Fruit tarts - made with a little help!

Ok, so lets get the obvious out of the way...what is up with the weather!? It's usually around this time of year I'm dusting off my boots, adding an extra layer & wondering whether I really can get another season out of my coat? Instead, yesterday I was in shorts, barbecuing! I for one was very confused by it all. Anyway it was this impromptu BBQ that led me to making this dessert which I wanted to share with you.

Summery desserts in October - what's going on?

I was plodding around the aisles of Sainsburys looking for dessert inspiration when I came across their new range of chilled dessert ingredients. Ready made pastry, compotes, ganache, creme patisserie & the like. Now I make no secret of the fact that I can't make pastry, I always blamed it on the fact I have hot hands, but recently I was told that it could in fact be related to my hormones! Apparently the level of oestrogen you have in your body effects your ability to make pastry...I'm not sure that's ever been medically proven, or if it's simply an elaborate old wives tale, but I'll take it as an excuse!

So, grateful for a helping (non hot, low oestrogen) hand, I picked a pack of ready rolled dessert shortcrust pastry & a pouch of creme patisserie. I was given a set of individual loose bottom tart tins for Christmas, so this was the perfect opportunity to try them out & make yummy fruit tarts.

I lined the tins with pastry & in the absence of baking beans prodded the bottom with a fork to stop it puffing up, then baked them for around 12 minutes. When they'd cooled completely I squished in the creme patisserie then topped them with sliced pineapple, grapes & strawberries.

As much as I consider myself a scratch cook, there are some things that I look at & think why bother when the convenient version is so good. The fruit tarts were absolutely delicious & at 45p per tart (excluding fruit which I was buying anyway), they were excellent value for money. Have a good week & enjoy the sunshine while it lasts! Rebecca x

Pasteis de Nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts

I love custard, custard tarts, custard slices, custard on puds, cold custard! But my favourite form I think has to be pasteis de nata. I first discovered them years ago when I was working with a couple of Portuguese fellas, since then I've always been on the look out for them in cafes & cake shops but haven't found them that often. So when this months copy of Olive magazine dropped through my door with a recipe for them I had to give it a try!

I've never made a secret of the fact that no matter how hard I try, I just can't crack pastry making! (maybe I need to go on a course??) So I turned to my faithful friend Jus-Roll to help me out with the puff pastry. They properly puffed up in the oven, so much so they came out looking a little like yorkshire puds. The gorgeous custard filling, with a subtle flavour of lemon & cinnamon had just started to caramelise...

Once they'd cooled & crisped up, I finished them off with a dusting of icing sugar & cinnamon. They are absolutely delicious & completely morish. I stored them in my airtight cake tin, but after a day or so, the pastry had gone quite soggy...any ideas why that might have happened? Would they have absorbed moisture from the custard filling? It didn't make them any less tasty, it was just a bit of a shame they went soft...

Full details of the recipe can be found in the June issue of Olive magazine, enjoy! Rebecca x

Week 19 - Paradise Cake

Hello! How are you all this week, hope you survived the mini heatwave! I'm struggling a little bit with the heat at the minute. Some of you may know I live in a loft apartment (ooo...makes me sound very SATC!), only problem is heat rises & my flat is quickly turned into a sauna. Now seeing as I spent most of the winter complaining how cold it was in the flat, you'd think I'd be happy...but no, I'm British, it's genetic that I have to complain about the weather! Never mind, saunas are meant to be good for you no?

So this weeks recipe is another one rescued from my Mum's scrapbook, she's raved about it for as long as I can remember, but I only ever think she's made it once! I've no idea where this recipe came from & I've never seen it in any other cookbooks, turns out it's a traditional Scottish recipe & that was about the sum total of Googles insight. That makes sense though, as both sides of my family are from the North East & I grew up pretty close to the borders. It's simple to make although I have to admit to taking a shortcut!

Now I know I've always said that baking is easy & cake mix shouldn't come out of a box, but LIFE'S TO SHORT TO MAKE PASTRY!! I have tried many times to make it & it always ends up a complete disaster. The first time I tried to blind bake pastry I didn't have any baking beans, the recipe said you could use rice instead. What I failed to notice was it said to wrap the rice in something first, I didn't, so ended up with uncooked grains of rice embedded in the pastry! I still haven't bought any baking beans & have come to terms with the fact that Jus-Rol can do something I can't & that doesn't make me a bad baker :-) Here goes...

250g shortcrust pastry (ready made or your own if you're feeling brave!)
100g butter
100g caster sugar
1 egg
60g glace cherries chopped
60g walnut pieces
60g ground almonds
100g sultanas

1. Grease a pie tin approx 18cm across. Roll out the pastry to line the tin, then trim off any excess

2. Cream together the butter & sugar, then beat in the egg until light & fluffy. Next stir in all the other ingredients & spread the mixture evenly into the pastry case, no need to blind bake!

3. Bake in the oven at 180c/GM5 for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin completely before tipping out

That last point I share with you from first hand experience, I got a bit over excited & tried to tip it out early! Lets just say you're lucky there's a picture this week, it took me a good 15 minutes to reconstruct it. But as I've always said, my cakes are not supermodels & it still tastes fantastic, I can see why Mum has gone on about it so much!

Have a good week, I hope the sun stays with you. We're fast approaching half way in my baking challenge & I'd really love to include some more of your requests, so please send your ideas my way. Ta ta, Rebecca x