Luscious Lemon Tart

There is a dream.
Somewhere over the rainbow.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops. Away apon the chimney tops.
And although we cant always go there, and although I dont have a chimney, what we can do is bring a little of the dream into our kitchens.
Now I dont known about you, but when the weather is cold and rainy I want a little sunshine in my kitchen.
Luckily for me I have wonderful friends. I recieved a text last week proclaiming, 'We should get together soon and make something we have never made before.'
Without further ado I replied with,' How about Wednesday?' and a date was set.
A large baking extravaganza was had.
He wanted to make a lemon tart and although I have made lemon tarts before, its been some while.
And nothing brings sunshine into your kitchen quite like lemon tart.
There is something entirely sensual about making pastry by hand.
Its the feel of the thing.
It was, I must admit, a bit daunting to approach setting the filling in our atrocious oven. This is an oven that burns vegetables on the outside before they are cooked on the inside.. It hurts my soul a little. Would the tart curdle? Would the pastry burn before it set? Would it taste of eggs? Be too firm?
I should have trusted the melting-lemon-drop-dream. For a dream it was.
Gastranomique citrus porn.
Are you scintillated? Good. Because if I can make this tart in my monstrosity of a temperemental oven, anyone can. And with good faith...

For the pastry;

300 plain flour
pinch salt
115 gm icing sugar
225 gm of butter, cubed
1 egg yolk


For the Filling;

180ml lemon juice
190gm castor sugar
Zest of two lemons
Approx. 300 gm of whole eggs
285ml cream

To make the pastry;

Mix the salt flour and icing sugar.
Rub the butter into the flour until it resembes fine bread crumbs.





If you are in a hurry use cold butter and blitz the flour and butter in a food processor.
Add yolk and knead until it becomes shiny and smooth.
There really is something wonderfully sensual about this. The feel of the flour crumbling and forming is a beautiful thing.




If you have never kneaded before look up a video on youtube for some technique pointers.
It is really fairly self-explanatory though.
Give the dough some love and it will love you back.
Form into a block and wrap in glad wrap or a plastic bag. Place in the fridge to chill.

To make the filling;

Place eggs in a bowl and beat till smooth.
Place two small pans on the stove. Heat the cream in one and the sugar, lemon juice and zest in the other.
Bring the cream to a simmer. Don't let it boil over.
Pour the cream into the eggs, whisking as you go. Whisk till smooth.
Heat juice and sugar mix till sugar disolves. Whisk into cream mix.
Allow to cool while you make the base.
Roll out a round flate pancake with your dough. Try and keep it even. Lay it evenly over you tart dish and press into the corners.
If there are any broken bits or holes patch it up with some pastry trim.
Trim the edges.
Chill in the freezer for 10 min.
Poke holes all over with a fork and bake at 180 c till lightly golden.
Pour in filling. Turn down oven to 100 c .
Gently place your tart in the oven and cook for 1 hour.
If your oven is a dangerous beast, set the timer for 30 minutes and turn the tart around to ensure even ness of cooking. Then set the timer for a further 20 min.
It will be ready when you shake it gently and the middle is no longer liquid.
Remove from the oven and cool on the bench till room temp.

Serve with cream, mascapone, ice cream or just devour as is.
Excuse my twee-ness when i say this but...
That's what sunshine tastes like.

Virgin Vanilla Panna Cotta's

The flavors of this simple little dessert paint a very vivid picture indeed.
The innocent richness of cream.
The raunchy red boldness of the fresh raspberries studded within.
A lingering hint of summery citrus and then the vanilla. It tantalises the tastebuds, speaking of secrets and foriegn places. Complex. Subtle. Lingering.
Who could possible resist the trembling texture of a perfectly set Panna Cotta? A chef i used to work with said a perfect panna cotta should have a wobble like "a fat lass's ass" and though a little crude this explains it to a T. Too often panna cotta's are more like cheesecakes - set to within an inch of their life.
When realeased from their moulds they shall 'bulge' a little and you want to be just a little afraid that they wont set..
But they will! And when you dip your spoon into this trembling creamy little baby you will truly have a small taste of heaven on your lips...
As their are only a few ingredients make sure you spend a little extra money and buy the good stuff. Fresh raspberries. Local Cream. and please please please some sexy, sticky A Grade vanilla beans. Trust me, you will taste the difference.... Real Vanilla, if you are lucky enough to have had it is an oral orgasm. Of the food variety.
Whenever a recipe calls for very few ingredients it is wise to splurge a little on the quality of the ingredients.
Fresh Raspberries. Beautiful cream. Some leaf (rather than powdered) gelatin. And please, please, please, do yourself a favor and hunt down the best Vanilla Beans you can buy. Sticky black and filled with seeds, the aroma so heady you can smell it through the packaging.
Trust me, its worth it.

Please read through the entire recipe before beggining

*600 ml thick cream

*150 ml milk
*120 gm castor (superfine) sugar
*Zest of half a mandarin
*3 leaves gelatin, soaked in icy water
*Half a vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthways, the seeds scraped out and kept
*1 punnet of fresh raspberries ( you should have a few left to serve with)

Let me assure you this is quick to make. Luckily for us, in this particular circumstance, quick is good. It requires little to no effort with maximum pleasure - what's not to like?

*Soak the leaf gelatin in ice water (the ice stops it from dissolving) for about 5 min. While your waiting place the cream, milk, sugar and the finely grated zest in a pot. Add the scraped vanilla bean, seeds, pods and all and pop it on the stove. Bring it up to just simmering then remove it from the heat and set aside. Keep a close eye and do not let it boil.

Squeeze the liquid from the gelatin and add it to the cream mix, stirring till dissolved. Let it sit for twenty minutes to infuse.
While you are waiting take your moulds (preferably the plastic ones designed for creme caramel's- they are cheap and easy to come by at your local store) and spray them with oil or brush them lightly with melted butter.

Put 2-3 fresh raspberries in each mould and then go find some thing to occupy yourself till the cream is infused. Im sure you'll think of something.
After 20 min remove the vanilla pods but DO NOT strain it as you will lose all the sexy little seeds that give it its flavor. Pour the mix into the moulds and set in the fridge.

It is really that easy. So now you have plenty of time, and energy, to use for whatever you may like... until these beautiful little babies are are ready.













Warning; staring at the fridge and salivating is not becoming. Try to avoid unless alone.




If You Want To Make it Extra Sexy;

Vanilla Syrup to serve

1/2 vanilla bean, as above
500 gm sugar
500 ml water

Place all in a pot and bring to the boil. Boil gently for 10-15 mins untill sticky and infused. Store in a glass bottle with the pods and all till ready for serving. Does not need to be refrigerated.


Notes And Helpful Tips

If you can't find any Creme caramel moulds you can instead set it in a funky glass - though it won't wobble on the plate it will still look great
To remove from the mould run a small sharp knife between the panna cotta and the mould, taking care not to stab the panna cotta. Then create a small gap between the mould and panna with your knife to break the seal and slip it onto the plate.
Can be stored the fridge for 2-3 days but make sure you cover them with glad wrap or they will dry out.
Keep the pods you remove from the cream, dry it off and store it in your sugar for a lovely scent and subtle flavor
Toss the extra raspberries in some vanilla syrup (above) and serve alongside
Make tiny little ones in a baby muffin tin for an exciting option at tea party