Pastry
The Pink Whisk Challenge – October
October sees the start of a new monthly Pink Whisk baking challenge – there’s so many lovely recipes and lots of great baking out there I thought it was time you shared it with me (you could win yourself a great prize too – but more on that in a minute!)
Black Forest Fruits Puff Pies
Buttery, Puffety Pastry mini fruit pies (yes I know that’s not a real word….)
Eat them warm, eat them cold, pour with cream, with custard, just don’t eat them all yourself!
Makes 12.
Ingredients:
1 x Block of Puff Pastry (recipe here)
450g Black Forest Berries, frozen
100g caster sugar
A little milk and caster sugar for glazing.
Palmiers – using up Puff Pastry Trimmings
Palmiers – the cooks treat, perfect for using up Puff Pastry Trimmings!
Traditionally you shouldn’t re-roll puff pastry trimmings. It disturbs the buttery layers within the pastry which you’ve worked so hard to create. However, you can. In these times throwing away pastry trimmings is wasteful and I just can’t do it.
How to make Puff Pastry
It’s not complicated but it does take a bit of organising in advance. I do use shop-bought puff pastry and generally have some in the freezer. Making your own is quicker than the time it takes to defrost some
(and it’s not difficult either)
This version of puff pastry is referred to as rough puff pastry, the idea being that you only get 75% of the rise that you would get with traditional puff pastry – getting technical there!
How to make Choux Pastry
Choux pastry is a really versatile pastry to have up your sleeve, it gives some people grief so I thought I’d do a quick how to before using it in a recipe.
Traditionally used for profiteroles, choux pastry can also be made into a great variety of lovely things, eclairs and gougere included!
Afternoon Tea – Caramelised Onion and Mushroom Tarts
So this week, as a Birthday celebration and the fact that I am 21 again I’m hosting an Afternoon Tea for some of my lovely Mummy friends. I’ve spent a week cleaning (yes it was that bad) and now it’s on to the fun bit – baking!
Roasted Red Pepper Tart
So it finally feels like spring has sprung and with Mother’s Day just around the corner this Roasted Red Pepper Tart is perfect for a special lunch!
Makes 1 x 9” Tart or 4 x 4” Tartlets
Ingredients:
Pastry225g plain flour, sifted50g lard50g butter, salted1 egg yolk2-3 tbsp cold water
Filling1 x jar of whole Roasted Red Peppers (320g drained weight)80g spinach1 tbsp olive oil120ml milk120ml double cream2 egg yolks2 eggsSalt and pepper60g Lancashire or mature cheddar cheese
Method
To make the pastry rub the lard and butter into the flour in a large bowl until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
On the eleventh day of Christmas The Pink Whisk sent to me……Christmas Bakewells
Instead of the usual jam try these Christmas style with Cranberry and Port mincemeat!
Makes 18 small Bakewell Tarts
Ingredients:
Pastry
225g plain flour
25g caster sugar
100g butter
1 egg yolk
35ml cold water
1/2 jar of mincemeat
100g butter, melted
2 eggs
100g semolina
100g ground almonds
a few drops of almond essence
100g caster sugar
flaked almonds or icing to top
Start off by making the biscuity pastry base, because its so rich and buttery you can get away with making it in the food processor.
On the ninth day of Christmas The Pink Whisk sent to me…. Mince Pies
Mince pies The Pink Whisk way – with zesty pastry, mince pies were meant to be individual, sticky, oozy, bursting with mincemeat and a good dusting of icing sugar to hide the imperfections!
My mince pies are like my scones, very definitely homemade – I have never striven for looks of perfection with these beauties – uneven tops and sticky bits of mincemeat that ooze over the edge are everything I like in a mince pie – if you’re after neat and precision perfection you won’t find it here!
Chocolate and Lime Tart
Inspired by sweeties, I love chocolate limes I thought I’d turn this into a sweet tart – it was a success, I think the OH ate half this in one go!
Ingredients:Sweet Pastry175g plain flour120g butter, cold diced30g caster sugar1 large egg, beaten
Lime Filling120ml lime juice240ml water270g caster sugar50g cornflour3 egg yolks2 tbsp butter
Grated zest of one limeGreen food colouring if desired.
