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

Garibaldi slice

The first time I ever heard of Garibaldi cookies was many, many years ago, on my dear friend Valentina’s blog – I wasn’t very fond of raisins then, I thought the cookies looked good but I never considered the idea of actually making them.

Through the years I learned to like raisins, then I tried dried currants for the first time eating scones in London (with loads of clotted cream – the thought of it makes me drool already) and now I love using them in cookies (these are my favorite cookies with raisins) and even in bread.

When I saw this Garibaldi slice on one of the most beautiful cookbooks I own I could not resist: the recipe calls for dried currants, raisins and golden raisins (sultanas) and they are cooked in sherry before becoming the filling for the bars – I had to make them! The bars turned out delicious and they are a treat for those of us who like raisins.

Off topic: as I browsed Amazon to get the link for the cookbook I saw that they have cast Diego Luna to play Casanova – that is wrong in so many ways words fail me.

Garibaldi slice
from The Baking Collection (The Australian Women's Weekly)

Pastry:
300g all purpose flour
75g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
180g unsalted butter, cold and diced
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon iced water

Filling:
240g dried currants
80g sultanas
75g raisins
½ cup (120ml) water
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing the pastry
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling the pastry

Pastry: place flour, sugar and salt in the food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolks, vanilla and water and pulse until a dough starts to form (add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if necessary). Form dough into a ball, divide in two equal parts and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling: in a medium saucepan, combine currants, sultanas, raisins, water and sherry. Stir over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and fruit is soft. Transfer to the food processor and blend until creamy. Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm baking pan, line with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.

Roll one portion of the pastry between two pieces of baking paper, flouring it a little if necessary (don’t use too much flour or the pastry will dry out) until it is large enough to line the base of the baking pan. Transfer pastry to the pan and trim to fit. Prick pastry all over with a fork, then spread with the fruit filling. Roll the other portion of pastry until large enough to cover fruit filling, place on top of it and trim to fit. Press down to enclose the filling. Wish a sharp knife, cut the top layer into 24 rectangles. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, brush it with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack, then cut into slices using the cuts previously as a guide.

Makes 24

Eggplant turnovers and the wonderful Internet

The Internet, this wonderful thing: while reading a text on feminism (too bad it’s not in English, I would gladly recommend it to Shailene Woodley), I got to a video of George Carlin - I don’t know why on earth I did not know this genius man, and I’m really glad that has been corrected now.

On my daily visits to IMDb I learned that Raymond "Red" Reddington is coming back soon, on September 22nd, to be more precise. \0/

I saw the first teaser for the last season of Sons of Anarchy, and it is amazing.

I learned that Jason Reitman might actually make me like a movie with Adam Sandler – I’m in awe with the beauty of this trailer. <3

And I also came across these eggplant turnovers, a recipe by Dan Lepard (someone who usually doesn’t disappoint when it comes to food), and I have to tell you: the husband and I weren’t too thrilled about the filling – it tasted good, but sort of bland – but this pastry is absolutely fantastic: very flaky and tasty. It is made in a similar way to the rye pastry I adore so much, and all that folding and turning really transform already good pastry into something even better.

I might not have been too happy with this eggplant filling (despite my love for the veggie), but this pastry is worth making again with different fillings – it might become my official empanada pastry instead of the one I posted here a while ago.

Eggplant turnovers
slightly adapted from Dan Lepard

Filling:
2 medium eggplants (about 700g total)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
300g ricotta – I used homemade
2 chopped spring onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Pastry:
200g all purpose flour
100g whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, packed
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
100g unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1cm cubes
½ cup (120ml) cold water
1 egg, beaten with a fork, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.
Halve the eggplants lengthwise and place them onto the foil cut side down. Prick them all over with a fork, piercing the skin. Bake for 1 hour.
Scrape out the flesh, spoon into a sieve over a bowl with ½ a teaspoon of salt and drain for an hour. Stir in the ricotta, onions and oregano. Let it drain again.

