Grapefruit Meringue Tart

This for those fancy summer parties. When you want to impress someone, with a very pretty, but tasty dessert with a twist on a classic. I love lemon tart, so this grapefruit tart, I also love. It's so fresh and zingy, perfect for a evening summer party. It can easily be made in advance, but not more than a day as otherwise the pastry will go soggy. 

I decided to make individual portions, as I think they look cute, and it takes less time for the pastry to cook, and the curd to set. A larger tart would work just as well, then cut into slices. 

I have also left excess pastry around the edge, but feel free to tidy it up and make them neat. I piped around with Italian meringue which I then blowtorched, but you could also pipe it on top, to make it more like a traditional meringue tart. I garnished with mint and grapefruit, to add colour and texture, but if your really trying to impress, scatter edible flowers and gold leaf. 

Ingredients

For the pastry: 
375g flour
125g icing sugar
pinch of salt
140g butter
1 egg yolk

for the curd:
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin
3 tbsp cold water
115g unsalted butter
266g granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 cup fresh grapefruit juice
2 tsp grated grapefruit zest
1- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

fresh mint leaves

1. Make the pastry, rub in the butter with the flour, sugar and salt, until breadcrumb texture.
2. Add in the egg yolk and bring together.
3. lightly knead, roll out and line greased tins. freeze the pastry cases for about 30 mins.
4. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190°/gas 5.
5. Fill the tart cases with baking beans, and bake blind for 15 mins, take out the beans. Bake for a further 10 mins or until golden brown.cool
6. Whilst the cases are cooling, make the curd. Whisk together the water and gelatin, set aside.
7. In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.
8. Slowly add the eggs and egg yolks, beat for 1 more minute.
9. Add in the grapefruit juice and mix. 
10. Pop over a pan of simmering water, whisking frequently, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.Remove from the heat, strain if needed.
11. Heat up the gelatin to dissolve.
12. Add the gelatin, zest and lemon juice to the curd, and whisk together. Adjust lemon juice to taste.
13. Pour into the cooled tart cases, pop into the fridge until set.
14. To serve pipe blobs of Italian meringue, and scatter grapefruit pieces and shredded mint.

Salted Caramel, Almond, and Chocolate Fudge Tart

One week until the Easter holidays! yay! Oh, wait, that's just for my sisters. Great... That means, i still have an extra week, of getting up at ridiculously early o'clock, for work experience. I just want to go to bed, and cry. To get me through the tough weeks; i thought that chocolate, was really, the only answer. Since my sisters will have a head start in holidays , i thought i deserved a head start, in the chocolate eating department. So i made this gorgeous tart(man.... i love salted caramel and chocolate).

The best part is obviously the salted caramel, but if you've read my blog before, you'll know that I can eat it by the spoonful, so that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. The tart keeps well, as the layers don't have that much moisture, which cause a soggy bottom. The chocolate filling has a soft texture, somewhere between a brownie, and a mousse; which goes nicely with the crunch of the nuts and crisp pastry.

Like with all chocolate recipes, use the best chocolate you can afford, it really makes a difference. I used left over plain sweet pastry, but feel free to buy, or make a sweet chocolate pastry, if you feel like going on a chocolate blowout. I used almonds as they are probably my favourite nut, and what i had to hand, but feel free to use whatever nuts you like e.g. Hazelnut for that Nutella vibe, or pecans would work well too.

Ingredients

x1 quantity of sweet pastry


caramel:
75g sugar
25g butter
100ml double cream
1 large pinch sea salt
50g almonds

chocolate filling:
100g dark chocolate
75g butter
2 large eggs 
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cocoa powder

1. preheat the oven to 180°c/ gas 4.

2. roll out the pastry, line with grease-proof paper, and fill with baking beans, bake for 20 mins. remove the baking beans and cook for a further 5-10 mins until golden.cool

3. While the tart is cooking, make the salted caramel. Dissolve the sugar with 2 tbsp water, cook until the sugar turns golden.

4. Reduce the heat, add butter, cream and golden syrup.stir until smooth and thickened. 

5. remove from the heat, add the sea salt.

6. leave to cool for a few minutes

7. pour onto the tart case, scatter with chopped almonds.set aside

8. for the chocolate filling. melt the chocolate and butter together, in the microwave or over a bowl of simmering water, until smooth. set aside and leave to cool.

9. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk and sugar for about 6 mins until thick and pale, and doubled in size.

10. carefully fold in the chocolate and cocoa powder.

11. pour into the tart case. bake for 20-25 mins or until its set and formed a crust.

12. leave to cool before cutting. Dust with cocoa powder before serving. enjoy.