Summer Berry Tart

I stole some free time during the study break to indulge the urge to bake that’s been simmering a while now. In a break from the chocolate tradition, I chose this Summer Berry Tart, similar to the Fruit Tart I’ve made in the past, both from Jane Price’s 'Pastries and Breads'. Without the cooling kiwi slices, this taste was more mellow and laid-back.

Summer Berry Tart

Ingredients

Pastry

• 145g Cake Flour (125g all purpose/plain flour)
• 90g chilled, unsalted Butter, cubed
• 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons of iced Water

Filling

• 3 Egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Corn flour (corn starch)
• 250ml of Milk
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
• 250g of Strawberries, halved
• 125g of Blueberries
• 125g of Raspberries (couldn't find these yet, so I compensated with the other two)
• 1-2 tablespoons of baby apple gel or apricot jam

Just blueberries (:

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Lightly grease a 20cm round fluted tart tin.
To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl. Using your fingertips, run in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar. Make a well in the centre and add almost all the water. Mix with a flat-bladed knife, using a cutting action, until the mixture comes together in beads. Add more water is the dough is too dry.

Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to fit the base and side of the tin, line the tin with the pastry and trim away any excess. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Line the tin with baking paper and spread a layer of baking beads of uncooked rise evenly over the paper. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beads and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden.

To make the filling, put the egg yolks, sugar and corn flour into a bowl and whisk until pale. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until almost boiling, then remove from the heat and add gradually to the egg mixture, beating constantly. Strain back into the pan. Stir constantly over low heat for 3 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Transfer to a bow, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.

Spread the filling in the pastry shell and top with the berries. Heat the apple gel or apricot jam in a heatproof bowl in a saucepan of simmering water, or in the microwave until it liquefies. Brush over the fruit with a pastry brush. Allow to set before cutting and serving.

Chocolate and Strawberry Ganache Tart (The Deerfield Senior Dessert)

I have a week off university, and therefore decided to indulge my urge to bake. At the suggestion of my amazing friend Amanda, I chose this, the Deerfield Senior Dessert. A quick email to the very obliging people in the Deerfield Dining Hall, and I had the recipe. Unfortunately, it was in some strange archaic, arbitrary measurement system, but google fixed that. For the sake of those still metrically impaired, I’ve left those original measurements in. Converting from all purpose to cake flour was tricky too, there is a difference, but I played that by ear, as it were, and it worked!
Obtaining half a litre of fresh satisfactory strawberries was slightly harder, but I soon had those in hand too. 
The result, a sugary strawberry and chocolate nostalgic walk down Albany Road.

The Deerfield Senior Dessert

Ingredients

Chocolate Pastry Shell

• 85g (3 oz) of Unsalted Butter
• ½ a cup of Sugar
• ¾ of a teaspoon of Vanilla
• ⅛ of a teaspoon of Salt
• ⅜ of a cup of Cocoa Powder
• 85g of sifted Cake Flour (¾ cups of All-purpose Flour)

Ganaches

• ½ a cup of Double (Heavy) Cream
• 114g (4 oz) of Milk Chocolate (Bitter- or semi-sweet as per the original recipe)
• 114g (4 oz) of White Chocolate

• ½ a litre (1 pint) of fresh regular Strawberries, quartered

Method

I tried - out of habit - to use our automatic mixer, but the quantity just isn’t enough; either for the dough hook to reach, or to warrant its use. It’s better just to mix it by hand with a flexible spatula or similar utensil, but nothing as thick as a wooden spoon, or as flimsy as a whisk.

Sheer to the point of reflection

Chocolate Pastry Shell

Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth, and then add the cocoa powder and mix to a paste. Add the flour and continue to mix until the mixture forms a consistent dough. My dough had a glorious aroma and a moist but slightly crumbly texture; by this point, yours should too.

Now, here the recipe and my method diverge slightly. The recipe follows the proper way of preparing pastry, but I’ve always found my way works well enough and avoids the chance of everything going irreparably wrong, so first – the proper method.

