Passion Fruit Tartlette

sweet shortcrust pastry, passion fruit curd and meringue…

To be honest, the summer 2011 sucks. Temperatures jump from one day very hot (but always rain), next day 10 degrees less, and right now it’s fall, it really is…goodbye summer, see you next year, hopefully!
So, to cheer at least the taste-buds up I made these today and summer feeling was at least dancing on my tongue.

If you are a passion fruit lover, you’re gonna love this curd and the combination of the very fresh fruity and crunchy seeds in a silky curd with the sweet shortcrust pastry and the fluffy meringue.
Out of the fridge, a real refreshing summer dessert. You should make them.

Sweet shortcrust pastry
(Donna Hay’s Baking Book, modern classics)

Ingredients

2 cups (220g) flour
3 tablespoons sugar
5 oz. (150g) butter or lactose free margarine, chopped
2-3 tablespoons iced water

Mix the flour, butter and sugar until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add enough iced water to smooth the dough and mix until combined. Knead the dough lightly and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and line the tart tin (the recipe makes about 350g pastry, so I just used as much as I needed for 6 mini tartlette tins and put the rest in the freezer).
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and place a piece of baking paper over the pastry and fill with baking weights or uncooked rice or beans. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the weights and bake for further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

Passion fruit curd (adapted from here)

Ingredients
(I halved the recipe)

4 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup passionfruit pulp (see note)
125g butter, chilled, chopped

Place eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a 6-cup capacity heatproof, microwave-safe jug or bowl. Whisk with a balloon whisk until well combined. Add passion fruit pulp and butter. Stir to combine.
Microwave passion fruit mixture, uncovered, on MEDIUM (50%) for 6 to 10 minutes, whisking every minute, or until thick enough to coat a spoon.

Fill the pastry shells with the curd and preheat the oven again to 350F (180 C) and make meanwhile the meringue. (I only made a real small amount)

Meringue

1 egg white
1/4 cup (55g) sugar

Beat the egg white with an electric mixer on high speed until it peeks form, then start adding slowly the sugar while still beating until it’s stiff.

Put the meringue on top of the passion fruit filled tartlettes and put them in the oven until edges get golden brown. Refrigerate for an hour until serve.

Now I got summer in my tummy!

When Blueberries meet Poppyseeds…

then it makes the crust appear extra crunchy with every bite you take.

Blueberries are everywhere and I just got my new mini tart forms. And since it’s not long ago that I made apple pie I needed something different for the crust. Brainstorming. Blueberries, heat them up with brown sugar, cinnamon just a small pinch…lemon juice..Lemon!! Lemon zest in the crust, poppy seeds and more brown sugar. Perfect.


Taking a Billion of pictures to get you as close as I can get you in here. You can klick the little ones to open up.
The recipe is made from scratch and turned out delicious. It wasn’t too sweet, I would almost say next time I add two more tablespoons of sugar to the blueberries.

Is it getting mouthwatering yet? Can you smell the blueberries cooking with the sugar and the fresh lemon zest waiting to combine with the rest of the dough?
I did split one with my daughter when it was still warm on the balcony after lunch. We were sitting on the floor giggling, enjoying, taking pictures…

And at this point I should mention, that these pictures are not taken with my normal digital camera. A good friend of mine borrowed me his to try it out how it is to be able to make really fancy, close, macro pictures of food.

And after getting a little frustrated, that it didn’t work out to well with the first attempts, I have to admit, today was really fun. Fun, fun fun fun. I want one. Ha!

The problem when you have such a fancy camera and you take a lot of pictures is, the selection after wards. Oh my..

But for this post it seems, I made the right decision. One picture became the first accepted I submitted on foodgawker. That makes me really proud!

Tart/Pie crust

Makes 4 little (mini) Tarts.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup (150 g) flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 1/2 cup (115 g) butter or lactose free margarine
  • 1-3 tablespoons (ice) cold water
  • zest of one lemon

In a large bowl you mix all the dry ingredients together. Then add the butter and either use an electric mixer or (like I do) just use your hands to rub the butter in the flour mix. Add as the last step, tablespoon by tablespoon the cold water ( I just needed 1) and knead the dough just so it comes and stays together.Form a disk and rap in foil. Let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can also leave it overnight.

Meanwhile chilling you can prepare the blueberries.

I had about a pound (500 g) of blueberries and brought them to boil in a saucepan with

  • 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (like I mentioned, maybe 2 tablespoons more)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch

After they started boiling, I reduced the heat and let them simmer for 10 Minutes, till they thickened up a little.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius).

On a floured surface, roll the dough out about 0,2 inch (0,5cm) thick. Fill your forms with the dough and  poke holes in the bottom with a fork. Place the cooked and chilled blueberries on top. Decorate the top with the rest of the dough like you prefer.

Put them in the oven for 20-25 Minutes until the edges of the crust become golden brown. *

*I always have the problem with with fruit fillings that they start to cook and bubble so some of it runs out of the forms, to prevent a big burning smelling mess in your oven, just put a baking paper on the ground of the oven.

Lemon curd + Strawberries = Love

I found out, that there is either the lemon curd lover or the hater, not much in between. But if you put the curd  on a cake with some fruits on top you totally win, always. Especially between a crunchy tart crust and fresh strawberries.

I have to admit that I didn’t even know that there is a lemon curd existing till I found it accidentally on the web by browsing recipes. So far I know it’s not a German thing. I totally fell in love with the first second I started making it. And my first try was a microwave recipe, which I still think works fine.

Lemon Curd

(adapted from here)

Ingredients

1 cup (200g) white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup(240ml) fresh lemon juice
3 lemons, zested
1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter or lactose free margarine, melted

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

One thing I want to add, is that I always press the lemon curd through a sieve, to get out the little egg white pieces which always happen when I make it.

Tartcrust

Ingredients

1/2 cup (100g) sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoon (200g) cold butter or lactose free margarine
2 3/4 cups flour (300g)
1 egg
pinch of salt

Mix the flour with the salt and set aside.

Cut the cold butter in cubes and mix together with the sugar and the egg. I prefer to use my hands, but you can use your electric mixer, too. Add the flour and knead the dough with your hands until well combined. Form a disk, cover with plastic foil and let chill in the fridge for about half an our.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius).

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and make it fit into your greased 9 inch baking pan. Make lines of holes in the dough with a fork. Let bake for about 25 Minutes or until golden brown.

When the tart crust is completely cooled, you spread the top with the lemon curd, I always do like 1/2 inch (1cm) thick. Then arrange the fresh strawberries on the tart. I added some blueberries and sprinkled almond sticks between the fruits.

A fresh summer treat.