Deep Lemon and Lime Tart

This is a twist on a Delia Smith recipe with inspiration by Jamie Oliver.  The original recipe calls for just lemons, and while this is really good, it is a bit lip puckering-ly tart.  Kinda makes your teeth water!  So I found Jamie’s recipe and was inspired.  Delia got one thing right though, most Lemon Tarts are not deep enough.  I went out and bought a special deep dish for this tart and it was worth every penny.  Now I have crisp buttery pastry, lots of lemony filling, perfection on a plate.  This is the recipe I get asked for most often to bring to dinner parties, and I never get a slice to take home!  By the way, it does require learning how to bake pastry blind, no other way around it.  But follow these steps and you will be making tarts, quiches etc. with a lovely crispy bottom.

Deep Lemon and Lime tart

For the pastry

8oz/225g plain flour

2oz/50g icing sugar

5oz/140g butter, very cold, chopped into cubes

1 large egg

A little lemon juice.

Pre heat the oven to 180c/gas 4.  You need a 9in/23cm deep tin.

In a food processor whiz together the flour, icing sugar and butter until it forms a breadcrumb like mixture.  Take care not to over process.  Add the egg and a little lemon juice and process until it almost forms a ball.  Turn it out on to a floured board and gently press together.

Roll out the pastry quite thinly and carefully line the flan tin.  Allow the pastry to run over the edges as you can cut these off when the pastry is cooked and it prevent it from shrinking too much and from the sides falling in. Rest the pastry for an hour in the fridge or the freezer. Don’t skip this step.

Prick the pastry lightly all over the base with a fork.  This stops it from rising.  Then the 
pastry case is ready for baking blind. Fill it with rice inside of baking parchment. I use the same rice over and over.

Bake blind for 20 mins, removing the rice and greaseproof paper for the final 5 mins.

For the filling (don’t get this ready in advance as the lemon juice does something to the eggs and it is not as good)

Zest of 3 large lemons and 2 limes

10 fluid oz/275ml of the juice (might need extra lemons for this if they were small)

6 eggs

6oz/175g caster sugar

7 fluid oz/200ml whipping cream

Break the eggs into a bowl and add the sugar and the combined zests.  Just lightly beat them, as you do not want them becoming thick.  Add the juice and the cream and mix gently.  Pour your mixture into a large jug and fill the cooked pastry case in the oven to avoid spills.  Bake for 30 mins or until the tart is set in the middle.  Let it cool for about half and hour. Trim the edges of the pastry for a neater finish.

Dust with icing sugar.  I would serve it with some raspberries if using it as a dessert or on its own for coffee.

Advanced bakers might like to put a burnt sugar top on this with that blowtorch you never use.  Sprinkle the top of the tart with a thin layer of castor sugar and run your blowtorch over it until it becomes caramelized. Allow to cool and set into a thin caramel layer.  A bit too much work for me; I think the tart is good enough without it.

Chocolate Espresso Cake

This is a Nigel Slater recipe, one of two of his I really like(click here for the other).  This is an easy, beat the butter and sugar, add the eggs type of cake that almost any baker should be able to knock out.  The flavourings here are a lovely combination of hazlenuts and chocolate, beloved of the Nutella fans.  Well, this is a grown up version of those tastes in a cake that is easy to make as it has no frosting or icing.  As he says "It is moist enough as it is, but if it is to be dessert, then I would want a dollop of creme fraiche with it too!"  Agreed!

Two things to note here, the hazelnuts must be dry roasted and ground.  I, ahem, have a special grinder for nuts and spices, separate from my coffee grinder.  But if you have a coffee grinder, use that and even if it takes on some of the flavour of old coffee, so much the better.  Otherwise it is hard to get the nuts fine enough.  Also he says to chop the chocolate into "what looks like coarse gravel"  Well your guess is as good as mine.  I like some very finely chopped so that it melts into the cake and some in largish lumps, so that you find them while munching through.

Does it keep well............ I never have been able to find out!

Nigel Slaters Chocolate Espresso Cake

250g/8oz butter (soft, out of the fridge or give it a quick blast in the microwave 15secs or so)
250g/8oz caster sugar
75g/3oz hazelnuts
120g/4 oz dark chocolate
4 large eggs
125g/4oz Self raising flour
4 teaspoons of strong hot espresso (I used two teaspoons of instant Gold Blend dissolved in boiling water)

Set oven to 180c/350f.  You will need a round cake tin 21/23cm.  The smaller one will be higher, but both sizes work ok.  Either grease your tin or line it with parchment paper.

Toast the hazelnuts in a fry pan over a moderate heat then rub them in a tea towel until most of the shins have flaked off.  Don't sweat the small stuff, you just want most of the skins removed.  Grind the nuts to a coarse powder, less fine than ground almonds, but finer that if you chopped them by hand.  Chop the chocolate.

Beat the butter and sugar together until it is whiter and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.  For the last two eggs, you might need to add a tablespoon or two of the sifted flour.  When all the eggs are in, fold in the remaining flour.  Add the chopped nuts, the chopped chocolate and the coffee.

 Fold everything, gently but thouroughly together, taking care not to knock out the air.  Scoop it into your prepared tin, smooth it down and bake it for 45 minutes, covering the cake with foil, if it starts getting too brown for the last 15 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and test with a knife, a cocktail stick or a skewer.  It should come out clean without any uncooked mixture clinging to it.

Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely.