Form the dough into a disk between two sheets of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Remove and roll the dough – between the plastic – until it is about 3mm (⅛”) thick by 28cm (11”) in diameter. Remove one piece of plastic and invert the dough into a 23-25cm (9-10”) fluted tart pan. Press the dough into the pan, then refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Bottom to top: Divine chocolate pastry base, Thick dark ganache, Temperamental white ganache, Fresh strawberries, White and milk chocolate curls.

Now, my method, which is a bit of a cheat, really, but it works for me and makes me think I’m a pastry chef. Flatten the dough into a flattish disc, don’t worry about the edges breaking. Place the disc in the middle of a 23-25cm (9-10”) fluted tart pan and press from the middle outwards, making sure the dough is evenly spread and being careful not to break through with an over-eager press. Once you’ve reached the edges of the pan, press the dough up so it covers the sides of the tart pan too. Use two fingers on the outside of each ‘flute’ against a thumb on the inside to get the dough to mould to the shape of the tart dish.
Keep working the dough outwards with your fingers until the pan is covered to a depth of about 3mm (⅛”). Use whatever dough creeps over the edge to fix any holes. To achieve a uniform base, anything with a flat bottom will do; I use the ½ cup measurement cup to press the base into shape. When you’re satisfied with the lay of the dough, use a sharp knife and a deft cut to remove any excess dough around the lip. Once you’re satisfied, refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.

Prick the bottom with a fork and then bake in a preheated oven at 190°C (375°F) until set around the edges, about 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before filling.

Ganaches

Chop or grate the dark and white chocolates (I prefer grating; it goes quicker and is infinitely more gratifying) and keep separate. Two ganaches will be made, each using half the double (heavy) cream, that is, ¼ of a cup.

For each ganache, heat the cream over a medium-high heat in a small saucepan or heavy bottomed pot. As soon as a boil is achieved, remove from the heat and add all the chocolate. Stir with a whisk until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. I waited to make each ganache until I was absolutely ready to pour them in, but once mixed, they don’t set immediately so you have a little flexibility there.

Just a little touch of nostalgia.

Assembling the Tart

Spread the dark chocolate ganache in the cooled shell, working quickly before it stiffens, and then refrigerate until it has hardened significantly – it should resist a tap with a fork. Spread the white ganache over and refrigerate until slightly set. Cover the surface with the quartered strawberries, pressing in very slightly. Beware, the strawberries can stain the white chocolate, so commit before placing each strawberry. I went for concentric circles, but I think a spiral could be quite pleasing too.
Garnish with chocolate shavings or curls and refrigerate until fully set. And you’re done! Enjoy :)

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Linzertorte

One last bit of baking from ‘Chocolate’ before university started.

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Linzertorte

Ingredients

• 230g of Hazelnuts
• 110g of Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• 100g Icing Sugar (sifted)
• 3 large Egg yolks
• 200g of Plain Flour
• ½ teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons of Grated Nutmeg
• 25g of Cocoa Powder

Raspberry Filling

• 1½ tablespoons of Corn Flour
• 5 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 600g of fresh Raspberries

Method

Toast the hazelnuts in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes or until light golden brown. If the nuts still have their skin, put them in a clean dry dish cloth and rub them together to loosen the skins. Grind the skinned nuts to a fine powder in a food processor.

Put the butter into a mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat until creamy. Add the icing sugar and beat, slowly at first, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa onto the mixture and work in using a wooden spoon. Finally add the ground nuts and work in, using your hands to bring the pastry together.

Take three quarters of the pastry and crumble it into the prepared tin. Using your fingers, press the pastry over the base and up the sides to cover the inside of the tin completely and form a layer about 1 cm thick. Chill for 15 minutes. Put the remaining pastry onto a well floured surface and roll out, slightly thinner, to a rectangle about 23 × 14 cm. Cut into strips about 1 cm wide.

Sprinkle the cornflour and sugar over the raspberries and toss gently until almost mixed. Transfer the filling into the pastry case and spread it gently and evenly.

Arrange the lattice strips over the filling, pressing any broken pastry back together. Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes, until the pastry darkens and is slightly firm. Let cool, remove from the pan and serve sprinkled with icing sugar.

