Red onion tarte tatin with rye pastry

I was never a pie/tart maker (one look at the blog index can confirm that), but I do love pies and tarts: I just don’t have much time for them, I guess. Two things that have helped me with this matter is making the pastry in one day and assembling and baking the pie on the other, or keeping an extra batch of pastry in the freezer – nothing like having the pastry ready when you find beautiful veggies or fruits in the market: lunch, dinner or dessert are halfway there.

This pastry is delicious and flaky, very similar to the corn flour pastry I posted a while ago. The onions not only make the tarte tatin beautiful but also very flavorsome: the time in the stove top and then in the oven transform their acrid flavor into something sweet and mellow.

Red onion tarte tatin with rye pastry
own recipe

Pastry:
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
3 tablespoons (30g) fine rye flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
3 tablespoons sour cream, chilled*
1 tablespoon iced water

Filling:
2 red onions (approximately 250g/9oz in total)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon olive oil
5 fresh thyme sprigs
½ teaspoon demerara sugar
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dry red wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Start by making the pastry: in a food processor, pulse all purpose flour, rye flour and salt until well combined. Add the butter and pulse a few times until mixture resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Mix sour cream and water in a small bowl, then with the motor running, gradually add the mixture and process just until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

20 minutes before the end of the resting time of the pastry, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and start prepping the onions: peel them and cut them in half lengthwise. Then slice the onions in to 1cm (roughly ½in) half-moons – if the slices are too thin they will melt in the oven. Set aside.
Heat a 22cm (9in) frying pan over medium heat – for this recipe you need a frying pan that can go into the oven. Add the butter and the olive oil, followed by the thyme sprigs – this way they will be on the top of the tart once you invert it. Remove the frying pan from the heat for one moment and arrange the onion slices on top of the thyme, placing the slices close together, for they will wilt slightly when cooked - cover the entire frying pan with the onion slices. Put the pan back on the heat and cook for 10 minutes, shaking the pan slightly instead of stirring the onions, to avoid them sticking to the bottom, but keeping them in place. Sprinkle with the sugar, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and the wine, season with salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Place the dough onto large piece of baking paper, cover with another piece of paper and roll into a rough 24cm (9in) circle – work fast in order to keep the pastry chilled. Peel off the paper from the top, then roll the pastry into the rolling pin, very gently, then unroll it on top of the onions (be careful since the pan will still be hot). Tuck the pastry in, make a small hole in the center of the pastry so the hot air can escape, then bake the tart for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the heat and very gently loosen the pastry from the edges of the pan. Top the pan with a plate and carefully unmold the tart – don’t worry if any onion bits get stuck in the pan, just loosen them up with a spatula and arrange them back on top of the tart. Serve with a green salad.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 4 with a green salad on the side

Asparagus and gorgonzola galette with corn flour pastry and creative days

I could start several posts with “when I was still working on the book project” because during that time I exercised my creativity almost on a daily basis. Everything I saw was a source of inspiration, and a trip to the grocery store or the farmers’ market would turn into an idea, that turned into a recipe, that turned into several tests in my kitchen. Several times my husband and I ate the tests for lunch, and whoever came to my house would be served cake or cookies I had been working on – everyone became my guinea pigs. :)

I was at the grocery store with my husband one day when I saw beautiful asparagus – I brought them home with the idea of making a frittata, but I decided for a galette instead: I love galettes, they are my favorite kind of tart – they are easy to put together (no blind baking involved) and they always look stunning.

We ate this galette for lunch 3 times – I was going to make it a few times anyway to test the recipe in different occasions, however it tasted so delicious that making it again never felt like a chore.

Asparagus and gorgonzola galette with corn flour pastry
own recipe

Pastry:
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (35g) corn flour (finely ground cornmeal, not corn starch)
¼ teaspoon table salt
100g unsalted butter, very cold and diced
¼ cup (60ml) sour cream*, very cold
2 tablespoons iced water

Filling:
100g fresh ricotta – I use homemade
50g gorgonzola, coarsely grated or crumbled
1 tablespoon sour cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g fresh asparagus, already trimmed

Egg wash:
1 egg yolk whisked with 1 teaspoon sour cream

Start by making the pastry: in a food processor, pulse all purpose flour, corn flour and salt until well combined. Add the butter and pulse a few times until mixture resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Mix sour cream and water in a small bowl, then with the motor running, gradually add the mixture and process just until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place the dough onto large piece of baking paper, cover with another piece of paper and roll into a rough 20x35cm (8x14in) rectangle. Slide the paper with pastry into a baking sheet and remove the paper from the top. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta, gorgonzola, heavy cream until a paste forms. Season with salt and pepper (go easy on the salt since gongonzola can be salty). Spread the dough with the filling leaving a 2.5cm (1in) border. Arrange the asparagus on top of the filling, pressing them slightly to adhere. Carefully fold one edge in towards the center of the filling and continue folding all the way round, bringing the edge of the pastry towards and over the filling/asparagus. Freeze the galette for 15 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

