Deliciously Tangy Lemon Meringue

This is a crowd pleaser when it comes to deserts. A thin pâte sucrée (sweet pastry) crust with a delicate lemon curd middle and a light crisp but gooey in the centre meringue topping. This dessert is perfect after any meal, despite all the layers it is light and very refreshing, with a lovely sharpness of the lemon complimenting the sweet of the meringue.  There are many elements to this in comparison to a knock together pud, but have patience, it's well worth it! 

So here you are guys, the recipe....

Ingredients

Pâte Sucrée:

90g soft butter

65g caster sugar

3 free range egg yolks

200g plain flour

Lemon Curd:

2 lemons (grated zest and juice)

3tbs cornflour

275ml water

50g caster sugar

3 egg yolks

40g unsalted butter

Meringue:

3 egg whited

175g caster sugar

Preheat oven- 190°C

Method

1. For the pâte sucrée, Cream the butter and sugar together, add the yolks one at a time and then proceed to add the flour to make a dough. Knead the dough until smooth (this takes moments), wrap it up in some clingfilm and bob it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and put the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out depending on what size you want the tart or tartlets, I personally like thin pastry so the thinner the better. Once the pastry is in it's case or cases use a fork and prick the base of the pastry and bake on a high shelf. Take out of the oven and leave to cool when golden brown. 

3. Turn the oven down to 150°C.

4. It's time to make the curd. Add the sugar and corn flour into a bowl and add a small amount of water to make it into a smooth paste. Pour the rest of the water into a sauce pan along with lemon zest. bring it to the boil. Gradually pour the water and lemon onto the corn flour mix and stir until smooth. 

5.Return mix into the saucepan and stir gently. Allow it to simmer for around 1 minute still stirring gently (you'll notice the change). remove from the heat and beat the egg yolks and lemon juice in to the hot mix.

6. Add the curd into the cool pastry case(s).

7. Now to top it off.  Meringue! In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with a large whisk (the  larger the whisk and bowl the quicker!) until the whisk forms peaks. Still whisking add the sugar a quarter at a time until the mix is smooth and glossy.

8. This is my favorite part! Spoon on the meringue on top of the curd, add a small amount at of mix at a time initially to ensure that any holes are covered (similar to a baked Alaska) then add the rest of the mix and make it look beautiful!

9. Pop the tart into the oven and remove when the tart has turned a pale beige and when tapped it sounds hollow. The cooking time will obviously vary depending on the size. If you have a brulee torch lightly tickle the tops but be careful it can burn incredibly easily!

ENJOY!

Hot or Cold

Summer Berry Soufflé

Lovely Summer Berry Souffle

Hello!


With this being my THIRD BLOG! I thought I would do pud, everyone loves a good pud. I will be doing a summer berry soufflé
.
This takes no time at all to make and no time at all to cook.
This is a perfect end to a heavy meal as it is light and refreshing. Those of you who shy away from making a soufflé don't! Its is easypeasy once you know how, the truth is there is nothing to know, just take your time and enjoy making it, you are bound to wow all of your friends with this tangy treat.

Preheat oven to 190oC
Ingredients
300g mixed summer berries (I would use frozen, but you can use fresh)
1tbs corn flour
3tbs creme de cassis
3 egg whites
100g caster sugar

Method
1) Bob you berries in a pan and heat gently until they are soft.
2)While your berries are going about their business, in a separate bowl add the creme de cassis and corn flour get ride of any lumps the best that you can, if you're struggling to get rid of the lumps pour some of the berry juice into the mix, this should help get rid of the lumps
3) Add the corn flour mix to the berries and stir, proceed to put the mixture through a sieve and collect the juices, put them to one side and let the come down in temperature.
4) Whisk the egg whites until they have stiff peaks, if you have any form of electric whisk USE IT! unless you want a numb arm.
5) Once you have stiff peaks add the sugar a little at time and keep whisking until the mixture is smooth and shiny.
6)Pour the now cooler berry mix in the the egg whites and carefully fold it in.
7) Spoon the mixture into ramekins and very carefully smooth the tops down and then wipe the top of the ramekin with you finger to neaten it up.

