Dark chocolate tartlets

When I made the lemon meringue tarlets, I made enough tart cases to accomodate these dark chocolate tartlets, also form the Ottolenghi cookbook. With the cases ready and waiting, these were very quick to prepare. Making the chocolate filling took under 10 minutes. The recipe is below (see the lemon meringue tart post for the pastry) and produces a rich, creamy and gooey chocolate filling. I had some leftover even, and used it to dip apple slices.. mmm. You can see my shamefully uneven pastry in the photo of the filling - I really need to get a round mould for cutting pastry.

Before...

... and after. Firm, but with a slight ooze. Lovely.

Dark chocolate filling

150g dark chocolate, broken up

100g unsalted butter, diced

1 egg

1 egg yolk

30g caster sugar

6 pre-baked tartlet cases (baked 5 min less than suggested and left in their tins)

cocoa powder for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl, set it over a pan of summerng water and leave to melt. Whist the egg and yolk with the sugar until thick and pale yellow, then fold this into the melted chocolate.

2. Fill each case with the chocolate mix; it should reach right up to the rim. Place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Cool a little, then remove the tartlets from their tins and allow them to cool down completely.

3. Lightly dust with cocoa powder and serve at room temperature.

Mejadra

I got Ottolenghi and Tamimi's new cookbook Jerusalem the instant it came out. Of course. Ottolenghi and Tamimi both come from Jerusalem, but from different sides. Despite the problems this may have entailed, their friendship and partnership has blossomed and now they are bringing together the fruit of their separate yet interconnected heritages -- and those of the various cultures that have over time been woven into the ethnic and cultural fabric of the ancient city of Jerusalem -- to bring us this wonderful book. Unfortunately, about half of the book's recipes use meat, but luckily there are great sections on pulses, grains and vegetables to test.

The first thing I tried from it was an Arab classic called Mejadra. It looked simple and easy to make, and with lentils, basmati rice and deep fried onions mixed with aromatic spices, it sounded like a safe bet. The bet paid off. I've now got piles of mejadra to finish off as leftovers. It's ridiculously easy to make. The only thing that takes time is frying the onions. Otherwise it's child's play. If you do dairy, go ahead and put a big dollop of greek yogurt on top when serving.

 

Blueberry pie

There were some culinary highlights this summer that I neglect to report, so here it goes... better late than never. This summer I was fortunate enough to be invited to the charming summer cottage of my friend and her family on the beautiful island of Löparö, just off the town of Porvoo. It was teeming with blueberries and raspberries, mushrooms, and heaven knows what else. I spent a lot of time picking blueberries, which is a wonderfully meditative activity. Time flies quickly and it is so much fun. There were so many blueberries this year that I could pick as fast as I liked and there were always plenty more to be grazed. Finnish forest blueberries, I must add, are special. They are relatively small, but full of flavour. Fresh blueberries, I believe, are best enjoyed as they are with ice cream, cream, meringue, or whatnot. But, due to popular demand, I also made my mother's recipe for blueberry pie. It's the same base as the rhubarb pie, but instead of rhubarb, I use blueberries. The end result is a marvelously juicy and sweet tart. Mommy knows best.

 

Lemon meringue tartlets

I love lemon cakes, tarte au citron, basically anything lemony. Tonight I made these lemon meringue tartlets. I had some difficulties with the pastry, and I cheated with the lemon curd (next time I'll do it properly, I promise!) but meringue at least is one thing you can't cheat on, and these ones came out beautifully. My biggest mistake was that I meant to make these for a friend who just had surgery… but I forgot she can't eat gluten. I'll be thinking of something else to cheer her up. In the mean time, someone has to eat these babies..

(Recipe below, since I couldn't find a link to one)

 

The recipe. To make short cuts, buy a good lemon curd and a good sweet pastry and skip to the last part. There is no way to skip the meringue, though. Luckily, that's easy!

Lemon curd

200ml lemon juice (4-6 lemons)

grated zest of 4 lemons

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

4 egg yolks

180g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1. Put all the ingredients in a large, heavy-based saucepan, leaving out roughly half the butter. place over a medium heat and, using a hand whisk, whisk constantly while you cook the curd. Reduce the heat if it starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the curd reaches boiling point, you will notice large bubbles coming to the surface. Continue whisking vigorously for another minute and then remove from the heat.

2. Off the heat, add the remaining butter and whist, until it has melted. Pass the curd through a sieve and into a plastic container. Cover the surface with cling film, allow it to come to room temperature and then chill for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight, for it to firm up well. It will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Sweet pastry tartlet cases

330g plain flour

100g icing sugar

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp salt

180g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp cold water

1. Put the flour, icing sugar, lemon zest and salt in a bowl and add the butter. Rub it in with your hands, or more easily, use a mixer fitted with the beater attachment, or use a food processor. In all cases, you need to mix the ingredients until you get a coarse breadcrumb consistency, making sure there aren't any large lumps of butter left.

2. Add the egg yolk and water and mix just until the dough comes together, being careful not to mix any longer than necessary. You might need to add a tiny amount of extra water.

3. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and knead very lightly for a few seconds only, just to shape it into a smooth disc, 5-6cm thick. Wrap in cling film and chill until ready to use. The pastry will keep in the fridge for a week and at least a month in the freezer.

4. To bake, roll out the pastry 2-3mm thin, and quickly so it doesn't get warm. Cut out 6 circles using a pastry cutter and press inside small, buttered tins (a cupcake rack works fine). Rest them in the fridge for 30min so they stay firm and don't sink when you put them in the oven. Preheat oven to 150C. Line the cases with greeseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for about 25min, then remove the paper and beans. If they don't have a golden-brown colour yet, bake for another 5-10 minutes. Remove the cases from the tins when they are still slightly warm, then leave to cool completely.

Lemon meringue

1/2 quantity of lemon curd (chilled for at least 6h)

6 pre-baked tarlet cases

120g caster sugar

2 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Spoon the cold lemon curd into the tart cases, filling them three-quarters full. Leave aside, preferably in the fridge.

2. To make the meringue, spread the sugar over an oven tray lined with baking parchment. Place in the hot oven for 5-6 minutes. The sugar should become very hot but musn't begin to dissolve. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150C.

3. At the last minute of heating up the sugar, place the egg whites in the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer. Whisk on high speed for a few seconds, until they begin to froth up. Now carefully pour the hot sugar on to the whisking whites in a slow stream. Once finished, continue whisking for a good 15 minutes, until the meringue is firm, shiny and cold.

4. Use 2 spoons or a piping bag to dispense the meringue on top of the curd and create a pattern. at this point you can either leave the meringue totally white or you can place it in the oven for 1-3 minutes to brown the top very lightly. Serve at once or chill for up to 12 hours.