Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

I think, along with fairy cakes, pastry was one of the first things I ever made on my own from scratch. I remember making apple tarts as teenager and being so proud of myself when they turned out nice.

I adore sweet shortcrust pastry. It is definitely my favourite pastry. I'm all about the crust. I could just eat the crust with cream and I would be in heaven.

I have heard so many people say they would be too scared to make their own pastry and my answer usually is 

                                                                                  WHY?

Pastry is honestly one of simplest things to make. It more than likely will shrink and crack but once you get the hang of it, there's nothing to it. The only thing that can really go wrong is you burn it and we've all been there!

Recipe for Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Makes 400g

Ingredients

200g plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp icing sugar
100g chilled butter
1/2-1 med egg

Instructions

Place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a mixer and mix until resembled bread crumbs.

Add a little egg at a time until your mixture is just moist enough that it comes together.

With your hands, flatten out your dough into disc shapes (this just helps it chill faster) and wrap in cling film.

Leave in fridge for at least 30 mins or if pushed for time 10-15 in the freezer. Pastry done!

If you want to blind bake your tart,head on over to my Rhubarb Tart recipe for instructions.

Here are a few tips I've learnt along the way.......

• Work quickly with your pastry. You want a crumbly moist pastry, over working it can make it quite chewy.
• All your ingredients must be cold, if your pastry gets quite warm you will end up with a dense pastry.
• CHILL your pastry! I never used to do this back in the day but now it is a MUST! Even after you have put it in your tin,you must re-chill it. Your pastry must go into the oven cold. It will help to avoid shrinking and cracking. 

Don't be scared,go make some. I've done all of the above wrong in the past but you will learn as you go and it usually turns out delicious, even if it does shrink and crack!

Below are some recipes I've made using Shortcrust Pastry.

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

Rhubarb Tart

Strawberry Frangipane Tart

Enjoy!

Shirley x

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

Lemon, Meringue, Pie..........................whats not to like? I've made this a few occasions but never as individual pies. They are super cute and perfect for any occasion, or if you're anything like me, a mid-morning snack with a cup of tea. These were gone in no time in my house. I think its because you kinda have to have two....as my sister said "ill just have another one....just to be sure they're nice!" suuuure.

You would think by the look of these pies that they're going to be dense and heavy. Its the complete opposite, they are so light and airy. The lemon curd is refreshing and smooth, it has just enough lemon zing and sweetness. In other words its not going make your eyes squint and cheeks suck in (yes we've all been there) on your first bite.

I piped the meringue using my Wilton 1M tip but if you want to glob it on forming peaks by all means do. I just liked the ice-cream effect it gave!

Recipe For Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

Makes 12-15

Ingredients

 

Pastry

•  330g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 175g cold butter, cut into small pieces

Lemon filling 

•  300g caster sugar
• 100g cornflour
• 120ml lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• 4 large egg yolks
• a pinch of salt
• freshly grated zest of 2 lemons, unwaxed if you can
• 60g butter

 Meringue 

• 250g icing sugar, sifted
• 4 large egg whites

 

Instructions

1. To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the caster sugar and combine. Add the butter and mix on high speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs this will take literally seconds. You can also rub it in using your fingertips until you get breadcrumb like consistency. Add 4-6 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together to form a ball. Wrap the dough in cling film and flatten out. Place it in the fridge to rest for approx 30mins.
2. For the lemon filling, place the sugar, cornflour and 450ml of water in a large saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice, egg yolks and salt. Bring to the boil and continue stirring for approx 10 mins, this can become a bit of a workout! Stir in your lemon zest and butter, stir until butter is melted,remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and flour the muffin trays.Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface about 3mm thick. Cut out desired shaped for pastry. I cut mine into rectangles as to get uneven chunky sides, it also holds more curd than a perfectly rounded pastry but do as you wish. Press each rectangle into your muffin tray and prick the base with a fork. Place in oven for approx 10 mins. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.Reduce oven to 170°C.
4. For the meringue, in a mixer or a hand-held mixer, whisk the icing sugar and egg whites together on high for 10 minutes until stiff glossy peaks form. These peaks should be able to stand on their own when whisk is removed without collapsing. Fill piping bag and pipe, if desired or go for a big glob raising some peaks using a fork. Bake in oven for 10-15 mins. The meringue should turn a light pinky/brown colour. Don't be alarmed if you get some darkened bits, it will just be extra crunch!
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.........this is torture to some folks I know but really try! They are sooo much better cool!

Hope everyone has a great bank holiday or happy Monday wherever you are popping by from!

Shirley x

Strawberry Frangipane Tart

This tart is the definition of delicious. It has a crunchy pastry crust with a smooth moist frangipane filling and sweet strawberries dotted throughout. It is definitely up there with my all time favourite tarts. It went soo fast in our house, literally 10 minutes I'd say. I should have made two!

I got a fantastic batch of strawberries, they were perfectly sweet and juicy. It kinda went like most of my baking adventures do......one for the tart, one for Shirley.