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Warm Chocolate Marscarpone Cheesecake

I chose this over the Mississippi Mud Pie to be my last creation of 2009. Both are from Chocolate, and I hope to get to the Mud Pie soon.
Mascarpone is an unfermented Italian cream cheese with a powerful smell and a slightly sweet taste. I had to look up the pronunciation, as I was saying it ‘Mass-car-pown’ or something like that. It’s actually ‘Mass-car-poh-nay’, and the more Italian intonation, the better.

Warm Chocolate Mascarpone Cheese Cake

Ingredients

Biscuit Base

• 225g of Digestive Biscuits
• 60g of Unsalted Butter
• 60g or Milk Chocolate (finely chopped or grated)

Chocolate Filling

• 2 large Eggs (separated)
• 85g of Castor Sugar
• 230g of Mascarpone Cheese
• 150ml of Double Cream (lightly whipped)
• 50g Milk Chocolate (finely chopped of grated)
• 4 tablespoons of Cocoa Powder (sifted)
• 45g of ground Almonds
• Icing sugar for dusting

The biscuit case is incredibly crumbly, even after baking.

Method

To make the base, put the biscuits into a food processor and pulse (or put them into a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin) until fine crumbs form. Put the butter and chocolate into a bowl set over a pot of steaming but not boiling water and gently melt. Remove from the heat and stir into the biscuit crumbs in a mixing bowl. When well mixed, transfer the mixture into a well greased 23cm springform cake tin. Use the back of a spoon to press it onto the base and halfway up the sides of the tin. Chill while making the filling.

To make the filling, put the egg yolks and sugar into a large mixing bowl and using an electric whisk or mixer, whisk until very thick and mousse like. Put the mascarpone into a separate bowl, beat until smooth and then gently fold into the whipped cream.

Gently stir the mascarpone mixture into the egg yolks, then add the chopped chocolate, cocoa and ground almonds and mix gently.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form, and then use a large metal spoon to fold the egg whites into the mixture in three batches.

Pour the filling into the biscuit case and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for about 1 hour or until set and beginning to colour. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 20 minute, then carefully unclip and remove the tin. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature with thick cream.

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Sachertorte

I’ve had my eye on this recipe from ‘Chocolate’ for some time, so I was excited when the opportunity to whip it up came along. Of course, this is me, so when I say whip it up, I actually mean slowly and meticulously work my way through the recipe until I have a (hopefully) decent approximation standing before me.
Even after the enlightening lessons of baking blind in Botswana, I cannot tear myself from the certainty of absolute measures. This combined with all the waiting and grunge work makes for a lengthy preparation time. Good thing Sachertorte is so worth it.
According to Linda Collister, this Viennese cake was invented in 1832 by the chef at the Hotel Sacher.

Sachertorte

Ingredients

Cake

• 175g of Milk Chocolate (grated or finely sliced))
• 125g of Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• 150g of Castor Sugar
• 6 Large Eggs (room temperature)
• 150g of Plain Flour
• ½ a teaspoon of Baking Powder

Glaze

• 4 tablespoons of Apricot Preserve
• 1 teaspoon of Lemon Juice

Icing

• 125ml of Double Cream
• 175g of Milk Chocolate (grated)
• A small amount of white chocolate (optional)

Method

Put the chocolate into a heavy bottomed saucepan or pot and suspend over steaming but not boiling water. Allow it to melt gently, remove from the heat and then leave to cool. Put the butter into a large bowl and using a wooden spoon or (preferably) an electric mixer and whisk until creamy. Add half the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Separate the eggs. Put the six whites into a clean bowl and set aside. Using an electric whisk, beat five of the yolks into the creamed mixture one at a time. Stir in the cooled chocolate. Sift the flour and baking powder onto the mixture and gently fold in with a large metal spoon. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then beat in the remaining sugar one tablespoon at a time. Fold the stiff egg whites into the chocolate mixture in three batches.

When the mixture is evenly blended, spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 1 hour or until a knife plunged into the middle comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn it out carefully onto a wire rack (upside down), remove the lining and let it cool completely.