In the meantime, make the dough: put the flour and salt in a bowl, stir in the parsley, and rub in the oil and butter. Add the cold water, coax into a rough dough and chill for 30 minutes. Using extra flour, roll out to a rough 40x15cm (16x6in) rectangle, fold in by thirds (as if you were folding a letter), repeat the roll and fold, then wrap and chill for another 30 minutes. Repeat the double roll and fold steps twice more at 30-minute intervals. Roll the dough about 3mm thick and cut into 12 squares.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°C. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.

Season the filling, discard the liquid, and spoon a little onto each pastry square. Seal like pasties, place onto the sheet, brush with eggwash and bake for 30 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Makes 12

One fantastic rye pastry, two tarts: leek and cheese galette and plum and blackberry galette

One of the things I find most magical and fascinating about cooking is that even if you’ve been doing it for a long time – in my case, nearly 25 years – there always something new to try, or a new way to try something you already love: food is dynamic.

After making those delicious jam bars with rye flour, I began searching for other ways to incorporate the beloved ingredient in my baking and saw these beautiful apricot galettes in one of my favorite books (and one of the most beautiful I own, too). I like Amber Rose’s approach to food and everything I had made from her cookbook had turned out great until then, so I was really looking forward to trying her rye pastry.

It was a revelation.

As I ate pieces of the galettes, first the savory, then the sweet, I was mesmerized: how could that be so delicious?

Making the pastry was easy using a food processor, and as I rolled and folded it I kept thinking that the result would be a very flaky pastry, which is something I love – it indeed turned out flaky, and so tasty. Divine, actually.

When I placed the two little packages of pastry in the fridge for their final rest, I saw the leeks I’d bought for soup and had a sudden urge: instead of making two plum tarts, why not make one sweet and one savory? Dinner and dessert with one pastry recipe = perfection. :)

I cooked the leeks with some white wine (me and my love for booze) and paired it with cheese for the savory galette – it turned out amazing. The plum tart was really good, too. The rye pastry, besides being flavorsome and flaky, was great paired with both savory and sweet fillings. The recipe is a keeper and I hope you give it a go – I cannot wait to make it again with different fillings: tomatoes, goat’s cheese and thyme is a combo I would love to try with this pastry, and I bet that apples and pears would be lovely with it, too.

Rye pastry (enough to make both tarts)
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious beyond words Love, Bake, Nourish: Healthier cakes and desserts full of fruit and flavor

120g rye flour
120g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
175g unsalted butter, cold and in small cubes
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
7-8 tablespoons ice-cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing

Plum and blackberry filling
adapted from the same cookbook

4 plums, each cut in eighths
½ tablespoon honey
pinch ground cinnamon
8 frozen blackberries
demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Leek and cheese filling
own creation

1 large leek, white part only, sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons white wine
60g gruyere, grated
1 tablespoon finely grated pecorino or parmesan, for sprinkling

Start by making the pastry: place the flours, salt and sugar in a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the vinegar and half the water and pulse until a dough starts to form – add more water if necessary, but do it gradually. Form a ball with the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Unwrap the dough, place on a lightly floured surface, and roll into an oblong shape about 20x28cm (8x11in) - don't worry if the dough is still a little crumbly; it will come together with the rolling.
Fold the dough into thirds (as if you were folding a letter), roll out to its original oblong shape, and then fold into thirds again. Repeat the process, then divide the dough in half, wrap each in plastic wrap and return to the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.

When ready to make the tarts, place each piece of dough onto large piece of baking paper and roll into a rough 25cm (10in) circle. Transfer each to a baking sheet.

