Individual Summer Vegetable Tarts

I made these last week to take along to a get together hosted by Lydia Bakes.  We all have quite the sweet tooth so I thought something savoury would go down well to combat all the sugar we would be eating (check out the sweet Berry Tarts I made for the catch up too).
I made these Summer Vegetable Tarts from scratch, baking my own pastry cases, but you could easily buy some pre-made from the supermarket which would make these really quick and easy to whip up.  Also, feel free to change up the vegetable mix to include your favourites or what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
Pastry cases:
1 ⅓  cups flour
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice cold water

Vegetable filling:
1 bunch asparagus
1 kumara, chopped into chunks
½ pumpkin, chopped into chunks
12 cherry tomatoes
4 – 6 Portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
salt
pepper
200g haloumi cheese
25g feta, crumbled
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
12 small sprigs of rosemary

Method:
Pastry cases:
In a food processor, combine the flour and salt by pulsing the mixture in 2 second bursts.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix the egg with a tablespoon of water.  Add the egg to the flour mixture, pulsing again until just combined, adding the extra water if needed to bring the pastry together to forma soft dough.
On a lightly floured surface, shape the mixture into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, or until firm.
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll the pastry mixture out to about 2mm thick.  Cut out rounds from the pastry, about 6cm in diameter (I used a drinking glass for this).  Place the pastry rounds into the prepared muffin holes and press into place.  Prick the bottom of each pastry case with a fork.
Cut out squares of baking paper (or use muffin papers) and line each pastry case before filling each with uncooked rice or baking weights.  Place the prepared tin of pastry cases into the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes) to become cool again and firm up.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cases out of the oven and remove the paper and baking weights before returning to the oven for a further 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Place the vegetables (kumara, pumpkin, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms) in a couple of roasting trays, coat the vegetables in the oil, dried herbs, and salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until tender. 
While the vegetables are roasting, cut the haloumi into slices, about 0.5cm thick and fry in a frying pan until lightly golden on both sides.
Once the vegetables been roasted and taken out of the oven to cool slightly, cut the vegetables (excluding the tomatoes) into small, little chunks (0.5cm pieces).  Crumb the feta cheese and mix it together with the roasted vegetables.
Place a piece of haloumi in the bottom of each pastry case.  Top with the roasted vegetable mix.
Beat together the egg and water.  Brush the egg wash over the vegetables in the tart cases.  Bake for a further 10 minutes.  Once out of the oven, top each tart with a sprig of rosemary and a cherry tomato.

Individual Berry Tarts

Yesterday I was invited to attend a get together hosted by Lydia Bakes.  I decided to make two types of little tarts, one sweet and the other savoury (recipe to come later in the week).  These Individual Berry Tarts are delish, and really simple to make.  And, if you buy pre-made pastry tarts from the supermarket, they would be a really quick treat to assemble – perfect for Christmas day.

Ingredients:
Pastry cases:
2 ¾ cups flour
1 cup icing sugar
pinch of salt
250g unsalted butter, cold, chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Filling:
500g mixed frozen berries
½ cup icing sugar
400g marscapone cheese
½ cup brown sugar
200g white chocolate melts

Method:
Pastry cases:
In a food processor, combine the flour, icing sugar and salt by pulsing the mixture in 2 second bursts.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the egg, lemon juice, zest and vanilla essence and pulse the mixture together, about 10 times.  The mixture should look dry and crumbly.
On a lightly floured surface, shape the mixture into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, or until firm.
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll the pastry mixture out to about 5mm thick.  Cut out rounds from the pastry, about 6cm in diameter (I used a drinking glass for this).  Place the pastry rounds into the prepared muffin holes and press into place.  Prick the bottom of each pastry case with a fork. 
Cut out squares of baking paper (or use muffin papers) and line each pastry case before filling each with uncooked rice or baking weights.  Place the prepared tin of pastry cases into the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes) to become cool again and firm up. 
Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cases out of the oven and remove the paper and baking weights before returning to the oven for a further 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Place the frozen berries in a bowl and cover with the icing sugar.  Set the berries aside to defrost, mixing regularly to ensure an even coverage of the icing sugar.  If the berries taste too tart, add more icing sugar until you are happy with the level of sweetness.
Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl using 30 second bursts on high in the microwave, mixing between each burst until the chocolate is smooth.  Using a desert spoon, wave spoonful's of the chocolate over a piece of baking paper to make thin lines.  Turn the paper ninety degrees and repeat, to make a lattice effect.  Set the paper aside while the chocolate sets.
In another bowl, mix together the marscapone and the brown sugar.  Place a dollop of this mixture into each pastry case. 
Drain the berries.  Place a handful of berries on each tart. 
Break off pieces of the chocolate lattice and place into the side of each tart.
Keep the tarts refrigerated before serving.

