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

Cocktail Birthday Cake

This is a birthday cake for one of my fabber dabber friends for her 30th birthday. She is a massive lover of cocktails sooo the theme was easy peasy. She is also "obsessed with her dog (who has her own facebook page,I kid you not!!) so I popped a little "dora" on the side.

The cake was Chocolate Biscuit Cake (which seems to be EXTREMELY popular lately) and topped with a cocktail glass. For some reason I never remember to take photos of my cakes, my bakes yes......the cakes no! Its not the clearest photo in the world but I loved the cake.It was fun and girlie which describes the birthday gal to a tee!

Happy Birthday Aoife x

Shirley x

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies

 

I'm a huuuuge fan of peanut butter. At school I used to get in so much trouble with my friends who are clearly not peanut butter lovers ( aliens, I know), for bringing peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Ill eat it on pretty much anything bread,crackers,celery but to be fair its usual off a spoon :)

Peanut butter and chocolate belong together in my opinion. Instead of adding chocolate chips, I went right in with chunks. These cookies are soft and chewy and insanely moreish.They were really quick to whip up and bake within a few minutes. Absolute winner in my peanut butter lover book!

Recipe for Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

Makes 12 giant cookies

Ingredients

• 70g butter, softened
• 125g smooth peanut butter
• 60g light brown sugar
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 125g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 90g chocolate, chopped into chunks or use chips if you wish.

 

Instructions

 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
2. Place the butter,peanut butter and sugars into a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy.Gradually add the egg until it is fully incorporated in the mixture.
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder together and fold it into your mixture. You can do this by hand or on the lowest speed on a mixer.Add your chocolate chunks/chips and combine.Your mixture should be pretty much a firmish dough and easy to handle. 
4. Roll the mixture between your hands to create balls which can then be placed onto the baking sheet. The cookies can be as big or as small as you like but remember that the mixture will spread out when cooking so do not put them too close together.
5. Bake for 15-20mins or until lightly brown and the centre still gooey. Leave cool (if you can, I couldn't) on a wire rack.

 Finito! Whip up to impress any peanut butter lovers you know :)


 Shirley x

Cadbury's Creme Egg Stuffed Cupcakes

If you are creme egg obsessed then this cupcake is for you! I know its probably hard to get your hands on the mini creme eggs now but if you do......

These babies are not just topped with the little egg of gooiness, there is also one inside the cupcake..SURPRISE! "Ooooooo" seemed to be the main reaction. Don't you just love biting into a cupcake or muffin to find something delicious stuffed in?

I decided to go for the Mini eggs as I didn't want it to overwhelm the cupcake but it didn't, so if you you feel the urge to stick a full sized Cadburys creme egg in there, go for it!

 

"How to put Cadbury's Creme Egg inside a Cupcake?"

 

 

What you need

 

• Your favourite chocolate cupcake batter. You could use a box mix just as easy whatever works for you!
• Cadbury's Creme Eggs minis or be a rebel and go original size:)
• A freezer

Instructions

1. Place your Creme Eggs in the freezer for 10 mins. You want them to be chilled, not frozen. This way the egg doesn't loose its thick chocolatey shell and the gooey consistency of the egg remains the same.
2. Preheat oven & whip up your cupcake batter.
3. Fill your Cupcake cases 1/3 of the way with your batter.
4. Remove your eggs from the freezer and place onto your batter. This way the egg is in smack bam in the middle of your cupcakes.
5. Spoon over your remaining cupcake batter until 2/3 full.
6. Into the oven for the required cooking time and cool.

You'll be left with a delicious cupcake with a chocolatey gooey surprise inside! I topped mine with Swiss Meringue buttercream and half a creme egg. The eggs cut perfectly in half the fact they were chilled. Would love to get my hands on some caramel eggs.....


Shirley x