Strawberry fields

Strawberry jam tart with ricotta cream

What do strawberry tarts and camping have in question?  Nothing really. Except for the fact that I had to go Bear Grylly's style with 130, 17 year olds. In the wilderness. Sleeping in a tent on the ground. Carrying all our gear. Orienteering for our food.
All I could think about to be honest was my warm and soft pliable pillow (clothes bundles into a pillow sack does not cut it no matter what they say), curling up to my dog and feeling his warmth, eating hot chocolate fondue and sticky tarts loaded with sugar, wearing heels and clean clothes, hot water to shower in (endless)....and it continued.
Lucky for me some lovely teachers at work (who had intuition) had given me a necessary survival kit for my first 'camping experience.' This included a sleeping bag that dealt with -8 conditions (Thank god as it got to 1degrees) and a white snow bunny jacket with a furry hood, which I ended up sleeping in as well. Needless to say it wasn't exactly white when I returned it.
And so where does the Strawberry Tart come in you say? Well I used food to say how I felt..... which was damn appreciative and thankful for their words of wisdom and giving me much needed tools that I clearly did not have. And all in one pice too with no ticks or leeches....
So what better way to say Thanks than through a butter pastry, homemade sticky jam with a ricotta cream strawberry tart? Hopefully they'll like my gesture. Food always speaks from the heart.
Maybe you should lend me something and reap the yummy goodness.

  Cream                                                        Dough

250 ml thickened cream                       200g plain flour
50g icing sugar                                      30g almond meal
1 vanilla bean split/seeds scraped           55g icing sugar
1 orange zested                                     100g unsalted butter, chopped
400g fresh firm ricotta                               1 egg
1 punnet strawberries halved/hulled

Jam
500g strawberries, hulled
300g caster sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 granny smith apple peeled grated

To make dough, place all the dry ingredients and butter in a food processor and process to fine breadcrumbs. With motor running, add egg and process till it comes together.
Turn out dough onto a clean surface and shape into a flat rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30min.
For strawberry jam place all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 50min (looks like setting). Cool completely.
Preheat oven to 180C. Roll dough between 2 sheets of baking paper till 3mm thick, then use to line a pan. Trim edges. Freeze for 15min.
Line tart shell with baking paper and bake blind for 10min (fill with rice/beans). Remove paper and beans and cook for another further 10min or until pastry is dry and golden. Cool.
To make cream use an electric mixer to whisk cream to soft peaks. Gradually add in icing sugar, vanilla, orange zest and whisk to combine. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Crumble ricotta into a mixer and beat until smooth. Add cream mixture and whisk for one minute or until smooth.
Spoon the cooled jam (1/2) into tart shell, top with the cream and refrigerate. Top with strawberries and drizzle over jam.

THANK YOU

"But soft, what smell through yonder oven seeps"- Romeo

So after my failed Frankenstein experiment I have decided to redeem my reputation and create a front cover blog special. Just like the segment on MasterChef, where they had to create a magazine front cover dish, I too have made the winning rich chocolate mousse tart for my blog. A la Mindy Chocolate Mousse tart with orange caramel sauce.
Ticks all the boxes for a good dessert. Delicious.Yum factor. 


I will admit that you have to put in a few hours of sweat over melted chocolate and caramel, but if you love cooking.....and by cooking I mean baking then this is worth all the effort and more. Pastry is always a little tricky- just make sure it's not too dry or moist. I took this into work and the positive feedback was astounding! One of the men even said it beat the Marriott dessert bar he had the night before. Score for me. It literally had people salivating and was demolished as soon as it was put down.

 

This dish is a crowd pleaser, makes a fantastic signature dish for those parties that you have to "bring a plate" and will trump all other dishes. 

Chocolate shortcrust pastry

• 100g (2/3 cup) plain flour
• 70gDutch cocoa
• 20gground almonds OR if nut allergy dessicated coconut
• 60gicing sugar
• 90gunsalted butter, chilled, chopped
• 1egg, lightly beaten

Chocolate mousse

• 275gdark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
• 140gunsalted butter, chopped
• 2eggs
• 3egg yolks
• 110g (1/2 cup)caster sugar
• 1orange, zested

Orange caramel

• 110g (1/2 cup)caster sugar
• 100mlorange juice
• 3oranges, segmented
• Baby basil leaves (optional) and mascarpone, to serve

Method

Preparation: 30 minutes plus 45 minutes to rest pastry
Cooking: 40 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. You will need a 24cm round fluted tart pan.

2. For pastry, places flour, cocoa, almonds, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor and process for 30 seconds or until well combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg and process until mixture almost comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Roll out pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick, then use to line pan. Using scissors, trim pastry to 5mm above tart pan rim, then prick base with a fork. Freeze tart shell for 15 minutes. Line tart shell with baking paper, place pan on an oven tray and bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper, then bake for a further 10 minutes or until pastry is dry. Cool for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, while cooling, make chocolate mousse, by placing chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and stir occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Reserve pan of water on the stove.

5. Place eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl over the pan of simmering water. Using hand-held electric beaters, whisk on medium speed for 6 minutes or until nearly tripled in volume and mixture holds a trail. (Alternatively, using a balloon whisk, whisk for 10 minutes.) Remove from heat, add zest, then fold into chocolate mixture in 3 batches until just incorporated. Immediately pour mousse into tart shell and level with an offset spatula. Place pan on an oven tray and bake for 18 minutes or until just set.

