Fruits of the Forest Tarts

My Official Treat Taster requested some fruit in pastry and I was rather disheartened. I don’t care for berries or pastry, but what can you do? If I single-handedly devoured all the desserts I make on my own I probably wouldn’t be able to fit out of the front door. Then I wouldn’t be able to go to the store to pick up chocolate to do more baking! Huh, looks like the problem would sort itself out. But anyway, I’m rambling.

I was fully-prepared to give up all of these tarts but knew I had to at least try a little bit of one. As soon as the buttery crust, tart berries and sweet Jello hit my taste buds I was immediately converted.

This is my fool-proof short crust pastry recipe that I’m sharing with you. I can’t even remember where I got it from, all I know is that it works every single time and everyone who tries it loves it. You don’t need any ‘all-butter pie crust’ recipes when you’ve got this baby.

Lard is easy to get a hold of in Europe, but I’m not so sure about in the US. I know you guys have shortening, but that’s derived from plant fat, not animal fat, right? Someone give it a try and let me know if it works! 

If you don’t fancy being adventurous, you could always use your favourite pastry recipe, or even cut out all the work and use pre-made pastry cases.

Fruits of the Forest Tarts

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

1/4 cup cold lard, cubed

1-2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cups prepared blackcurrant Jello

1 1/2 cups various fruits of the forest

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Recipe

1. Get started by preparing the pastry. Stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Rub in the butter and lard with your fingertips until you’re left with fine crumbs.

2. Stir in 1 tablespoon of water and mix until combined. Add more water a few drops at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll the dough into a ball, drop it in a plastic bag and place in the fridge to firm up.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the tart filling. Sift the powdered sugar into the prepared Jello and whisk until fully dissolved. Stir in the fruits and place in the fridge until thick but not yet set. The idea is that the filling is thick enough so it won’t leak into the pastry, but not so thick that it has set.

4. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out so it’s around 1cm/2” thick. Using a large cutter, cut out 4 circles and use them to line 4 small tart dishes. Any leftover pastry can be used to make mini tarts.

5. Prick the base of the tarts all over and place in the oven. My tarts were 10cm/4” round and took 25 minutes to bake. The mini ones took only 15 minutes. When golden brown, remove from the oven and leave to cool fully on a wire rack.

6. When the Jello is thick but not set and the pastry cases are cool, pour the filling into the cases. Place the tarts in the fridge for a couple of hours until the Jello has fully set. 

I foolishly took two of these tarts out of the fridge to bring to room temperature before eating. When I was ready for dessert I didn’t find a beautiful fruity creation, I found a soggy mess. Lesson – store these tarts in the fridge or the Jello will melt and go everywhere.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Tart

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart - all the smooth, creamy, rich goodness of a cheesecake complemented by sweet, buttery pastry and a velvety chocolate ganache. What's not to like?

Excuse the sharp, jagged centre. I froze the tart to speed-up setting time!

Summer's almost here and  in Tenerife the shops and markets are already piling up punnets of fresh, juicy strawberries just waiting to be smashed with ice and made into strawberry margaritas, delicately chopped and placed on top of a delightful pavlova, or finely sliced and used to decorate this fresh Strawberry Cheesecake Tart. 

I love cheesecake and can't get enough of it, but my Official Treat Taster can take it or leave it. Some things he would give his left and right arms for, though, are buttery, flaky pastry and sweet, ruby-red strawberries. Combine all of that with one of my favourite things to make with chocolate - ganache - and I was on to a winning recipe.

Be warned - when you make this tart, you won't be able to stop and just one piece. There are only two of us at home, so every time we had just a small slice each, the rest of the tart would be sitting on the counter, watching and waiting for us to come back for "just one more slice". 

It was never just one more slice.

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart

Ingredients

Crust

100g flour

Pinch of salt

50g sugar

25g butter, cubed

25g lard, cubed

2tbsp cold water

Chocolate Ganache

100g chocolate

80g cream

Filling

250g cream cheese

200g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

Strawberries sliced length-ways

Recipe

1. Begin by making the crust. Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and combine the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and lard and rub in with your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. 

2. Starting off with just 1tbsp, pour in tiny amounts of water and mix until a good dough forms.

3. Knead the dough for a few minutes on a lightly-floured surface before rolling out to about a 1cm thickness. Sprinkle flour over your tart pan then cover it with your dough. Trim the edges and try to make it as neat as possible.

4. Blind bake the tart crust for 20 minutes or until golden-brown.

5. Whilst the crust is baking, make the chocolate ganache. Break the chocolate into squares and place them in a bowl.

6. Heat the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat and pour over the chocolate when the cream begins to boil. Leave for 5 minutes before mixing together well.

7. Spread the chocolate ganache over the base of the tart and refrigerate until set.

8. To make the filling, mix together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Spread on top of the chocolate ganache and top with the sliced strawberries.



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Come and join the fun!

Halloween Jam Tarts

Last week I decided to make a start on my Halloween baking. I know it's only September, but October 31st will be here before we know it. I played it safely and used a favourite recipe of mine which I've made many times and jazzed it up with Halloween decorations. 

I was so worried that my oven was going to completely destroy my works of art that I took a picture of the raw pastry before I put them in the oven, just in case. Fortunately, the tarts and the decorations kept their shapes really well - even though one unlucky ghost drowned in jam and a spider received a few broken legs.

I fashioned spiders, ghosts, ovals with 'BOO' written in them and witches hats and broomsticks out of the same pastry used for the rest of the tarts. The spiders definitely took the longest and were the most fiddly, but I think it was definitely worth it. 

The spiders were made by rolling a ball of pastry, attaching pastry legs, a cocktail stick to carve a mouth, and poppy seeds for the eyes and fangs. For the ghosts, I rolled out an oval of pastry and dragged my fingers down it so the bottom thinned out - the eyes were simply holes. I carved the word 'BOO' by dotting with a cocktail stick and the witch tarts were made just by rolling pastry into the desired shapes.

This recipe makes 12 jam tarts.

Ingredients

200g flour

70g lard

50g butter

Pinch of salt

50g sugar

2 tbsp water

Various jams

Recipe

1. Heat the oven to 180C and grease a very shallow muffin tin.

2. Combine the flour, salt and sugar. 

3. Chop the butter and lard into small cubes and add to the flour. Rub the fats into the flour with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

4. Add a few drops of water at a time until the mixture forms a good dough. You should need somewhere between 1tbsp and 2tbsp.

5. Knead the dough before rolling it out and use a cutter to cut out circles and place in the muffin tins. Tidy the edges of the pastry so they're neat. Put the remaining pastry to one side.

6. Place very small amounts - between a teaspoon and tablespoon - of your chosen jam, curd or marmalade in each tart.

7. Make decorations out of the remaining pastry and place on top of the tarts.

8. Place in the oven until golden brown - about 20 minutes.