Fruit tart: put the plums in a bowl with the honey and the cinnamon and toss to combine. Arrange the fruit on the center of the dough, top with the blackberries and drizzle with the juices left in the bowl (if there’s too much, use only half to avoid a soggy crust). 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 filling. Place the sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Savory tart: heat the butter and oil in a large nonstick frying pan. Add the leeks and cook until fragrant and beginning to turn golden, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, add the wine and cook until it evaporates, 2-3 minutes. Cool.
Arrange the gruyere on the center of the dough, top with the cooled leeks, 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 tarts with the egg wash (only the pastry). For the sweet one, sprinkle with demerara sugar. For the savory one, sprinkle with the pecorino.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Both tarts are delicious both warm and at room temperature.

Serves 4 (each)

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

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

Spiced apple turnovers + the end of a brilliant trilogy

After months and months of sheer anxiety – Christopher Nolan did to me what Fincher had done in 2010 and 2011 – the moment I’d waited for had finally arrived : the day I saw the end of a brilliant trilogy.

*spoilers*

I won’t use the word “perfect” to describe “The Dark Knight Rises” – I’ll save the adjective for “The Dark Knight”, which in my opinion is a better movie – but I will say that not many movies had the effect that “TDKR” had over me; the first minutes of the film had me holding my breath without even noticing, and I was blown away both by the powerful music and by the introduction of the villain, the moment Tom Hardy started his magnificent show as Bane – when someone wearing a mask that covers half their face gives you the performance of a lifetime you know you’re in for a treat, and only an actor who fully trusts his director would devote himself to something like that, like very few before him. One could see that Anne Hathaway put a lot of effort into her character and congrats to her for that, but Michelle Pfeiffer made it impossible for any other mortal do play Selina Kyle – I don’t even like Pfeiffer, I find her mediocre as an actress, but that role is something she played to perfection. Months ago I read that Nolan had done nearly the impossible to get Marion Cotillard to play Miranda Tate (she would have been my choice for the role of Selina Kyle), even modifying the filming schedule to accommodate the actress’ pregnancy, and I only understood why after watching the movie – kudos to you, Nolan, that was a magnificent choice, and bringing the always wonderful Cillian Murphy and Liam Neeson for a couple of scenes was the icing on the cake.
One of the many reasons I find Nolan’s Batman trilogy a work of art is the choice of a fantastic cast, which started by choosing a real talented actor for the main role (unlike his predecessors), and surrounding him with equally talented people; besides that, he’s not afraid to go to dark places, which makes perfect sense since his hero is a very dark, troubled person. That is why I did not care for some moments of the movie, like Selina kissing Batman before the final trip with the plane – too cheesy, and that is not Nolan. The introducing of Robin was deeply disappointing to me because I don’t like the character and I also think that Gordon-Levitt would make a perfect Riddler. But overall, the movie hit all the marks I expected it to: visually impeccable, with a really good script and equally good performances; it gives the character the closure it deserved and will probably make everyone pay more attention to Tom Hardy, who had the ungrateful mission of “competing” with Heath Ledger’s sublime performance and did an excellent job. And from Nolan I continue to expect only the best, because that is what he has shown so far.

* end of spoilers*

These turnovers, which to me are the healthier and more delicious version of a certain “restaurant’s” apple pie, are not difficult to make and will please children of all ages, I am sure; the recipe comes from my favorite dessert cookbook, the one I cannot live without.

Spiced apple turnovers
from the always, always amazing Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

Pastry:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1cm (½in) cubes
1 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling:
675g (1 ½ pounds) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm (½in) pieces
1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon brandy
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
6 teaspoons + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
about 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, extra

Pastry: whisk flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons ice water, mix with a fork until moist clumps form, add more ice water if dough is too dry – I made the pastry using the food processor.
Transfer dough to floured surface, divide into 6 equal parts, form each into a ball, flat into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (can be refrigerated overnight).
Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Roll out each dough disk on a lightly floured surface to a 20cm (8in) round. Transfer rounds to prepared sheets, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Make the filling: mix apples, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, vanilla lemon zest, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl, cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Spoon ½ cup drained apple mixture onto bottom half of 1 pastry round, leaving a 2cm (¾in) border around edges. Dot filling with 1 teaspoon butter, lightly brush the edges of pastry with water. Fold top half of dough over filling and enclose completely. Gently press the edges together to seal, then, using a fork, gently press edge to seal. Repeat with remaining pastry rounds, filling and butter. Place the turnovers onto a large baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cut 3 slits on top of each turnover. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter and brush the turnovers. Sprinkle with the extra sugar.
Bake turnovers until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Makes 6

