Vanilla brulee tarts with strawberry purée

A crazy amount of 21st birthdays have been approaching, and along with gifts, I like providing some sweet delights. In this case, I decided to make some tarts (I got a bit bored of making cakes). I have always wanted to make tarts, and I finally got around to it.

This recipe is by the famous Bourke St Bakery. Unfortunately, mine didn't taste as good, but I never expected them to. Furthermore, due to some time restrictions and not the greatest blow torch, I couldn't quite get the burnt sugar effect on top.

Also, lucky for me, my sister had a whole bunch of pastry left over from a previous tart she made so I didn't have to make the shortcrust pastry. But the recipe she used was   a Matt Moran, sweet shortcrust pastry as seen on MasterChef Australia: http://www.masterchef.com.au/recipes/sweet-shortcrust-pastry.htm

Vanilla brulee tarts with strawberry puree
Makes 20 (8cm tart)
**I used a large round tart pan (~23-25cm) and 5 small tart cases (8cm)

Ingredients

Vanilla Custard
720 ml of thickened cream
1 vanilla bean (or equivalent = 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste)
10 egg yolks
80g (1/3 cup) caster sugar

Strawberry Puree
250g strawberries, washed and hulled
120g caster sugar



Method:
Vanilla Custard
1. In a saucepan combine vanilla into the cream.

2. Bring to the boil over high heat, as soon as it boils remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes.

3. Place egg yolks in a large stainless steel bowl. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

 4. Pour the slightly cooled cream through a sieve over the egg yolks (discarding the vanilla bean pod - if used, and further removing any lumps.)

5. Whisk the mixture to combine.
6. Put the stainless bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water.

7. Continue stirring the mixture with a whisk for 10-15 minutes, or until smooth and thick - continually scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula.
**NOTE: Do not stop mixing or the mixture will curdle (i.e. the eggs begin to cook).

8. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk briskly for about 2 minutes to cool the mixture.
9. Once the mixture is off the heart, whisk the mixture every 10 minutes for 1 hour.

10. Place plastic wrap on top of the mixture and refrigerate over night.

Strawberry puree
1. Combine strawberries and sugar into a food processor (blender and hand stick blender will do the same job) until smooth.
2.  Wrap and refrigerate until needed. 

Pastry
1. Roll out the pastry until about 3mm thick. (using flour to prevent sticking)

2. Using the rolling pin, place the pastry into the case and pinch in the sides. Cutting off any excess pastry.
3. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven at 190 degrees Celsius.

5. Place greaseproof paper over the top of the tarts, and fill with weighing beads (or uncooked rice)

6. Bake for 15 minutes.

7. Remove greaseproof paper and beads, and bake for another 10 minutes or until light brown.

8. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool before filling.

Assembly
1. Spoon about 3/4 teaspoon of strawberry purée into the base of the tart shell (that is for the 8cm cases, for the big tart I probably put equivalent to a few tablespoons).

2. Pipe the custard into the tart shells (this is so the strawberry purée stays in the centre). **NOTE: I just spooned the custard around the strawberry purée and put a dollop at the top, this works as well as long as your are gentle.

3. Smooth the top of the tart.

4. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

5. Sprinkle a teaspoon of caster sugar on top of the custard and burn with a blow torch until caramelised. (This step doesn't have to be done, but to get the full effect it is advised.)

Going on with the time restrictions, the custard in the big tart case didn't set as well as the custard in the small tart cases, but regardless, it was still tasty.

Good food, good times!

Newtown Bites

I woke up one morning, and thought I need an afternoon of good company and great food. I messaged one of my close friends and decided, lets go to Newtown, and off we went to some of our favourite places and venturing to some new ones.

First stop: Luxe Bakery (195 Missenden Road, Newtown NSW 2042)
No matter the sweet craving I always have to go for savoury first to set the mood. So we decided to start our Netown bites with some savoury brunch delights.

Toasted herby chicken with prolone cheese, lettuce + tangy orange sauce $10

I have yet to try a bad sandwich at Luxe Bakery, and that streak continues. I had a taste of what was one great sandwich, with the moist chicken and orange sauce. I wished the sauce had a bit of a stronger taste, nevertheless it was wonderful. 

House cured trout with hash browns, poached egg & truffle oil $16

The house cured trout is my idea of a good lunch. Everything on the plate works well together, and the perfectly poached egg gives the dish that little extra kick. This is my second time having this dish, and compared to the first time, the trout didn't have a lightly dill coat. The dill definitely makes a difference to the taste, adding another level of freshness to the trout.

Second Stop: The Pie Tin (1a Brown Steet, Newtown NSW 2042)

Let the sweets begin! This was our debut to The Pie Tin, after seeing chocolatesuze post a photo of some awesome looking pies she was eating, I had to get in on the action. Walking into The Pie Tin and seeing all the pies in the glass cabinet, made them all look irresistible. Flavours including apple, chocolate brownie, strawberry, snickers, oreo, pumpkin, coconut custard, raspberry & lime jelly and more! After a good 5 minutes, we finally decided on which sweet pies to get.

 GIANT APPLE PIE!!

 Pie prices: $6.50 - $7.50

We purchased American sweet pumpkin, and coconut custard pie. The pumpkin pie was my favourite of the two, it wasn't to sweet, but it was sweet enough to just hit the spot. The coconut custard pie was relatively light. It had more of an egg custard filling, compared to a vanilla custard filling. Which didn't quite tickle my fancy, but tasted nice regardless. The coconut added a little extra sweetness.

Third Stop: Gelatomassi (262 King St, Newtown NSW 2042)

I read about Gelatomassi in a SMH article titled Sydney's tastiest gelato. Not realising where it was located until we walked passed it on the way to luxe, I made sure we came back for a taste. Ice-cream is a weakness for me, especially at a place like Gelatomassi where there are plenty of flavours to choose from.

Price range: From $4.50

After sampling a few flavours, we chose pistachio and dark chocolate, due to Four Square where most people stated they enjoyed these flavours. The sweetness of the pistachio complimented the bitterness of the dark chocolate resulting in an awesome combination of flavours. The texture of the ice cream was smooth, and creamy, yet not too milky. It reminded of the ice cream at Pompeii (in Bondi) but Gelatomassi is cheaper and I think will be one of my new favourite spots to eat ice cream.

Final Stop: Black Star Pastry (277 Australia Street, Newtown NSW 2042)

The journey ends at one of Newtown's hot spots, famous for there chocolate éclair and watermelon cake, Black Star Pastry. The main reason we went there was to try there new granita, that was a limited edition summer item, but they didn't make it on the day, so instead we chose the blueberry lavender tart ($6) and lemon meringue tart with basil jelly ($6).

The blueberries on the tart had a sugar coating, which I personally didn't like too much. It made the tart a bit too sweet for my liking. I am unsure to what the filling of the tart was but it was nice and light, and went well with blueberries that weren't coated in sugar. Nevertheless, a well flavoured sweet sensation.

The lemon meringue tart with basil jelly was definitely interesting. The thing I found intriguing was the shape of the dessert, and the perfectly torched lines on the meringue. The meringue with the lemon curd tasted typical to a normal lemon meringue tart, however the basil jelly is what made a difference. The basil jelly added a 'herby' taste to the dessert, which worked strangely well with the sour lemon and sweet meringue. After a while, the lemon became a bit overpowering, but I wouldn't have expected any less.

Good food, good times!