Raspberry Tarts and a Nutrafresh Baking Pack Giveaway!

These have to be one of the quickest and easiest sweet treats I have ever whipped up and they taste like summer (thanks to Nutrafresh) – which is still a few months away here in NZ. I made them for Mel and Simon when they visited last weekend to share their pictures and stories from their travels.

Ingredients:
12 store bought pastry cases (you can make your own if you have time)
100 grams white chocolate, melted
¾ cup frozen raspberries, defrosted
1 cup cream
2 tablespoon Nutrafresh raspberry powder
1 tablespoon icing sugar
Whittakers white chocolate and raspberry chocolate for decoration


Method:
Place tart shells on a clean flat work space and evenly coat the bottom with melted white chocolate.
While your chocolate sets mash up your frozen raspberries until there are no lumps, if you want to remove seeds you can push it through a sieve.
Spoon even amounts of raspberry on top of the chocolate, as well as adding taste and creating a lovely layering effect the chocolate stops the raspberry from seeping into the shell case and making it soft.
In a mixing bowl place cream, raspberry powder and icing sugar, mix on a medium to high speed until it reaches a consistency you can pipe with.
Pipe (or spoon) cream on top of your raspberry, I used a Wilton 2D tip.
Decorate with shavings of white chocolate (I used Whittakers white chocolate and raspberry) or you could sprinkle some of the sparkling raspberry powder on top.


Now, the GIVEAWAY mentioned in the title: If you would like to make these delicious but easy tarts and are after some Nutrafresh powder to do so, you can win yourself a baking pack with EIGHT different powders simply by telling us what you create with them in the comments below, be sure to leave your email so that we can contact the winner. We have made fudge with them, Perky Nana cupcakes and one of our readers has let us know she has made blueberry marshmallows with it! There is also a heap of inspiration here on the Nutrafresh website.


We will draw a winner at 5pm, Wednesday 14 August 2013 using a random number generator.  The competition is open to NZ residents only. Help us to say a big thank you to Nutrafresh by checking them out on Facebook!

Olive, Spinach + Pine Nut Tart

This Olive, Spinach and Pine nut Tart is great with a salad and chutney.  It can be served hot cold, and travels well so it is good for a picnic.  I think this is one for true olive fans as the olives give the tart a real salty kick.  I loved it, but David (Simon’s brother) was not as enthusiastic – I ate the rest before Simon could try it!

I find photographing rectangular shaped food hard as we usually use landscape photographs on our blog and I find it hard to get the composition right.  The funny thing about editing the pictures for this post was that I noticed the subject matter kept becoming less and less as I kept playing around with more ideas, cutting pieces of the tart off and eating them.

Ingredients:
2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
200g baby spinach leaves
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives (my fave!)
125g cream cheese, cubed or broken into chunks
4 eggs
½ cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Line a 33 x 9 cm lose based tart tin with the pastry.  Trim off any excess pastry and prick the bottom all over with a fork.  Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until lightly golden.  Set aside to cool.  Drop the oven temperature down to 160°C.
In a frying pan, stir the spinach and olives over a medium heat for 1 – 2 minutes or until the spinach has just wilted.  Cool slightly.
Spoon the spinach mixture over the base of the pastry.  Layer the chunks of cream cheese over the top.  Whisk together the eggs, cream, salt and pepper, and pour over the top.  Sprinkle the pine nuts over the top.  Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes or until set.

French Potato Tart

We had an amazing Christmas last year! Shane, Max and I ended up hosting my Mum and sisters at our house for a delicious lunch, my sister Meredith did an amazing ham and I did desserts and side dishes. One of the side dishes was this potato tart, it was inspired by a recipe in the Christmas edition of Food Magazine – Meredith and I had a great time scouring magazines for food ideas. I changed it up a bit to suit our tastes and it was a hit, easy and delicious! It is the perfect addition to your table next time you are entertaining guests.

Ingredients:
2 sheets flaky puff pastry, thawed
1 egg lightly beaten
2-3 medium-large sized potatoes, thinly sliced
150 grams of spreadable cream cheese
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely cut
1/2 cup grated cheese
A drizzle of olive oil
shavings of parmesan to sprinkle on top
salt and pepper to season

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with wax paper.
Place pastry sheets on top, overlapping each other in the middle , seal with beaten egg. Fold all sides in 1cm and brush with egg and press with a fork to seal. Prick the base all over with a fork and press the fork, this will stop the pastry from rising.
Spread the cream cheese all over the base, sprinkle with half the rosemary and salt and pepper.
Place potatoes in a single layer so that they just overlap. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the grated cheese and remaining rosemary, season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden and the potatoes are cooked.
To serve cut into 8 large squares and sprinkle shaving of parmesan.