Brush the pastry with the egg wash and bake for 30-40 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve warm.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 4 with a green salad on the side

Coconut apple galette - coconut, again :)

Even though it is a controversial ingredient/flavor, I do love coconut and when I was working on the book project I tried to include it in several different recipes – not only I got delicious results out of it, but it was much cheaper than my lemon frenzy. :)

I made muffins, cakes, crumbles, popsicles and cookies using coconut, and I cannot wait to share more with you: today I bring you a galette, in which I replaced part of the flour with desiccated coconut. I paired the lovely coconutty pastry with apples and added a touch of both lime (in zest and juice form) and cinnamon to the fruit – it tasted and smelled delicious.

This galette is wonderful either warm or at room temperature, but I urge you to try it warm with vanilla ice cream on the side – it is truly heavenly.

Coconut apple galette
own recipe

Pastry:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (33g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
pinch of salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1/3 cup (80ml) iced water

Filling:
4 Granny Smith apples (about 700g/1 ½ pounds), peeled, cored, cut in half then thinly sliced
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lime
freshly squeezed juice of ½ lime
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Egg wash:
1 egg yolk + 1 teaspoon whole milk, room temperature, whisked well together in a small bowl

Start by making the pastry: in a food processor, pulse flour, coconut, sugar and salt until well combined. Add the butter and pulse a few times until mixture resemble coarse breadcrumbs. With the motor running, gradually add the water and mix just until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Place the dough onto large piece of baking paper, cover with another piece of paper and roll into a rough 30cm (12in) circle. Slide the paper into a baking sheet.

Place the apples in a bowl with the sugar, lime zest and juice and cinnamon and toss to combine. Arrange the apple slices on the center of the dough – arrange them as you please. I prefer to put them side by side, that way the heat can circulate better through the fruit and tart bakes more evenly. Carefully fold one edge in towards the center of the fruit and continue folding all the way round, bringing the edge of the pastry towards and over the apple slices. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and bake for about 40 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Stripy courgette, tomato and polenta tart

New cookbooks can be a lovely surprise, a big disappointment or something in between – even with the “Search Inside” feature at Amazon I’ve had my share of regret buying some of them.

My latest purchase, however, was an epic win: I got Annie Rigg’s beautiful cookbook on fruit and Georgina Fuggle’s Take One Veg, and they’re both insanely beautiful – I feel like making each and every recipe on both of them, for there is nothing tricky despite the deliciousness of everything.

I made one of Rigg’s recipes and it was wonderful, but more on that later on this week – Georgina’s idea of using polenta as a tart base was such a hit at home that I had to share it with you: even my husband ate it gladly, and that is certainly something not to be taken lightly. The tart was a cinch to make and served with a green salad it was a delicious meal, one that I plan on repeating with different vegetables.

Stripy courgette, tomato and polenta tart
slightly adapted from the absolutely delicious Take One Veg: Over 100 Tempting Veggie Recipes for Simple Suppers, Packed Lunches and Weekend Cooking

Crust:
500ml hot vegetable stock
140g polenta - since the recipe doesn't state what kind of polenta it is, I used this one (I was out of instant polenta)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Filling:
2 tablespoons crème fraîche – I used homemade sour cream
1 small courgette, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced into thin slices
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Start by making the polenta crust: bring the vegetable stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan and pour the polenta into the water. Keep your pan over a low heat and, using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture constantly, thrashing out any lumps that try to form. Continue for around 6 minutes until the polenta is very thick.
Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan and stir until they have disappeared. Cool for 5 minutes, then stir through the beaten egg and season with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly – in the meatime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

Lightly grease a square 21cm tart pan with olive oil (I used butter). Put the polenta in the centre and, using a spatula or oiled fingers, gently tease it up the sides of the pan to create the sides of the crust.
Smother a thin layer of crème fraîche over the base of your tart and top with half the Parmesan. On top of the cheese, alternate slices of courgette and tomato. Finish with the thyme leaves and the remaining Parmesan.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180°C/350°F and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove and allow the tart to cool for 5-10 minutes to allow it to ‘come to’. Serve in slices.

Serves 4 – I made the recipe above using a 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan – there was a bit of polenta left that I formed into pancake, grilled on both sides with a tiny bit of olive oil until golden and topped with cheese and dried oregano for a snack (there is a photo here).

