Berry Custard Tart

I'm currently on a long holiday, waiting to begin my next adventure in the new year. And so for the first time in a very long time, I feel absolutely no sense of urgency; I can sit on the front porch and watch the rain drip off the leaves of our Weeping Willow tree if I want to; I don't absolutely need to make every single second count.

It's liberating, honestly quite exhilarating, but I'm also a bit scared. What if I get used to this? What if I get bored? What if I forget what it's like to rush and push for deadlines? So I have devised a way to keep my stress levels slightly up: I must try to post a new recipe or blog post up at least twice each week that I'm off.

I say that now, but wait 'til I start being able to sleep in again. You lot must think I'm crazy, to be afraid of enjoying my holiday. Oh well, I'm sure the initial shock of it will wear off by the end of week 2. Last week though, I made 3 tarts (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry). Just cos. I experimented with custards, to get slightly runny custard or thicker custards to set, as well as infusing the cream with different flavours (tea, lemongrass, orange). At some point during this holiday, I also want to experiment with different types of yeast (active dry, instant, etc). 

Today I'm sharing my favourite tart from last week, and obviously it was the one with my favourite berry: raspberries! Recipe under the jump.

Mixed Berries on an Orange Custard tart

Orangey Passionfruit tarts

Do what you love and love what you do. That hackneyed mantra of my fellow Gen Ys rings in my head as I bake up my little treats, force feed my family and friends, and type up these blog posts. Sometimes I wonder just how selfish I can be when I do this, as most of the time the desserts are foisted upon my unsuspecting friends whether or not they want it. And all for what? Just for my personal pleasure of seeing them enjoying something I laboured over with love. I'm a brute. A narcissistic, selfish member of the Gen Y.

Sometimes I feel that our loving and doting parents might have done us wrong in constantly telling us to reach for the stars, that nothing is beyond our abilities (latent they may be), and that they will suffer through the rat race so that we may want for nothing and so that we may have the dreams they never dared to have. I won't generalise, but personally, all of that just made me impatient, discontent, and selfish. Some may call it ambitious and driven, but we are just two sides of the same coin.

I honestly don't know why I started talking about this. Must be the word "Passion" in the recipe I'm about to share with you now. So many people talk about doing what we're passionate about, to chase the thing that we would love to do, and not waste our time sitting in a 4x4 cubicle with no direct sunlight on our skin. Yet, to do that, we'd HAVE to be financially dependent on another. Do our parents then have to suffer more to ensure we get to do what we love? Do we continue to leech on their goodwill? I'm being weird, my apologies. I usually save these mad rantings to my personal journal, but there seems to be a spillover tonight. I'll spare you all the lecture and just hand you the recipe.

Passionfruit Tart
(Makes 12 mini tarts, or 1 8" tart)
For the crust:

• 185g all purpose flour
• 55g icing sugar
• 30g ground almonds
• 125g butter, cold and cubed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Combine the flour, icing sugar, and almonds in the food processor and whizz to mix. Pop in the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in the egg and vanilla and pulse a few more times until it comes together. Tip the batter onto a well floured surface and knead a few times until it comes together. I like to just then roll the crust out and put it into my prepared mold (either 8" tart tray, or a mini tart pan) then freeze for 30 minutes. Freezing the crust means I can skip the pie weights when baking the crust as it holds the shape longer. Anyway, preheat the oven to 180°C and then bake the crust for 20 minutes then remove to cool.

For the filling:

• 160ml passionfruit pulp (I used 3 regular sized passionfruits)
• 300ml cream
• 110g caster sugar
• 4 eggs

I like to prepare the passionfruit filling in advance as I find it allows the flavours to steep and it sets a lot better when you bake. Strain the passionfruit pulp and discard the seeds, then whisk the juice together with the cream, sugar and eggs in a medium sized bowl. When ready to bake, pour the filling into the baked tart crust and bake for 35 - 40 minutes (for a big tart) or 25 - 30 minutes for mini tarts. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, then refrigerate overnight or up to 2 hours so it sets beautifully. Remove from the pans when ready to serve. 