 

 

Recipe for Strawberry Frangipane Tart

 

Ingredients

 

• 350g shortcrust pastry
• 110g butter
• 110g caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 egg yolk
• 110g ground almonds
• 25g plain flour
• 200g strawberries approx (size depending)

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare the pastry and blind bake following the instructions from my Rhubarb Tart Recipe.
2. For the frangipane, cream the butter in a bowl until very soft. Add the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy. Slowly add the egg and yolk, continuing to beat all the time. Fold in the ground almonds and flour until combined.
3. Spread the frangipane into the baked pastry case and spread evenly. Chop strawberries in half or quarters, if very large, and arrange as desired. I didn't particularly push the strawberries deep into the mixture as the frangipane will rise up around it.
4. Bake for 30-40mins or until the tart is golden in colour. It should feel set when you gently press it. Leave cool or serve warm.

We had this tart warm with a big dollop of whipped cream, it was devine. I'm not a huge fan of fresh cream but it perfectly complimented the sweetness of the strawberries and the crunch of the pastry.......just mmmmm!

I am super excited to enter this tart into this months Calender Cakes, hosted by the lovely Laura. It is my first time entering even though I have followed the two hosts Lauralovescake and Dollybakes for quite a while. It is a summer fruits theme so this tart is perfecto!

                                                 
Happy Monday!

Shirley x

Rhubarb Tart

My uncle Joe came up trumps once again this year with a big stash of Rhubarb. We had a little rhubarb cook-off between myself, my Dad and Aishling. Dad made stewed rhubarb and Aishling went with the classic crumble. My contribution was a Rhubarb Tart.

I don't know about you fine folks but I always have issues getting the correct sweetness to cut through the rhubarbs sourness, so I do mine a little differently!

 

Recipe for Rhubarb Tart

 

Makes 1  9" pie

Ingredients

• 400g shortcrust pastry
• 500g chopped rhubarb
• 250g caster sugar (approx)
• 6 tbsps plain flour
• good knob butter

 

Instructions

1. Make (or buy!) the shortcrust Pastry and leave chill in the fridge for 30mins. Preheat oven to 180°C. When chilled, Roll out 2/3 of your pastry and line your greased tin. Place some greaseproof paper over your pastry and fill with baking beans or dried pulses (I have used lentils before and they worked a treat). In to the oven and bake "blind" for 15 mins and leave on cooling rack.
2. While the pastry is baking, put your rhubarb and 1 or 2 tablespoons of water into a large pot and add 1/2 of your caster sugar. You want your rhubarb to stew ever so slightly but not break down completely. I like to do this so you can control the sweetness/sourness ratio. Add more or less sugar according to taste.
3. Combine remaining sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/2 the mixture onto pie base. Heap rhubarb over the mixture and sprinkle with remaining half. Dot small knobs of butter randomly throughout. Cover the top with remaining pastry and pinch the sides with a fork to seal. Cut some holes or prick with a fork to leave steam escape. Brush with beaten egg for that "shiny look".
4. Reduce oven to 160°C and bake for 20-25mins.

We ate this warm right out of the oven with some vanilla ice-cream. Its not the usual way to make a rhubarb tart but it works. The addition of the flour and butter makes the filling so much nicer. It absorbs all that rhubarby sweet syrup and with the crunch of the pastry crust ,it really is rhubarb heaven!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Shirley x

Chocolate éclairs

People may think I'm nuts but I'm not a big fresh cream fan. I always tend to sway more towards Chantilly cream and the likes. Even as a child I would go more in the direction of donuts,cookies and ice-cream. My family, on the other hand, adore creamy cakes and pastries so out came Rachel Allen and I whipped up some éclairs to keep them smiling!


It was my first time making choux pastry and let me tell you it is a work out. All that beating with a wooden spoon, I thought my arm was going to fall off the next day :) I was overall very happy with how the choux pastry turned out, it was lovely and light when you bit into it. Cream would burst from the most random of places which made them even more indulgent.


I actually used a Chantilly cream for the filling and chocolate icing for the topping, looking back I would probably use one or the other with fresh cream and melted chocolate for the topping as this recipe is extremely rich!

Recipe for Choux Pastry

 

Ingredients 

 

100g plain flour
150 ml water 
75 g butter
3 eggs, beaten

Directions

 

1. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and set aside.

2. Put the water and butter into a medium-sized saucepan with high sides set over a medium-high heat and stir until the butter melts. Allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil then immediately remove the pan from the heat.

3. Add the flour and salt and beat very well with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.

4. Reduce the heat to medium and replace the saucepan, stirring for 1 minute until the mixture starts to ‘fur’ (slightly stick to the base of the pan). Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 1 minute.

5. Pour about one-quarter of the beaten egg into the pan and, using the wooden spoon, beat very well. Add a little more egg and beat well again until the mixture comes back together. Continue to add the egg, beating vigorously all the time, until the mixture has softened, is nice and shiny and has a dropping consistency. You may not need to add all the egg or you may need a little extra. If the mixture is too stiff (not enough egg) then the choux pastries will be too heavy, but if the mixture is too wet (too much egg), they will not hold their shape when spooned onto baking paper.

6. Although the pastry is best used right away, it can be placed in a bowl, covered and chilled for up to 12 hours, until ready to use.

