. Bake at Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C for 15-20 mins until golden (I turned up the oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C for the last few minutes to make them golden brown).

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• If you need to re-roll your puff pastry, stack the trimmings on top of each other to keep the layers.
• Freezing: Can be frozen for up to 1 month. Cook for 5 mins longer from frozen.

 

You might also be interested in: Hoi-sin Pork

Curried Potato Pasties

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I made these ages ago but I didn’t take a photo because I couldn’t wait to eat them! Luckily I kept some in the freezer and we had them for lunch today. They were just as nice cooked from frozen.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
This recipe is from BBC Good Food, but I tweaked the recipe and added sweet potato, which adds a lovely sweet flavour and compliments the curry flavour. Because I added an equal quantity of sweet potato to normal potato, I had some leftover potato filling so I’m going to use it to make fish cakes.

I used the other 340g block of puff pastry (from the pack that I bought for the Duck Puffs) to make these tasty little pasties. I have changed the method for rolling out the pastry to make it easier.

• Makes 8 and I would serve 2 per person
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 300g/10oz potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
• 300g/10oz sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm dice (optional)
• 100g/4oz frozen peas
• 2 teaspoon oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1-2 teaspoon curry paste (I used 2 tsp curry powder, ½ tsp chilli powder and 1 Tbsp tomato ketchup instead)
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (I didn’t use these)
• Juice of ½ lemon (About 1 tablespoon)
• handful coriander, chopped (I hate this stuff so didn’t use it)
• 340-375g block of ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten 

Directions:

1. Heat a large pan of water, add the potatoes, then cook for 8 minutes until just soft. Add the peas 1 minute before the end of cooking time. Drain, then set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until soft and slightly coloured. Add the curry paste/powder mix and mustard seeds, then fry for a few minutes more until the mixture smells fragrant. Carefully stir in the potatoes and peas, trying not to mash them. Add the lemon juice and coriander, then leave to cool.
3. Heat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Place your pastry block onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 8 even sized rectangles. Roll each rectangle flat until it is approximately 3x5 inches in size. Place about a tablespoon of the potato filling onto one half of the rectangle, then brush the edges with beaten egg and then fold the pastry rectangle in half to cover the filling. Pinch the edges together along the 3 open edges to seal the parcel.
4. Place on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper and brush with more egg and bake for 20 minutes until puffed up and golden brown. 

COOK'S NOTES:

• If you need to re-roll your puff pastry, stack the trimmings on top of each other to keep the layers. 
• Freezing: don’t brush with beaten egg if you want to freeze the pasties and cook for 30 minutes if cooking from frozen.

You might also be interested in: Duck Puffs

Silicone Baking Mat & Rolling Pin

My Mum was kind enough to buy me this set from QVC and it’s brilliant! The mat is massive and has loads of useful information on it like measurements, weight and temperature conversions.

The best thing is it sticks to the table so that when I’m kneading or rolling dough it doesn’t move about, unlike the pastry board Steve’s Mum uses.

The circles in the middle are great as I can easily see how big to roll out my circle. Because the mat and the rolling pin are silicone I didn’t need to add extra flour to prevent sticking.

It was also a breeze to clean them in soapy water.

You can also put the mat in the oven but I didn’t try that as it’s a bit big!

All in all though, a fantastic addition to my cooking! Thanks Mum! x

No Cook Chocolate Tart

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I got this recipe from the BBC Good Food website and the original recipe can be found here.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I tweaked it slightly by using chocolate chip cookies for the base, to make it extra chocolatey! There seemed to be a lot of butter in the base mixture, so I used a whole pack of biscuits so that it wasn’t so greasy.
Other people on the website have said that adding the vanilla to the chocolate makes it go funny, so I added it to cream instead as suggested.
This was really easy to make and tasted delicious – it’s very rich though so you only need a small portion!

• I used a square 8x8 inch tin as the rectangular one they suggested seemed far too big. It’s a good idea to line it with a piece of greaseproof paper which is bigger than the tin so that it’s easier to remove it from the tin.
• Serves 8 

Ingredients:

• 250g pack chocolate chip cookies (I used Tesco own brand)
• 100g butter
• 1 tbsp golden syrup or honey
• 100g bar dark chocolate (I used Bournville)
• 100g bar milk chocolate (I used a Cadbury Easter egg)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp icing sugar , plus extra for dusting
• 200ml whipping cream 

Directions:

1. Crush the biscuits by putting them in a large, strong, plastic food bag and bashing with a rolling pin. Melt the butter with the syrup or honey in the microwave, then stir in the biscuits. Press onto the base and up the sides of your tin and chill while you make the filling.
2. Break up the two chocolate bars and put in a large bowl. Melt in the microwave for 2-3 mins on Medium, stirring halfway through, then sift in the icing sugar.
3. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Stir in the vanilla extract, then fold into the melted chocolate. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Chill for at least 2 hrs or for up to 2 days.
4. Just before serving, remove the tart from the tin and slide it onto a flat plate (loosen edges first with the tip of a small pointed knife). You will find it easier to remove the tart if you leave it at room temperature for 30 mins.