For the topping:

• 150ml double cream
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• Orange zest

Whisk the double cream until soft peaks form, add the orange juice and continue to whisk until stiff peaks have formed. Then transfer the cream into a piping bag with a tip of your choice and pipe the cream out over the top of the tarts. Finish by grating the oranges (make sure you wash those babies) over the cream. You can also just dollop the cream on top of the tarts if you don't feel like piping; what matters here is flavour, not aesthetics. 

Caramelised Garlic Quiche

I told you I was addicted! To be fair though, the last quiche that I posted, I made last month... but this time, I baked it, photographed it, ate it, and am gonna blog it. It's just that good. I've always loved garlic in my recipes, and have a special spot in my heart for roasted garlic mashed potatoes, but up until this week... I never knew I could enjoy caramelised garlic.

Also, the word caramelised has always put me off in the past. I've tried caramelising fennel, onions, and an assortment of other such root vegetables... they've all been one failure after another. I suppose this time I was just mentally prepared for all the wrong that could happen, so it worked! And ooh baby, the smell of that caramelised garlic wafting around your kitchen is hella good.

If you live in a tropical country and your body temperature just tends to run hot... you might wanna invest in a food processor with which you can create a perfect shortcrust pastry every single time. I used to suffer over these things with my hands, trying to keep them cool by always running them under water. But my crust always turned out way too hard. I got my Kenwood food processor for Christmas last year, and as a result I've been making various pastries I was always too afraid to try almost every other week!

Without further ado, here's the recipe for my Caramelised Garlic & Gruyere Quiche

Shortcrust Pastry

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 113g stick cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 4 - 5 tbsp ice cold water

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and prepare your tart pan by greasing with a light layer of butter
2. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in the food processor and blend for a moment to ensure everything has mixed
3. Then cut the butter in bit by bit and pulse after each addition until the mixture resembles coarse pebbles
4. Pour in 3 tbsp of the ice cold water and whizz until it begins to come together, pour in the remaining water gradually (I find that 4 tbsp is enough) until it looks like it does in the picture below
5. Shake the batter out onto a piece of baking paper and pat down into an oval shape, then let it sit for 30 minutes
6. When ready to bake, roll the batter out into a large circle and press into the tart pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes then remove from the oven to fill with quiche goodness

Filling the quiche:

Cheese layer: I used a block of Swiss Gruyere, and a block of mature cheddar. Grated these both and then layered them into the baked crust, leaving roughly 3/4 cup of gruyere to top the quiche with later

Caramelised Garlic

• 2 heads garlic, cloves peeled individually
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 220 ml water
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves, plus extra sprigs to use later
• 1 tsp dried/fresh thyme

1. In a small, non-stick saucepan, blanch the garlic cloves in water for up to 8 minutes (or until the water boils, then let it simmer for a bit) then drain the water and put the slightly softened garlic aside
2. Return the saucepan to the heat and heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil. When it's hot, put the garlic cloves back in and fry for roughly 3 - 4 minutes
3. Add the water and bring to a boil, then let it simmer and add the balsamic vinegar, caster sugar, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper
4. Simmer for up to 10 minutes, or until the water has reduced to just cover the bottom of the pan (and not the garlic cloves). Remove from heat and scatter over the cheese layer

Egg custard (?) mixture

• 2 eggs
• 200ml cooking cream
• Salt
• Pepper

1. Whisk all ingredients together and pour over the entire quiche mixture, then crack some extra pepper and scatter your rosemary leaves, and cover with the left over cheese. Pop into the oven, lower the temperature to 160C and bake for 45 minutes. 

Caramelised garlic is the new white meat in my books, my friends, LOL. This beautifully sweet and complex flavour, with the smoky gruyere cheese and the almost floral taste of rosemary... all soaked in a giant omelette, it's just my version of a love song to my family. 

I really hope some of you try this recipe, it takes roughly 30 minutes to prepare and you'll have it ready for a nice Sunday lunch! So so so so soooo beautiful, guys. 

Have a good weekend, much love x

Quiche me!

I haven't updated in ages! I don't even know where the time has gone since my last post, what was it... a month ago! Yonks! I don't know why I'm shouting everything in my head, nor do I know why I started saying "yonks" today. It's like one of those things you do ironically, then it just becomes a bloody embarrassing habit you can't kick.

Totes. That's another one that stuck on me.

