Fig Almond and Honey Tart

Figs are in season and if you're lucky enough to have a tree (or a friend/neighbour), you can save yourself big bucks because they cost a small fortune from the fruit and vegetable shop. Luckily I got sent a box full from my mother in law's tree and they were the perfect level of ripeness. 

The tart recipe itself is an adaptation of the Rhubarb and Frangipane tart I posted a few years ago. 

Ingredients (serves 8-10): 

• 200g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 100g butter, cold and cubed 
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons of iced water
• 8 - 10 fresh figs
• 125g butter, room temp.
• 100g caster sugar
• 4 heaped tablespoons of honey 
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups ground almonds
• 45g plain flour 
• 2 tbsp honey, for drizzling
• lightly whipped cream or thick yogurt to serve
• optional: extra honey roasted figs to serve

In a bowl place cubed butter, flour and salt. Rub together using fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. To speed up the process you can do this in a food processor, which makes it very quick and easy, but less therapeutic. Once rubbed in, add the beaten egg yolk and chilled water, mix to form a firm dough. Cover loosely in glad wrap and chill 30 mins.

Make a cup of tea and relax for a bit.
Grease a 22cm tart tin and preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Press gently into the greased tin and trim edges.

To make the filling, cream the 125g of room temperature butter and caster sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then honey, flour and almonds. Mix well. Spoon this filling into the pastry.

Prepare the figs by trimming off the stalk end and any really soft parts from the bottom. Slice in half, and arrange the figs cut side up on the almond filling, gently pressing into the filling.
Warm a couple of tablespoons of honey and drizzle or brush this over the top of the tart, making sure to cover the figs.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 mins.
Eat warm or at room temperature served with lightly whipped cream* (or yogurt) and more grilled figs**. 

*When whipping the cream, add another spoon of honey to sweeten 

** To grill the figs prepare as above, washing, trimming the top, and slicing in half. Arrange in a roasting dish cut side up and brush with some warmed honey. Turn the grill in your oven on high and place the roasting dish just underneath the grill. Grill for 5-10 minutes checking often, remove from the oven when they start to get golden. Serve warm with the tart and cream. 

Passionfruit Cheesecake

Cheesecake, you either love it or you hate it and my house has always been divided. Well everybody loves it, and me, not so much... and seeing I am the one who tends to do most of the cooking, we don't often eat cheesecake. I'm not sure why I never liked it, maybe I just had one bad one and figured they were all like that - who knows. But what I do know, is that this recipe has me converted. Now that I've found one cheesecake I like, I'm looking forward to experimenting with other cheesecake flavours... watch this space. 

Passionfruit cheesecake is the Mr's all time ultimate favourite. It tops all other cakes and desserts. With passionfruit being in season, I thought I had better make him his favourite. Because this was such novelty in our house, I figured I better make a darn good one, so I trawled the internet and found literally hundreds of passionfruit cheesecake recipes, both baked and set with gelatine, some with the passionfruit mixed through, others layered on top. So I did what I do best, and followed all of them and none of them at the same time, taking different components from each, and adding my own twist, with a hint of ground ginger in the base. 

The result: A little (or large) slice of perfection! 

Ingredients (serves 8-12, depending who's eating it, if it was just my husband, you'd only get 6 slices!) 

BASE

• 250g packet of milk arrowroot biscuits
• 125g butter, melted
• 2 tbsp ground ginger

FILLING

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 tbsp gelatine powder
• 10 passionfruit
• 375g cream cheese, room temperature (equates to 1 & 1/2 tubs) 
• 1 cup cream
• 2/3 cup caster sugar

TOPPING 

• 5 - 6 passionfruit
• 1 tbsp sugar 
• 3/4 - 1 tsp gelatine powder
• 1 - 2 drops yellow food colouring
• hot water 

Prepare a round 25cm springform tin, by lining the base with non-stick baking paper. 

Place the biscuits into a food processor and blitz on high until they are finely crushed. Add ground ginger and blitz quickly to mix. Add melted butter and mix to combine.

Pour buttered biscuit crumbs into the bottom of the tin and use the back of a spoon to press firmly and evenly across the tin. Cover and set aside in the fridge to set. 