Cherry jam frangipane tartlets + "Hanna"

Sometimes I get mad at things that usually do not bother other people; for instance, I hate it that some incredible movies go straight to DVD here in Brazil, after I’d waited forever to see them on the big screen: that has happened quite frequently lately – “Take Shelter”, “Jane Eyre”, among others – and it was the case with “Hanna”. It is such a shame that not many people have heard of such an amazing film: brilliant script, great music, and the cast...

* spoilers *

Cate Blanchett is one of my favorite actresses – I love how versatile she is, and here, as one of the villains, she’s fabulous: the tone of her voice, the color of her hair, the way her eyes move... Fantastic. Eric Bana proves that good looks and talent can go hand in hand: he won my heart a long time ago playing the Hulk – I know that not everyone liked Ang Lee’s version of the hero, but I did; Bana played Banner as a very contained man, which is the perfect counterpoint to his explosive alter ego. He’s played a perfect Henry VIII and will play another King – I’m looking forward to it. Tom Hollander, so brilliantly playing a villain that looks he has come out of a cheap 1970s movie. And Saoirse Ronan... she’s the soul of the movie and having watched “Atonement” and “The Lovely Bones” I expected a lot from her, but she transcends as Hanna – the physicality of the role seems to be something quite difficult to accomplish, but what really stunned me was how perfectly she portrays Hanna’s emotions, her discovery moments: the first time seeing a plane or listening to music – the way her eyes shine... Her performance is poetic.
I’ve been telling everyone I know to watch “Hanna” as soon as possible and now I am telling you, too. :)

***

I really don’t mind doing the dishes but I hate washing the food processor parts: I usually cut my fingers while washing the blade and that sucks. Therefore, when I grab the food processor to make pastry, sweet or savory, I double the amount and freeze some – that is what I did when I made the chocolate crème brûlée tartlets, and a couple of weekends after that I used the frozen amount to make these delicious frangipane tartlets, courtesy of the always wonderful Jamie Oliver.

Cherry jam frangipane tartlets
slightly adapted from the amazing Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast (mine was bought aqui)

6 small deep shortcrust pastry cases*
1 egg
1 cup (100g) almond meal
100g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of ½ orange
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup cherry jam, or your favorite flavor

Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Put the 6 pastry cases on a baking tray. In a medium bowl, make the frangipane: combine the egg, almond meal, butter, sugar, zest and vanilla and mix everything together. Spoon a small teaspoon of jam into each pastry base. Top with a heaped teaspoon of frangipane, add another small teaspoon of jam, then finally another heaped teaspoon of frangipane. Put the tray in the oven on the middle shelf and bake until the filling is puffed and golden, about 20 minutes
Serve them warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream or crème fraîche.

* I used this recipe to make the tartlet cases; baked them in 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans (as described here) and got 8 tartlet cases; I halved the recipe above and it was enough for the 8 tartlet cases

Makes 6

Little almond crostate with roast pears

Spring is here! It’s time to say goodbye to my beloved pears, apples and strawberries (I know that sounds bizarre to some of you but strawberry season here is in the winter). That’s fine: mangoes and watermelons arrive to make me happy – and stone fruit is just around the corner.

