Category: Dessert

Posted on » by Dana & Nancy » Theme:

Jame Oliver’s Baked Chocolate Tart

From The Naked Chef

Short Crust Sweet Pastry

To make two 12-inch tarts:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
a medium pinch of salt
just over 1 lb flour
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup cold milk/water

Making the dough:
You can make by hand or in a food processor. Cream together butter, sugar, and salt and then rub or pulse in the flour and egg yolks. When this mixture has come together, looking like coarse bread crumbs, add the cold milk or water. Pat and gently work together to form a ball of dough. Lightly flour and push, pat and squeeze into shape.

Wrap in plastic wrap (Jamie likes to roll into large, short and fat sausage shape) and place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Carefully slice off thin layers of pastry lengthways, around 1/8 thick. Place slivers in and around the bottom and sides of the tart pan, just fitting them and then pushing together. Once finished lining your tart pan allow it to rest for at least an hour, preferably in a freezer.

Cooking the shell at 350 degrees F for about 12 minutes, so that it’s only lightly colored but just cooked through (baking blind).

Baked Chocolate Tart
Recipe courtesy Jamie Oliver
Show: The Naked Chef
Episode: The Girlfriend

I think this tart is best served with some seasonal soft fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries).

5 ounces unsalted butter
5 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate
8 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
Small pinch salt
4 eggs
7 ounces granulated sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 medium heaping tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche
10-inch flan or tart shell, baked blind

Place the butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt slowly, stirring occasionally until well mixed.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together until light and well creamed, and then add the golden syrup and sour cream or creme fraiche. Stir the chocolate mixture into this mixture, scraping all the chocolate out with a spatula. Once you’ve mixed it well, pour it into the pastry shell. Place into a preheated 150C/300 degree F/Gas 2 oven for 40 to 45 minutes. During cooking a beautiful crust will form on top.

Carefully remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes, during which time the skin will crack and the filling will shrink slightly.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Fresh-Fruit Pizza with Lemon Curd

Fresh-Fruit with Lemon Curd
The lemon curd not only holds the fruit in place, it serves as an exquisite anchor for all the flavors. You may have never imagined such a pizza. Now you’ll never forget it. It’s best served the day it’s made.

Ingredients
1 (18-ounce) sugar cookie dough (see below)
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam, melted
3/4 cup Lemon Curd (see below)
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups blackberries 1 cup sliced strawberries
1 plum, sliced 2 teaspoons sugar
(I used rasberrys and a few backberrys)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Press dough into a 12-inch pizza pan coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Preheat broiler.
Spread jam over crust.
Spread Lemon Curd over jam; arrange raspberries, blackberries, strawberry slices, and plum slices on top.
Sprinkle sugar over fruit; broil 3 minutes.
Yield
12 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)Nutritional Information
CALORIES 261(30% from fat); FAT 8.6g (sat 2.3g,mono 2.8g,poly 3g); IRON 1.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 19mg; CARBOHYDRATE 43.1g; SODIUM 173mg; PROTEIN 2.5g; FIBER 3.1g

 

Lemon Curd
For a lime-curd variation, substitute lime rind and juice for the lemon rind and juice.
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 large eggs
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)
2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine
Preparation
Combine the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook until sugar dissolves and mixture is light in color (about 3 minutes). Stir in lemon juice and butter; cook for 5 minutes or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cool. Cover and chill (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
Note: Lemon Curd can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can easily double the recipe and freeze half of it in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Thaw in the refrigerator, and use within 1 week of thawing.
Yield
1 1/3 cups (serving size: 1 tablespoon)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 47(31% from fat); FAT 1.6g (sat 0.8g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.1g); CHOLESTEROL 24mg; CALCIUM 4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 7.9g; SODIUM 18mg; PROTEIN 0.7g; IRON 0.1mg
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
There are untold numbers of sugar cookie recipes circulating throughout the Midwest. As students of this sweet know, lard makes for a particularly toothsome cookie, with a texture at once crisp and sandy. For a cookie that is crisp but also chewy, vegetable shortening is best.
Servings: Makes about 32 cookies.

Ingredients
1/2 cup lard or vegetable shortening, melted and cooled

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar plus additional for coating the cookies
1 large egg1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation
In a large bowl stir together the lard or shortening, the butter, 1 cup of the sugar, the egg, and the vanilla.
Into the bowl sift together the flour, the baking soda, and the salt and stir the mixture until it forms a dough.
Chill the dough, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.
(If you just want to make cookies and not the fruit pizza)
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Roll rounded tablespoons of the dough into balls, roll the balls in the additional sugar, coating them completely, and arrange them 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets.
Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass dipped in the sugar (the edges will crack slightly) and bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven for 8 to 12 minutes, or until they are pale golden.
Transfer the cookies to racks and let them cool.
The cookies keep in an airtight container for 1 week.
Posted on » by Ashley » Theme:

Rhubarb Custard Pie


Our Swiss Pantry
Mrs. Willis W. (Magdalena) Lehman

4 cups rhubarb
¾ cup sugar
1 ¼ cups sugar
4 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, well beaten

Mix rhubarb and 3/4 c. sugar; let stand till watery. Work 1 1/4 c. sugar, flour and salt into butter; add eggs, then add to rhubarb. Pour into an unbaked 10″ pie shell and bake 15 minutes at 400° then 45 minutes at 325°.

If frozen rhubarb is used, pour off water before adding sugar.

MacGourmet Rating:: 5 Stars

Standard Pastry
Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

8- or 9-inch one-crust pie
1 cup all purpose flour*
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening, or 1/3 cup lard
2 – 3 tablespoons cold water

10-inch one-crust pie
1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour*
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening, or 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons lard
3 – 4 tablespoons cold water

8- or 9-inch two-crust pie
2 cups all purpose flour*
1 teaspoon salt
⅔ cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening, or 2/3 cup lard
4 – 5 tablespoons cold water

10-inch two-crust pie
2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour*
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening, or 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lard
7 – 8 tablespoons cold water

* if using self-rising flour, omit salt. Pie crusts made with self-rising flour differ in flavor and texture from those made with plain flour.

Measure flour and salt into bowl. Cut in shortening thoroughly . Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until all flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl (1-2 teaspoons water can be added if needed).

Gather dough into ball; shape into flattened round on lightly floured cloth-covered board (for two-crust pie, divide dough in half and shape into 2 flattened rounds). With floured stockinet-covered rolling pin, roll dough 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan. Fold into quarters; unfold and ease into pan.

For one-crust pie: trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pan. Fold and roll pastry under, even with pan; flute. Fill and bake as directed in recipe.

For baked pie shell: prick bottom and side thoroughly with fork. Bake at 475° for 8-10 minutes.

For two-crust pie: turn desired filling into pastry-lined pie pan. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of pan. Roll second round of dough. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Bake as directed in recipe.

Note: if possible, hook fluted edge over edge of pie pan to prevent shrinking and help keep shape.