Flaky pastry

Pretty please with my layers!!!

Right, the cold weather is creeping on us, my husband and I are tired because our son has had a few issues with getting through a whole night without waking up and this morning I was on the phone with my husband who told me that he must have been tired because he was craving a pie and a chocolate milk shake. I thought, well we are having beef for dinner, there is obviously way too much for one dinner, let's make him a pie. So I actually made 3 smaller ones so he can have one tomorrow for lunch and the rest can go in the freezer in case of an emergency.
My craving luckily was for cookies which I happen to have at home... Well, I "borrowed" some of my son's. They are those cute little Gluten and Dairy Free bears with choc chip. They are DELICIOUS so I am also in the process of trying to make them myself... Watch that space.

Anyway, we were talking pies and to make a pie you have to start with the pastry.

I made my own flaky pastry from my trusted Edmonds' cookbook. I was really tempted to taste it, it smelled so nice while it was baking... Let's see if you can resist.

Ingredients:
2 cups of high grade flour (I only had self raising and it worked)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
200g of butter
6 Tablespoons of cold water, approximately

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut one- quarter of the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add sufficient water to mix into a stiff dough.

On a lightly floured board roll out dough to a rectangle0.5- 1 cm thick. With the short end of the rectangle facing you , dot two0 third of the pastry with a third of the remaining butter to within 1 cm of the dough edge. Fold the unbuttered pastry into the middle of the pastry. Fold the buttered section over the folded edge. Seal the edges with a rolling pin and mark the dough with the rolling pin to form corrugations.

Give the pastry a quarter turn. Roll into a rectangle.

Repeat twice until all the butter is used.

Chill the pastry for 5 minutes between rollings if possible.

Use as required for savoury pies and vol au vents.

Makes 500g pastry.

I will post the recipe for the pie itself tomorrow after I get the verdict from the expert.

Happy Baking everyone :)

Short pastry for savouries

Slice of vegetable and ham quiche

When it comes to pastry I generally refer to my bible: The Edmond's cookbook. Everyone should have one of those at home. The pastries are just divine (and I am talking from experience from before I was gluten free). So tonight I got if off the shelf and made a beautiful short pastry.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 125g of cold butter
- 1 cup of cold water

Sift the flour and salt together. Cut in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix to a stiff dough with a little water. Roll out very lightly and do not handle more than necessary.

Place in your dish and blind bake at 200 Degree C for about 12 minutes. Remove the baking blind material and return to the oven for about 1 minute to dry the pastry out. Remove from the oven, pour the filling into the shell. return to the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes or until the filling is golden and set.

For the filing of this quiche follow the link: http://thebakingfrog.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/gluten-and-dairy-free-quiche-with.html

Gluten and dairy free quiche with homemade Soy Ricotta

My 2 little quiches

You know that moment of panic when you realise you have taken anything out of the freezer for dinner tonight? Well this is what happened to me. Although I might be luckier than most that I am a stay at home mum of a little monkey who decided to sleep for two and half hours this afternoon leaving me time to make 2 types of pastries and a homemade soy ricotta. I have to admit that I imagine the ricotta to turn out so badly that I didn't take any pictures of it but next I certainly will. It is really easy to make and can, of course be made with cow's milk. I am actually thinking of trying it again with goat's milk (watch this space).

For the soy ricotta I inspired myself from this website: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000282.html.

I just heated up 1Litre of soy milk and added 4 tsp of white vinegar to it. I let it boil to 80 Degree C, took it off the heat, and scooped the curds into a pre- prepared colander lined with a cheese cloth. I let it drip a bit and then hung it on the clothe line outside to cool and keep drying. I left it there for about 15 minutes. I then put the soy ricotta in a container in the fridge until I needed it tonight... Not quite actually, I did spread some on some corn cracker some with salt and dried herbs and others with honey... That was a delicious, easy and quick lunch.

For the pastry. I have used this recipe with a few changes. You can find the original recipe here: http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.co.nz/2008/01/how-to-make-gluten-free-pastry.html.

