Fruit Tartlets

I made some fruit tartlets today for my husband to share with his colleagues as it is his last day of internship. I am really pleased with the results, considering that this is my first time making them. 

The tart shells and pastry cream were made yesterday and the assembling (filling with cream and fruit toppings) were done this morning. I love this type of recipe where the preparation can be done over several days, thus making it less stressful and tiring for the baker!

To prevent the shell from turning soggy too quickly, I lined the inner bottom and sides of the crust with a thin layer of melted chocolate. They were then left to dry for a couple of minutes in the fridge before filling up with the pastry cream. 

Fruit tarts are best consumed within the day once they are assembled. 

Recipe 

(for the shell - makes about 8)

125g All-purpose flour

75g sugar

60g unsalted butter, bring to room temperature

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

a pinch of salt

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl till light and fluffy. 

2. Add in vanilla essence, egg yolk and salt. Mix well. 

3. Sift flour into the above mixture and incorporate well. 

4. Form into a ball and refrigerate for 30mins. 

5. Pre-heat oven to 180 deg Celcius. 

5. Roll out the dough into desired thickness and shape into tart tins. Refrigerate again for 10mins. 

6. Prick the bottom of the tart shells with a fork (to minimize bottom from bulging during baking process). Bake for 15mins or until shells turn a light golden brown. 

7. When done, let it cool in the tin for 15 mins then remove and continue cooling on wire rack. Store in airtight container till ready to use. 

(for the pastry cream - recipe adapted from thelittleteochew)

2 egg yolks

55g sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla essence

2 tbsp cornflour

1/2 tsp unsalted butter

a pinch of salt

Directions

1. Whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup milk (60ml), sugar and vanilla beans. Mix in cornflour and salt (if using).
2. Bring the remaining milk to a scald* in a saucepan. Pour the hot milk in small stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk as you pour (very important). Once incorporated, pour everything back into the saucepan.
* To scald is to heat to just below the boiling point.
3. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until it thickens and firms up. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
4. Pour the hot custard into a bowl and plunge the bottom of the bowl into another larger bowl of iced-water to cool, give it a whisk occasionally. 
5. Once it reaches room temperature, scoop the crème pâtissière into a piping bag (twist the open end to seal up the custard) or into a ketchup bottle. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Japanese Chiffon Cheesecake

I am really enjoying my new found interest in baking following my macaron making experience.

Recently,  I tried a recipe I found online for Japanese Cheesecake. I usually do not like cheesecake as I find it too dense and rich. However, Japanese cheesecake is very light as the amount of cream cheese used is significantly lesser. I can easily have two slices at one go without feeling sick. I've made it three times and it turned out successful everytime - no cracked surface and very fine texture.

Japanese Chiffon Cheesecake

Macarons

Over the last few days, I have been experimenting with making macarons. I've only ate them once or twice and like how they come in various colors.

From what I read about macarons online, these French cookies are not easy to make. However, once the technique is mastered, it is actually very easy. The most difficult part is getting the right consistency of the macaronage. I agree as my first couple of attempts yielded unsuccessful results.

This was the first batch that I made. Piping all looks good but once it entered the oven, the crust cracked and were not smooth. The crust were hollow underneath too and it was very chewy. There are several macaron troubleshooting guide online, however, they made me more confused over what went wrong. Just have to try again and again. 

I made another batch soon after. This time I used a pink liquid food coloring that I bought. Looks nice when piped but the crust browned very quickly, leaving a dark edge rim around the macaron. 

Not wanting to give up, I tried a few more times, baking small batches each time and trying different methods and temperature. Finally, I think I got it right especially the consistency of the macaronage and the oven temperature. I found that the position of the racks plays an important role too. Every oven is different so one will need to find out the ideal temperature and rack position for the recipe. 

Foot is forming on each macaron. Shell is smooth and shiny!

Finally successful - Almond buttercream macaron :)

Savoury sausage rolls

I was inspired to make sausage rolls after seeing them here.

Most recipes I found online used frozen puff pastry which I wasn't too keen on. I was ambitious and wanted to create puff pastry from scratch! I found several blog posts that demonstrated the steps to a perfect pate feuilletee. Alas, the steps looked all too confusing. Moreover, I was planning on having sausage rolls for lunch and do not think I'll be able to make it in time if I followed all the tedious steps and required intervals of time for the dough to rest.

So I settled on a simple puff pastry recipe from Delia online.

Ingredients:

225gm All-purpose flour

pinch of salt

175gm butter (freeze for about 45mins)

some water

1 egg

Method:

1. Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl.

2. Grate butter over the flour mixture. Dip the butter in a little flour once in a while to help grate better. Use a wooden spoon and mix butter and flour well so it resembles a crumbly texture.

3. Add enough cold water as necessary to form a dough, using hands to bring it together.

4. Wrap the dough in a cling wrap and refrigerate for 30mins.

5. After the resting period, roll the dough out into a thin sheet, rectangular shape (about 1/2cm) on a floured surface.

6. Divide into 3 long sheets and place sausage meat on the pastry sheet. Seal the edges with egg wash.

7. Brush the top with egg wash and slice into small bite size portions.

8. Bake in 220C oven for 25mins or until golden brown.

I used pre-seasoned sausage meat from the supermarket and mixed in some oregano herbs for the extra aroma.

The puff pastry was flaky and buttery and complements the savoury meat very well. Very addictive! I'm planning to bake some for our church pitch-in this weekend!