One last pear recipe to celebrate the end of winter while I search for recipes with a spring feeling... :)

Little almond crostate with roast pears
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Australian Gourmet Traveller

Pastry (almond pasta frolla):
60g natural almonds
180g all purpose flour
100g unsalted butter, cold and coarsely chopped
60g icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
pinch of salt
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Almond cream:
2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk
3 pieces lemon zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
2 egg yolks
½ cup (100g) superfine sugar
50g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 teaspoon dark rum

Pears:
8 small ripe pears, such as Corella, halved, core removed with a melon baller – I used very small pears called “Ercolini”
¾ cup (150g) superfine sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, coarsely chopped

Start with the pastry (almond pasta frolla): process almonds and 50g flour in a food processor until finely ground. Add butter, sugar, zest, remaining flour and salt, process until fine crumbs form. Add egg mixture, process until mixture just comes together, turn onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly until smooth. Form dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate to rest (1-2 hours).

Meanwhile, prepare the almond cream: bring milk and zest to the simmer over medium-high heat. Whisk yolks and ¼ cup (50g) of the sugar in a bowl to dissolve sugar. Add milk mixture, whisk to combine, return to pan, whisking continuously until thick and smooth (2-3 minutes), then remove zest and cool completely. Beat butter and remaining ¼ cup (50g) sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (1-2 minutes), add almond meal, rum and cooled custard, set aside at room temperature.

Now, the pears: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Place pears, cut-side up, in a roasting pan that fits pears snugly. Scatter with sugar and lemon zest, drizzle with lemon juice and dot with butter, making sure to include one in each cavity. Roast, basting occasionally, until pears are tender and edges are golden (35-40 minutes). Keep warm.
Bake the tartlets: lightly butter eight 9cm-diameter tart pans. Divide pastry into eight pieces. Working with one piece at a time, and keeping other pieces refrigerated, roll on between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper into 3mm-thick rounds and line the prepared pans with them. Prick pastry all over with a small fork. Divide almond cream among tartlet and bake until golden (35-40 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature with roast pears and syrup.
Crostate are best eaten on day of making.

Makes 8 – I halved the recipe above, used 9cm tartlet pans and still got 6 tartlets

Banana, caramel and raisin galette

A couple of days after watching Four Weddings And A Funeral I bought Wet Wet Wet’s "End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits" just because of one song: “Love is All Around” (it was a version of the CD released after the movie, with the theme song included). I had never heard of the band before and not only did I find the CD cover really cool – for the record, I was in my teens – but I ended up liking pretty much all the tracks.

After baking these cookies – which recipe I got on Nic’s old blog – I bought this book; that was a long time ago and it’d been sitting on my bookshelf ever since. I intend to use it more often, even if only for inspiration, because this galette turned out really delicious. I might as well end up liking lots of other recipes, right? ;)

Banana, caramel and raisin galette
adapted from The All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookboook and from Modern Classics Book 2

Sweet shortcrust pastry:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons superfine sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup (75g) cold unsalted butter, chopped
1 – 1½ tablespoons iced water
heavy cream, for brushing

Filling:
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 tablespoon rum
3 medium bananas, sliced in 6mm (¼ in) thick slices
½ cup (100g) superfine sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Start by making the pastry: process the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough and process until just combined. Knead the dough lightly, form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Start the filling: soak the raisins in the rum for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.
Roll out the pastry between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper, until you have a 25cm (10in) circle. Carefully transfer the pastry circle to the foil lined sheet. Arrange the banana slices in the center of the pastry, leaving a 4cm (1½in) border. Gently fold the pastry edges over the filling. Brush edges of the galette with the heavy cream.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until pastry is golden – the banana slices may darken a little, but do not worry because you’ll spread caramel over them.
Towards the end of the oven time, make the caramel sauce: place sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, without stirring – just swirling the saucepan occasionally – until a golden caramel forms; remove from the heat and stir in the cream (very carefully because caramel will spit). Pour half the caramel sauce in a small jug and keep warm. Add the raisin mixture to the caramel sauce left in the saucepan and mix well.
As soon as the tart comes out of the oven pour the caramel raisin mixture over the banana filling – reheat the caramel mixture before pouring it over the filling if necessary.
Serve warm with the remaining caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2