The recipes says it serves 4, but the tart I made was polished off by 2 served with a green salad! :)

Rye ratatouille tart

My craving for vegetables is still full on and I’m always looking for interesting ways of cooking them, especially because my husband has become a veggie convert – I love it that he’s realized that he doesn’t need all the meat he though he needed and that eating more vegetables is good for him (let’s forget that it took him forty-six years to finally get to that conclusion – better late than never, right?) ;)

I love tarts, both sweet and savory, so when I saw this ratatouille tart on a Brazilian TV show I fell in love with it: so colorful, so beautiful! I decided to make it but switched the pastry (pâte brisée) for the wonderful rye pastry I love so much – it worked like a charm! The flavorsome pastry paired beautifully with the roasted vegetables.

This tart is delicious and looks really beautiful – I’m all for food that tastes and looks good.

Rye ratatouille tart
adapted from this lovely book and from Rita Lobo

Pastry:
½ recipe rye pastry

Filling:
1 small eggplant
1 small zucchini
¾ cup cherry tomatoes
1 leek, white part only
1 small yellow pepper
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme

Slice the eggplant in 1cm slices (if too wide, cut the slices in half). Transfer to a bowl of lightly salted water. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Slice the zucchini in 1cm slices (if too wide, cut the sliced in half), cut the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise, slice the leek in 1cm slices as well and cut the bell pepper in squares. Peel the onion and cut into eights, then slice the garlic cloves in half lengthwise.

Drain the eggplant, pat dry with paper towels and place the pieces on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and roast for 15 minutes. Place the other vegetables on the baking sheet with the eggplant, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, then roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F.

Place the dough onto large piece of baking paper and roll into a rough 25cm (10in) circle. Transfer to a cool baking sheet. Arrange the roasted vegetables on the center of the pastry and top with the fresh herbs. Fold one edge in towards the center of the filling and continue folding all the way round, bringing the edge of the pastry towards and over the filling.

Brush the tart with the egg wash (only the pastry). Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. The tart is delicious both warm and at room temperature.

Serves 4

Crustless lemon tart - a brilliant idea

If the weather here at this time of the year is not superb for rolling out cookies rolling out pastry for a tart is out of the question as well: the last time I tried doing that with 35°C days there were so many trips to the fridge with the pastry involved that the thought of it makes me tired already. :)

So you can only imagine how glad I was when I found this recipe on one of my Bill Granger’s cookbooks: one of my favorite desserts in the world made without the hassle of pastry. I thought it was too genius not to give it a go, so I tried it and the result was a very delicious dessert – from now on, I’ll no longer feel lazy when the urge of making lemon tart crosses my mind. \0/

This tart tasted great both warm and cold, so it is perfect for entertaining – that is why I’ll probably make it again for dessert tomorrow for my New Year’s Eve dinner.

Crustless lemon tart
slightly adapted from the delicious Bill's Basics

3 eggs
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, melted
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
125ml lemon juice
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm round springform cake pan (I used one with a removable bottom).

Whisk the eggs and then gradually whisk in the flour. Add the sugar, salt, butter, lemon zest and juice, cream and vanilla and whisk well. Pour into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges.

Leave in the pan to cool for 20 minutes before turning out and slicing. Dust with icing sugar.

Serves 6-8

Beetroot, red onion and feta tart with rye pastry

Cooking is a continuous learning process and one thing I’ve learned over the years is that the freezer can be a powerful ally in the kitchen: not only for already made dishes and ice cream, but for stashing and preserving ingredients like stock, vegetables, nuts – you name it.

With some rye pastry in my freezer – I made the entire recipe, divided in half and froze each individually, first well wrapped in plastic, then in foil – I decided to bake a tart for lunch and then started thinking about the filling. I almost made the leek and cheese tart once again – it tasted so good! – but then I saw Dale Pinnock’s beetroot and goats cheese tart and fell in love with it.

My mom loved beets and I ate them quite regularly as a kid, but always boiled or raw. As an adult, once I roasted beets for the first time there was no turning back – I’ve never boiled beets again and don’t intend to: when roasted, their flavor becomes stronger and the texture is less watery. Just delicious.

This is my twist on the recipe, using roasted beets instead of boiled ones and homemade rye pastry instead of puff pastry: it tasted great and I thought it looked beautiful, too, don’t you? ;)

Beetroot, red onion and feta tart with rye pastry
adapted from two great sources: The Medicinal Chef: Eat Your Way to Better Health and Love, Bake, Nourish: Healthier cakes and desserts full of fruit and flavor

½ recipe rye pastry

Filling:
5 small beetroots
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
½ tablespoons honey
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
100g feta cheese
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Place the beetroots in a large piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Close the foil, transfer to a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until the beets are soft when pierced with a knife. Cool enough to handle, then peel off the beets (the ones I used were organic, so I did not bother with a bit of skin left on them). Cool completely, then cut into slices.
Heat a little olive oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the red onion and cook for 4–5 minutes, or until softened. Season with salt and pepper, add the honey and thyme and continue to cook until the onion takes on a caramelized appearance. Cool.