Quiche is the other thing. I never used to eat quiche, but lately it seems like the only thing I order when I go out to eat! There we go, there's another exclamation point. But, seriously, how did I not love quiche until recently?

I've been saving this recipe in my bank for a while now, mostly as I've been far too caught up with being a functional and social human being that I haven't had time to just sit at my desk and type this post up. LIES! I've been scrolling down my T dash for days on end and can't seem to tear myself away. That, my friends, is the ugly truth.



Let's quit with the crazy (as if) and get to the recipe:

Roasted Peppers, Eggplant, and Fennel Quiche

• Ready-to-roll puff pastry (*gasp* ready to roll? Whatever, ain't nobody got time for dat)
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese 
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, sliced
• 2 medium sized eggplants, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Olive oil
• Red wine vinegar
• Salt & pepper
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced
• Butter
• 3 large eggs
• 150ml milk
• 4 tbsp double cream
• 1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes

1. Follow the instructions for the pastry, and roll into a prepared pie dish
2. Brush with melted butter, then cover the base with shredded cheese (you can use any cheese, I just happened to have Parm on hand that day though I prefer stronger cheeses)
3. Preheat the oven to 180C, toss the sliced peppers, eggplants, and garlic into a baking tray and coat with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables for roughly 15 minutes in the oven, or until the aroma fills your belly with rumbling hunger
4. While waiting for the other vegetables to cook, cook the sliced fennel in a knob of butter and olive oil until soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste as you cook. 
5. When all the vegetables are ready, just mix them up together and layer into the waiting crust over the cheese, and add tomatoes
6. Then in a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and double cream to create the custard. Pour this mixture over the vegetables, and cover with more cheese
7. Pop into the oven and bake for 180C/fan for 30 minutes or until the custard has set. Cool on a wire rack and serve with fresh lettuce and a balsamic glaze dressing

Much love, and I'll try to be more disciplined with the posts! 

xx Nabs

Nigella's Raspberry Lemongrass Trifle

Being assigned the task of bringing dessert to a barbecue in the perpetually hot climate of this Equatorial country in which we reside is one of the most stressful things that has ever happened to me. A good sort of stress, but stress all the same.

I mean, the thought of how hot the barbecue itself will get, plus how thirsty people will be, and then topped off with the thought of having the oven on at all... Rh'llor, save us all, cos I can't take this heat.

Trifles. Cold, creamy, and tart trifles are the answer for warm weather, friends. I mentioned before that my mother's go-to dessert to prepare is a fruit trifle, with fresh fruits, custard, and a jelly topping. But in keeping with my new year, new things resolution, I decided to try out a different sort of trifle.

Nigella Lawson's Raspberry Lemongrass trifle, to be exact. I remember sitting through a Nigella Bites marathon on the Food Channel a few months ago, and this was one of the recipes she featured. I coveted it from the get go, and saved the recipe in my little red recipe notebook, but only pulled it out now.

It's amazing, and I swear you have to try it. It's amazing. I had no idea what I was missing out on until I tried this recipe. If you can get your hands on store-bought trifle sponges, or a light pound cake, or finger biscuits, then do so for the base of this recipe. If, like me, you are unable to find an acceptable store-bought sponge, then make your own! Recipe below.

Trifle Sponge

• 4 eggs, separated
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 100g all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 200C, line two baking trays with parchment paper, and prepare a piping bag
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 2 tbsp of the sugar. Continue whipping until stiff and glossy
3. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks, remaining sugar, and vanilla until fluffy and pale
4. Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside. Fold half of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in flour, then fold in the remaining egg whites
5. Fold in the melted butter at the very end, don't beat the batter
6. Transfer batter into a piping bag, snip off the end, and pipe out short lines onto the baking trays. Be sure to space them evenly, as these tend to spread out (especially if the batter's been over-mixed)\
7. Bake for 8-9 minutes, take them out and cool completely before using for trifle, or store in an airtight container until ready for use