Recipe for Chantilly Cream

Ingredients

50g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
400ml whipped cream (measure when whipped)

 

Directions

Fold the icing sugar and Vanilla extract into the whipped cream. Easy Peasy!

Recipe for Chocolate icing

Ingredients

200g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder
1-2tbsp boiling water

Directions

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Carefully add boiling water and stir to mix,adding a little more boiling water if necessary. The icing should be spreadable but not too thick or watery.

Recipe for Chocolate éclairs

 

Ingredients

 

As prepared above.
1 egg, beaten.

Directions

  

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F), Gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with parchment paper (not greaseproof paper, as the éclairs may stick when cooked).

2. Place the dough into a piping bag fitted with the plain 5–8mm (1/4–3/8in) nozzle and pipe into lengths approximately 10cm (4in) long onto the prepared baking tray, spaced about 4cm (1 ½ in) apart to allow for expansion. Use a small wet knife to stop the dough coming out when you have finished piping each éclair.


3. Brush the éclairs gently with the beaten egg and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C and continue to cook for a further 15–20 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed up, golden and crisp.


4. Remove the éclairs from the oven and using a skewer or the tip of a small sharp knife, make a hole in the side or the base of each éclair. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes to allow the steam to escape. Transfer the éclairs to a wire rack to cool.

5. When the éclairs are cool, spoon the chantilly cream into a clean piping bag fitted with the small, plain nozzle (I used the same nozzle used for piping the éclairs) and pipe the cream into the éclairs through the hole made by the skewer or knife until they are well filled.

6. Using a small palette knife or table knife that has been standing in a jug of hot water (to make spreading the icing easier), spread the icing over the top of each éclair, dipping the knife into the hot water between each éclair. Serve!


This post does seem like a lot of work but its actually not, make your cream and chocolate while the eclairs are in the oven and cooling,then fill and top and your done. Scrumptious!


Shirley x

 

Mince Pies

If you are a fan of mince pies and haven't made your own, I insist you do ( next December of course as this post is a tad late ). Given my dislike of fruit cakes, I am strangely a fan of mince pies. Warm straight out of the oven is my fave! I love the way the mince soaks into the pastry and your left with some sweet burnt bits on top. I have never made these before and had great plans for doing my own mincemeat. Of course Nigellas recipe requests you store it two wks before use. This was no use to me on Christmas eve so I used store bought.....yes......out of a jar!

I may have used store bought mincemeat but I made the pastry from scratch so 50% homemade ain't so bad. Sweet shortcrust pastry is my favourite but you can use the basic shortcrust if you wish.

Recipe for Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Makes 400g

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour, sifted
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 100g chilled butter
• 1/2-1 med egg

Instructions

1. Place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a mixer and mix until resembled bread crumbs. Add a little egg at a time until your mixture is just moist enough that it comes together.
2. With your hands, flatten out your dough into disc shapes and wrap in cling film.
3. Leave in fridge for at least 30 mins or if pushed for time 10-15 in the freezer. Pastry done...simples!

For Mince Pies

While the pastry is chilling, preheat the oven  to 180°C. 

Roll out your pastry to about 5mm thick,cut circles and press into tin. I used a mini-muffin tin as I wanted them "bite-size".

Add a tsp of mincemeat. Cut out some stars and place on top.

Pop in the oven and 10-12mins later, you have delicious bite-size mince pies :)

Tasty!

Shirley x

Apple Turnovers

I had loads of plans for this long weekend and here I am on a Monday evening with nothing done,I honestly don't know where the weekend went! I wanted to bake,hang pictures (Well boss G around,telling him where to hang the pictures) and get in shopping,you would think with three days I would have accomplished this no problem......ah no! But at least I got the baking in :)

It's like committing a crime calling home to my mom and dad empty handed on a Sunday Evening....."Did you not bring anything nice for the tea?"..... So I needed something quick and easy!

Recipe for Apple Turnovers

 

Ingredients

 

• 4 apples
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp water
• 1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 Egg,beaten
• Sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Peel,core and slice your apples. If your an extra slow peeler like me and don't like the look of brown apples.Put the apples into a bowl of water with some lemon juice. I put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 2 cups of water. 
3. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Drain the water from the apples and place them into the hot pan. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar, and cinnamon, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Stir cornstarch with the 1 tablespoon of water and pour into the pan. Mix well. Cook for another minute, or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat to cool slightly.
4.  Unfold the puff pastry sheets, and repair any cracks by pressing them back together. Trim each sheet into a square. Then cut each larger square into 4 smaller squares. Spoon the apple mixture onto the center of each squares. Fold over from corner to corner into a triangle shape, and press edges together to seal. 
5. Place the turnovers on a baking sheet and leave about 1 inch between them. Brush turnovers with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.Bake for 25mins until the turnover is puffed up and a light brown.

I don't think these photos do the turnovers justice but they were really nice and went down well.

Has anyone ever made their own puff pastry? It is soooo time consuming!!I have no problem with using frozen puff pastry so I apologise if I've offended any fellow bakers out there :)

Shirley x