Mini blueberry pies with a lattice top and finding solutions to small problems

My sister and I go to the movies on a pretty regular basis and she says that her favorite time of all was when we watched "The Wolfman": the clerk refused to sell her a ticket because she was not old enough to watch the movie (the same movie, on several other theaters, had been rated for people younger than her); it was a Tuesday right after lunchtime and there was no one in the theater; we walked around for a couple of minutes, then came back and bought two tickets for "Tooth Fairy" – but entered “The Wolfman” theater instead (for the record, I only did it because we were the only people in the theater, aside from the clerks). :D

Small problems and simple solutions.

I’d had this recipe bookmarked since the book arrived, a couple of months ago, but the original pie, baked in a large pie plate, called for 5 cups of fresh blueberries; Fresh blueberries are pretty expensive here in Brazil – I really wasn’t in the mood for spending that amount of money in 5 cups of berries. But 2 cups I could definitely afford – so I reduced the recipe and baked it in small tartlet pans.

Small problems and simple solutions. :D

Mini blueberry pies with a lattice top
slightly adapted from the wonderful cooking/baking bible The Essential New York Times Cookbook

Pastry:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2/3 cup (94g) confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, very chilled and diced
1 ½ tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg yolk (plus 1 more if needed)
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Filling:
5 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons corn starch
¾ cup (150g) superfine sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
whipped cream, for serving

Start by making the pastry: combine flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture is reduces to flakes. Add the lemon zest, 1 egg yolk, and the heavy cream and pulse 5 times – the dough is ready when it comes together when pressed with your fingertips. If necessary, add another egg yolk.
Gather the dough into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other flatten each into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Make the filling: mix together the blueberries, corn starch, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl.
Roll out the large disk of pastry between 2 pieces of lightly floured baking paper. When it is 3mm (1/8-in) thick, remove the top layer of paper and invert the pastry onto a lightly buttered pie dish. Peel off the other piece of paper and, without stretching the dough, press it into the dish. Chill.
Roll out the other disk of dough 3mm (1/8-in) thick. Slice into 1.25cm (½-in) strips. Chill the strips on a baking sheet.
Remove the pie shell from the fridge and pour the berry mixture into it. Arrange the strips of pastry in a lattice pattern on top. Cut the overhang dough to nearly 2cm (¾ in), then roll it up and over the lattice, making a neat rounded border. Crimp the border. Chill the pie while you preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
place the pie plate onto a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the filling bubbles at the edges and the crust is golden brown – if the crust starts to brown too quickly tent the pie with a piece of foil.
Cool the pie on a wire rack. Serve with whipped cream.

Serves 8 – I halved the pastry recipe above + 2/5 of the filling recipe, used 9cm tartlet pans and got 5 tartlets (baked for 30 minutes)

Strawberry and rose hazelnut tart, music and a baking bonus

When I was 10 years old I got the Arena album as a gift from a cousin I deeply love. I used to listen to it nonstop, 24/7. I still have the album but since I no longer have a record player I bought the CD a while ago – I love listening to it while I drive to/from work. So good.
The CD version has two bonus tracks, but unfortunately “Girls on Film” and “Rio” are songs I never cared about (and still don’t).

