Friday 22 May 2015

Cheese tart!

Cheese and dough is a combination I just cannot resist... Cheese tarts, cheese pies, cheese pockets, cheese pizza... I can go on and on!

This time I made a simple cheese tart. Easy, tasty and rather quick!

Cheese Tart
tart crust adapted from here

200gr AP flour
100gr whole wheat flour
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
225gr butter
2 to 4 tbsp cold water

filling:
2 eggs
200gr feta cheese crumbled
yellow cheese grated
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 small green onions chopped

* Combine the flours, oregano and onion powder.
*Add the butter and mix with your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal.
* Add 2-3 tbsp of cold water and mix to form a dough. If it looks dry add a little more water.

Note: I have done this process many times in my mixer with the paddle attachment and the dough is fine. Just don't overbeat.

* Place the dough on parchment paper and roll to a circle or a rectangle, depending on the tart dish you will use.
* Lay the dough on the buttered and floured tart dish and press the bottom and the sides.
* Put it in the fridge for 20-25 min.
* In the mean time, make the filling. Just combine everything and mix with an egg beater.
* Preheat the oven to 200oC, take the tart out of the fridge and prick it with a fork all over the bottom. Add pie weights and bake for 8-10 min.

Note: For pie weights I use old rice and old beans. I cover the bottom with cling film, add the weights and bake. When the beans are cold, I put them back in a bag for reuse.

* Remove from the oven, reduce temp to 180oC, add the filling and bake for about 25 - 30 min, until the filling is done.
* Allow it to cool before you cut a piece.

Note: I never wait... I eat it while it's hot. Right then and there. I just cannot wait to dig in..  And then the next day I tell myself, that I should have waited because it is so tasty cold (room temp)....





What I love about this tart is that you can make it any time you want only with what is in your fridge... Different cheeses, left over meat and chicken, peppers, zucchini, olives... Really it is so versatile!

And if you don't like whole wheat flour, just put in all AP!



Louise!

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Strawberry cake!

Strawberries! So good for you! And they are in season, too!

Strawberry cake is a classic, that I actually had never made before.
I baked two variations. One with fresh strawberry puree and one with strawberry flavoured jello, just to see the difference.

I will not even show you the fake strawberry one. Awful! I (we all) hated the taste.

The one with the fresh strawberries, though.... Ah, that is another thing.... Perfect!

I used my vanilla cake recipe, in which I simply added about 250gr of strawberries, in a form of coarse puree, not very smooth that it, because I wanted these little bits of strawberry to appear!





The glaze is very simple. Just confectioner's sugar, 1 tbsp of milk and 2 tbsp of strawberry puree, all mixed in a rather runny consistency.

Beautiful!

Louise

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Mug Cake in the microwaves!

There are times when you want to eat some cake, but you are not in the mood to make a large one and use the oven and your mixer and make a mess in the kitchen.
Well, for those times, you have your microwave oven!

This is the base, but I adapt it each time to my mood.

Microwave mug cake for one

1 egg
3 tbsp white sugar
40gr all purpose flour
15gr butter melted
1 tsp vanilla

* Mix everything together with a hand mixer.
* Pour into a buttered mug.
* Bake in the microwave oven for 1 1/2 min in medium, then check the centre.
* If it is still runny, bake for 1/2 min more and check again. It has to be tender but not runny.

This is a chocolate cake, for which I added to the above recipe:
15gr cocoa powder
20gr chocolate chips
I poked it in the middle and added caramel sauce, while hot!

This is a lemon cake, for which I added:
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
no vanilla
(I know it sounds a bit too lemony, but I want my lemon cakes to taste lemony!) .

Louise