In a medium mixing-bowl, mix the sugar and butter with a fork.

Add the flour and mix with the fork until reaching a crumbly texture similar to ground almonds.

Add a bit of milk and knead the dough with your hands just enough to form a ball. If the dough does not come together after about a minute, add in a tad more milk and knead again. The idea is to add the milk little by little and stop at just the right dough consistency (if you’ve added too much and the dough gets impossibly sticky, compensate with flour).

Wrap in a tea towel and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Prepare the caramel:

Butter the sides of a 25-cm (10-inch) cake tin.

Pour the brown sugar into a small saucepan and melt over medium-low heat, stirring regularly to even out the temperature. Now be careful, you will need to work quickly to avoid overcooking the caramel, which would otherwise become bitter. As soon as the sugar has melted, remove from the heat, add in the butter and stir to form a paste.

Pour the paste into the dish quickly – the caramel hardens as its temperature drops. Use the back of a spoon to spread it over the bottom. It’s okay if the bottom is not entirely covered, but try to make it as even as you can. Set aside.

Assemble and bake the tart:

Rinse, peel, core and cut the apples in eighths. Arrange the pieces prettily over the caramel in the tin.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Take the ball of dough out of the fridge, lightly flour a clean work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a disk slightly larger than the pan. Transfer the dough over the apples and tuck in the outer edges. Prick the dough in a few places with a fork.

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour, until the crust turns golden and your home is filled with a wonderful caramely apple scent.

Take the dish out of the oven, run a knife along the inside edges of the tin and flip it onto a serving dish. If one or two apple pieces have stuck to the bottom of the dish, just put them back where they belong on the tart.

If you feel the apple colour is a bit on the light side (it happened to me), roast the tart, apples side up, another 5 minutes under your oven grill.

Serve warm on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a dollop of crème fraîche or yogurt.

Prepare the pastry:

Cut the butter in small pieces and mix it with the icing sugar, salt, ground almonds and lemon zest until reaching a creamy consistency (you can use a mixer). Add the egg, mix again and finish with the flour, mixing just enough to incorporate it into the dough (if you work the dough too much, this will result in a heavy and tough pastry). Keep 300g for the tart and freeze the rest for other uses.

Roll the dough into a ball, place it on a large square of baking paper on a flat surface and flatten it with your hands into a one inch thick round. Add another sheet of baking paper on top and flatten the dough to 2.5 mm with a rolling pin. Peel the top paper sheet off and chill the pastry in the freezer for 30 minutes (or fridge for a couple of hours), then transfer it to a buttered tart tin (don’t forget to remove the second paper sheet). Trim it and reserve in the fridge until you are ready to bake it.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Make little crosses at the bottom of the pastry with a knife to prevent air bubbles from forming underneath, and bake for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is nicely golden. While baking, check it regularly to burst any air bubbles forming with a fork. Alternatively, you can cover the pastry with dried beans for the first half of baking – but this is too much trouble for me.

Allow to cool down in the tin before un-moulding. Melt gently a couple of dark chocolate square and brush the inside of the pastry with the chocolate. This quick trick will create a waterproof barrier between the pastry and the filling, preventing the pastry from turning soggy.

Prepare the lemon filling:

Mix in a heat proof bowl the sugar with the lemon zest. Add the lemon juice, eggs, and mix well.

Place the bowl over a small saucepan half filled with gently boiling water, and whisk continuously over low heat until the mixture thickens. Once the thickening process has started, keep cooking and whisking for another 2 minutes (about 8 minutes altogether)

Take off the heat and let cool to 36 degrees C. At this temperature, a finger dipped into the mixture should not feel any sensation of warmth or cold. Then, of course, enjoy the licking

Meanwhile, beat the butter into a nice, soft consistency and mix it to the cooled lemon mixture with a spatula (don’t use a whisk, this would incorporate air bubbles).

Pour the mixture into the tart and place in the fridge for 2 hours.

When ready to eat, sprinkle the centre with a cloud of icing sugar or dispose seasonal blueberries in the shape of small round at the center.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface into a 1-2 mm thick round. Cut out pastry circles slightly larger than the size of the cavities of your tartlet tray, using as a cut out a suitably sized bowl placed up side down on the pastry. Press the trimming together into a ball and roll it out again for more cut outs.

Butter the cavities of the tray (this step is not needed if using a silicon tray) and place the pastry circles inside each cavity. Pierce holes into the pastry with the help of small fork and bake for about 10-12 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned. Take out of the oven and let cool.

Place the cream and mascarpone in the freezer 15 minutes before using. Very cold cream is a key to a successful Chantilly – check out my tips here, which also apply for this mascarpone version. Mix both creams together into a bowl and whisk until the cream starts to thicken. Add the vanilla extract and sugar in small batches and stop as soon as the whisk leaves defined marks into the cream.