- 1 cup of buckwheat flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum
- 2 Tblsp of olive oil
- 1Tblsp of canola oil
- 1 tsp of coconut oil (this made the pastry very buttery tasting)
- cold water

Mix the buckwheat flour and salt well. Add the oil. With a pastry knife or a butter knife mix the flour and oils. The pastry should still look a little dry with lumps.
Slowly add the cold water and mix with your hand. Once you can roll the pastry into a ball, it's ready.

I wrapped mine in some plastic film and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

I blind baked it just before I prepared the filling for about 15 minutes at 200 degree C.

For the filling:
- 1 cup of frozen vegetables (defrosted in the microwave for 5 minutes or less)
- 1 Tbsp of non- dairy butter (I use avocado Olivani)
- 1 cup of ham (cut into cubes)
- 1 Tbsp of rice flour
- 1/2 cup of milk (preferably at room temp)
- 1 egg (beaten)
- Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in the pan. Add the vegetables and the ham. Let them warm up and get coated with some of the butter. Add the rice flour and stir the vegetables and ham so they are coated in it. Add the milk slowly and keep stirring to avoid lumps. Add the egg, stir so it is completely combined. Season to taste.

Place the filling into the shells and bake until set and warm through. For those little ones it took about 20 minutes.

Cut in the middle, before being devoured

I guess it would have been nice with a fresh green salad but it was packed with vegetables so I guess the goodness is still there.

Happy baking everyone :)

Toblerone crinkles

I saw those cookies on many baking websites and I always wanted to try them. For some reason I thought they were very difficult to make so I kept putting it off. The most difficult thing is in fact the wait. Those aren't really biscuits you can make in a dash when an unexpected guest is at your door. They need to rest in the fridge to be able to roll them into balls before baking them. But I get ahead of myself, here is the recipe from one of my favourite baking site: Joy of baking. There is even a video: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateCrinkles.html.

The only difference is that I used the massive Toblerone my sister- in law had given me. It also added texture to the cookies because of the pieces of nuts in the bar.

Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp of unsalted butter
- 230g of Toblerone
- 1/2 cup of granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs (I used size 7)
- 2 tsp of pure vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup of all- purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/2 of baking powder

Topping:
- 1 cup of icing sugar


In a heatproof bowl, place over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.


In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes). Then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. 


In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls (I left mine overnight).

When ready, preheat the oven to 325 F or 165 C and place the rack in the centre of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the icing sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll the chilled dough into 2.5cm balls and roll each ball in the sugar. Make sure each ball is completely coated, with no chocolate showing through. Place the sugar covered balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 5 cm apart.

Bake cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centres are still soft.

And the result is:

The ones on the last pic are tiny ones I have made for my son. Needless to say they were enjoyed by many, including my niece and nephew. 


Happy Baking everyone :)

A project for the week end with my little boy: decorate sugar cookies

On Friday afternoon my son kept playing with a decorating kit of mine and I thought: "let's make some simple sugar cookies and we will make it OUR project to decorate them together." He helped me prepare the batter for the cookies, picked the cutters but when it came to decorate he was over it so Mummy had to practice her pipping (which is very rusty but still extremely relaxing). Here are a few pics:

Our Green, Purple and White bear collection:

Our chocolate covered bears (1 of them has already perished):

And our flower collection:

Happy Baking everyone :)

Gluten Free Chocolate and Raspberry Jelly tart

My husband organized a morning tea at work since he is moving offices and asked me to make a few things. One of his colleagues is on a gluten- free diet I decided to go with a couple of yummy things that are gluten free.

I didn't get a chance to decorate it but I'm sure it didn't affect the taste.
Note: to avoid the air bubbles once you have poured the ganache, gently tap the dish on your counter to make them burst.

So here is the recipe for this delicious tart easy as pie, all you need is the will power to let it set.

For the pie pastry: (from Women's Weekly allergy free baking)
1 1/2 cup of hazelnut meal (I actually used almond meal and it was fine)
1/3 cup of caster sugar
1/4 cup of cornflour (I used rice flour)

125g cold unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg yolk

Note: I generally chill all my utensils before I make the pastry i.e. : food processor bowl and blades, spatula as well as my ingredients.