Scones - foolproof method

Ok, there is very little I don't know about scones.  I have already made all the mistakes, so you don't have to.  I made scones every single day for ten years, some days up to 60/70 doz, all hand made in small batches, and I have made every mistake.  I could just list off ten steps for perfect scones, but you will start chopping and changing and only half listening, so I will explain the whys and the wherefores.  (By the way, I always tell people to follow the recipe exactly the first few times, then make changes you would like.  Then it becomes your recipe, not mine.  But start by following exactly what I do!  Kay?)

First two rules of scones, cut 'em high and cook 'em hot.  They are scones, not biscuits and need to be cut about the height of your cutter.  Don't expect miracles, give them a head start and cut them high, in one press downwards.  Don't twist the cutter, or you will have an uneven rise, not a huge problem, still edible, but for eating in the privacy of your own home and not for showing off.  Cook them at 220c or 450f on a thin sheet that conducts heat well.  Listen up now and you too can cook scones like these

Scones made today, for the restaurant where I work.

FRUIT SCONES.

1 LB/450g SELF RAISING FLOUR
I HEAPED TEASPOON BAKING POWDER
2 OZ / 50g MARG OR BUTTER
3 OZ/ 75g SULTANAS OR RAISINS
4 OZ /110g GRANULATED SUGAR

1 EGG MADE UP TO A HALF A PINT MARK WITH FRESH MILK. (not egg plus 1/2 pint milk!)

SIEVE FLOUR AND BAKING POWDER TOGETHER.  (This is a very important step as it introduces air)

RUB IN MARG UNTIL MIXTURE RESEMBLES BREADCRUMBS
ADD RAISINS AND SUGAR
MAKE A WELL IN THE CENTER AND ADD THE EGG BEATEN INTO THE MILK, KEEPING BACK A LITTLE 

FOR GLAZING

MIX TO A SOFT DOUGH.
TURN OUT AND KNEAD LIGHTLY (Only to gather it together, don't overwork it !)
CUT OUT  QUITE HIGH, AND GLAZE WITH LEFT OVER MILK

BAKE AT 220 C UNTIL WELL RISEN AND BROWN, ABOUT 15 TO 20 MINS
TURN OUT ONTO A WIRE RACK AND ALLOW TO COOL

Wait five minutes before attacking with lots of real butter, wait.....

Or omit the raisins and serve with cream and jam

Or on healthy days, use half wholemeal flour and half self raising white (for you Lynne!)

You can omit the sugar and add 2 oz of grated cheese, with another sprinkle on top.

But that's the honours course!

Irish Soda Bread

I think for my first post I have to give my recipe for brown bread.  This is the one I am most asked for and the one I have most morning for breakfast.  I started baking bread years ago, but only became a constant breadmaker when I had children.  I was concerned about the quality of every day white slices, and when one bread delivery man described it as "water standing up", I knew I could produce something better.

I like soda bread because it is so fast to make, no rising, no yeast, easily available ingredients.  I can make 8 loaves at a time and it freezes very well.  Beginners complain that my recipe is too big and it takes a strong arm to mix everything, but get stuck in and develop those muscles or else half the recipe!  Wimps!

Each recipe makes either 4 loaves or 4 'squares' of brown bread. I use Odlums Coarse Wholemeal flour and Odlums Plain Flour (Cream Flour is ok too)

1 lb Wholemeal Flour
1 1/2 lbs plain flour
2 level teaspoons bread soda
2 oz butter or marg (I use block of stork marg)
Two fistfulls of bran
One fistfull of wheatgerm
1 ltr of Buttermilk
(you can add a beaten egg if you like)

Sieve the plain flour and the breadsoda together. Add the wholemeal flour and mix lightly. Rub in the marg. Add the bran and wheatgerm. Add all the buttermilk in one go, without shaking out the carton too much as you will need the drop at the bottom to glaze your bread. Working quickly but gently, stirring from the outside in, get the mixture into a firm ball. Dont over mix and turn our onto a lightly floured board. Flatten onto a floured baking sheet, leaving it about two inches high. Cut a deep cross into the dough, effectivly cutting it into 4 squares, brush with some left over buttermilk and sprinkle with some sesame seeds. Bake at 200/210 for about 40/45 mins, turning around once (not turning it over) to ensure even baking.
Once cooked slide it off the tray and allow to cool on a baking tray. When cool cut into four 'squares'. It freezes very well.

Health Bread

A variation on Irish Soda bread, baked in a tin if you are scared of free form loaves.

A seedy bread full of goodness and great with smoked salmon or just with  marmalade for breakfast,

Health Bread

10oz/275g coarse whole wheat flour (I like Odlums)
6oz/175g plain white flour
1 level teaspoon of bread soda
1 oz/25g butter or marg or olive oil
2oz/50g bran
1oz/25g wheat germ
1oz/25g sunflower seeds
1oz/25g sesame seeds
1 egg optional
½ litre butter milk

Pre heat the oven to 200c/gas 6. 
Sieve the plain flour and the bread soda together into a bowl.  Add the whole wheat flour.  Rub in the butter or marg or add the oil.  Add the bran, wheat germ, sesame and sunflower seeds.  Mix well.

Beat the egg in a separate bowl.  Add the butter milk, and turn the wet mixture into the dry, mixing well to combine, without beating.

Turn into an oiled 2lb loaf tin and press down gently.  Scatter more sesame seeds on top and place in the oven to bake for 40 mins or until it is well browned. Turn out of the tin to cool.  

And in case you think I only bake healthy bread, I promise a sweet recipe next.