Mini Chocolate Tarts

MUNCH RATING: 4 OUT OF 5

This is from Rachel's Favourite Food for Friends book and it uses half of the pastry batch made from using her Sweet Pastry recipe. You can make this as one big tart by blind baking a whole batch of the pastry and doubling the chocolate filling quantities. A big tart takes 17-20 minutes to bake.

• Makes: about 18 mini tarts
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: 2 shallow bun/mince pie/mini bun trays 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 quantity Sweet Pastry

CHOCOLATE FILLING

• 75 g (2.5 oz) milk chocolate, chopped
• 75 g (2.5 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
• 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) cream
• 75 ml (2.5 fl oz) milk
• 1 egg, beaten 

Directions:

1. Roll the pastry very thinly, to about 2 mm thick (putting the pastry in between 2 sheets of cling film). *I found the easiest way to roll it thinly was to divide the pastry into 3 balls and then roll those out separately.
2. Cut into rounds to line the bases of the tins. *Use a cutter which is just slightly bigger than the holes of your tins.
3. Freeze the pastry (for about 1 hour) till frozen (this means you don't have to use baking beans). *I found that my pastry did rise in places, so next time I will try pricking the bases before baking.
4. Pop into a preheated oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and bake for about 8 minutes or until pale golden.
5. To make the chocolate filling: Heat the cream and milk to almost boiling point, then remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir to melt all the chocolate. Let cool slightly for a few minutes, then stir in the beaten eggs.
6. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pastry shells. *I found the easiest way to do this was to put the mixture into a Pyrex jug and pour from that.
7. Cook the tarts for another 8 minutes or until they are just setting.
8. Take out of the oven and allow to sit in the tins for 10 minutes before taking out. *They might look quite undercooked but if you leave them for a couple of hours the filling will set more.
9. Dust with icing sugar and serve. *This is optional as I found them sweet enough as they were.

Rachel Allen’s Sweet Pastry

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

This pastry is really easy to make, especially if you use a food processor, but you can also make it by hand.


Ingredients for the pastry (these quantities makes enough for two 8-inch tarts, so you can freeze one portion raw for another time):

• 250g (9oz) plain flour
• 125 (4.5oz) butter, diced and softened*
• 75g (3oz) caster sugar
• ½ – 1 egg, beaten

Directions for the pastry:

1. In the food processor place the flour, butter and sugar and whizz up for a few seconds.
2. Add half the beaten egg and continue whizzing. You might need to add a little more egg, but don’t add too much – it should just come together (I used a whole egg).
3. Tip the mixture onto a board* and with your hands flatten out the ball of dough till it is about 3 cm thick.
4. Wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Putting it on a metal baking tray will speed up the chilling process (it will keep well for a couple of days in the fridge, or it will freeze).

* My butter wasn’t very soft as I made this tart on the day that it heavily snowed so it was really cold in the house! I’m sure this is why the mixture didn’t come together into a ball in the processor (it stayed like breadcrumbs) so I had to bring it together on the board which took a few minutes.
 
To roll the pastry:

1. Take the pastry out of the fridge (and split into two portions if doing two tarts).
2. Place one portion of the pastry and place it between 2 sheets of cling film bigger than your tart tin.
3. Using a rolling pin, roll out a circle no thicker than ¼ cm.
4. Removing just the top layer of cling film, place the pastry upside down (cling film side facing up) in the clean tart tin.
5. Press the pastry into the edges, cling film still attached and, using your thumb, ‘cut’ the pastry on the edge of the tin.
6. Remove the cling film and pop the pastry in the freezer for at least 10 minutes before baking blind.

To bake blind:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C*
2. Line the pastry with greaseproof/parchment paper, leaving plenty to come up the sides.
3. Fill with baking beans, or dried pulses (I used a mixture of red lentils and rice).
4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until the pastry feels dry to the touch (you can prepare the filling whilst you’re waiting).
5. Remove the paper and beans. At this stage you can brush the base with a little left-over beaten egg (I didn’t do this as I didn’t have any left-over egg).
6. Return the pastry base to the oven for another 5 minutes.

COOK'S NOTES:

• I accidentally cooked the pastry at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C as that is what I’d set the oven temperature to for my Blueberry Pear Crumble Topped Tart and it worked out fine.
• Pastry freezes perfectly when it's raw, so it's handy to have some in the freezer. If the pastry is completely frozen going into the oven, and is not in any way too wet, you can actually cook it without the paper and beans. But if the pastry is not frozen, or is too wet (i.e. with too much egg), it will fall down the sides of the tin while it is cooking.
• The reason for baking the pastry blind is to prevent the tart from getting a soggy base - so when making a tart with a 'custard' filling (as in eggs and milk or cream), it's essential. But for other tarts such as a Chocolate and Pear Tart, baking blind doesn't seem to be necessary.