Process the meal, sugar, corn or rice flour and butter until crumbly; add egg yolk, pulse until the mixture comes together. Knead the dough gently on floured surface until smooth. Wrap in plastic film; refrigerate 1 hour.

Grease a 22 cm round based flan tin. Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper (I used plastic wrap and it worked a treat). Note: if you don't use anything the pastry will crack (trust me I spend about 20 min cursing at it before I realized "if something doesn't work, try something different"). Ease the dough into the tin, press into the base and side; trim the edge. Cover and refrigerate again for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 200C fan- forced (I used mine on baking at 170C degree and it might have taken longer but the pastry was nice and crumbly). Place the tin in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes (I'm not sure exactly how long I baked mine for, just open the door from time to time and check that the pastry feels "dry"). I then left it to cool completely.

For the jelly: I am slightly ashamed to say here that I bought crystal jelly (I used Pams raspberry jelly) and made it at home. Let the jelly completely cool otherwise the pastry will absorb it and you will get a soggy pastry.
Once you have poured the jelly into the pastry case, place the dish in the fridge and wait until it is fully set.
In the meantime make the Ganache. You will need:
- 300g of dark chocolate (I used Wittakers 72% Dark Gana)
- 500 ml of cream
- 1 Tbspn of butter

Break the chocolate into squares and the Tbspn of butter in a heat resistant bowl.

Bring the cream to the boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and butter. Let it sit for a couple of minutes. The chocolate will melt nicely. Whisk gently and leave it to cool.

Once the jelly is fully set and the ganache is cool, pour the ganache over the jelly and put it in the fridge again, preferably overnight if you can wait.

Note: I got some very good feedback on this tart so I hope you enjoy it as much as the people I made it for.

Happy baking :)

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Tarte au chocolate et gelée de Framboise sans gluten

Mon mari avait organisé une petit gouter d'au revoir au travail parce qu'il change de bureaux et m'a demandé de faire quelques petites gourmandies. Une de ses collègues suit régime sans gluten, et j'ai décidé d'essayer cette idée de tarte au chocolat et gelée de framboises.
Je n'ai pas eu le temps de la décorer, mais je suis sûr qu'il n'a pas d'incidence sur le goût.Note: pour éviter les bulles d'air une fois que vous avez versé la ganache, tapotez doucement le plat sur le comptoir pour les faire éclater.
Voici donc la recette de cette délicieuse tarte facile, tout ce que vous avez besoin c'est la patience d'attendre que chaque élément ait figer.
Pour la pâte à tarte: (recette prise de Women's Weekly- Allergy Free Baking)1 1/2 tasse de poudre de noisettes (j'ai utilisé le repas d'amande)1/3 tasse de sucre en poudre1/4 tasse de farine de maïs (j'ai utilisé la farine de riz)
125g de beurre non salé froid, coupé en dés1 jaune d'oeuf

Note : En général, je mets tous mes ustensiles au réfrigérateur avant de commencer: bol du robot culinaire et les lames, une spatule, ainsi que mes ingrédients.
Melanger les amandes en poudre , le sucre, le farine de maïs ou de riz et le beurre jusqu'à consistance qui reseemble a des miettes de pain; ajouter jaune d'oeuf, mélanger jusqu'à ce que le mélange forme une pâte. Pétrir la pâte délicatement sur une surface farinée jusqu'à consistance lisse. Enveloppez dans du film plastique et réfrigérer 1 heure.
Graisser le moule. Étalez la pâte entre deux feuilles de papier sulfurisé (j'ai utilisé du papier film et le résultat n'était pas mauvais du tout). Note: si vous n'utilisez pas l'un ou l'autre des papiers, la pâte va se fissurer (croyez-moi, j'ai passé environ 20 min à maudire ma pate avant de prendre la décision d'essayer autre chose). Facilité la pâte dans le moule, appuyez sur dans la base et sur le côté. Couvrir et réfrigérer de nouveau 30 minutes.
Préchauffez votre four à 200C. Placez le moule dans le four et cuire pendant environ 25 minutes (je ne sais pas exactement combien de temps je la mienne au four pour, il suffit d'ouvrir la porte de temps en temps et vérifier que la pâte soit "séche"). Je l'ai ensuite laissé refroidir complètement.
Pour la gelée: je suis un peu honte de dire ici que j'ai acheté cristaux de gelée (j'ai utilisé Pams gelée de framboise). Laissez refroidir complètement la gelée sinon la pâte va l'absorber et vous obtiendrez une pâte détrempée.Une fois que vous avez versé la gelée dans le fond de tarte, placer le plat au réfrigérateur et attendre jusqu'à ce qu'il soit entièrement figée (envrion 30 minutes)
 