Nigella's Raspberry Lemongrass Trifle

• 600ml water
• 400g caster sugar
• 60g lemongrass, cut in half lengthwise)
• 350g frozen raspberries, thawed (or is it thawed frozen raspberries?)
• Trifle sponges (Nigella says 16, but I just used however many needed to soak up all the jam)
• 3 tbsp limoncillo (Again, Nigella uses vodka, but I didn't have any on hand)
• 600ml single cream
• 8 egg yolks (save the egg whites for macarons!)
• 500ml double cream
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1. Lemongrass syrup: Make a syrup with the water and 325g of the sugar in a saucepan by bringing them to a boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat, and add the lemongrass and allow to infuse for at least half an hour. Next time I will let it infuse for a lot longer, or add more lemongrasss
2. Strain the syrup into a jug, and keep the saucepan with the lemongrass inside aside
3. Raspberry jam: Measure out 200ml of the syrup into a medium sized saucepan, add the raspberries, and bring to a roiling boil. Let it thicken, and mash the fruit to make a "jam-like consistency". Let it cool slightly, then dunk the trifle sponges in and then arrange at the bottom of your trifle bowl. I soaked up all the jam. Add the limoncillo or vodka, or skip this bit if you don't want any alcohol. Then pour about 100ml of the lemongrass syrup over that to let it absorb all the flavour, and reserve the rest
4. Custard: Heat the single cream in the pan with the lemongrass until almost boiling, then take it off the heat and infuse for 15 minutes (again, I'll probably add fresh lemongrass instead of reusing). In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining sugar (75g), then slowly whisk in the cream. THEN, put the custard back into the cleaned out pan, and stir over the heat until the custard thickens, then pour it over the trifle sponges and let it cool, or refrigerate until ready to serve. 
5. Cream topping: Just before serving, or before you leave for the barbecue, whisk the double cream and vanilla in a cold bowl (I usually pop my kitchenaid mixing bowl and whisk into the freezer for about 5 minutes before I whip cream), until it thickens, then cover the custard layer
6. Caramelized lemongrass syrup topping: Heat 250ml of the lemongrass syrup in a saucepan until it turns a golden brown, then drizzle over the cold whipped cream topping to decorate

One of my friends, Nisha, finishing up the very last bit of trifle

This is by far the best trifle I have ever made (and tasted), though I have some notes of improvement that I plan on implementing in the next attempt of it (which, frankly, is probably going to be as soon as tomorrow). Such a great recipe, thanks, Nigella! 

x Nabs

Ice and Chips

This particular kitchen experience was rife with mistakes and accidents, yet we (I don't know why, but the Royal Plural seems to work here) always rally through and make the best of things! I suppose a little back story is in order...

*insert psychedelic twisty flashback intro scene here*

A few weeks ago my good friend, and soon to be professional colleague, Jimmy (not his real name, we started calling him that because he looked a lot like Jimmy Neutron back in college), mentioned that he was going to the States for a few weeks to visit his girlfriend... and me, being the shameless person I am, asked if he would be willing to bring something back for me.

I have been coveting this Kitchenaid Ice-cream Maker attachment for a few months now, only shipping to my side of the world would have taken out a healthy chunk of cash from my already dwindling bank balance. So when J said he was going to the States, I jumped on the chance to have him bring it back for me!

During the weeks he was there, I checked my order status on Amazon daily (even after it told me that the item had been shipped... just to make sure that I had bought it), read up on countless ice-cream recipes, and fantasized about all the different flavour combinations I could whip up.

Except... here's a huge FLAW in the fantasy: the Kitchenaid Ice-cream Maker attachment, which specifies that it is compatible with EVERY Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, neglected to mention that there is a difference between US Kitchenaid stand mixers and European Kitchenaid stand mixers. So my attachment's dasher won't fit onto my stand mixer because I have this ridonkulous metal cup thing there!

I am only somewhat mollified by the knowledge that I am not the first person to make this mistake, and unfortunately I will not be the last.

*back to the future twisty scene insert*

I was left standing in front of my mixer, dumbfounded, with a bowl of really delicious custard that was ready to be made into ice-cream! I had a little sulk and jiggled the mixer for a bit before resolving to bin the entire bowl of custard, when my mother came by and shook me out of it. She basically told me to stop whinging and just make something out of the custard, as it really was quite nummeh.

With a heavy heart, I scooped the custard into my Ikea silicon ice trays and popped them in the freezer. Then I made a chocolate cake to make myself feel better (you see now why I am no longer a size 8?).