Like one of my all time favorite albums, this recipe has a bonus, too, but in this case it’s a really good one: you get a delicious, fresh tart for dessert and also yummy slice and bake cookies with the leftover pastry. The cookies are so good you might consider postpone making the tart and stick to the pastry alone. :)

Strawberry and rose hazelnut tart
slightly adapted from the always stunning and delicious Australian Gourmet Traveller

Spiced hazelnut pastry:
¾ cup + ½ tablespoon (176g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (148g) icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 orange
3 egg yolks
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoons (250g) all purpose flour
¾ cup (75g) hazelnut meal (finely ground hazelnuts)
¾ cup (75g) almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder

Filling:
700g strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (72g) superfine sugar*
¼ cup (30g) corn starch
finely grated zest and juice of ½ orange
3 teaspoons rosewater
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
heavy cream, for brushing
icing sugar, for dusting
crème fraîche, to serve

Start by making the spiced hazelnut pastry: beat butter, icing sugar and orange zest in an electric mixer until creamy, add yolks and beat to combine. Add remaining ingredients and mix until just combined. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (2-3 hours).
Roll two-thirds of hazelnut pastry to 3mm-thick between two large pieces of lightly floured baking paper and line a lightly buttered 24cm (9in) diameter tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim edges, prick pastry all over with a fork and freeze until firm (15 minutes). Roll out remaining dough on a lightly floured piece of baking paper to a rough 24cm-long rectangle, place on an oven tray and refrigerate between the paper pieces until firm (15-20 minutes).
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Combine strawberries, sugar, corn starch, zest, juice and vanilla seeds in a bowl and fill pastry case.
Remove the pastry rectangle from the fridge, remove the paper piece on the top and cut the pastry into your favorite shapes using a cookie cutter (mine was a drop shaped cutter about 3cm long). Place them randomly over strawberry mixture, leaving some of the filling uncovered**. Brush pastry with heavy cream, place tart pan onto a baking sheet and bake until crisp and golden (35-40 minutes), cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar and serve with crème fraîche.

* after tasting the tart I though the filling needed a bit more sugar – have a taste of your strawberries and adjust the sugar amount accordingly to their sweetness

** I gathered up the pastry leftover pieces and made slice and bake cookies with the remaining pastry – they tasted delicious!

Serves 10

Raspberry Port linzer tartlets and a list of the movies I love

I’ve finally finished something I’d been meaning to do for ages: a list with my all time favorite movies – the ones I deeply love. It was rather difficult putting the list together – and I might have forgotten something, only time will tell – but it was a lot of fun doing it. It is posted here, if you’re curious. :)

These lovely tartlets were a similar challenge: the pastry was very difficult to work with – too crumbly – but it tasted so good it was all worth it. And the filling was delicious, too – raspberry jam spiked with booze? I’m in. ;)

Raspberry Port linzer tartlets
slightly adapted from The Boozy Baker

Dough:
1 ½ cups (157g) sliced almonds
2/3 cups (133g) superfine sugar
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg yolks

Filling:
1 ½ cups raspberry preserves
3 tablespoons Port wine

Start by making the dough: combine the almonds and 1/3 cup (66g) of the sugar in a food processor and pulse until coarse. Add the remaining sugar (66g), flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and the yolks and process until a dough begins to come together. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly to make it come together. Divide in two pieces, one slightly larger than the other, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Make the filling: place the preserves in a small bowl and break it with a fork. Add the wine and mix to combine.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Roll the larger piece of dough between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you have a 30cm (12in) circle. Transfer to a lightly buttered 23cm (9in) tart pan with a removable bottom and press up the sides.
Roll the second piece of dough to a 30cm (12in) circle. Cut into strips, transfer to a baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes.
Pour the filling into the tart shell and smooth the surface. Remove the dough strips from the freezer and arrange half horizontally and half vertically across the tart, creating a lattice pattern.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Remove the outer ring of the pan, cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 8 – I halved the recipe above, used 9cm tartlet pans and got 6 tartlets

Marmalade and almond tart and being persistent

Some people say I'm stubborn – myself included, sometimes – but this time I’ll choose the term “persistent”. :)

Remember those silly pastry strips from the other day? The ones that almost ruined my Saturday morning? Here they are, in this beautiful – and delicious – tart. Or did you think I was going to give up on this recipe just like that? ;)

This tart is for marmalade fans – and I am definitely part of that group; if you’re not into bitter flavors go for apricot or other kind of preserves/jam.