Pour la ganache:- 300g de chocolat noir (j'ai utilisé Wittakers 72% Dark Gana)- 500 ml de crème liquide- Une cuillerée à soupe de beurre
Casser le chocolat en carrés et ajouter la cuillerée à soupe de beurre dans un bol résistant à la chaleur.
Porter la crème à ébullition. Verser la crème sur le chocolat et le beurre. Laisser reposer pendant quelques minutes. Le chocolat va fondre gentiment. Fouetter doucement et laisser refroidir.
Une fois la gelée est entièrement figée et que la ganache est froide, versez la ganache sur la gelée et le mettre dans le réfrigérateur à nouveau, de préférence toute une nuit si vous pouvez attendre.


Note: jái recu de très bons commentaires sur cette tarte alors j'espère que vous l'apprécierez autant que les gens pour je l'ai faite.

and for Christmas I made some: Christmas mince Pies

For those I turned to my Baking Bible aka: The Edmonds Cookery book... And they always turn out to be a crowd pleaser.
Here is the recipe for the pastry (if you do have the book, turn to page 86)
Sweet Shortcrust pastry:
1 cup of standard plain flour
75g of butter
1/4 cup of sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of water
This recipe works if you double it too which makes it a lot easier.

Sift the flour. Cut in butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar. Add the egg yolk and water. Mix to a stiff dough. Chill for 30 minutes before using. Use as required for sweet pies and tarts.

Christmas mincemeat:
2 medium apples, unpeeled, quartered of cored
275g packet vegetable shortening or melted butter
1 1/4 cups of currants
1 1/4 cups of sultanas
1 1/4 cups of raisins
1 1/4 cups of mixed peel
1/4 cup blanched almonds
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons brandy or whisky or lemon juice

This is where I put my own personal touch of cutting corners and I buy the already mixed mincemeat (the one that is already prepared in the red tubs) and for the liquid I used cranberry juice and port.

Mince and finely chop apples, suet, currants, sultanas, raisins, peel and almonds. Add the sugar, salt, nutmeg and liquid (depending on what you are using). Mix well. Spoon the mixture into clean jars and seal. If using fruit juice, refrigerate.
Makes 6 cups.

Christmas mince pies:
400g Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
1 cup of Christmas Mincemeat
1 egg, beaten
Icing sugar

On a lightly floured board roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness.
Cut out rounds using 7 cm cutter, and use to line about 16 patty tins (I use mini muffin tins).
Using a 6cm round biscuit cutter, cut out the tops from the remaining pastry. I actually used a star shaped one (just my preference).
Spoon a teaspoon of mincemeat into each base. Brush the edges of the bases with some of the egg. place tops over the filling, pressing slightly around the edges to seal the pies. Glaze with the remaining beaten egg. Bake at 180 Degree C for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. To serve, heat at 140 degree C for 15 minutes or until warm. Dust with sifted icing sugar.

Happy Baking :)

Apple crumble pie

Never go shopping when your head is not into it or you might... end up buying 10kgs of apples and have no idea what to do with them. So I had to improvise. I wanted to make some nice apple juice but my son was sick and the noise that the juicer made really upset him. Plan B: apple pie. I didn't want to make any type of apple pie. I felt like a crumble apple pie. Here is the recipe:

For the sweet shortcrust pastry: ( I have found this recipe on a French website: http://cuisine.journaldesfemmes.com and they substituted the white sugar for icing sugar which makes the pastry very easy to handle)
- 250g of flour (I used plain flour)
- 125g butter
- 50g icing sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 30g of cold water (I used a tablespoon)
- 1 pinch of salt

1- Mix the flour and butter together between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. When the flour has "absorbed" all the butter, add the icing sugar.