To make the filling, place the passionfruit pulp into a sieve over a bowl and use the back of a spoon to press the juice from the pulp. Reserve the pulp and seeds.*

Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, add the cream and passionfruit juice, mix well again. 

Put the hot water into a small bowl and sprinkle over the tablespoon of gelatine. mix to combine and allow to cool only slightly before pouring into and mixing with the cream cheese mixture. Pour all of this into the tin on top of the base. Spoon the reserved pulp on top and use a knife to swirl through the cheesecake mixture. Smooth over, cover and chill 

Finally prepare the passionfruit jelly for the top**. Scoop pulp from the remaining passionfruit, you should have about half a cup. Measure half a cup of hot water, stir in the sugar till dissolved, then stir in 3/4 of a teaspoon of gelatine (use 1 tsp if you prefer a firmer jelly, I like mine relatively runny, so that you can't actually tell it's jelly). Add the gelatine water to the passionfruit pulp and mix well to combine. You should have 1 cup altogether, if not, you may need to add a little water to make it up to a cup. Finally add a couple of drops of yellow food colouring to make it look really 'passionfruity'. Bring to room temperature before gently pouring over the top of the cheesecake. 

Cover and chill for at least four hours before serving. 

*The separating the passionfruit step can be left out if you're in a rush (or just feeling a bit lazy!), however I find that it helps to give the cream cheese a real passionfruit flavour. 

**The jelly on the top is a crucial step in making this seem like an authentic cheesecake. I only used 3/4 of a teaspoon of gelatine though as I didn't want it to fully set.  

Ginger Caramel and Dark Chocolate Tart

It was my brother's birthday and I wanted to make something that I knew he would love! I remember years ago he ate an entire bag (in one sitting) of my dark chocolate coated crystallised ginger pieces... needless to say I figured this would be a winning flavour combination.

Following the same pastry recipe as my other tarts, this one is instead filled with a fudgey layer of ginger spiced caramel, topped with Whittaker's 62% Dark Chocolate ganache and then pieces of crystallised ginger sprinkled on top. The result, pure delightful decadence. Technically it's a cross between ginger crunch and a chocolate caramel slice.

Ingredients (serves 8-12):  

• 1 pre-baked tart pastry shell

For the Ginger Caramel

• 3 tbsp ground ginger - don't be shy!
• 150 grams butter
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of cream

In a small saucepan melt the sugar, cream, half of the butter and the powdered ginger. Bring to a gentle simmer and keep whisking (5-10 minutes) till thickened into a caramel. I test the thickness by dropping a little bit onto a cold saucer, and tilting it to see how thick it is as it cools. 

Once thick, remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter to form a smooth glossy caramel. Pour over the cooked pastry shell while still warm. 

For the Chocolate Ganache

• 180 grams of Whittaker's 62% Dark Ghana Chocolate, chopped
• 125 ml cream
• 1/2 cup crystallised ginger, roughly chopped

In a small saucepan, gently heat the cream till it is just boiling. Remove from the heat and add the chopped dark chocolate, whisk until all of the chocolate is melted in, thick and glossy. 

Allow to cool a little if necessary before spreading evenly over the cooled ginger caramel layer. Sprinkle with the chopped ginger and gently press this into the chocolate layer before it sets. 

Serve with softly whipped unsweetened cream. 

White Chocolate and Boysenberry Tart

Here's another recipe to add to my growing tart collection. I find these to make the most satisfying desserts, which are also rather impressive for guests. Plus I find them a lot easier to make than cakes. 

Pastry becomes really easy to make once you've got the basics covered, and the use of a food processor here cuts back on the elbow grease required too. Once you have a good pastry recipe, like this one, it's all about the fillings. This is the part I love as I get to be really creative. Either with the latest crave, or simply using up fruit or chocolate in the fridge. 

Here I've used frozen boysenberries, but you could easily swap for raspberries, which are traditionally paired with both white chocolate and cream cheese. Personally, I like the depth of colour that you get with boysenberries, plus as a child, boysenberry jam was my favourite. Mixing the melted white chocolate with the cream cheese adds a subtle tanginess to the white chocolate, which can be overwhelmingly sweet at times. 