Unmould the pastry shells and fill them with whipped cream. Cover them with berries and reserve on a serving tray. Store in the fridge until time of serving.

Pierre Hermés shortcrust pastry recipe (2 hours before using)

Crack the egg into a small bowl; slice open the half vanilla pod and scrape the beans into a teaspoon. Reserve.

Chop the butter into small chunks, toss them into a large mixing bow and beat them with a spatula to soften. Add in succession the icing sugar, almonds, salt, vanilla beans, egg and flour, stirring well after adding each ingredient.

Shape the dough into a ball with your hands, wrap it in cling film and chill for 2 hours in the fridge before using.

Prepare the tart crust:

Pre-heat your oven at 200 degree C.

Carefully unroll the shortcrust pastry. If you have a loose base tart dish, place the pastry directly onto the dish. If your dish is basic, like mine, line it with baking paper before covering it with the shortcrust pastry (don’t worry about the paper folding on the edges, it will give a nice rustic look to the tart, see my pic above). The baking paper will make it easy to take the baked crust out of the dish without breaking it.

With a fork, pierce a few holes across the pastry. This will reduce the risk of hot air bubbles forming under the crust while it is baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 mins or until golden on the edges. Check regularly your oven for air bubbles forming under the pastry. If you see one forming, pierce it with a fork. More traditionally, you can fill your pastry with dried beans before baking it to avoid bubbles from forming, but I can’t be bothered with the hassle. A bit of care during baking is all it takes, really.

When ready, take out of the oven and reserve. Unmould carefully once it has cooled down

Prepare the crème patissière (while the crust is baking):

Heat the milk and vanilla extract in a saucepan until boiling point. if you are using the 1/2 vanilla pod instead, slit the pod lengthwise and scrape the tiny seeds. Heat the milk with the seeds and pod, and remove the latter before pouring.

Beat the egg with the sugar in a bowl until the mixture looks really smooth and falls into ribbons (this basically means that a ribbon-like strip will rest on top of the egg mixture when you drop a dollop of it from your whisk or fork)

Add the flour and whisk until smooth.

Slowly pour the boiling milk onto the egg mixture, whisking constantly

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once the liquid starts boiling, remove from the heat. Keep stirring for one minute, the crème will keep thickening in the saucepan.

Pour the crème into the baked tart crust.

…and for the ultra-sexy finish:

Wash and cut the stem off the strawberries, and cut them in half lengthways, keeping one strawberry whole to place at the center of the tart.

Wipe the strawberries dry with a paper towel and place in concentric circles on the tart, starting with the edge, cut side down, each strawberry half slightly overlapping its neighbour.

In a small bowl, mix the jam with a teaspoon of water and heat for 20 seconds in your microwave. I indicated raspberry jam here but any jam that is smooth and not too dark will do. Smooth apricot jam, for instance, works very well.

Gently brush the mixture over the strawberries to give the tart that lovely, glossy finish.

C’est prêt!

Wash the cherries and remove the stems.

Traditional clafoutis are made with unpitted cherries but I find this not really child-friendly and a real pleasure dampener. So follow my lead and pitt the cherries, using a small sharp knife. Because the cherries are cut in the process they will release some of their juices into the batter when baking, softening it to perfection.

Mix the eggs in a bowl with the sugar until well blended.

Melt 60g butter and allow to cool for a few minutes

Meanwhile, stir the flour into the egg mixture until reaching a smooth batter. Slowly pour the butter, vanilla extract and milk into it while stirring constantly.

Butter a round tart dish, dust it with flour and place the cherries into the dish. Pour the batter on top and scatter pieces of shaved butter for a nice shiny crust.

Place in the oven and bake for about 35-40 mins, until the top looks nice and golden.

Now let me share with you a family secret: halfway through the baking, sprinkle one teaspoon of sugar on top of the clafoutis. This will add a delicious caramelized taste tout à fait exquis!

Serve warm or cold. Keep it in the fridge overnight if, for some strange reason, you have not finished it on the day.

Prepare the almond filling: melt the butter on low heat and pour it into a mixing bowl. Mix it with the sugar, almonds, egg yolks and milk until reaching a homogeneous mixture.

Wash the rhubarb, chop and discard both ends of each stalk and slice them into 1.5 cm chunks. Melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan and sauté the rhubarb on medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and add the rum and vanilla. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Spread the almond cream evenly on the bottom of the pastry. Using a strainer or a holed spatula, transfer the fruits onto the almond cream and spread them evenly on the tart. Do not transfer the juices or the tart will be soggy. The fruits themselves are already very juicy and will release more liquid when baking.

