Author Archives: Dave Oney

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About Dave Oney

Dave Oney was born mid last century in Middlebury, Vermont. He received his BS in Chemistry and worked as a polymer chemist in Massachusetts and New Jersey. He became a microscopist (someone who studies little bitty things using a microscope) and photomicrographer (someone who photographs little bitty things) before settling into a 35-year career in technical sales of scientific imaging equipment (the science of digitally recording itty bitty things, sending the image to a computer for analysis.) He designed and created a number of products contributing to this field. He is (was) proficient in several computer languages and is currently working on mastering English. After making a few more paradigm shift career changes Dave and his wife, Fran, retired and moved closer to their children and granddaughters and now live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.

Apple Pie for Freezing

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A month ago, QC and I went to Apple Hill to buy some, wait for it,… apples! This is our traditional trip up past Placerville. It’s a nice drive up and we take a backroad home through the Sierra Nevada foothills. It looks a lot like Vermont.

I made a couple of dozen pints of applesauce, (we like applesauce.) and had leftover apples, beyond those we ate. I found a recipe for an apple pie designed to be prepared and frozen (for up to 2 months.) I also have a nice pie crust recipe I never used so along with the apples, the time was ripe. If you do not over-mix the fats and dry ingredients and do not over-work the dough the crust will be very flaky and delicious like this one.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait the full two months to complete the test, and baked it today, almost exactly one month from freezing. (Next time I will make two pies.)

Two Slices, two plates.

Apple Pie Ready for Freezing

PIE CRUST
• 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose flour plus more for shaping and rolling
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 2/3 cup (130g) vegetable shortening, chilled
• ½ cup (120ml) ice cold water

INGREDIENTS – PIE FILLING
• 6 c thinly sliced, peeled apples (6 medium)
• ¾ c sugar
• 3 Tbl all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp lemon juice

METHOD CRUST

  1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
  2. Add the butter and shortening. Use a pastry cutter, cut the butter and shortening until it looks like coarse gravel. (A few larger bits of fat are OK). In this step, you’re only breaking up the cold fat into tiny little flour-coated pieces; you’re not completely incorporating it. Do not overwork the ingredients.
  3. Measure ½ cup (120ml) of water in a cup. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure ½ cup (120ml) of water, since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water in, 1 Tablespoon (15ml) at a time, and stir with a silicone spoon after every tablespoon has been added. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps. Do not add any more water than you need.
  4. Transfer the pie dough to a floured work surface. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Avoid overworking the dough. If it feels a bit too dry or crumbly, dip your fingers in the ice water and then continue bringing dough together with your hands. If it feels too sticky, sprinkle on more flour and then continue bringing dough together with your hands. Form it into a ball. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH!
  5. Use a sharp knife to cut it in half. If it’s helpful, you should have about 1 lb, 8 oz dough total (about 680g). Gently flatten each half into 1-inch-thick discs using your hands.
  6. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
  7. After the dough has chilled for at least 2 hours roll it out, one crust at a time, keeping the other in the refrigerator until you’re ready to roll it out. Lightly flour the work surface, rolling pin, and your hands, and sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Use gentle-medium force with your rolling pin on the dough—don’t press down too hard on the dough. When rolling dough out, start from the center and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands as you go. Between passes of the rolling pin, rotate the pie crust and even flip it, to make sure it’s not sticking to your work surface. Sprinkle on a little more flour if it’s sticking; don’t be afraid to use a little more flour. Roll the dough into a very thin 12-inch circle. Your pie dough will be about 1/8 inch thick, which is quite thin. Visible specks of butter and fat in the dough are perfectly normal and expected.
  8. Carefully roll one end of the circle of dough gently onto the rolling pin, rolling it back towards you, slowly peeling it off the work surface as you go. Pick it up, and carefully roll it back out over the top of the pie dish.

METHOD – PIE FILLING

  1. Place 1 pie crust in 9-inch disposable foil or metal pie plate (do not use glass). Press crust firmly against side and bottom of pie plate.
  2. In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into crust-lined pie plate.
  3. Top with second crust. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust edge, pressing edges together to flute and seal.
  4. Tightly wrap unbaked pie in 3 layers of plastic wrap, making sure all sides of pie are completely sealed and unexposed.
  5. When ready to bake pie, heat oven to 450°F. Remove frozen pie from freezer; cut a few slits in top crust and place in oven. Do not thaw pie.
  6. Bake 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F; bake 40 to 50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and apples are hot and soft when pricked with a fork. If necessary, tent the edges of the pie to reduce darkening and bake in 10-minute periods until the internal temperature of the pie is 190 – 200°F.