Going, going...

Gone!

       

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Delicious Pizza Dough

Hello Bloggers!

My next recipe is for delicious pizza dough, I have tried many different doughs but this one is fantastic and simple!

Yes you do have to have a bit more time on your hands for this but I think it is worth it! So here you go guys the ultimate pizza dough!

Makes 6 medium pizzas
Ingredients

• 1kg White bread flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 14g of dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon of caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 650 ml of lukewarm water

Method

1) Sieve the flour and salt onto a flat surface and make a well.
2) Add the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a couple of minutes and pour it into the well.
3) Pour some of the liquid into the well and with a fork whisk the mix in slowly, gradually adding more and more liquid and drawing in more and more flour.
4)When the dough starts coming together, using floured hands knead the dough until it's smooth and springy. Place the dough into a floured bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and bob it in a warm place. Leave for and hour until it has doubled in size.
5) Knock out the dough by kneading it.
6) If you don't want to use the dough straight away you wrap it in clingflim and put it in the freezer or fridge depending when you want it. Otherwise roll it out 15-20 minutes before you want it.

Tasty Tips- In the pizza above the topping is made up of a mix herb tomato sauce, prosciutto, pepper, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella. IT WAS YUMMY! But you can do anything.

To cook it heat your oven to 220°C and it will take about 20 minutes to cook. Once it's cooked garnish with fresh basil.

Let me know how you got on and what you put on your pizza :) 

Yummy Homemade Pasta

Hello and welcome fellow bloggers, this is my first EVER blog!
I will be talking about homemade pasta, I will be starting with just a simple pasta dough and I will be referring back to it in future blogs.
Although I had made it prior, I was taught how to make proper pasta in Florence, in a wonderful cookery school called Giglio Cooking school with a wonderful chef called Marcella Ansaldo. Her way of cooking is about feel, what Marcella doesn't know about food isn't worth knowing!

I have made farfalle pasta for today, this is because it is sooooo simple but looks so good! Farfelle means butterflies in Italian, it doesn't take much imagination as to why! Every pasta has it sauce, farfelle pairs well with mild ingredients like fish and vegetables.

Farfalle for 4 friends

Pasta Dough
'00' Flour- 400g
Eggs- 4
Extra Virgin Olive Oil- 2 tbls
Pinch of salt

1) Sieve together the flour and salt on a flat surface make a well, then add the eggs and the oil.

2) Using a fork mix the egg and  oil, slowly incorporating the flour to avoid lumps if you feel that the dough is dry enough then stop adding flour. Knead the dough for 5 minutes to stretch the gluten make it into a ball and wrap in cling film, then set aside to rest for 30-40 mins. Let the dough do its thing.

3) I use a pasta roller to do my pasta however you can use a rolling-pin (or wine bottle) but you may struggle to get the pasta as thin as you may need it. Start off by having the roller on the widest setting, flatten the pasta with the palm of your hand then pass it through the roller. if it comes apart a little DO NOT FEAR! just sprinkle flour fold and pass though again. Continue doing this on the same level until the pasta has lost the very moist touch then keep going down a level so the roller get tighter and tighter.

4) By this point you will have a long stretch of pasta dough lie it down on a flat surface and with either a pattered wheel cutter or a knife cut rectangles out.

5) This is the part I love, taking the middle of the rectangle (landscape side) with your thumb and index finger in squeeze them together.

6) If you want eat it straight away bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta, keep and eye on it as it will take moments to cook. If you're not going to eat it straight away bob it in the freezer on a tray, once it is frozen put it into a sandwich bag then put it back on the freezer, this avoid them sticking together. This is delicious mixed in with a wild mushroom sauce.

Handy Hint- When you are making the pasta, once to put it on a surface it is useful to flour it, use semolina instead of flour as it cooks better then flour.

Most importantly..... ENJOY!

Please comment on how you got on :)