To make the glaze, put the apricot conserve, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of water into a small saucepan, heat gently and then bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and push through a sieve into a bowl. Brush the hot glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Let cool on the wire rack. Meanwhile, to make the icing, put the cream into a small saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Put the grated chocolate into a bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Leave for 2 minutes and then stir until the icing is smooth and glossy.

Put a play under the wire rack to catch the drips, then pour the icing over the cake so it covers the top and sides. Spread the icing to cover any bare patches if necessary. Let it set in a cool place, but not the refrigerator. If wanted, melted white or milk chocolate can be used to pipe the word ‘Sacher’ or just the letter ‘S’ on top of the cake.

For best results when cutting, use a sharp knife and, before making each cut, dip the knife into hot water and wipe it dry. The cake is best eaten within a week (if you can bear to let it last that long!).

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The Perfect Pancake Recipe

A regular treat from mum, these are without doubt my favourite breakfast. I know some sticklers will point out that pancakes are actually smaller in diameter and thicker, while these are actually crêpes. Perhaps, but I have and will always refer to these discs of heaven as pancakes. So there.

 Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1½ cups of Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 30-60ml of Oil
• 9 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 1 cup of Cake Flour

 

Method

The batter is very, very tricky, so pay attention. Mix the milk, eggs, oil and sugar together in a bowl. Add the flour and whisk until consistent. And that's it.

Grease a flat, thick-bottomed pan and set it over high heat until warm, then turn it down to medium high heat. Using a medium sized, shallow and round serving spoon scoop up some of the mixture and pour it quickly into the middle of the pan. Pancakes cook very briskly, so immediately use the bottom of the spoon to spread the batter. Rest it lightly on the surface, supporting most of the weight, and move it in a spiral from the centre outwards. Generally, a small amount of batter remains in the spoon; use this to patch up any holes that may form from over-spreading or damaging the batter.

If you’re willing to brave the sticky and gooey, but absolutely worthwhile mess that ensues, then you can experiment by adding cinnamon sugar and other delectables to the batter before or during cooking.

After a few second of cooking, the edges of the pancake will begin to whiten and form small bubbles. Use a lifter to gently loosen these cooked edges, and by the time you’ve moved around the circumference of the pancake, the first side should be done. Scoop it up by pushing the lifter under it very quickly, and then flip it over. The side now facing up should be an even rich brown. Allow the second side to cook for about ten seconds and then lift it off the pan and place it carefully on the (hopefully) growing pile. I say hopefully because I assume you’ve been able to resist the urge to every single one as it comes off the pan.

I personally enjoy my pancakes with copious amounts of both sweetened fresh cream and maple syrup. Cinnamon Sugar (four tablespoons of sugar: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder) and chocolate sauce are also frequent favourites, and I believe that some people quite like a dash of fresh lemon juice on theirs.

The Perfect Roti Recipe

Roti is the perfect complement to almost any Indian dish, and is actually quite easy to make. Easier, according to mum, than rice. This is her recipe and method...

Roti

Ingredients

• 1 litre of Cake Flour
• 500 millilitres of Boiling Water
• 60 millilitres of Vegetable Oil

Method

An electric mixer is invaluable to those wishing to avoid scalded fingers. Put all of the ingredients except for a very small amount of the water (about 10ml) into an electric mixer and mix thoroughly. Use the reserved water to moisten the dough if it is too dry. It should neither crumble nor ooze; it should simply hold its shape without being too sticky or tough.

Remove the dough from the bowl and roll it into one or two long rolls about 5 cm in diameter using your hands. Put this dough roll onto a floured board (the flour is essential in preventing the dough from sticking to the board, remember to use it well, but carefully as it can dry out the dough!). Break off small balls of dough by taking a handful from the end of the roll and twisting. Flatten each of the resulting balls to form a small dough discus and set aside under a dish-cloth. This keeps the dough moist as you roll each out.

 Small discs next to already rolled rotis. Both can overlap, as they shouldn't stick to each other very much. Once the rotis are rolled, they can be handled quite easily, just don't keep them suspended long enough to sag.