Marmalade and almond tart
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Australian Gourmet Traveller

300g sweet pastry*
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (78g) superfine sugar
finely grated zest of ½ orange
1 large egg
1 tablespoon Cointreau
1 cup (100g) almond meal (ground almonds)
220g marmalade
1 lightly beaten egg, for brushing – I used heavy cream

Roll out two-thirds of the pastry between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper to 3mm thick. Line a lightly buttered 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan (with a removable bottom), trim edges, prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll out remaining pastry to 3mm thick, cut into 1cm strips and refrigerate on a tray for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; beat butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy (1-2 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time, and liqueur. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then beat in the almond meal. Spread in the pastry case and bake until filling just sets (12-15 minutes). In the meantime, remove the pastry strips from the fridge. Remove tart from oven, stand for 5 minutes, then very carefully spread the marmalade over the almond filling – be gentle so the jam doesn’t sink in the filling. Arrange pastry strips in a lattice pattern over the top and brush lattice with egg wash/heavy cream, bake until pastry is golden (15 minutes) and filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool the tart in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* I doubled this recipe, which gave me 800g pastry; I used 300g for this tart and froze the remaining pastry for another use

Serves 6

Caramel nut tart with brandy cream + my new Twitter account

Reading "Nigella Kitchen" the other day I could totally relate to her comment on the choc chip bread pudding (the one I made a while ago): it might seem odd to use cream, eggs and chocolate to save a piece of old bread – some people would just throw it away, I guess – but I really get her idea there; I did the same with this tart – all this caramel and nuts and pastry just to use up some heavy cream that would go bad in a couple of days. :)
The tart was divine and it felt good making it. :)

On a different note, I had to delete my Twitter account - as much as I would like to tell you why, I cannot; I have created a new one: @TKitchen_blog - I hope I see you there!

Caramel nut tart with brandy cream
slightly adapted from the beautiful Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Pastry:
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1 1/3 cups + 1 ½ tablespoons (202g) all purpose flour
3 ½ tablespoons (42g) caster (superfine) sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and diced

Filling:
1 ¾ cups whole nuts – I used pecans, almonds and cashew nuts
1 ½ teaspoons honey
1 ¼ cups (250g) caster sugar
½ cup (120ml) water
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
pinch of salt

Brandy cream:
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon brandy

Make the pastry: whisk the cream and yolk together in a small bowl. Using an electric mixer with the dough hook, combine flour, sugar, salt and butter until you have a coarse meal. Gradually add the cream and yolks. Mix until just combine – do not overwork the pastry. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands. Shape into a 2.5cm (1in) disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes (depending on how soft the pastry is).
Working on a lightly floured piece of baking paper, cover the pastry with another piece of paper and then roll it into a 6mm (¼in) thick circle. Carefully transfer to a lightly buttered 25cm (10in) tart pan. Using your fingertips, press the pastry into the corners of the pan. Remove the excess pastry with a pairing knife, prick it all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Line the pastry with a buttered piece of foil, then fill the paper with dried beans/baking weights. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven, remove beans/weights and paper, and bake for 10-15 minutes longer, or until crust is evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely over a wire rack.
Start making the filling: spread the nuts on a baking sheet and lightly toast them in the oven, until golden – be careful as different types of nuts will toast in different times. Set aside and cool completely.
Transfer the nuts to a large bowl and add the honey. Set aside.
Place the sugar and water in a medium heavy saucepan. Cook the sugar over medium-high heat, swirling the pan – do not stir – until it becomes a deep brown caramel. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream, stirring constantly – be careful as caramel may spit – until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool for 1 minute, and then pour over the nuts and mix well to combine. Mix in the salt, then pour filling over tart crust – do not overfill the crust. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Whip the cream, icing sugar and brandy together until soft peaks form. Serve with the tart – remove it from the fridge 20 minutes before serving.

Serves 8-10