Passionfruit and Lemon Tarts with White Chocolate Ganache

I almost didn’t post this recipe today but these are so yummy I just had to share! You see I’ve made these twice over the last month or so but because they were for Christmas and a bridal shower I catered I didn’t get a chance to ‘shoot’ them the way I normally would… These are summery and a lot easier to make than I thought they might be, however, if the idea of making your own pasty cases is just too difficult or you are short on time you can use store bought cases.

Ingredients:
Pastry Cases
1 cup flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
4 tablespoons caster sugar
125 grams cold butter, cubed
3-5 tablespoons iced water

Filling
Barkers Passionfruit and Lemon Filling

White Chocolate Ganache Topping
100 grams white chocolate melts
100 mls cream

Method:
To make the pastry place listed ingredients (bar the iced water) into the bowl of your food processor. Whizz for about 30 seconds or until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Using the pulse mode begin to add the iced water until your mixture forms a dough.
Remove the dough and wrap it in cling film. For ease later in the process flatten it and work it into a disk shape before refrigerating for at least an hour.
Spray x2 12 hole mini muffin pans with oil. Ensuring that the pans are well coated.
Flour your bench or work space lightly and roll out the pastry to about 3mm in thickness.
Use a round cutter (5-7cm works best for mini muffin pans) to cut out 24 disks.
Press the disks into the base and sides of the muffin pans. Use a fork to prick the base of each of your tarts (pricking prevents the pastry from shrinking).
Place the tarts into the freezer for at least an hour before baking.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Bake tart cases for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is golden and firm. Remove from the oven and cool in tins for 5 minutes before placing on cooling racks to cool completely.
Once the cases have cooled fill with Barkers Passionfruit and Lemon filling. If you are short on time you could serve as is, maybe placing a mint leaf on top as a garnish, but if you truly want to impress top with white chocolate ganache.
To make the ganache place the white chocolate and cream in a glass bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds until the cream is hot (but not boiling), stir to combine into a smooth consistency. Refrigerate to cool and thicken, this will take at least an hour or two so is best done ahead of time.
Beat the ganache with an electric mixer until it becomes pale and fluffy so that you can pipe it.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Tart

This Peanut Butter Marshmallow Tart is just heavenly.  It tastes just as good as it looks.  It has a smooth creamy texture and the marshmallows complement the taste of the peanut butter perfectly.  I am hooked and will definitely be making this again, as it is so easy!  It is sure to impress your family and friends too.

Ingredients:
250g biscuits (I used Farmbake Chocolate Chip Fudge cookies)
125g butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk
32 white vanilla marshmallows (normal sized)
¾ cup smooth peanut butter
300ml thickened cream (the stuff that comes in the tub)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped

Method:
Place the biscuits in a food processor and process until they are a fine crumb.  Add the melted butter and mix through the biscuit crumbs until combined.  Press the biscuit mix into the base and sides of a 23cm loose-based tart tin.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
Place the milk, marshmallows and peanut butter into a saucepan over a medium / low heat and stir until the marshmallows are melted and the mixture is smooth.  Cook, stirring, for a further 5 - 10 minutes until the mixture becomes a thicker, toffee-like texture.  Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
Beat the cream and vanilla extract using an electric beater until soft peaks form.  Add a quarter of the cream mixture to the peanut butter mixture, stirring to combine.  Fold through the remaining cream until combined.  Spread the peanut butter mixture over the top of the prepared biscuit base.  Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top of the tart.
Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, or until set.  Cut into wedges to serve.

Mascarpone Tarts

I thought this might be the perfect follow on post to the Neenish Tarts Mel posted the other day as you can use the same tart casings. I got the idea from my Step-Mum Wendy who is always whipping up yummy things in the kitchen. Wendy has made these yummy treats for Shane and I several times now, they are perfect over summer topped with berries. They are super simple to make and great if you get invited to or decide to throw a BBQ at short notice. I made my first batch last weekend as part of the dessert for Max’s birthday BBQ with family in New Plymouth.

Ingredients:
400-500 grams of Mascarpone (depending on the size of the packets/tubs your supermarket carry)
½-1 tablespoon lemon zest (to your taste)
3-5 tablespoons icing sugar sifted (you can do this to taste – dependent on how sweet you want it)

Method:
Buy (like me) or bake 12 tart casings. If you want to make your own pastry cases you can make some short crust pastry using this recipe, roll it out and line 12 – 18 patty tins.  Prick the bases and chill cases for about 30 minutes before baking then at 180°C for about 10 minutes or until they are golden and crisp.
In a bowl combine mascarpone and lemon zest, gradually add the icing sugar to taste, mixing well after each addition.
Fill cases with the mascarpone mixture.
Top with berries of your choice.

