Happy Easter Everyone!
I hope that on this special occasion, you have all stuffed yourselves sick with chocolate? I love this time of year, (as one of my cousin's has actually said first, so really it looks like i'm quoting them, and I guess I am) as it means Spring and Summer are coming.
Yes those long, extended evenings, where it is bright, getting that little bit warmer and the birds are chirping away. Everything becomes so pretty this time of year, the mornings, the evenings, the leaves and all their changing colours.
My favourite thing to do when I am feeling a little stressed is to go outside and just stand. I love listening to the quiet, with the occasional bird song and just have a little me time. Not to think about anything, just focus on me and how I am feeling. I meditate you see, so it's not like I'm just standing outside, breathing with my eyes closed- possibly worrying our neighbours?
I find it good to do something you enjoy and that makes you happy at least once a day. Be it going out for a walk, painting the little toilet, baking something new and then eating it, swimming or humming. Whatever makes you happy is always a great way to start the day. Life is too short to worry... or in my case, worry about worrying and what you are worrying about and then you worry about what is making you worry and that is worrying too. So meditation is helping that. It really helps, I would promise all my cookies (freshly baked, homemade cookies by the way. None of these shop bought, no heart baked into them faff) on it.
When you close your eyes, breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and just think, not about worrying, about you, listening to some music, it can really help. Honestly.
Anyway, I did something I enjoyed yesterday and it worked out well in two ways. I was able to bake a new bake and then blog about it today, but I was also then able to bring dessert to dinner at the cousins house. I do like it when things work out like that.
So my opinion on shop bought baked goods is pretty much the one opinion for all of them- they aren't strong enough in what they say they are.
Example one: Why is it when you buy coffee cake, that it tastes more like a plain cake that is the party and coffee is the guest? I bought coffee cake, key word being coffee. Therefore it should taste like coffee and not just with a wisp of flavour.
Example two: Why is it when I bought a lemon cake, that it tasted really artificial and claggy? Not good.
To me, even though the research was rather good to do and helpful, (I wouldn't be able to ask those questions if I hadn't bought them and tasted them) homemade is ALWAYS better. It is fresher. It is tastier. It is homemade.
So if you are an individual who likes to eat baked goods, but either doesn't like making them or would just like them delivered and made by someone else, why not order from CVL Bakes?
I am a local, home- made-to-order bakery business. I bake everything fresh and with local ingredients. Whatever you want, just ask me, and if I haven't made it before, I'll test it, try it out and then get back to you. Support local and get something that is personalised, homemade and fresh! Delivered to you for when you want it, where you want it. CVL Bakes can do that for you! :)
Just go to my facebook page for contact details. Facebook: CVL Bakes. Then go to Message or give me a call, my card is in my photos, with my contact details. Thanks
So this tart, when I made it was a lemon tart, but after eating it, I felt it should be named Tarte au citron. See I am a woman of many language skills... nope just joking. That is my sister. That is all the french I know. Well, that and please, thank you and excuse me please. This lemon tart is in no way like a shop bought. This lemon tart is the party, the guest and the whole thing! This lemon tart is full of citrus, no I mean it, there's like 10 lemons in here. Full of zing, tartness and crumbliness from the pastry. It is light, silky and so so good. I'm not too modest to say. :)
This is a Mary Berry recipe. But I tweaked it here and there to put my own take on it. I like to do that, as then I can say, 'there's a little bit of me in there' (as she watches the people eating it slowly go pale and look a little frightened.)
The equipment you'll need for this recipe is;
- 30cm, Non stick Tart tin (deep-ish)
- Some baking paper
- Extra flour, or baking beans or anything to weigh down the pastry when blind baking
- Scales
- A whisk
- A deep bowl
- A baking tray
- 1 sharp knife
- Lemon squeezer
- Fine, zest grater
- 1 large jug
The ingredients you'll need;
- Pastry base:
- 150g Cold butter, I used unsalted and felt it worked really well (A Ciara Twist)
- 25g Icing sugar, I used caster sugar, but you use whatever you feel is best. (A Ciara Twist)
- 1 Egg, whole and plonked in
- The recipe says to add a little water if needed, I didn't.
- For the lemon goodness within:
- 9 Eggs, preferably of the large size. Cracked into a large bowl. Reflecting on this on now, I probably should have cracked them into a much deeper bowl in the first place. This would have stopped me from having to find out half way through that there was too much liquid for my bowl, then making me pour it into a deeper one. Not a bad side at all, just that there were now more dishes to do :(
- 300ml Double cream
- 350g Caster Sugar
- The recipe says 6 lemons, I used the zest of 6 and the juice of 7 (A Ciara Twist)
Now you have all you need to make this delicious tart! Wouldn't it be fun if I just didn't go through the method? Imagine the variations in tarts we would get?
Method:
Alright, alright enough joking around. Here is the method on how to make the tart.
I found it easier to weigh out all the ingredients at the start as a) Some stages are time consuming. b) It means that I can make the tart quicker. c) It cuts down on the chance, that if you are finding it a little tricky to make, at least you won't weigh out the wrong measurement on account of being stressed and reading it wrong.