Ingredients (serves 8-12) 

Pastry:

• 1 3/4 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk (reserve white for brushing) 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

Filling: 

• 175 grams Whittaker's 23% White Chocolate - you can use another brand of white chocolate, but let's face it, Whittaker's is best. 
• 175 grams cream cheese 
• 3 tbsp icing sugar 
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup defrosted boysenberries, well drained

Step 1: Make Pastry

Sieve flour and icing sugar together. Put into your food processor with the diced butter and pulse for a few minutes till all of the butter is mixed in and it becomes a breadcrumb texture. 

Next add the egg yolk and chilled water. Pulse again. When it begins to come together, tip out onto a lightly floured board and lightly knead until you have a smooth dough. 

Flatten into a 15cm disc. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Pastry is much easier to work with when it is cold. 

Step 2: Bake Pastry 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a 30cm loose-based fluted tart tin with butter. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a piece of greaseproof paper large enough to fit the tart tin. 

Gently lay the pastry over the tin and press into the edges. Use the rolling pin to roll across the top of the tin to trim off any excess pastry. 

Place the greaseproof paper over the pastry and fill the tin with baking beads or uncooked rice (less than a kilo of rice will fill it - reserve the rice afterwards for using again the next time you bake pastry). This holds the pastry in place and stops it both puffing up and from sinking down the sides. 
Chill again for 10 minutes. 

Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove tart from oven and take off the baking paper and rice. Brush with reserved egg white, before returning to the oven for another 15 minutes to finish cooking through. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. If pastry has puffed up, then simply gently press it back down while it is still hot. 

Step 3: Prepare the filling

Make a double boiler by putting 1 or 2 cups of water into a small saucepan. Cover the top of the saucepan with a bowl so that no steam can escape (the water should not be touching the bottom of the bowl). 
Bring to the boil. Break the chocolate into the bowl and stir, till melted, then remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly before adding the remaining ingredients. 

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with lemon juice and icing sugar till softened and smooth. Stir in the defrosted and drained boysenberries. Finally combine the cream cheese mixture with the melted chocolate. Stir 

Carefully spoon the filling into the tart shell and spread evenly. Chill for 2 - 3 hours before serving. Garnish with extra crushed white chocolate or fresh berries if desired. 

Salmon and feta flan with peas

If you've been following my blog or recipe posts you'll notice salmon has been somewhat of a theme lately. Not to mention my assortment of sweet tarts and pies. This recipe combines the two: smoked salmon baked in a savoury pastry shell to make this delightful flan. 

Don't let the idea of making your own pastry put you off: it's actually ridiculously easy (especially with the use of a food processor - though it can be done by rubbing the butter and flour together with your fingertips), and truely impressive. Not to mention, it is a lot healthier than store bought flaky or short pastry. 

Pastry (Serves 6 - 8 as a light meal): 

• 1 1/4 c flour 
• 90 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 - 6 tbsp chilled water

In a food processor, place the flour, salt and diced butter. Blitz on high till the butter is combined and it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Slowly add the iced water 1 tbsp at a time while the motor is running. The pastry will combine and become a soft sticky ball of dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius, or 180 degrees on fan bake. Grease a 22cm tart tin generously with butter, or line with greaseproof paper. 

After chilling, remove from the fridge and on a lightly floured bench or piece of greaseproof paper, roll the pastry to be about 4 cm wider in diameter than your flan or tart tin. Gently press your pastry into the tin and trim the edges. (See any of my other tart posts for tips and tricks with pastry). 

Filling:

• 4 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 green capsicum, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, covered in boiling water and drained
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 150 grams smoked salmon
• 100 grams feta
• 1/2 tsp dried dill

Beat eggs with milk and salt. In the prepared pastry shell sprinkle the capsicum and peas evenly. Lay salmon over this, and then crumbled feta and red onion. 

Pour egg mixture over the top and gently press filling to ensure it is mainly submerged. 

Sprinkle with dried dill and place in the hot oven for 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes reduce the heat to 180 degrees celsius, or 160 degrees fan bake, and bake for another 20 minutes. Once filling is set (and has most likely puffed up) and the pastry is cooked (it will be coming away from the edges of the tin) remove from the oven and set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool before slicing. 

Serve with dollops of your favourite chilli sauce.