Flour the board and roll each of the discs into thin and as-circular-as-you-can-manage circles. Mum has a special method of doing so when it's not too sticky, and if I can convince her to let me film her explaining it, I'll find a way to put it up here. For now, just know that she keeps the left end of the rolling pin above the middle of disc and presses away from herself with her right hand. This pushes the disc in an anti-clockwise spin and flattens it evenly as it spins. This works better than rolling in many directions fixing imperfections. The rolled out rotis can be kept on a floured surface or - preferably - a tablecloth until they are ready to be cooked, although not for too long otherwise they'll cook stiff. Also, make sure the kitchen is not to breezy as that will dry out the dough.

A Thawa: basically a heavy steel pan without sides, perfect for making roti.

To cook them, you'll need a Thawa, but if you haven't got one to hand, then any pan with a sufficiently large flat and thick bottom will do. Grease the pan with butter (or oil) and turn the heat on high. Allow the pan to heat up and then turn it down to medium-high heat. Pick up a rolled roti and place it on the pan.  Allow it to cook for a few seconds, then spin it with your fingertips by touching the surface with all fingers very briefly and twisting, pausing every few turns to let it cook. Keep doing so until faint white spots appear on the top of the roti. Then, you can do what mum does and pull it to the edge, pick it up and flip it over. Or you can do what I do, and use a lifter. Her way is cooler and more accomplished, mine safer and more suited to a novice. Either way, turn over the roti and keep spinning it with your fingers.

 

What is now the top should be evenly dotted with white spots, and a few light brown patches are okay too. That's the dough beginning to cook. Lift the edge every few seconds after about 20 seconds of cooking and when medium dark spots (like those in the picture above) establish themselves on the side touching the pan, flip it back over so that the roti is now back in its original position. If you have already cooked a few rotis, then place a cooked on one on top of the current roti and spin it, pressing gently.

If the roti is cooking perfectly, it will begin to puff up. This means the roti will be airy and soft. Be careful! These pockets are full of very hot steam which can escape suddenly. A dearth of air pockets is not the end of the world; the roti should be okay anyways. Press down carefully to spread the air pocket around as far as you can, and then pinch the rotis together, lift them and put them both onto the pile. Ideally, three should therefore be the maximum number of times the roti is cooked; any more will cause it to become stiff.

Keep the pile covered and somewhat insulated otherwise they may dry out or cool. I recommend a high sided dish with a lid, lined with grease-proof paper with extra paper to cover the top. Once you've cooked them all, cover the top of the pile with the grease paper and a dish cloth. This should keep the rotis warm and toasty until they're served.

The Spices of Life

Our spice container (or Masala Dabba - above) caught my eye, and I already love cinnamon, so I decided to get artistic with the spices. Turns out, as well as being the foundation of Indian cooking, our spices are also really photogenic...

Cinnamon, The Spice of Life 

Mustard Seeds

 

Curry Leaf, where would we be without it?

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Chocolate Tart

One of my birthday presents was Jaime Oliver’s ‘Cook with Jaime’, and while I have yet to try one of the many intriguing and sometimes strange food recipes, this recipe caught my eyes. It is a chocolate pastry shell filled with double thick chocolate mousse. How could I not make it?

The recipe called for one 28cm tart dish, but I only had the 23cm dish, so I divided it up into the small dish and a rectangular casserole.

For those who are metrically challenged, here's a helpful unit converter...

Chocolate Tart

Ingredients

Pastry

• 150g of Unsalted Butter
• 100g of Castor Sugar
• 250g of Plain Flour (sifted)
• Zest of One Small Orange
• 1 Large Egg
• 30g of Cocoa Powder

Mousse Filling

• 200ml of Whole Milk
• 568ml of Double Cream
• 30g of Castor Sugar
• 350g of Milk Chocolate (grated)
• 2 Large Eggs

I made the mistake of grating the chocolate on before the tart had cooled, hence the oozing chocolate death above.