1 Apple and 3 Bananas a Day…

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We returned from Kauai VERY early this morning. When I staggered into the kitchen I found three VERY ripe banana and a very (small case on purpose) soft apple in our produce rack. Instantly, I thought apple-banana bread.

This recipe is an amalgam of several I found online. One note: my brown sugar was very clumpy so I ran it through a sieve before adding it to the other dry ingredients. I was able to break up the clumps with my fingers.

Apple-Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS
• 260 g (1¾ c) AP flour
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 75 g (⅓ c) granulated sugar
• 110 g (⅔ c) light brown sugar
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• ⅔ c butter (very soft)
• 3 Tbl milk
• 3 small/medium bananas (mashed)
• 1 large apple (peeled, cored, chopped)

METHOD

  1. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and spices.
  2. Blend in eggs, butter, and milk.
  3. Stir in banana and apple.
  4. Pour batter into greased loaf pan.
  5. Bake at 350F for about 1 hour or until toothpick test comes out clean. (Internal temperature was 193F.)
  6. Rest in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then on a cooling rack until room temperature (if you can wait that long.)

Black Chocolate Cookies… Revisited

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The second day of Mah Jongg at our house provided the opportunity to bake these black chocolate cookies again. (Follow the link for recipe and method.)

These are delicious cookies with the bitterness of the Dutch process cocoa offset by the sparkling sugar sprinkled on the top. Previously I flooded them with royal icing, (but this coarse sugar is easier.)

Olive Breadsticks Revisited

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I made Paul Hollywood’s Olive Bread Sticks in 2017 and thought it was high time to repeat. It was another perfect golf day (but not a perfect score.) I love olives and I love bread. Ta Da!

See the recipe and method on the link above. Easy to make, although a tad messy. The dough is very slack and requires a lot of flour to be able to shape and move it. I also brush the finished breadsticks to remove excess flour after they have cooled.

Ever the Scientist

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You would think having been out of the chemistry laboratory since 1978 (please don’t do the math) I would lose some of my scientific method mentality, but I haven’t.

I made rough puff pastry for the first time this week. Also for the first time, I bought an exorbitantly expensive commercial puff pastry (Dufour’s.) For price comparison, the Dufour was $11.99 for two sheets about 8”x9”. Trader Joe’s at $4.99 are only available in October and November. (Buy a bunch and stock up… I do!) Pepperidge Farms is $6.25 for 2 sheets, and my rough puff pastry is $1.65 for an equivalent size and number of sheets. Yes, not a typo, $1.65. It does take a little elbow grease to roll the cold dough out, but aside from the sore wrist, it is nearly free.

As for performance: Trader Joe’s puffs the least, which for a number of applications is an advantage. Dufour’s puffs more than Trader Joe’s but not as much as Dede’s Rough Puff, which in turn was less than Pepperidge Farms. All four tasted excellent, but as humble as I am capable of being, my rough puff was outstanding. It was as flavorful, puffed as much and was as easy to roll as any of the other three.

(I have made so many pastries with both Trader Joe’s and Pepperidge Farms I didn’t include them in today’s head to head analysis.)

Pre-measured ingredients
First row of chocolate in the Pain Au Chocolate strips
Second row of chocolate rolled into a strip
Rolled Pain Au Chocolat ready to chill, then egg wash and sprinkle with decorating sugar and baked
Pan Au Chocolate
Rolled puff pastry with circle cutter and roller
Cut puff pastry and cream cheese/white chocolate filling
Filling on the bottom of the pie
Filled pies with blackberry
Crimping the edges
Finished hand pie and pain au chocolat
Blackberry Hand Pies and Pain Au Chocolate.
(Dafour’s in the back, Dede’s in the front.)

Pain au Chocolate

INGREDIENTS

  • Puff pastry
  • Chocolate
  • Confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 egg

METHOD

  1. Roll out puff pastry
  2. Dust with confectioner’s sugar
  3. Cut into 2” wide (cut 5 long strips, then cut each in half)
  4. Lay chocolate at one end, roll one time, press down gently and roll again, press gently again
  5. Add second row of chocolate and roll one last time, press gently
  6. Chill overnight or at least 2 hours.
  7. Make egg wash with 1 egg and 1 Tbl water. Beat well with a fork.
  8. Brush with egg wash
  9. Paint the inner end of the roll to seal the end. Press firmly.
  10. Bake 360 deg 20-25 min on parchment lined baking sheet