Spinach and Feta Tart

As you might have seen I've made a lot of sweet tarts over the past year or so. However it's not often that I dabble with savoury tarts. Partly because I had yet to perfect the pastry. It needs to be buttery, crisp, but still taste wholesome. The addition of wholemeal flour and sunflower seeds in this pastry does just that. You could also sprinkle some toasted seeds over the top once it is cooked. 

This tart eats well warm straight from the oven, or cooled and packed for the lunchbox the next day. 

Ingredients (serves 4 as a meal, 8 as a snack):

• 1 cup of plain flour 
• 1 cup of wholemeal flour 
• 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
• 120 grams butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk 
• 3 - 4 tbsp of cold water
• 4 - 5 large eggs 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 200 grams spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup of cottage cheese 
• 160 - 200 grams feta cheese
• 1 tsp each of salt and pepper 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated or ground

In a food processor, combine the flours, salt and sunflower seeds. Blitz to chop the seeds. Add cubes of cold butter and mix on high until it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add the egg yolk and 1 tbsp of water at a time, mixing until you have a soft dough. 

Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently for a minute or two. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 30cm fluted tart tin, then prepare the filling. 

Place the spinach in a bowl and cover with boiling water for a minute. Drain and squeeze out excess moisture before roughly chopping. 

Put a small frying pan on a low heat and melt the butter and oil. Add the thyme and diced onion. Saute slowly, stirring often, for 10 minutes till the onions are soft, but not browned. Remove from the heat to cool. 

Break the eggs into a bowl with the milk, salt, pepper, and cottage cheese, and nutmeg, use a fork or whisk to beat well. Add the chopped spinach and cooled onion. Mix to combine. 

Roll the pastry and gently line the tart tin, pressing into the edges and trimming away the excess. 

Fill the pastry with the egg mixture, then crumble the feta evenly over the top, gently press it down into the filling with the back of a spoon. 

Bake in the hot oven for 50 minutes till the pastry is cooked and the filling is set. Allow to cool for at least ten minutes before slicing and serving with your favourite chutney and a salad. 

Peanut Butter Pie

Are you a peanut butter nutter? Does the sound of Reese's Pieces get you drooling? Did you rush out to buy the Whittaker's Peanut Butter chocolate when it first hit shelves? 

If you answered yes to any (or let's face it, probably all) of those questions, then this is the recipe for you. Another delectable dessert treat from my 'tart' collection. I can practically whip up the pastry with my eyes closed these days, and with the use of a food processor it takes hardly any time at all. This recipe uses the same pastry as my rich Salted Caramel Tart, and my often requested After Dinner Mint Tart. 

Despite the three different layers, it's painlessly easy, but profoundly impressive. After the pastry layer is a not-so-sweet creamy peanut butter buttercream frosting, then topped with a luscious chocolate ganache. Then sprinkled with roasted salted peanuts. 


Ingredients (Serves 12):

Pastry  

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

Peanut Butter Layer

• 90 grams butter
• 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup of good quality smooth peanut butter - I used the new Mother Earth range

Chocolate Ganache 

• 150 ml cream
• 75 grams Whittaker's 72% Dark Ghana Chocolate
• 75 grams Whittaker's Creamy Milk Chocolate
• 1/4 cup of roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Make the pastry: 

Put flour, cocoa,  and icing sugar into the blender, pulse a couple times, to 'sieve' and combine. 

Add diced butter, pulse till it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add egg yolk, and 1 tbsp water, pulse. Continue adding two more spoonfuls of water until it starts to come together into a ball (You may only need two spoonfuls depending on the size of your egg yolk). 

Tip pastry onto a floured board and gently knead for a couple of minutes so that it feels smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 30 cm fluted tart tin, or 8 mini fluted tart tins. Remove pastry bake to the floured board, or a piece of greaseproof baking paper. Roll the dough out to form a circle slightly larger than your tin, about 5 mm thick. Use the pin to transfer the dough to your greased tin, press gently and roll over the top to cut the excess from the edges. 

Cover the pastry with a piece of greaseproof baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beads/rice and cook for a further 15 minutes (10 for mini tarts). 

The pastry should be pulling away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. 

Make the peanut butter layer:

Place butter and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer till smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter to the bowl and mix again. 

Spread the peanut butter over the cooled tart base. 