Vanilla Raspberry Ice-cream 

• 5 egg yolks, beaten
• 100g caster sugar
• 375ml skim milk
• 375ml heavy cream
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cornflour (optional, for a thicker texture)
• 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed

1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and simmer, but do not let it boil!
2. Pour the vanilla into the heated milk and allow to infuse for 20 minutes
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until it thickens
4. Slowly pour the milk into the egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly, then pour the mixture back into the pan and heat gently - seriously, don't boil it - stirring until the custard thickens, then leave it to cool
5. When it has cooled completely, stir in the cream until in thickens, then stir in the raspberries
6. Transfer to a chilled bowl to refrigerate overnight
7. Here's where we part ways: I had to pop my mixture into ice trays the next morning, but if you have an ice-cream maker, go ahead and churn/freeze according to the instructions

In the picture above, I whipped up a batch of Aunty Rosa's Chocolate Cake (recipe to come), scattered chocolate chips over the top of the batter and baked thin square layers for about 12 minutes.

I find that however badly it sucked to find that my attachment wasn't compatible, this custard recipe was delicious!
Hope you lot with ice-cream makers enjoy this one.
x Nabs

Fruit Trifle

If I had to choose one pudding to be my mother's signature, it would probably be her fruit trifle. It's her favourite to eat, and also to make, and for as long as I can remember whenever we have dinner parties, there would be a trifle waiting in the fridge.

Last Sunday, we had a group of close family friends over at the house for dinner (coincidentally, one of whom happens to be my personal Martha Stewart - Aunty Rosa), and in addition to the strawberry cakes (Yes, plural!) I had baked the previous night, mum wanted me to take a shot at preparing the fruit trifle.

Now, you have no idea what kind of pressure this put on me. This is her special dish! The fruit trifle is the one dessert that she loves above all else! And yet, me being me, I couldn't leave a recipe well enough alone, and had to switch things up.

So I set out to make a fruit trifle, only with completely different components. The only thing I maintained was mum's custard recipe (which is lush), which is daunting as hell, because not only have I never built a trifle before, but it was also my first time making a custard. GARH.

Contrary to the picture of our cast of characters posted above, I didn't use all-purpose flour (it's only there for how cute the package looks). The recipe calls for cornflour instead. Read on, my friends!

Mum's Custard

• 4 cups of milk
• 5 heaped tbsp cornflour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• pinch of salt (optional)

1. Heat up 3 1/2 cup of milk in a saucepan and bring slowly almost to the boil
2. While milk is heating, add remaining 1/2 cup milk gradualy to the cornflour, then stir in the beaten eggs
3. When milk is hot, pour a dash into the cornflour mixture to temper the eggs, stir constantly
4. Pour the entire mixture into the saucepan and cook slowly, stirring constantly to avoid lumps, until the mixture thickens (this should take 3-5 minutes)
5. Add sugar and vanilla (I prefer to add the vanilla with the eggs in step 2), cook a moment longer
6. Pour over the sponge cake, biscuits, or whatever you wish to pour your custard on

*If you wish to use the custard as a pouring sauce to accompany another dish, halve the quantities given above, and use only 2 level tablespoons of cornflour

So I layered finger biscuits at the bottom of my bowls (I made 2 trifles). In the first bowl, I poured the custard directly over the biscuits, and in the second set I layered my sliced fruits over the biscuits and then poured the custard over. This is entirely up to you. For this round, I chose to include strawberries, blueberries and mango. Mum usually prefers peaches, pineapples and mango.

In addition to the fruits, biscuits and custard, I also prepared raspberry jelly. I just used some instant gelatin for this, follow the instructions on the box and then pour it at any stage of the trifle layering process. Mum prefers to use cherry flavoured jelly, but I've got a weakness for raspberry (not only does it taste beautiful, the colour is also so much more attractive).

When you're done with the layering, let the trifles cool to room temperate for about 10 minutes before popping them in the fridge. When it's ready to serve, you may add a final layer of whipped cream on top if you so desire (I definitely do desire).

Great pudding for hot weather, and is ridiculously easy to assemble, so this is definitely one for the fridge door.

x Nabs