When ready to make the tart, place the dough onto large piece of baking paper and roll into a rough 25cm (10in) circle. Transfer to a baking sheet.
Arrange the red onion on the center of the pastry, top with the beets and crumble over the feta. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, then fold one edge in towards the center of the filling and continue folding all the way round, bringing the edge of the pastry towards and over the filling. Place the sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Brush the tart with the egg wash (only the pastry). Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Top with fresh thyme leaves to serve. The tart is delicious both warm and at room temperature.

Serves 2

Patchwork strawberry & apple pie

As if being a cookbook junkie wasn’t enough, I’m hooked on food magazines as well – Donna Hay, Gourmet Traveller and Delicious Australia are my favorites, but there are others I adore, too, and use very often. BBC Good Food always comes with delicious recipes from people like Mary Berry and James Martin, and the photos are beautiful (I highly recommend a visit to the magazine’s website).

Months ago, a strawberry and gooseberry pie was published, and the patchwork topping looked gorgeous – it reminded me of the strawberry and rose hazelnut tart I made years ago. Because gooseberries are impossible to find here in Brazil I replaced them with something equally tart and flavorsome, a Granny Smith apple – the result was truly great.

Patchwork strawberry & apple pie
adapted from the delicious Good Food mag

Pastry:
1 large egg, at room temperature, separated
225g unsalted butter, soft but not greasy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
350g all purpose flour

Filling:
400g ripe strawberries, halved, or quartered if large
75g granulated sugar
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
pinch of ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons semolina or ground almonds

Pastry: put the egg yolk, butter, vanilla, sugar and salt in a food processor, and pulse until creamy and soft. Add the flour and pulse until the mixture comes together in clumps – don’t overwork it. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and squish the dough together. Split into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other, then shape into rectangles. Wrap in cling film and chill for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling: put the strawberries and sugar in a wide pan and cook for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Drain in a colander over a bowl and leave to cool completely (reserve the syrup to be served with the pie later on).

Lightly butter a 35x10cm (14x4in) tart pan with a removable bottom and line it with the larger piece of pastry. Prick the base several times with a fork, then freeze for 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and place a baking sheet in the oven. Line the pastry with foil and fill with baking beans. Bake on top of the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the bottom of the pastry is golden and feels sandy. Roll the second pastry disc to roughly the size of the tart and cut into 4cm squares. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.
Scatter the semolina or almonds over the pastry base (this will help to prevent a soggy bottom). Add the apple and cinnamon to the drained berries, mix to combine, then place on top of the semolina/ground almonds. Space the pastry squares over the tart, brush with the egg white. Wrap only the edge of the pie with a collar of foil to protect it from overcooking (I didn’t do that), then bake for 30 minutes or until golden and crisp. Serve warm with thick cream and the fruity pink syrup in a jug for pouring.

Serves 6-8

Passion fruit tart

If I had to choose one dessert to eat for the rest of my life (which would be a cruel thing given that there are so many wonderful sweets out there, not to mention the ones I have never tried nor baked at home, but...) it would be lemon bars – there’s nothing I crave more, the sound of the words makes me salivate already.
But a couple of weeks ago something came out of my oven that almost – and it was a really close call – stole the title of favorite dessert from the bars: this passion fruit tart, a recipe from the always breathtakingly beautiful Gourmet Traveller, turned out delicious, with its crisp, buttery base and tangy filling. Oh, so good.

Now, if I had to choose two desserts to eat for the rest of my life... ;)

Passion fruit tart
from the always so delicious and beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

Pastry:
225g unsalted butter, cold and chopped
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
2 2/3 cups (375g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
150ml heavy cream
200ml strained passion fruit pulp – I used some of the pulp with the seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
icing sugar, for dusting

For the pastry, mix the butter, sugar, flour and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the egg and vanilla and process just until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and use to line six 8cm-diameter tart tins, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Line pastry-lined tins with baking paper, then fill with pastry weights or dried beans and blind-bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, but keep the oven on.
Filling: lightly mix together the eggs, egg yolk and sugar in a bowl until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the cream, passion fruit juice and vanilla and then strain through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour the filling into the tartlet shells and bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set – the filling should still wobble slightly in the centre. Leave to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Just before serving, dust the tarts with icing sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch or under a very hot grill.

Makes 6 – I halved the recipe above and baked it in a 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan with a removable bottom

Roast onion tart and giveaway winners

Hello, everyone!