Mind you, I had a funny half hour yesterday. I decided I wanted to make this at the last minute (at like 11:30am and we were going for dinner at 4:30pm, but were leaving at like 3pm-ish to do other things first. So I didn't really give myself a lot of time to start with. This wasn't helped by the fact that it was a Sunday and all the shops didn't open until 1pm. So I went to one of the 24 hour garage places and I must say, that if needed, it is comforting to know I can buy 10 large lemons at the last minute. These lemons were AMAZING! The lemons I normally buy have nothing on these bad boys. I mean it, they were bloody massive. :D
I then got home, all happy with my purchases and was halfway through measuring out when I read the recipe wrong, see that stressed side was coming to light and making me misread things. Instead of 9 eggs, I bough 9 bloody lemons. Not really a huge issue, as I like me a gin and tonic every now and then and lemons last. So, down to the shops I went again and I bought the eggs. Got home, just pleading that I hadn't forgot anything else. And on with the measuring I went.
I then got on with making the pastry. To do this, bung the roughly cubed butter into a bowl (I just tore it apart, this is for family).
Put the flour in with it and rub together using your finger tips. Some people use a knife, but I don't turn down an excuse to get my hands in. The feel of the butter against the flour is almost sensual. In the sense that it is satisfying to see the butter and flour combine and it is a nice feeling.
When this is all rubbed in, add the sugar of your choosing and mix in with a fork or spoon.
Then add the egg and squelch and bind it together using your hands until it forms a smooth ball. Leave this aside for a few seconds.
Get out your pastry tin and using a little of the left over butter (you needed 150g, but they're sold in 250g packs) to grease the tin. Dust over a little flour.
Roll out the pastry until it is very thin and slightly larger than the tin itself. I rolled it once, away from myself and then rotated it. This helped it to not stick to the counter.
Roll this up on the rolling pin and bring it over to the greased tin. Lay the pastry over and in the tin and tuck it in the corners and up the sides, leaving the excess to hang there awkwardly. I've never left the pastry before like this on the side, but this was an experimental bake, so there. :) Get some baking paper and here is a trick of mine, scrunch it up into a ball. Unfold it and this makes it a lot more pliable and easy to manipulate into the tin and all those corners. Chuck in the flour or whatever you are using to weigh down the pastry and leave it.
Leave this to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. I timed it, not by what the recipe said, but for how long it took me to clean the kitchen. I can't bake in a messy kitchen. That is why the kitchen is always clean. So if I ever want to spontaneously bake, I can! :)
Preheat the oven to 180 C in a fan oven. Put a baking tray in there too. Put the chilled pastry and awkwardly hanging pastry extras into the oven to bake for around 15 minutes or so. What you are looking for is for it not to look all pale, dead and gross, but beautifully golden, dry to the touch and puffed up slightly.
Without burning yourself, I'm saying this not to be patronising, but because I did... again. Take the tray and tin out of the oven and place on the hob. Take away the paper and whatever you have used as a weight and set aside. Using a sharp knife, slice the excess pastry away off the sides. That is if it hasn't already just fallen off. I did this using a very technical 'swooshing' motion in which I tried not to slice myself.
Basically, have the knife (middle area) rest on the top of the tin and slice away and downwards in a diagonal motion to slice away the pastry hangers. Pop this back into the oven to dry out and become that little more golden and then take out.
Well, again here is last minutes Ciara brain coming in and to confess, I didn't take it out, in fact the pastry had nary a minute to cool. I just let it bake a little more, turned down the heat to 160 C and then poured in the lemon filling and baked it that way. And you know what, it worked fine!
To make the lemon filling, and as you've already weighed them all out, this will be ridiculously easy.
-Zest, cut and juice the lemons.
Bung in the eggs, sugar, cream and lemon to one bowl.
This is where it is beneficial to weigh out everything first as those lemons to an age to zest and juice.
Pour this mix into a jug and then into the pastry case, when it is still on the tray in the oven. I daren't pour it in and then carry it over, duck down and plop it in. Slide back into the oven and allow to bake for around 30-40 minutes, or until the middle of the tart wobbles. I found an easy way to check, was to tap the oven tray itself with an oven glove and this created a ripple effect, allowing me to see if there was any detection of a wobble.
Once this is baked, take out of the oven and allow to cool a little before taking it out of the tin and sliding onto a serving plate.
Decoration:
For decoration (A Ciara Twist) I put on sugar glazed lemons and icing sugar. To do this, get one large lemon and thinly slice it to around half of a £1 thickness. Then slice these in half and set aside.
In a frying pan that is non stick, put a few tablespoons of water in and allow to bubble a little.
Then the same of caster sugar if not a little more.
Allow this to heat up and begin to become syrup like. Put the lemon slices in and allow them to cook a little and become sticky with the sugary glaze.
Place them around the rim of the tart, flat side against the pastry rim. Then dust on a little icing sugar and as they say 'That's all folks!' (Bugs Bunny I think that is from?)
This is lovely served with a little dollop of cream, whipped slightly. It perfectly balances and offsets the tartness of the lemon and makes for an all round lovely dessert!
Until next time and thank you for reading again!
Happy Eating!
Ciara
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