A little bit Tarty.

Every morning at 9am I tune in for a bit of James Reeson. He is funny and his recipes are quick and after the pecan pie- quite frankly, yummy!
This week I tried the strawberry tart. Quite delish, even if I say so myself!

Recipe 43: Strawberry Tart

2 punnets strawberries
Crème patissiere
3 tsp gelatine
2 tbsp hot water
2 tbsp honey
Chocolate buttons

Method

1. Roll the pastry until it will fit your 25 cm tart case and trim to fit, bake at 190°c for 10-15 minutes (if it rises too much just push it down.)
2. Melt the chocolate buttons over a double boiler then using a pastry brush “paint” the cooked pastry shell until the entire base is covered.
3. Spread the crème pat over the pastry base then cover with halved strawberries
4. Melt together the gelatine, hot water and honey to a smooth consistency, allow to cool a little then “paint” all over the strawberries and pastry.
5. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Recipe 41: Pecan Pie and Recipe 42: Maple cream

I do enjoy entertaining. a couple of days ago we had our friends over and decided I would give a pecan pie love the show Alive and Cooking, staring James Reeson. He shows some of the most amazing food and so quick and seems easy as well. So have decided I would try one of his recipes and was surprised as to how yummy it was!

Recipe 41: Pecan Pie

Short crust pastry


Pecan Filling:

1 cup (215 grams) dark brown sugar

2/3 cup (160 ml) Golden Syrup

1 tablespoon rum or bourbon

4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/4 cup (60 ml) cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 - 2 cups (150 - 200 grams) pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.
2. Gently transfer to a 23 cm pie pan. Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the blind baking material and pop in the oven for another minute. Take the pastry out of the oven and cool.
3. Make the Pecan Filling: In a large saucepan, heat the brown sugar, Golden Syrup, rum (or bourbon), and butter until boiling, stirring constantly. 
4. Remove from heat and let cool until tepid. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. 
5. When the boiled syrup has cooled, beat in the eggs, salt, and cream.  
6. On the pastry crust evenly distribute the chopped pecans over the bottom.  Then pour the filling evenly over the nuts. Bake for about 25-45 minutes or until the filling is just set (a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie will come out clean. (If you find the edges of the pie crust are over browning during baking, cover with foil.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 
7. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipping cream. 

Recipe 42: Maple cream

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

METHOD

1. Place the heavy whipping cream and maple syrup in bowl of your electric mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

Recipe 24: Lemon Meringue Pie

Recipe 24- a favourite in our household, although the first time I made this the lemon's I used was so sweet (or sour) that literally, you had to let the slice of pie to "air" before eating, otherwise your face would suck in! So a note- if you do decide to make this, make sure you taste your lemons and if they are exceptionally sour, don't use the full amount stated in the ingredients, instead replace it with a bit more water e.g. instead use 1/4 cup of lemon juice and a cup of water.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Base: 
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (previous recipe)

Filling:
1/4 cup cornflour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon rind
1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup of water
3 egg yolks (put the egg whites in a separate bowl for the topping)
1 tbsp butter


Topping:
3 egg whites
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence


METHOD

1. On a lightly floured board roll out the pastry (if not already done so) to a 6mm thickness. Use to line  20cm flan ring. Trim off any extra pastry
2. Bake blind (see techniques) at 190c for 20 minutes.During this time do steps 4,5,6. after 20 minutes proceed to 3 (then go to 7).
3. Remove the bake blind material and return to the oven for 1 minute to dry out pastry base. While pastry is cooking make the filling.
4. Filling: Blend cornflour, sugar, lemon rind and juice together until smooth. Add water then cook ovr medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat stir in yolks and butter.
6. To make the topping: Beat eggs whites until stiff but not dry, beat in sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until very thick and glossy. Stir in vanilla. You know when the meringue is ready when pulling out the beater it forms peaks that do not fall over.
7. When the 1 minute is up, add the lemon filling and pile on top the meringue.
8. Return to the oven and bake again for 10 minutes or until golden.