A new year has begun and to kick things off in a great way I have the list of the giveaway winners! The comments were drawn using Random.com. Please send me an email (patricia [dot] scarpin [at] gmail.com) with your first and last names and your magazine of choice until January, 10th, 2013:

- Silvana
- KJB
- Kyrsten
- Laura (Tutti Dolci)
- Isla Bonita

Congratulations!

***

I don’t know about you, but year beginnings are pretty busy to me – therefore, I’ll leave you with an easy and delicious tart, a recipe I’ve made twice already.

Roast onion tart
from the always yummy and beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 red onions, thinly sliced horizontally
2 onions, thinly sliced horizontally
350g puff pastry sheet
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing
85g creamy goat’s cheese*

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine oil, vinegar, thyme and lemon zest in a small bowl and season to taste. Place onion slices in a single layer on prepared sheet, keeping slices intact (don't separate into rings). Drizzle over half the oil mixture and roast until very tender and lightly browned (20-25 minutes), cool to room temperature.
Turn oven temperature to 200°C/400°C.
Trim pastry to a 20x25cm (8x10in) rectangle and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Score a 1cm border partway through pastry, prick inside border with a fork, brush edges with the beaten egg. Spread goat's cheese within border, arrange roast onions on top, bake until pastry is risen, golden and cooked through (about 20 minutes). Drizzle over remaining oil mixture, serve hot with a leaf salad.

* I’ve made this tart twice, and once I used homemade ricotta seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice – it worked out fine

Serves 4

Oreo and peanut butter pie

After several posts with fruit-based sweets I now bring you something extremely sinful: crushed Oreo cookies, topped with peanut butter and chocolate. I know, I know, this is not what we would call a light dessert, but certain moments call for decadent, over-the-top sweets – and on all the other days you can have an apple after lunch. ;)

Oreo and peanut butter pie
slightly adapted from the brilliant Delicious - Australia

Base:
20 Oreos (or other chocolate cream cookies)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling and topping:
250g crunchy peanut butter
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
150g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
75g unsalted butter

Finely crush the cookies in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press into the base and sides of a lightly buttered 24cm loose-bottomed tart pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, combine peanut butter and icing sugar until smooth. Spread in the tart base. Refrigerate while you make the topping.
Place chocolate and butter in a clean bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir until melted, then cool for 15-20 minutes. Spread over the peanut butter layer and chill for 30 minutes until firm. Cut into slices and serve.

Serves 8-10

Apple berry almond tart, baking failures and "Munich"

I’ve trashed Steven Spielberg once or twice already (despite loving “Jaws” and the Indiana Jones trilogy), but last week I saw an excellent movie directed by him: “Munich”. It’s a very long movie (almost 3 hours long), but it keeps you hooked every step of the way – it’s like those books you feel like taking to the shower with you because you can’t put them down. The cast is packed with favorites of mine (Bana, Craig, and the glorious Hinds and Rush), and I was surprised by a wonderful Mathieu Kassovitz , whom I’d always associated to the beautiful “Amélie” – because of his powerful performance in “Munich” I’ve added “La Haine” to my “to watch” list.
I might find some of Spielberg’s movies quite cheesy – “Hook”, anyone? – but I must admit that very few directors know how to perfectly place the camera and move it around like he does; he should stick to adult movies (and stop ruining them at the end, like he did with “Schindler’s List”).

---

Dan Lepard’s recipes have become my go-to strategy when I want to avoid baking failures – after making one of Lisa Yockelson’s cakes and throwing it in the garbage (her cake recipes are always so great, I do not know what happened there), I felt like making something different; I decided for a tart and went straight for one of Lepard’s recipes – better safe than sorry, right? ;)
The tart turned out delicious and the combination of apples, almonds and berry preserves was a match made in heaven.

Apple berry almond tart
from Lepard’s column at the Guardian, and also from his absolutely great cookbook (one of my all time favorites)

¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons (25g) corn starch, packed
pinch of salt
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (78g) granulated sugar
1 egg, separated
½ cup (50g) ground almonds
1 tablespoon Amaretto (or brandy)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large Granny Smith apple
125g any dark berry preserves – I used blackcurrant
3 tablespoons flaked almonds

Combine the flour, corn starch and salt into a large bowl with 75g of the butter and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Rub together just until the lumps of butter disappear, add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of ice water, and work to a smooth, soft dough. Wrap, chill for 1 hour, then roll out and line a lightly buttered 20cm fluted tart pan with a removable bottom*. Prick the dough all over with a fork and freeze for 40 minutes. – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Line the pastry with baking paper and cover with dried beans/baking weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and beans/weights and bake for 10 minutes longer. Keep the oven on.