Add the egg yolk and the cold water and finally the pinch of salt.
Mix the ingredients and as soon as it resembles a dough stop mixing otherwise it will become too elactic.
Wrap the dough in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Note: to make it easier to handle before the fridge part, I mixed the dough in a large bowl and then dumped the content on the cling film. I then used the sides of the cling film to bring all the ingredients together and then wrapped it in the cling film to put in the fridge. This saves on cleaning as well.

After 30 minutes (overnight for me), roll the dough out to the size of your pan, line the pan with the pastry and fill it with what you have chosen. If you have already cooked your filing, you will need to blind bake the dough.

Preheat your oven to 180 Degree C.

I then sliced my apples (I used 3, I forgot to take the picture before I used them so this is what I had left) and sprinkled them with brown sugar and cinnamon. I let them absorb the sugar and cinnamon for about 15 minutes and I then placed them on the dough.

for the crumble:
I used 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 of flour and 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix it all together and sprinkle on top of the pie.

Cook in a 180 degree C oven for about 25 minutes. You will smell the beautiful smell of apple and cinnamon in the whole house and that should mean it is ready.

I made 2 pies. The first one (above I thought was too short on the sides). I really need to invest into a ring....
Here is the second one:

I also made a creme anglaise to go with the pies and a min pie with the creme anglaise in.

For this one I would advise to blind bake the pastry, cook the apples and then assemble everything and bake. since I didn't do that the apples had a lot of juice that came out when I cut it (or maybe I just needed to let it cool before I cut it).

Hope you enjoyed this recipe. Happy Baking everyone :)

Lemon Meringue Pie and a naughty chocolate and raspberrie jam one...

I am really not gifted for anything pastry. It is rather the domain of my dear mother. I have therefore researched the Internet to find ideas for Lemon Meringue Pie, my friend Patricia has asked me to try.

I found more than 20 recipes and it really took me use to me all my "self control" not to try all of them. I also decided that instead of a big pie I would be making smaller versions.

So here is what I concocted. Half of the tarts were made with buttery puff pastry and the other half with sweet shortcrust pastry. I did not take any pictures of the making of puff pastry because I heard so many horror stories about making it that I had to concentrate very hard and therefore I did not have the time.

I have used French website for the pastry recipes I used this website: www.cakeinthecity.blogspot.com and www.patiss.com. But Dean Brettschneider’s website offers both recipes that are very similar (the quantities vary but the execution is the same): http://www.nzbaker.co.nz/pastries.htm.

If I could add a little tip that I use and that i find very good for pastry. Since the butter needs to be ice cold, it can be a little difficult to work with and especially to crumb with flour. I have found that grating it (with a cheese grater) always helps. The part that you have to hold needs to stay in the wrapping to prevent the butter from melting too quickly.

For the lemon cream: http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/MDC/l/FR/recettes/index_ill.html. Another French website. It is a lemon curd recipe but I thought this was pretty easy to execute that’s why I went for this one. So here is the translated recipe:

Put aside the zest of 3 lemons and their juice. In a bowl (not plastic), mix the lemon juice, the zest, the (150g) sugar and the (3) whole eggs.
Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Now, this is the trick for making curd: DO NOT TAKE YOUR ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE CURD!!!! Keep moving it with a wooden spoon. I used the same technique I used when I make custard. To make sure it is cooked, I coat the back of the spoon and then with my finger I separate it. If the mixture doesn’t move the custard/ curd is cooked.
Add 30 grams of butter at the end and leave it to cool a little. Place a plastic wrap so it touches the top of the curd to avoid a skin building over it.

And for the meringue… It is possible to make a simple meringue, beat the whites of eggs in soft peak and slowly add sugar until the egg whites are shinny. Personally I prefer the Italian meringue. The only difficulty is that you need to have a stand up mixer or someone to help you. I found this wonderful recipe by Tyler Florence:

Ingredients
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 5 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions
In a small pot over low heat, combine sugar and water. Swirl the pot over the burner to dissolve the sugar completely. Do not stir. Increase the heat and boil to soft- ball stage(235 to 240 degrees). Use a candy thermometer for accuracy. Wash down the inside wall of the pot with a wet pastry brush. This will help prevent sugar crystals from forming around the sides, falling in and causing a chain reaction. Prepare your meringue.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the eggs whites on low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium, and beat until soft peaks form.