These are best served fresh but can be made a few hours ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

If you are not a fan of lemon you could omit this ingredient all together or replace it with ½ a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

As a special treat over Christmas Wendy replaced the pastry casings with delicious little dark chocolate cups which is was delicious and gives you an idea of how to put a different spin on things if these become a favourite in your household and you want to change it up a bit.

White Chocolate Tart

Last night I hosted a catch up for the girls I met and made friends with while I worked in retail during my Uni years.  It was so much fun; I don’t think we have all been in the same room for about 4-5 years.  Dinner was just pizza so I decided to make us something a bit more special for dessert.  This White Chocolate Tart went down a real treat :)

The tart is actually really simple to make.  I made my pastry from scratch, but if you buy some pre-made pastry or a ready-made shell, making the tart would probably take only 10 minutes!

You will need:
1 quantity of short crust pastry (I used this recipe that I have previously posted up)
300g white chocolate (I used a mix of Whittakers white choc and Nestlé choc melts)
50g crème fraîche
100g soft butter
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Your choice of decoration

Prepare and bake your short crust pastry then allow to cool (I followed this recipe).

Chop the chocolate and melt in a bowl over the top of a pan of hot water.  Heat the crème fraîche for 10 seconds in the microwave then add to the chocolate.  Stir to combine.  Stir in the vanilla.  Gradually add and stir in the soft butter.  Pour the mixture into the pastry shell, spread smoothly and chill.

I decorated my tart with lots of berries.  I purchased a bag of frozen berries from the supermarket, defrosted them and mixed them with icing sugar to taste (fresh ones were way to expensive).  You could decorate it with just few berries and some raspberry sauce, or shards of dark chocolate would look quite fancy.

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart

This tart is super rich – you only need the tiniest slither to indulge yourself.  I made this on the same day that I attempted my whoopie pies, which worked out great as this recipe uses up the egg yolks that were left over from the pies.





Pastry:
1 ⅓ cups plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
100g unsalted butter, chopped
3 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Salted Caramel:
1 cup caster sugar
125g salted butter, chopped
⅓ cup pure cream
¼ teaspoon salt flakes

Chocolate Topping:
140g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
1 teaspoon canola oil

Place flour, sugar and cocoa in a food processor.  Add butter and process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add egg yolks and vanilla and process until a dough forms.  Shape into a disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Roll out pastry on a lightly floured bench (or between two sheets of baking paper), then ease into a 20cm loose-based tart tin.  Trim the edges and chill for at least 15 minutes.  Bake the tart base for 12 minutes, or until pastry looks dry and cooked.  Check out here for some more tips on making short crust pastry.

To make the salted caramel, dissolve the sugar in ⅓ cup of water in a saucepan on a low heat.  Increase the heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 10 – 12 minutes, until the mixture turns light toffee in colour.  Add butter and stir until the mixture comes together and comes away from the sides of the pan.  Turn off the heat and stir in half the cream.  When the bubbles subside, stir in the remaining cream and salt flakes.  Pour into the pastry case bake bake for 12 minutes, until set.  Cool completely.

To make the chocolate topping, melt the chocolate and oil in a double boiler and stir until smooth.  Spread the chocolate over the caramel tart and refrigerate until set.

I put together a little video of the tart being made.  It is my first attempt at making a video ever, so thank you Simon for pointing out the basics to me :)

Lemon Tart

I did it, I made a tart!  Twice in fact…

To make my lemon tart I had to make a short crust pastry for the base which I had never done before.  My first attempt was a bit of a fail – it shrunk away from the sides of the tart pan and didn’t really crisp up.  I thought that this may have been from my pastry being too wet and wanted to give it another go as the lemon filling was delicious and I couldn’t have it presented in stink pastry.  The second attempt was very successful; I used less water in the pastry and this made all the difference.  I had a beautiful pastry that didn’t shrink when cooked.  The next day I was watching TV and a chef was making a tart; I felt pretty proud when he rolled out his pastry to go in his tin and I could say that that was what mine had looked like!

Serves 8

1 quantity short crust pastry (see previous post)
¾ cup lemon juice
¾ cup caster sugar
¾ cup cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Using a 22cm fluted removable base tart tin or ring, prepare and bake your short crust pastry as directed in the short crust pastry post.  Reduce the temperature of the oven to 140°C.
Place the lemon juice and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the cream and eggs and stir constantly for 5 minutes over the heat ensure the mixture does not boil (remove from the heat for a bit if it gets too hot).  Pour into the tart shell through a strainer.  Bake the tart for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is just set.  Cool completely and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.