Make the chocolate ganache: 

Warm the cream over a low heat in a small saucepan. When it begins to boil, turn the heat off and drop the squares of chocolate in. Stir once then set aside so the heat of the cream melts the chocolate. After 5 minutes stir the chocolate till smooth and glossy. 

Allow to cool a little, but not set. Then pour over the peanut butter layer. 

While still runny sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top. 

Chill for an hour before serving. Will keep in the fridge for up to a week, unless of course you eat it first. 

Try these other delectable treats.

Salted Caramel Tart

After Dinner Mint Tart 

Pear and Ginger Frangipane Tart

This is the latest seasonal addition to my tart collection. Pear and Ginger. Surround by the luscious frangipane filling and encased in a crunchy, yet buttery tart shell this makes the perfect dessert or afternoon tea accompaniment. 
The recipe follows as per my Rhubarb Frangipane Tart, except for the poaching of the pears. 








Ingredients

• 200g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 100g butter, cold and cubed 
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons of iced water

• 2 pears, quartered, core removed
• 2 cups of sweet wine - I used a moscato, alternatively you could use a pear or apple juice. 
• 2 tbsp of sliced fresh ginger 
• 4 cardamom pods, bruised
• 125g butter, room temp.
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 140g ground almonds
• 45g plain flour 
• 1 tbsp ground ginger 
• 50 grams cubed butter, for the top
• brown sugar, for sprinkling

In a bowl place cubed butter, flour and salt. Rub together using fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. To speed up the process you can do this in a food processor, which makes it very quick and easy, but less therapeutic. Once rubbed in, add the beaten egg yolk and chilled water, mix to form a firm dough. Cover loosely in glad wrap and chill 30 mins. 

Quarter pears and remove the core. Place in a sauce pan with 2 cups of sweet wine or juice. Add ginger and cardamom. Bring to a gentle boil, and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, till pears are softened, but not mushy. Remove from the liquid and allow to cool before slicing thinly. 

Grease a 22cm tart tin, and preheat oven to 180 degrees. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Press gently into tin and trim edges - rolling the pin across the top gives you a smooth finish. 

Next cream the 125g of room temperature butter and caster sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then flour, ginger, almonds, and remaining vanilla essence. Spoon this filling into the pastry. 

Carefully arrange the sliced quarters of pear onto the frangipane filling and press down gently. Drop the cubes of butter over the top and sprinkle a few tablespoons of brown sugar over. 

Bake for 50 minutes. You want the top to be slightly browned, and the pastry to be coming away from the edges. 

Serve with greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream. 

Blueberry and Mascarpone Tart

If you've read a few of my recipes, you'd notice I love making tarts. However many of them require a few steps, layers, and wait time. This one however, you can quickly whip up and have it ready to eat without so much waiting around. 

I made the gluten and grain free pastry this time as well. It's also quicker to prepare as there's no chill time, or blind baking involved. 

Blueberries are relatively cheap this time of year, so use fresh, frozen ones will bleed into the cream, and not look as attractive. You could also use raspberries, or strawberries, but I like blueberries. 









Ingredients (Serves 8 - 12):

• 1 gluten/grain free tart shell or 1 sweet pastry tart shell
• 500 grams mascarpone
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of greek or plain unsweetened yogurt
• 2 punnets of fresh blueberries, at least 1 cup
• 1/3 cup coconut flakes, toasted in a dry pan

Method:

In a medium sized bowl, beat the mascarpone with a whisk. 

Add vanilla essence and sugar (make sure there are no lumps in the sugar). 

\Add yogurt, and whisk to combine. 

Spread into the cooled tart shell. 

Arrange the berries randomly over the top. 

Toast coconut in a dry pan on a low heat, careful they can burn quickly. 

Sprinkle over the top. 

Slice and serve. 

Sweet Pastry

Ingredients (serves 8-12) 

Pastry:

• 1 3/4 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk (reserve white for brushing) 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

Step 1: Make Pastry

Sieve flour and icing sugar together. Put into your food processor with the diced butter and pulse for a few minutes till all of the butter is mixed in and it becomes a breadcrumb texture. 

Next add the egg yolk and chilled water. Pulse again. When it begins to come together, tip out onto a lightly floured board and lightly knead until you have a smooth dough. 