With the mixer running, pour the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over fluffed egg whites. Beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Spread the meringue over a hot cake or pie, and put in very hot oven until it's caramelized.

For the verdict: for the moment, the only one who has tasted a pie is my husband. He did not want the meringue top, instead he poured some fresh cream and stated that it was the best pie lemon that he has ever eaten. I have taken them to work for my last day (I officially am a full time Mum now) and I'll post other comments after my colleagues have tasted them...

I was really disappointed when I got them out of the container. I didn’t let them cool down enough and the pastry went soggy .

I also had another one with the rest of pie crust and I decided to try another pie: pie with chocolate and raspberry jam. My husband on the other hand stated that it was too sweet and the next time I should use raspberries and not jam. It would also been better after a whole night in the fridge. If you want the recipe, do not hesitate to ask.

Tarte au citron meringuée et une chocolat framboise

Je ne suis vraiment pas douée pour tout ce qui est pate a tarte. C’est plutôt le domaine de ma chère Maman. J’ai donc cherché Internet de fond en comble pour trouver des idées recette pour la tarte au citron meringuée que mon amie Patricia m’a demandé d’essayer.

J’ai trouvé plus d’une vingtaine de recette et il m’a vraiment fallu utiliser tout mon « self control » pour ne pas toutes les essayer. J’ai aussi décidé de faire des tartelettes au lieu d’une grosse tarte donc le temps de cuisson sera différent.
Donc voici ce que je concocté. La moitié des tartelettes ont un font de tarte brisée et l’autre moitié avec une pate sablée sucrée. Je n’ai pris que des photos de la confection de la pate sablée parce qu’il a fallu agir tellement vite avec l’autre pate que j’ai du me concentrer très fort pour l’exécuter et donc je n’ai pas eu le temps.

Pour la recette de pate brisée j’ai utilisé ce site Internet : www.cakeinthecity.blogspot.com
Pour la pate sablée sucrée celui-ci : www.patiss.com.
Pour la crème au citron : http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/fr/recettes/index_ill.html

Et pour la meringue… Il est possible de faire une simple meringue, battre les blancs d’œufs en neige et ajouter lentement le sucre jusqu'à ce que les blancs deviennent brillants. Personnellement je préfère la meringue italienne. La seule difficulté est que si vous n’avez qu’un batteur à main vous aurez besoin de quelqu’un pour vous aider. J’ai trouvé cette superbe recette de Tyler Florence.


Ingrédients :
1 tasse de sucre
1/3 tasse d’eau
5 blancs d’œufs a température ambiante
1 pincée de sel

Dans une petite casserole, mélanger le sucre et l’eau. Remuer la casserole un peu jusqu’a ce que le sucre soit complètement fondu. Ne pas remuer a la cuillère. Augmenter la température et faites bouillir le mélange. Le mélange doit arriver a une température d’a peu prés 240 degré Celsius ou au stage de petit boulé ( ?).

Battre les blancs en neige jusqu'à qu’ils commencent a peine ferme et verser doucement (une petit filet) du sirop de sucre. Une fois tout le sirop verser, battre les blancs d’œufs jusqu’au refroidissement complet.

Déposer la meringue sur la tarte au citron ou bien avec une poche a douille, une poche plastique ou une cuillère.

Passer au four tres chaud jusqu'à ce que la meringue caramélise.Et voici le resultat:

Pour le verdict : pour le moment, le seul qui a gouté a une tartelette est mon mari. Il ne voulait pas la meringue dessus, a la place il a versé de la crème fraiche et a déclaré que c’était la meilleure tarte au citron qu’il ait jamais mangé. Demain je les emmène au travail pour mon dernier jour (je deviens officiellement Maman a plein temps) et je posterai d’autres commentaires de la part des mes collègues…

J’avais aussi un reste de fond de tarte et j’ai décidé d’essayer une autre tarte : Tarte au chocolat et confiture de framboise. Mon mari en revanche a déclaré qu’elle était trop sucre et la prochaine fois je devrais utiliser des framboises et non la confiture. La tarte aurait aussi ete meilleure si elle avait pu rester au frais au moins toute la nuit. Le chocolat n'a pas eu le temps de figer.