Beat the remaining 50g of butter, the ground almonds and remaining sugar with the egg white and the Amaretto and vanilla until smooth. Peel, core and finely dice the apple, and stir it through the almond cream. Spread the jam over the base of the tart case, cover with almond cream and sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Bake for 40 minutes or until the filling is nicely puffed and golden.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan

Serves 6-8

Lemon & honey Anzac tart

Lemon tarts – or lemon bars, for that matter – are not something exactly new on this blog, but since they’re among the most delicious desserts out there I never tire of baking them. When I saw the Australian Delicious lemon tart version with a crust made of Anzac cookies I had to bake it and I’m glad I did: the tart is wonderful and not difficult to make. I believe that store-bought ANZAC cookies are easy to find Down Under, but not in Brazil – so if you can’t find the cookies where you live either, do not worry: I’ll share the recipe I used to make mine.

Lemon & honey Anzac tart
from the fabulous Delicious - Australia

300g Anzac cookies – recipe follows
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey + some extra to serve
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
2/3 cup (160ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
395g can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
4 eggs
whipped cream, to serve

Lightly butter a 22x4cm round loose-bottomed tart pan*.
Place cookies in a food processor and whiz until fine crumbs. Gradually add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles damp sand – add butter gradually because depending on how buttery the cookies are you might not even need all the butter. Press crumb mixture into the base and sides of prepared pan. Chill for 30 minutes or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/338°F. Place honey, lemon zest and juice, condensed milk, cream and eggs in a bowl and whisk gently until combined. Pour into the tart case and bake for 35 minutes or until just set but the centre still has a gentle wobble. Cool in the pan to room temperature, then place in the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours or until cold and set.
To serve, slice the tart and drizzle with thickened cream and extra honey.

* my pan was the right diameter but wasn’t deep enough, so I made the exact amount of base but halved the filling recipe; my tart was done after 15 minutes in the oven

Serves 6-8

ANZAC cookies
from the always wonderful Modern Classics 2

1 cup (115g) rolled oats
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (75g) desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons golden syrup
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon hot water

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a large bowl mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut. Place the golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted. Mix the baking soda with the water and add to the butter mixture. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. Place tablespoons of the mixture onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Flatten slightly. Bake for 8–10 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 22 – I rolled 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie and got 20

Gingerbread, pear and almond tart

I got hypnotized by this tart when I first saw it on the DH mag – it looked so beautiful and delicious! My first thought was to make it at the end of the year and post the recipe as part of my Christmas series, but then I remembered that pears are at their peak now, and I had a small amount of marmalade in the fridge (left from a cake I’d made a couple of weeks before) that ended up being the exact ¼ cup called for in the tart recipe; as the universe had conspired in my kitchen before and the results were wonderful, I went ahead and made the tart, and that turned out to be a very smart decision. ;)

Gingerbread, pear and almond tart
from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup golden syrup (I used corn syrup)
2 2/3 cups (373g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 firm pears, halved lengthwise, each half cut in 4-5 slices
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup orange marmalade
icing sugar, for dusting
whipped cream, for serving

Place the butter and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup, flour, ginger, baking soda and salt and beat until mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Divide in two equal portions and form each one into a rough rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
In a small bowl, mix together the almond meal and the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside. Place the pears, extra sugar, vanilla and marmalade in a large bowl and mix to combine.
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Roll each portion of dough between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you get a 20x30cm (12x8in) rectangle. Sprinkle the almond meal mixture down the center of each dough rectangle, leaving a 5cm (2in) border. Place the pear filling on top of the almond meal and fold the edges of dough over the pears. Transfer to the prepared sheet. Refrigerate the tarts for 20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked and golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack – you can serve the tarts warm or at room temperature.
Dust with the icing sugar and serve.

Makes 2 tarts, each serving 4-6

Blueberry almond tart + Michael Shannon

I will always remember the 2012 Academy Awards as the year in which the people who should have won the statues weren’t even nominated: as happened to Tilda and Lynne Ramsay, Michael Shannon had, to me, the most striking performance as an actor last year but was forgotten by the Academy. I’ll also keep in mind that the people responsible for the nominations chose Jessica Chastain as a contestant for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – which is perfect – but signed her in with the wrong movie; I wonder if the person reading the instructions got confused, Jack Palance style. :D

I find subtlety to be an essential quality for an actor, and Michael Shannon has tons of it – I feel that his Curtis would have become a walking cliché in the hands of a less talented actor. Shannon had impressed me before in rather short but powerful performances, and after watching the absolutely amazing “Take Shelter” I have become officially a fan: I am pretty sure he’ll nail the part of General Zod, making the always great Terence Stamp proud, and there are two other movies on their way that sound really interesting, one of them reuniting Shannon and Jeff Nichols – I’ll be watching those, you bet. And if you, like me, find that Shannon’s bony, squared face gives him a sort of intimidating look, you should know that he can be oh, so adorable and funny. :)

***
This tart, though not as simple as making a cake, is worth every second of preparation: the almond filling is luscious and moreish, while the berries, after baked, taste like little bubbles of jam exploding in one’s mouth. Oh, so good.

