Recipe: Strawberry Custard Tarts...totally irresistible!

In this festive season full of laughter and joy, what would you associate the color red with? Santa Claus? Presents? Christmas party? For me, red is the color of festival, happiness and energy, and it just so happened to be the color of a couple of my favorite fruits too! Aww...just take a look at these beautiful strawberry custard tarts... tell me if you know anybody who won't get fanatical seeing red like this- a shrink may well be needed :P

So here is the recipe of this cheerful and luscious dessert that could stir up your festival mood right away (yea! put even more brandy in :P)~ try this for New Year ^^

Strawberry Custard Tart (yields 6 - 5" tarts)

Ingredients:

- 3 dozens Strawberries (6 on top of each tart - variable depending on personal preference)

- 6 thin slices vanilla-flavored chiffon cake (Optional - for placing inside the custard layer)

Tart base

- 80g unsalted butter (soft to touch at room temperature)

- 150g cake flour

- 35g sugar

- 1 egg yolk

- 2g salt

Custard

Part A)

- 300ml milk

Part B)

- 2 egg yolks

- 60g sugar

Part C)

- 50g cake flour

- 10g corn starch

- 100ml milk

Part D)

- 30g unsalted butter

- 20ml brandy (or rum) <-- Trust me this can't be skipped!!

Gelatin dressing (this is optional but it's so much more shiny and bubbly with the dressing on!!)

- 2 tbl spoon gelatin powder

- 20ml warm water

- 50g strawberry jam 

Alternative: simply crush approx. 8 fresh strawberries and cook with 40g sugar and 2 tbl spoon lemon juice)

Method:

Tart shells

1. Beat butter till creamy

2. Add in sugar, salt, egg yolk and mix well

3. Sieve in cake flour in two batches and knead the dough by folding and pressing forward by hand until consistently combined

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wraps and place in freezer for 30min

5. Lightly flour the table surface 

6. Pre-heat oven at 180°C

7. Take out a small dough ball and place in the centre of the tart mold 

8. Spread out and press the dough against the sides of the mold with even thickness

9. Trim around the top of the rim to make the tart shell clean looking inside the mold

10. Poke around the tart mold with a fork
11. Bake for 20min until golden color (cover the tarts with aluminium foil if becoming too dark)
12. Let the shell cool and dry

Custard

1. Bring the milk in Part A into simmer
2. Sieve and mix the cake flour and corn starch in Part C
3. Pour in the 100ml milk in Part C into the flour mix, stir to mix
4. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in Part B
5. Mix the combined Part C into Part B
6. Pour the hot milk of Part A slowly into the B+C mixture, stir to mix
7. Heat the mixture with low heat, keep stirring until just thickened then leave the heat immediately
8. Stir in butter and brandy in Part D for the flavor

9. Let the custard cool and then refrigerate for 20min, covered with plastic wrap

Build the tart!
1. Take out the tart shells from the molds (better place each in separate dish to avoid too much transferring when it comes to serve - just to lower the risk :P)
2. Spread a thin layer of custard in the shells
3. Place a thin slice of chiffon cake on each shell

4. Fill the remaining wells of the tarts with custard
5. Decorate with fresh strawberries :)

Gelatin dressing
1. Melt the gelatin powder in hot water
2. Mix in the jam
3. Drizzle carefully on the strawberries without letting it overflow down the outside of the tart shells 

Each tart is good for one or two to share~ perfect for this time of the year that encourages giving and sharing :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014! <3

Chiffon cake recipe - so easy and versatile you will get addicted to making it!

This time of the year is like honeymoon - work is less crazy, I got annual leave days to clear, Christmas and New Year are around - meaning more holidays, and the main point is - finally I got some real leisure time to enjoy myself yay! :DD

So I made 2 variations of chiffon cakes in a row this weekend - one with bananas + dried cranberries, another with cinnamon poached pears & apples (omg it's the taste of Christmas!). Chiffon cake is relatively light as it doesn't contain butter~ so yea I guess I won't become a 肥妹 yet after this long weekend :D

This recipe I followed can yield spongy yet substantial cake texture, and it won't be too sweet (just the right sweetness I like) - the flavor is up to your choice of fruits/ ingredients and here are two types you can try~

Banana and cranberry chiffon cake

(8" cake pan - serves 4-6)

Ingredients:                     

- 5 eggs (separate yolks and whites)

- 60g sugar (10g for flour mix*; 50g for egg white foam**)

- 40g olive oil (or vegetable oil)

- 90g cake flour (or 60g cake flour + 30g wheat flour)

- 1/2 lemon (for juice)

- 2-3 bananas (crushed and have 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice added)

- 30g dried cranberries

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 160°C

*Flour mix

2. Mix the egg yolks with 10g sugar

3. Add in olive oil 

4. Stir in crushed bananas

5. Sieve and add in cake flour, stir till all mixed

*Egg white foam

6. Beat the egg white till a bit foamy

7. Add in 50g sugar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in 2 batches 

8. Keep beating till the foam is firm and smooth, and be able to form soft peaks

Get ready for the bake!

9. Fold in egg white foam into the flour mix in 3 batches

10. Add dried cranberries to the mix

11. Pour the melange into the cake pan and send it off to the oven for 50 minutes (at 160°C)

Enjoy watching the lovely cake puff up and get bronzed~

To serve:

12. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, it's done!

12. Place the cake upside down to cool once it's out of the oven (you could refer to the 2 methods below)

13. Optional: may decorate the cake top with icing sugar, and enjoy with apricot or whatever jam you like

Variation (which replaces bananas if you are not a fan): Spiced apple and pear chiffon cake

Ingredients:

- Same as above, except no bananas and cranberries

- 1 apple & 1 pear (anjou / bosc pear), chopped / finely diced

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 60g sugar

Preparation:

1. Heat 60g sugar and about 2cups (500mL) of water in a saucepan

2. When the sugar has melted and starts to boil, add in chopped apples and pears, and cinnamon

3. Stir and bring the mix to simmer for 20 minutes till the fruits soften

4. Cover the saucepan and let the mixture sit for at least 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)

5. Right before use, drain excess sugar water, and slightly dry the surfaces of the chopped fruits on a kitchen towel 

Method (95% the same as above, but pay attention to the slight differences~):

Pre-heat oven at 160°C 

*Flour mix - same as above but DON'T add in the fruits yet

 <-- Don't do this! It will moist the batter too much (bad example :P) 

and become this --> 

*Egg white foam - same treatment as above

The last mile before the bake...

1. Pour the flour + egg white melange into the cake pan

2. Drop the chopped fruit into the cake mix evenly (to allow the least time for the fruit chunks to sink to the bottom)

3. Send off to the oven for 50 minutes (at 160°C)

Done! Same serving method as above :)

Bon appetit! Enjoy!