Flatten into a 15cm disc. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Pastry is much easier to work with when it is cold. 

Step 2: Bake Pastry 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a 30cm loose-based fluted tart tin with butter. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a piece of greaseproof paper large enough to fit the tart tin. 

Gently lay the pastry over the tin and press into the edges. Use the rolling pin to roll across the top of the tin to cut off any excess pastry. 

Place the greaseproof paper over the pastry and fill the tin with baking beads or uncooked rice (less than a kilo of rice will fill it - reserve the rice afterwards for using again the next time you bake pastry). This holds the pastry in place and stops it both puffing up and from sinking down the sides. 

Chill again for 10 minutes. 

Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove tart from oven and take off the baking paper and rice. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes to finish cooking through. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

This pastry works well with the following recipes: 

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart

Pina Colada Tart

Banoffee Tart

Blueberry Mascarpone Tart

Gluten Free Pastry

I've been working on a gluten free, grain free pastry, partly for more variety, and because I actually like the taste. This one, made with almond and coconut flours has a lightly nutty taste and melts in your mouth, just like pastry should. Plus it's good to have a gluten free variety up my sleeve for times where I need it. 

I flavoured this one with ground ginger to compliment the blueberries going in the filling, but you could easily use cinnamon, or cocoa. If using cocoa, use 2 tbsp. 

This version isn't dairy free however, as it uses butter. I'll try using coconut oil, or olive oil next time and see if it is as effective. 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 1/2 cups almond meal or almond flour
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 100 grams butter, cubed
• 1 tsp ground ginger or cinnamon, or 2 tbsp cocoa (optional) 
• pinch of salt

Method (food processor): 

1. In a food processor place flours, sugar, salt, and spice, blitz for a few seconds to combine. 
2. Add cubed butter, turn on high and mix for a couple of minutes. 
3. First it will go like bread crumbs, then it will form into a dough. 
4. When nearly all combined tip out into a buttered tart or pie dish. 
5. Press evenly around the tin, getting right to all the edges. 
6. Bake for 180 degrees for 12 - 16 minutes till a light golden brown colour. 
7. Cool and fill
8. Store in the refrigerator once completed 

Method (bowl):

1. Mix flours, sugar, salt and spice in a bowl. 
2. Melt the butter and use a knife to mix it though. 
3. Once a little combined, use clean hands to continue massaging it into the dough. 
4. When you have a dough, continue from step 4. above. 

Pictured below with Blueberry and Mascarpone filling

Salted Caramel Tart

Salted caramel tart with bittersweet chocolate ganache, trust me it tastes about as decadent and luxurious as it sounds. crunchy crumbly chocolate pastry shell, encasing a velvet smooth rich caramel levelled perfectly with fleur de sel (or sea salt, harvested from France), and finished with a blanket of bittersweet chocolate ganache.  

Sounds technical doesn't it? And it is in some respects, but also very very achievable, especially if you've already mastered the art of pastry making in my other tart recipes. Read tips before following the recipe at the bottom of this blogpost. 





PASTRY 

Pastry can be made by hand, rubbing the butter and flour together to form a breadcrumb-like texture, before gently working in the egg and water. Or by simply popping the butter and flour into a food processor, mixing briefly, then using the 'pulse' feature to add the egg yolk and liquids. By using the latter method the pastry only needs a minute or so of light kneading, before wrapping and chilling in the fridge. 

Pastry must always be chilled before rolling. This makes it more likely to stick to itself, and not your bench or rolling pin. Also, just as you dust the bench with flour, do the same to your rolling pin. And if you don't have a rolling pin - a wine bottle will suffice. When rolling be sure to rotate the dough frequently, adding a dust of flour as necessary, this makes sure that it is rolling evenly, and not sticking to the bench. 

Once you've rolled the pastry to the desired thickness and size gently fold it over the pin to help you transfer it to the dish. Then once it is pressed into the dish, simply roll the pin over the top of the tart or pie dish to cut the edges evenly. Baking Blind is a technique using baking beads or uncooked rice which holds the pastry in place while it begins to bake, without it the butter in the pastry can cause it to ooze down the sides of your tin - not so pretty!

