Mini Fruit Tartlets

These are so yummy, and all they are is sweet paste, pastry cream and fruit. I decorated mine with berries as you can see!

Firstly get your moulds and grease if needed. Then line your moulds with the sweet paste. There is a recipe here if you need it.
Then blind bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until hard around the edges, then take the paper and baking beans out and cook for a further 5 - 10 mins, until the centre is hard to the touch and the pastry golden but not too dark.

Whilst leaving them to cool, you can make your pastry cream.Here is the recipe:

500ml milk
100g sugar
100g egg yolks (about 4)
A drop of vanilla essence

Place 1/2 the sugar with the milk and bring to the boil. Place the rest of the sugar with the egg and beat till creamy. Add the flour. Pour the milk over the egg/flour mixture and mix. Put back on the heat and stir all the time, bringing the mixture back to boiling point. You can do this before or after you do your pastry cases, but you need to leave this to cool as well. If there is loads left over you can cover and refrigerate and use within the next couple of days.

Once your pastry cream and pastry cases are cool, pipe the pastry cream into the cases, or just spoon it in. But if the pastry cream is going to be on show then it is best to pipe as it looks neater. Decorate however you like, with any fruit you like! And then glaze with an apricot glaze, to give it a shine. This is just apricot jam, with a little bit of water, heated and then gently brushed over the fruit with a pastry brush.




I also made some lemon tarts, which were just filled with lemon curd, dredged with icing sugar, and then decorated with candied lemon peal.

Roulade

This is my strawberry and hazelnut roulade. To get the recipe click here. Just change the kiwi's for strawberries!

Mini Apple Doughnuts With Toffee Apple Sauce

Mmmm mm mm, these were delicious!

Ingredients (this makes quite alot of dough but can be put in the fridge and used within the next few days)

1 lb 8oz Bread Flour
3 oz Melted Butter
1.5 oz Yeast
1/2 tsp A.D.D
1 1/2 Eggs
3 oz Sugar
11 oz (Approx) Warm Milk (might need a little more)

Apple Puree
3-4 Cooking Apples, Peeled, Cored And Diced
Sugar to taste
Pinch of Cinnamon
1 oz Butter

Toffee Apple Sauce
2 Cooking Apples, Peeled, Cored And Diced (small)
150g Soft Brown Sugar
150g Double Cream
75g Butter


Method

Dough - In a mixing bowl place the sieved flour, A.D.D and sugar. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Add the melted butter and the egg to the flour. If you are using a machine use a dough hook, if not then just mix with a spoon or your hand. Once all mixed, add the warm milk with the yeast in, gradually until a dough is formed. Knead well. Then prove until double in size.
Once proved, knock back (knead) and then shape them. Place on a floured tray, and then prove again. Do them half the size you want them as they will double in size.

Apple Puree - Sweat the apples and butter in a pan. Add the sugar and cinnamon and cook until pureed. Blend in a blender to get rid of any lumps.

Toffee Apple Sauce - Sweat the apples and butter. Then add the sugar, mix well on the heat. Once mixed, add the cream and cook out for a little while.


Cooking the Doughnuts - Place in a fryer at 175 degrees. Turn over once, and when both sides are golden, drain off.

Make a hole on one side of the doughnut, (i used a pen with the tip taken out) And put your puree in a Piping bag, with a small nozzle and squeeze into your doughnut until it squirts out the top, wipe with your finger.




Drizzle your sauce on the plate,and place the doughnuts on top, sprinkle with icing sugar. Or you can decorate and arrange how you like.

Ginger Kisses....Mmmm Ginger

It was my mums birthday on Saturday, so i made her some ginger kisses. I got the recipe from my 'cookies' book by Pippa Cuthbert + Lindsay Cameron Wilson. They were absolutely delicious and the biscuits were moist and melted in the mouth just like they should!

Makes 20 -24

Ingredients

250 g butter, softened

115 g icing sugar, sieved

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tsp ground ginger

225 g plain flour

150 g cornflour

For The Filling

250 g mascarpone

50 g stem ginger, finely chopped

1 tbsp stem ginger syrup

50 g demerara sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Line baking trays with baking parchment. In a large bowl beat the butter until pale and creamy. Gradually add the icing sugar, beating well after each addition until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well combined. If the mixture stars to curdle, then add a tablespoon of the flour. In a separate bowl combine the ginger, flour and cornflour. Sift the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Don't worry if the mixture looks quite gooey, it does, but once you start rolling in your hands it's fine. Roll into equal sized balls (about the size of a teaspoon) and place on your prepared baking trays. Dab your fork into flour before pressing down your biscuits, because otherwise it is very sticky and messy! Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and lightly golden. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

While the biscuits are cooling prepare the filling. You just combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, mix thoroughly and spread onto half of your biscuits, then place the remaining biscuits on top.

Lemon Tart

For this recipe you need 1 flan case lined with sweet paste and par-baked. Sweet Paste Recipe

For the filling:

5 eggs

2 lemons, zest and juice

2oz sugar

1/4 pint double cream 1/2 whipped

Method

Beat the eggs and sugar, then add the juice and zest of the lemon, mix together and then carefully fold in the half whipped cream.Pour into your flan case and bake at about 180 till lightly coloured and firm to the touch.Sprinkle with sugar and use a blowtorch or oven to caremilise the sugar. Decorate how you like :)

Anthony Worrell Thompson

We all got excited when we saw a celebrity chef roaming the corridors of the college so i had to get his signature and a picture, lol :)

St Patricks Day Rhubarb + Orange Fool

We made these for the restaurant on St Patrick's Day, with chocolate Irish hats!

Ingredients

450g rhubarb

1 large orange

4 tbsp clear honey

300ml double cream

Method

Wash the rhubarb and cut into 2.5 cm pieces. Finely grate the zest from the orange and squeeze the juice. Put the rhubarb into a saucepan with the rind, strained juice and honey, stir over low heat until the honey has melted, then cook gently until the rhubarb is tender. Puree in a blender and leave to cool. Whip cream until thick. Using a metal spoon, fold the whipped cream gently but thoroughly into the fruit. Put into serving glasses and chill. Decorate and serve. Voila :)

The hats were made by piping a dark chocolate edging, and then filling with white chocolate and green coloured chocolate (just add food colouring to the white one)