Blueberry almond tart
slightly adapted from the very, very delicious and beautiful Good Things to Eat (mine was bought here)

Pastry:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (35g) icing sugar, sifted if lumpy
pinch of salt
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (83g) cold unsalted butter, in cubes
1 egg
1 teaspoon ice water
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (125g) almond meal
½ tablespoon all purpose flour
pinch of salt
125g blueberries
icing sugar, for dusting

Pastry: place the flour, icing sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse a few times until mixture resembled coarse breadcrumbs. Break the egg into a small bowl, add the water and vanilla and lightly whisk with a fork. With the motor running, gradually add the egg mixture and process just until a dough starts to form (you won’t probably use the whole egg mixture). Transfer to a lightly floured surface, form into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (can be frozen for a month with a double layer of foil on top of the plastic wrap).

Lightly butter a 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll the pastry into a 35x15cm (14x6in) rectangle. Line the pan with the pastry, removing the excess pastry. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F and place a large baking sheet in it. Line the base and sides of the pastry case with a piece of baking paper and fill with dried beans/baking weights. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the sides have set. Carefully remove the beans and the paper, reduce the oven to 180°C/350°F, then bake the pastry until dry in the bottom and is starting to turn pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave it on. Cool the pastry for 10 minutes.
Make the filling: in the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and then scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract, almond meal, all purpose flour and salt.
Sprinkle a third of the blueberries on the bottom of the pastry shell. Cover with the almond filling, then sprinkle the rest of the berries on top. Bake until the filling is set and golden brown, about 40 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar to serve and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Apple and cinnamon tarte fines

I’m not a very huge fan of animated movies but I do have a few favorites: “Finding Nemo”, “Mulan”, “Spirited Away” and “Kung Fu Panda” – the hubby loves the latter, too, and last night we watched "Kung Fu Panda 2" together. I have to say that choosing Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman as the voices of Po and Shifu was a really bright idea – they’re perfect for the roles. And my favorite actor is so complete and talented that he kicks ass even as a cartoon. :D
Even thought the hubby and I thought the first movie was better, we both enjoyed “Kung Fu Panda 2” a lot, and at the end of the movie Joao looked at me and smiled: I was crying like a baby. :D

***
This tart, though simple and with 5 ingredients only, was a huge success with my sisters-in-law: they loved it. This is more an assembling job than a recipe, but due to the nice comments I got for it I decided to share it with you.

Apple and cinnamon tarte fines
from the always delicious and gorgeous Australian Gourmet Traveller

350g puff pastry sheet
2 small Granny Smith apples, unpeeled
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 220°C/428°F and place a baking sheet in the oven while it’s heating.
Trim pastry to a 23x25cm (9x10in) rectangle, place on a piece of baking paper (I used foil) and prick all over with a fork.
Thinly slice apples on a mandolin to 2mm thick and arrange over pastry, overlapping slices and leaving a 5mm border. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, scatter half over apples. Dot apples with half the butter, then transfer pastry and baking paper to heated oven tray and bake on top shelf of oven until pastry begins to brown, 8-10 minutes. Scatter with remaining cinnamon sugar, dot with remaining butter and bake until apples are tender and browned on edges and pastry is dark golden and crisp, 10-15 minutes.
Cool slightly on the sheet over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the paper with the tart to the rack. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

Lemon crumble tart - and Pinterest

I’d like to start this post by telling you that I adore Pinterest: it’s a great way to keep track of interesting things and I usually find my morning humor dose there. Some of you have written to me asking me not to block my photos from being posted on Pinterest, and I tell you: I haven’t done that, and wouldn’t do it. I see no problem in my recipes getting pinned by you, much to the contrary. Therefore, I do not know what happened and why you’re no longer able to pin the photos – if anyone knows how to fix the problem I’m all ears. :)

***

This lemon tart is a variation of the easiest tart ever and despite not being equally easy – there’s a lemon curd to be made here – it’s just as delicious.