Si vous voulez la recette, n’hésitez pas a demander.

Assez inhabituel- Tarte salée: Boeuf et champignons

Il a quelques semaines de cela, mon amie Patricia m'a demandé d'essayer quelques recettes dont la suivante : boeuf et champignons Pie. Je ne fais habituellement beaucoup de cuissons salées. J'ai cherche sur Internet une recette mais ne pouvais pas vraiment trouver mon bonheur, donc comme d'habitude que j'ai décidé de faire ma propre recette. Maintenant, ce n'est pas de la « haute cuisine », mais j'ai pu faire cette tarte avec la plupart des ingrédients déjà dans le garde-manger ce qui marche pour moi.

Ingrédients
-1 C. à soupe d'huile (j'ai utilisé l'huile de canola)
-1/2 oignons, coupés en rondelles
-1 c. à thé d'ail (j'utilise ceux en pot)
-200 g de champignons frais (environ)
-boeuf 1 kg, coupé en dés (type soupe)
-1 carré de bouillon en poudre
-2 cuillerées à thé de farine
-De l’eau
-Sel
-Poivre
-Pâte brisée (achetée)
- Pâte Feuilletée (achetée)

Étape 1 :
Préchauffer le four à 200 degrés c.
Dans une poêle, conditionnés l'huile à la chaleur. Ajouter l'oignon moitié tranchés et l'ail et laisser réduire jusqu'à souple et transparente.

Étape 2 :
Retirer l'oignon et l'ail et de les mettre de côté pour l'instant. Augmenter le feu et ajouter la viande en 4 portions pour la colorer. Si vous ajoutez trop à la fois, elle va bouillir et être sèche.


Étape 3 :
Baissez le feu, ajouter l'oignon et l'ail à la viande et ajouter les champignons. Assaisonner à votre gout, mettre le couvercle et laisser cuire lentement. Une fois que la viande est cuite, égoutter la et placer la sur un plateau ou une assiette pour la faire refroidir. Vous devez laisser refroidir de la viande sinon la pâte deviendra collante.

Étape 4 :
La sauce : mélanger la farine avec environ 2 cuillères à soupe d'eau froide jusqu'à l’obtention dune pâte lâche. Si vous avez assez jus de cuisson de la viande, ajoutez la farine et laissez épaissir à feu doux, sinon ajouter de l'eau en s'assurant de ne pas trop dilué, ou ajouter le cube de bouillon de boeuf. Gouter et assaisonner.

Étape 5 :
Etaler la pate brisée dans le fond et sur les cotes du plats. Deposer la viande et la sauce par dessus. Brosser le haut de la pâte avec du lait (ou beurre ou un œuf battu) pour qu’elle adhere à la pâte feuilletée.

Étape 6 :
Couvrir la tarte avec la pâte feuilletée et coller les 2 pates, de façon a ce que la tourte soit étanche, presser les 2 pâtes l’une contre l’autre avec une fourchette. Brosser la tarte avec du lait (ou beurre ou un œuf battu) et décorer si vous êtes que si vous voulez.

Vous pouvez voir mon travail bricolage sur la droite de l'image.

Étape 7 :
Faire cuire dans un four préchauffé à 200 degrés c pendant environ 40 minutes. Puis éteindre le four et laisser une autre 10 minutes... et Tadaaaa!

et une photo de la tourte juste après avoir coupe la première part, on peut même voir la vapeur s’échapper.

Bien sur, je voulais le verdict ce soir, donc même si il était tard, j'ai demander à mon mari, gouteur attitré d’en prendre une part. Il me déteste pour cela mais il m’a dit que c’est la meilleure qu’il est jamais mangé et il s’y connais. Je suis très flattée.