6. Meanwhile, place caster sugar in a medium frying pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes or until sugar begins to melt. Swirl pan as sugar begins to caramelise, but do not stir. In a separate small saucepan, bring orange juice to the boil. Once caramel is a deep golden, immediately pour in hot orange juice, taking care as mixture will splutter, and stir until smooth. Place orange segments in a heatproof bowl and pour over orange caramel. Brush hot tart with a few coatings of orange caramel, then set tart aside for 20 minutes.

7. To assemble, using a slotted spoon, place a spoonful of orange segments over centre of tart, scatter with basil leaves, if using, and drizzle with a little orange caramel. Serve with mascarpone and remaining orange segments and caramel.

Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing? As you like it

Blue cheese ice cream in a tuille with chocolate fudge,
orange toffee and orange soaked raisins

Procrastination. I'm a Goddess of it. At the moment I should be cleaning the house, preparing school work OR marking. SO I decide to a) take the dog for a walk b) write this blog and c) make a dessert for this Sunday afternoon. Inspired by Heston Blumenthal and his odd combination of flavours I've been wondering what blue cheese ice cream tastes like, especially after Kylie made the winning dessert on Masterchef and Heston was licking it all up. 
So as part of my procrastination I have whipped this calorie fest up: Blue Cheese and Honey Ice cream Sundae with Warm Chocolate Fudge Sauce, Muscatels and Orange .


It's a simple ice cream recipe  but it combines blue cheese and honey into the base mixture, which actually came out creamy and thick. For once I used the thermometer to reach 80C when stirring the custard over heat, which might be why.
The tuilles were a little harder to make. I substituted the walnuts for coconut due to Mr Darcy's allergic reaction to all thing nuts. They were a bit fatty and oily and thick for my liking, though they sort of shaped like cones. Might need to procrastinate more and practise this technique to perfect the art of tuilling.
Then I made the raisins soaked in orange juice and cream cheese over the boil- they plumped up and oozed the flavours. 
Made the sugar syrup for the toffee and just as it set I grated orange rind over it- best toffee I've made as of yet. And didn't have isomalt or know what it was. Just left it out! 
The chocolate fudge is like a ganache, added with more cream cheese.


Then the fun! The assembly! And as you can see they look like a treat. And the taste? Best ice cream flavour as the blue cheese is a mere hint and not overpowering at all. The orange flavour of the toffee and the juicy raisins complimented it nicely, while the chocolate drizzled on top we just kept adding. 

Definitely licking that bowl.


A must try for something different. A dinner party perhaps? This recipe is a keeper and I might use it as my signature dish for a wow factor. Might do a taste test and let them decide what the ingredients are.


Now off to that marking.

Ingredients

Ice cream

• 250mlmilk
• 250ml pouring cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 110gblue cheese
• 120g honey, warmed

Tuiles

• 100g caster sugar
• 50g butter, melted
• 75g walnuts, blitzed to fine crumb
• 25g plain flour
• 50ml orange juice, strained

Muscatels

• 100g honey
• 100g dried muscatels
• 200ml orange juice
• 10g blue cheese

Isomalt

• 150g isomalt
• 150g caster sugar
• 30g glucose syrup
• 30ml water
• 1 orange

Fudge Sauce

• 50ml milk
• 150ml pouring cream (35% milk fat)
• 10g blue cheese
• 100g dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids, chopped
• 50g chocolate 50% cocoa solids, chopped

To serve

• 50gblue cheese
• 50g chocolate 50% cocoa solids, chopped
• 5g orange zest

Method

Preparation: 1 hour + 45 minutes chilling
Cooking: 1 hour 10 minutes

1. For ice cream, warm the milk and half the cream in saucepan over medium heat. Whisk egg yolks until pale and thick, add 1/3 of the warm milk mixture, whisking constantly until combined then pour in the remaining milk mixture and remaining cream. Strain into a metal bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until it reaches 80°C or coats the back of a wooden spoon.

2. Crumble the blue cheese into a bowl, strain the custard over the blue cheese and whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk in the honey. Chill until cold. Add dry ice, whisking until set, then cover and keep in freezer until required. N.B. If you can’t get dry ice, churn the custard in an ice cream machine until firm.

3. For tuiles, preheat oven 160°C. Mix all the ingredients together to form a paste. Cut a 10cm circle template from baking paper and place onto a silicone mat. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into the centre of the template and spread to an even thickness using a palette knife. Remove template. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven, stand for about 2 minutes to firm slightly then wrap around a metal cone. Set aside to cool.

4. For muscatels, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the muscatels have absorbed all the liquid. Set aside to cool then remove the seeds.

5. For isomalt shards, combine isomalt, sugar, glucose and water in a saucepan, stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to 160°C on sugar thermometer, without stirring, cook for 5 minutes at 160°C or until the isomalt has dissolved. Pour onto a silicone mat and spread to about 2mm-thick. Zest the orange over the isomalt evenly. Leave to set then break into shards.

6. For fudge sauce, heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Crumble over the cheese and stir until smooth. Combine the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Strain the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until smooth.

7. To serve, place the tuiles in serving glasses. Sprinkle walnuts, muscatels, blue cheese, chocolate, orange zest and isomalt shards down the centre of the plate. Scoop the ice cream into tuiles, pour over sauce and serve.