Lemon crumble tart
from the great The Grand Central Baking Book

Crust:
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon curd:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 3 lemons, divided use
4 egg yolks
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 25cm (10in) springform pan*.
Dough: whisk the flour and salt together. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until creamy and light in color. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients and stop mixing when the ingredients are fully incorporated but the dough is still crumbly – this happens quickly; don’t overmix, otherwise you’ll end up with a ball of dough. Set aside 1 cup of the dough and refrigerate. Sprinkle the remaining dough onto the prepared pan, distributing it evenly. Bring the dough slightly up the sides of the pan (to hold the lemon curd), then press it onto the pan to hold it in place. Prick the dough all over with a fork, then bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

While the crust bakes, make the lemon curd: combine the sugar, half the lemon zest and yolks in a heatproof bowl and whisk together immediately; if you delay, the mixture will coagulate. Put the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice and, still whisking continuously, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the butter and salt, then use a spatula to stir constantly until the mixture has thickened, 6-7 minutes (is should be the consistency of sour cream).
Strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in the remaining zest. Spoon the curd into the crust and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of dough over the curd.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. The topping should be slightly brown, and the curd will begin to caramelize on top.
Cool slightly before unmolding.

* I made the exact recipe above using a shallow 24cm tart pan with a removable bottom; I used 1 ½ cups of dough for the topping.

Serves 8

Ricotta and feta tart

Because Jamie Oliver’s delicious escarole and salami tart was a great dish for lunch both at my house and at the office I felt like baking another savory tart – this time I had no smoked ham in my fridge (as the original recipe called for) but a tart made entirely of cheese (there’s parmesan in the pastry!) did not sound like a bad thing. And, indeed, it was not; I just regretted not adding a handful of chopped parsley to the filling before spreading it on the pastry.

Ricotta and feta tart
slightly adapted from the always delicious and beautiful Donna Hay Magazine

Pastry:
1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoon (185g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (120g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
½ cup (50g) finely grated parmesan
2 tablespoons sour cream*
2 egg yolks

Filling:
230g ricotta – I used homemade
50g feta, crumbled
1 egg
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the pastry: place the flour, salt, butter and parmesan in a food processor and process for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and yolks and process for 1-2 minutes or until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly butter a 24cm round pie dish or tart pan. Roll the pastry between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you get a 30cm round. Line the prepared dish with the pastry leaving a 5cm border overhanging the sides of the dish. Set aside
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the ricotta, feta, egg, garlic, mustard, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine. Spread the filling over the pastry and fold the border to form the outer crust of the tart**. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

** I had trouble making the pastry border, so I removed the excess pastry and cut flower shapes with it using a cookie cutter, then I placed them on top of the filling before baking the tart

Serves 4

Vanilla-spiked plum galette

Plums are one of my favorite fruits and I usually eat them all in a very short period of time, before I can actually bake something with them. But this time the plums I’d bought were too tart – even for my citrusy taste – and they became this fabulous galette; the super flaky pastry is delicious and holds all the juices without getting soggy, and the plums, soft and perfectly sweet, get a boost from the vanilla seeds – a perfect combo. I’m usually very controlled around my baked goods but this time I had two huge slices of galette at once. :S

If I’m controlled about food – at least, sometimes – I cannot say the same about my favorite movies: I watched "Shutter Island" for the third time last night. :D

Vanilla-spiked plum galette
from the delicious and beautiful Rustic Fruit Desserts

Dough:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (168g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
3 tablespoons ice water, more if necessary
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Filling:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped with the back of the knife
1 tablespoon corn starch
pinch of salt
6 plums, pitted and each cut into eighths – 675g/1½ pounds prepped
sour cream*, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Make the dough: put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and place it in the freezer for 10 minutes or until very, very cold.
Place the bowl onto the food processor and blitz to combine the ingredients. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Stir in the water and lemon juice together and add to the dough while pulsing – pulse until the pastry is shaggy but holds together when squeezed in the palm of your hand; add more water if necessary. Dump the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disk, without handing the dough too much. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (well wrapped, the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months).
Line a large baking sheet with foil.
Make the filling: in a large bowl, rub together the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Rub in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside 2 tablespoons of this mixture then add the plums to the bowl, tossing to cover the fruit completely with the mixture.
Roll out the dough into a 32-35cm (13-14in) circle then transfer to the prepared sheet. Sprinkle the reserved sugar mixture over the center of the dough, leaving a 5cm (2in) border around the edge.
The plums will release some juice while in the sugar mixture, therefore lift each slice of plum from the bowl and arrange the slices on the dough in a spiral over the sugar mixture sprinkled on the dough. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the juices – more than that will make your dough soggy. Fold the outer edge of the dough over the fruit, pleating the dough as necessary.
Place the galette in the refrigerator for 20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Bake the galette for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling – if the crust begins to get too dark towards the end of the cooking time cover the galette loosely with foil. Cool the galette for 30 minutes before serving.
Covered with a tea towel the galette will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 8-10