Bake the tart for 30 minutes, until the crust is golden. Let cool and set for about one hour. Note that the tart is also delicious served warm but be prepared to see the fruits and almond cream spread as you cut it. I personally find this messy look even more appetizing!

If using large seeds such as sunflower seeds, crush them into small pieces by rolling a rolling pin or bottle over them.

Add the flour, salt, oats, and sugar if using, and mix.

Add the olive oil and almond purée if using. Mix with a mixer or with your hands to obtain fine crumbs.

Then add the egg if using, mix and add water little by little, mixing constantly and stopping as soon as the dough is moist enough to form a ball.  Based on the type of flour and seeds you are using and whether or not you are using an egg, the quantity of water needed can vary from nearly none to 6 tablespoons.

Roll down the pastry right away and place it 15 minutes in the freezer or 30 minutes in the fridge  before using it.

]]> http://tastydiaries.com/newtasty/olive-oil-oats-and-grains-shortcrust-pastry/feed 0 http://tastydiaries.com/newtasty/rustic-apple-tart http://tastydiaries.com/newtasty/rustic-apple-tart#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:53:56 +0000 Anne-Laure http://tastydiaries.com/newtasty/?p=2421 Prepare the sweet version of the oil and oat shortcrust pastry. Roll it down into a flat rectangle 1 to 2 mm thick and place it on the oven tray lined with baking paper.

Wash and core the apples – don’t peel them – and cut them into fine segments.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Line the apple segments into straight lines on the pastry following the longer end of the rectangle.

Beat the egg yolk with a bit of water and gently brush it on the apples (use a very soft brush to avoid moving the apples).

Sprinkle the tart with the sugar and bake it for about 25 minutes or until the apples are nicely coloured.

Slice and serve warm, accompanied with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Lightly butter a loose-base 20 cm cake tin (I used a 24 cm one and I would have liked the filling to be a bit thicker- see picture above). Line the mould with the pastry and make small holes at the bottom; place in the fridge.

In a bowl, mix the fromage frais (or yogurt and mascarpone), egg yolks, corn four, sugar, lemon zest and poppyseeds. Reserve.

Place the egg whites in a bowl and whip them into firm peaks with a pinch of salt — add 1 teaspoon sugar near the end to make them firmer. Fold carefully into the fromage frais mixture.

Pour this batter into the pastry, level the top and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes . When ready, the top of the batter should be nicely puffed up and browned.

Let cool completely before unmoulding. The batter will settle back down, don’t worry, this is how it should be. Dust the tart with icing sugar and serve with fresh fruits. In season, berries are a wonderful match. In the winter, serve it with a quick coulis made by whizzing frozen raspberries with a bit of icing sugar, or with fresh pomegranate grains.

The tart can be eaten at room temperature or straight out of the fridge for extra freshness.

Divide the puff pastry in two and roll out each half into a 28-30 cm diameter circle. You can use an upside down cake mould or plate to help you cut the pastry into a perfect circle, although I personally take full artistic license in my tracing. The key thing is not to squash the pastry with the mould otherwise it won’t puff as well. Cut it with a sharp knife.

Place one circle on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper, reserve the other in the fridge if you can.

Beat with a fork the butter and sugar into a soft, creamy texture. Mix in the almonds, almond extract and egg until obtaining a homogenous paste. Stir the milk in. The paste should be granular and have a consistency similar to that of Nutella at room temperature, i.e. soft and easy to spread, but not liquid.

Spoon the mixture evenly onto the disk within about 2 cm (just under 1 inch) off the edge. Brush a bit of water on the outer edge of the pastry circle. Try not to wet the very side of the pastry, where it has been cut, as this would glue the pastry leaves together and prevent it from rising.

Add the fève, coin or bean, if using, in the filling. Place it near the edge so as to minimise the chances of cutting through it when slicing the galette.

Cover the pastry with the circle you reserved and seal both edges by delicately pressing your fingers around them Make sure the two circles are well sealed otherwise the filling could leak when baking.

With a knife, draw loosely spaced (4-5 cms, 2 inches) parallel lines on top of the pastry. Be careful not to pierce through it. Draw another set of lines at an angle so as to obtain a regular criss-crossing pattern covering the entire pastry.

Mix the egg yolk with a bit of water and brush the yolk mixture lightly on the galette. This will give it a lovely glossy finish. Finally, with a thin sharp knife, pierce the puff pastry discreetly at 5 or 6 places to allow the air to escape. The most discrete points are where two lines of the criss-crossing pattern intersect.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry puffs up and acquires a deep golden brown shade. Cover with greaseproof paper and reduce the heat to 190 degrees C, and bake for another 20 mins.

Serve with a crown on top and eat preferably warm.