Method

Cream together the butter and sugar, then fold in the flour, orange zest, egg and cocoa powder. When the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, work it gently into a ball and then flour lightly. Do not work the pastry too much or it will become elastic and chewy rather than crumbly and short as it should be. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove the pastry from the fridge, grease a 28cm tart dish and line the dish with it.

Bake the pastry shell in an oven preheated to 180°C for 12-15 minutes or until  it’s firm and almost biscuit-like. Remove from the oven and turn down the heat to 170°C.

Out of curiosity, I only cut the crust of the square tart (above) while I pressed smooth that of the round tart. Both are pleasing in different ways.

For the filling, put the milk, cream and sugar into a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring gently. Take off the heat and add the chocolate, whisking until smooth, then add the eggs and whisk again. Pour the filling into a jug. Put the baked pastry shell back into the oven, carefully pull out the oven shelf and pour in the filling. Push the oven shelf back in and bake for 15 minutes. The tart is cooked when the filling has a slight wobble to it; remember that it will keep firming up as it cools down.

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Gâteau forêt noire

Yes, this is only the humble Black Forest Cake. I refuse to partially translate to “Black Forest Gâteau”, as in Linda Collister’s book, and the full French just sounds so much better than Black Forest Cake... Before this, I had not eaten its kind before. The involvement of cherries, however, did make it a tempting prospect. According to Ms. Collister, her recipe is nothing like that used in commercial cakes, i.e. it’s the real thing. It also, unlike the commercial kind, does not contain flour.

Unfortunately, the cherries I used were sour, not sweet. I had no way of telling until it was time to use them, as the entirety of the bottle’s label was in German and I had no translator to hand. The end result was therefore not exactly the sweet cake I expected, but the contrast with the ultra sweetened cream made for an interesting taste.

Gâteau forêt noire

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge

• 9 Large Eggs (separated)
• 200g of Castor Sugar
• 90g of Cocoa Powder (sifted)

Cherry Filling

• 720g of Morello Cherries in (Kirsch) Syrup
• 425ml of Double of Whipping Cream
• 3 Tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• Milk Chocolate (grated, to decorate)

I LOVE grated chocolate. and cherries. and sweetened cream.

Method

Put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until very thick and mousse-like (when the whisk is lifted, it leaves a ribbon that falls slowly back). Sift the cocoa onto the mixture and fold gently in with a large spoon.

Put the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until stiff. Carefully fold into the yolk mixture in three batches. Divide the mixture between three greased and lined tins, then bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when gently pressed and have shrunk from the sides of the tins. Let them cool in the pans before turning them out onto a wire rack and removing the lining paper.

Mmm

Drain the cherries in a sieve and save the syrup; you will need about 7 tablespoons. When the cherries have been well drained, place them on kitchen paper. Reserve about twelve to decorate.

Set one of the cooled sponge on a serving plate, then sprinkle two tablespoons of syrup over the sponge.

My way to equally divide the batter. Notice the fine bubbles in the mixture.

Put the cream into a bowl and, using an electric whisk, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Sprinkle the sugar over the cream and whip until slightly thicker. Set aside half the cream to cover the cakes. Spread half of the remaining cream onto the bottom layer of sponge. Press half the cherries into the cream. Gently set the second sponge on top of the cherries and sprinkle with syrup as before. Spread the cream and press in the cherries as before. Top with the final sponge and sprinkle with the remaining syrup. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the cream, and then decorate with the reserved cherries and grated chocolate. Chill until ready to serve. Best eaten within 48 hours.

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Fruit Tart: Encore

My aunt is visiting us, and although I had promised to create something with apple, her favourite, mum overrode me, and commanded that I provide them with their new favourite treat: The Fruit Tart. The recipe is here.
Make no mistake, I was not unwilling :D And so I did.

As you can see, I went for a different, spiral arrangement of the fruit, reasoning that this would allow the most even distribution of each while still maintaining its aesthetics. I prefer it to the concentric fruit-circles of the first tart.

 
The jam glazing is a crafty idea and gorgeous to look at.

and that custard is quite something...

I get the feeling that this is not the last fruit tart I shall make.