blueberry – foodamaze

As you probably noticed tarts are somehow my favourite desserts to make. If I am lucky they look and also taste lovely. I am very lucky that my friend has some mini tart tins I could use.

This time I decided to up pastry leftovers I had. It was not enough to make another large tart, I thought, so I made four small ones instead. The decorating was no rocket science as I still had some blueberries in the fridge. And so in the end I managed to make rather cute looking blueberry tarts with a bit of a passion fruit syrup.

I have learnt a few tricks since working with a shortcrust pastry. Never push pastry with a rolling pin to stretch it. Just roll it out with sharp but short strokes. Pastry sometimes crumbles a lot but be patient and it will eventually work. When blind baking always ensure the pastry is crispy and has sort of a biscuity texture before removing the baking parchment with the beans. And once the pastry is turning nicely golden it will be lovely and dry when filled with the cream.

Sweet Treats: Blueberry Tarts with a Passionfruit Syrup

For the pastry
200 g plain flour
100 g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 tbsp cold water

For the filling
100 ml double cream
4 tbsp passion fruit syrup
250 g blueberries

For the pastry, rub the butter, with your fingertips, into the flour to create a breadcrumb texture. Shake the bowl every now and then to allow large lumps come to the surface. Once the texture is fairly even sprinkle a little bit of water and work the dough with a round end knife until it come together. Bring the dough together with your hands and tip on a surface. Sprinkle the surface with a bit of flour, this will make it easier when rolling the pastry. Sprinkle a bit more flour on the rolling pin and roll the pastry to about 1 mm thickness. Cut the pastry to a slightly larger size than each tin and lay carefully over each tin. Press the dough into the wrinkled corners of tin using your fingers. Chill for about 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200 C/180 C fan/ gas 6. cover the pastry with a baking parchment sand fill with baking beans. Blind bake for about 10 minutes and then without the paper for another 5-8 minutes. Take out of the oven once golden in colour and allow to cool down. Trim the edges with a sharp knife to cut the overhanging pastry.

Whip the double cream until it is about to thicken and then spread over each pastry shell. Spread some of the passion fruit syrup over each tart. Or if you prefer whip the syrup with the cream. Place blueberries in circles starting with the outer circle. And finally sprinkle a little bit of icing sugar on top.

by Maria

Almonds, blueberries, and cream…that just can’t go wrong! An absolute Foodamazers’ favourite: we love this scrummy cake. This was one of Maria’s, our patissier, first cakes, the one she would make for friends. It is simple and works really well as a light dessert for a dinner party or just as a little treat for one of those lazy Sunday afternoons. It just feels like home. If you are not keen on blueberries, you can replace them with any other fruit you fancy, like strawberries, blackberries, or even passion fruit. And if you feel double cream is a bit too heavy, whipping cream will also do the job.

Almond and blueberry cake (serves a few good hungry friends)

4 eggs (preferably large)
200 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g ground almonds
75 g plain flour
3 tbsp Lemon and lime marmalade
300 ml double cream
220 g blueberries
1 lemon zest
20 g toasted flaked almonds
icing sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 180°/160° fan/mark 4. Grease or line two sandwich tins with baking parchment (if you have only one 8in cake tin, it’s fine, just slice the sponge in two discs once cooked).

Whisk the eggs with caster sugar and vanilla extract until pale and twice the original volume, usually about ten minutes. Be patient when whisking because this will determine how well the sponges will rise in the oven. Keep going until the eggs turn light, almost ivory colour and full of bubbles. Mix flour and almonds in a separate bowl and slowly fold into the whisked eggs. The trick is not to overmix and lose the volume.

Pour mixture into the sandwich tins in the oven for about fifteen minutes (or thirty minutes if you are using one large tin). The cake is ready once it is turning golden and pulls away from the sides of the tin. Let it cool in the tin for a few moments and then release to cool on a wire rack.

Prepare the base sponge spreading lemon and lime marmalade on it. Then whisk the double cream with lemon zest and spread half over the sponge. Add two thirds of the blueberries and then top with the second sponge. Spread the rest of the double cream on the top and scatter with the remaining blueberries and toasted flaked almonds. To finish, dust with a little icing sugar.

Now, treat yourself!

by Maria