CARAMEL 

This was actually my first time making authentic caramel. Usually I do the 'cheat' version of sweetened condensed milk with butter and golden syrup. Today I made the real deal, and trust me the flavour result is well worth the effort. Before heating the sugar I brought the cream, butter and salt to the boil (obviously omit the salt if you want plain caramel), then removed it from the heat to set aside. 

Next, I mixed the water and sugar over a high heat till dissolved then left, without stirring for 8 - 15 minutes (depending on the heat of your element). Here it bubbles up, and will eventually turn a deep golden colour, that's when it is ready. At this point, remove it from the heat, and carefully, slowly add the melted butter and cream mixture while whisking. It will create quite the reaction and bubble up, but persevere, the result will be silky smooth. 

I like to pour the caramel into the tart case while still warm, otherwise you risk it getting to firm to easily work with. 

CHOCOLATE

Melting chocolate is easy right? Well, not always, and is very sensitive to high heat, over heat it, and it becomes grainy and unpleasant. The easiest way I find to melt chocolate is to keep an eye on it, in a double boiler. A metal or glass bowl, rested upon a small saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. 

I put the cream for the ganache into the bowl, and when it begins to warm, add the cubes of chocolate. I stir this for a minute or two, then turn the element off and leave it for a few more minutes. Now whisk or stir well, and the chocolate will continue to melt with the heat of the cream. Eventually becoming silky smooth. Again work with it while it's still warm (not hot as it may melt the caramel). 

Ingredients (serves 16): 

Pastry 

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of cocoa
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp chilled water

Caramel 

• 3/4 cup of cream 
• 90 grams of butter
• 300 grams of white sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2-1 tsp fleur de sel, sea salt

Chocolate Ganache 

• 1/2 cup of cream
• 150 grams Whittaker's Dark Ghana 72% Chocolate

Method: 

Make the pastry: 

Put flour, cocoa,  and icing sugar into the blender, pulse a couple times, to 'sieve' and combine. 

Add diced butter, pulse till it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add egg yolk, and 1 tbsp water, pulse. Continue adding two more spoonfuls of water until it starts to come together into a ball (You may only need two spoonfuls depending on the size of your egg yolk). 

Tip pastry onto a floured board and gently knead for a couple of minutes so that it feels smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 30 cm fluted tart tin, or 8 mini fluted tart tins. Remove pastry bake to the floured board, or a piece of greaseproof baking paper. Roll the dough out to form a circle slightly larger than your tin, about 5 mm thick. Use the pin to transfer the dough to your greased tin, press gently and roll over the top to cut the excess from the edges. 

Cover the pastry with a piece of greaseproof baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beads/rice and cook for a further 15 minutes (10 for mini tarts). 

The pastry should be pulling away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin while you make the caramel. 

Make the caramel:  

In a small saucepan, measure cream, salt and butter. Heat till nearly boiling, and butter is completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly. 

In another heavy based saucepan, measure water and sugar. Bring to the boil on a high heat, stirring until the sugar is completely melted. Continue boiling without stirring for approximately 10 minutes till it turns a golden caramel colour, it will also start to smell delicious. 

Once the colour has changed, remove from the heat and carefully (it will boil up like a crazed science experiment - fun for the kids to watch), whisk while slowly adding the melted cream and butter. Keep stirring till you get the silky smooth caramel. Taste to check the salt, you may wish to add more, you want the salt to balance with the sweet of the caramel so that you taste both, but neither overpowers the other. 

Let the caramel cool a bit, so it's still warm and flowing, but not hot. Pour it into the tart shell and tilt to spread evenly. Chill in the refrigerator to set for at least two hours. 

Make the chocolate ganache: 

Create a double boiler (see above), and pour the cream into the bowl. Allow to heat then add cubed chocolate. When chocolate begins to melt, turn the heat off, and leave the bowl sitting over the hot water for a few minutes. After waiting stir/whisk till the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat, and just like the caramel, allow to cool a little. Gently pour over the caramel, and return to the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool completely. 

To serve, use a hot knife (rest it in a mug of boiling water) to slice the tart into pieces. 

If you liked this recipe, you may also like: Chocolate peppermint tart, Banoffee Tart, Rhubarb Frangipane Tart, Pina Colada Tart

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Pina Colada Tart

Banoffee Tart

Chocolate Peppermint Tart