Berry Hand Pie

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but cool.
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or decorating sugar
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips
  • 6 ounces berries
  • 3 tablespoons coarse white sugar or decorating sugar

METHOD

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F.  Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
  2. Stir the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth.  Stir in the white chocolate chips.
  3. Cut large berries in half.
  4. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface.  Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface.  Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Using a round cutter, cut into 24 (2½ -inch) circles.
  5. Brush the edges of 12 pastry circles with the egg mixture.  Place about ½ tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each.  Top each with about one small or two halves of a large berry.  Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling.  Press the edges firmly to seal.  Crimp the edges with a fork. If you don’t seal them adequately the filling will leak out of the sides of the finished pastry.
  6. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.  Using a sharp knife cut small slits in the tops of the filled pastries.  Place the pastries onto a silicone or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.  Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.
  8. Eat. They are small. Eat again.

Puff the Magic Rough Pastry

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It’s really rough puff pastry and it’s magic that I made it! Usually, I buy either Pepperidge Farm, or Trader Joe’s puff pastry. Pepperidge Farm puffs up at least twice Trader Joe’s and I choose depending on what I am baking.

While significantly more work than driving the couple of miles to the supermarket, this is significantly less expensive and more self satisfying. I was pleasantly surprised with the resulting puff pastry and even more amazed at the resultant baked pastries.

Rough Puff Pastry has been in my “What’s Up in Dede’s Bakery” for months and to give you an idea how bored I was this morning, I decided today is the day!

I had good lamination (left) , resulting in a flaky pastry.
Blackberry Hand Pie (top) and Pain Au Chocolat, bottom.

I found an excellent blog (theflavorbender.com) with detailed, clear instructions. Her instructions, with minor edits, are below. The hardest part is grating the frozen butter (without skinning a knuckle) and the last few rolls of the laminated dough.

Rough Puff Pastry

INGREDIENTS
• 60 g unsalted frozen butter grated and kept in freezer while the flour chills
• 200 g unsalted frozen butter grated and kept in freezer while the flour chills (weigh the butter after grating it)
• 350 g AP flour that has been kept in the freezer for a couple of hours
• 1 tsp salt
• 120 – 150 g ice cold water I used about 9.5 tbsp (142ml)
• ½ tsp lemon / lime juice / white vinegar

Costs
• Butter ~ $1.50
• Flour ~ $0.15

METHOD

  1. In a bowl, sieve the flour, salt and freeze for about 2 hours
  2. Add the 60 g of frozen, grated butter. With your fingers quickly rub the butter into the flour.
  3. Add the lemon and water, a tablespoon at a time, while mixing with a wooden spoon or your fingertips to bring the dough together.
  4. Add enough water to form a firm dough (that is not tacky or too wet).
  5. Knead the dough on a floured surface for about a minute and leave it to rest for about 5 minutes (in the fridge).
  6. Roll the dough out into a long rectangle (about 6 – 7 inches wide, and 15 – 16 inches long).
  7. Sprinkle 100 g of frozen, grated butter on 2/3rds of the area of this rectangle.
  8. Fold over the portion without butter, towards the middle.
  9. Then fold the first fold over the still butter exposed end. You completed one-fold (while laminating butter).
  10. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out to form another long rectangle (about 5 – 6 inches wide, and 15 – 16 inches long).
  11. Repeat with the rest of the butter and fold over, (completed 2nd fold with second lamination) and turn 90 degrees. Now you have incorporated all the butter in two folds.
  12. Complete 3 more folds so you have folded the dough about 5 times. You shouldn’t need to refrigerate between folds, if you work quickly, HOWEVER if it’s a hot day and the butter starts to seep through, keep the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes to harden the butter and continue.
  13. After the fifth and final folding, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until needed.
  14. Let it rest for at least 2 hours before using. (I prefer to leave it longer, even overnight for best results.)
  15. If you’re not using it right away, cut the dough in half, wrap individual pieces in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

Whipped Key Lime Pastries

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I love key lime. I saw a recipe that inspired me to make two pastries featuring whipped key lime (like a chiboust with key lime curd mixed with stabilized whipped cream.)

My first attempt used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry to form the pastry cups. This puff pastry “puffed” up too much. My second try used Trader Joe’s puff pastry which only puffs about 25% of Pepperidge Farm’s. This pastry worked better.

Pastry in pan with cupcake papers and beans
“Sandwiched” puff pastry, cupcake papers, beans and second cupcake pan
Baked puff pastry

Cut the puff pastry into circles (I use hexagons as they don’t waste as much pastry) about 2” larger than the diameter of the cupcake pan pocket. Fit the circles into each pocket. Try not to fold them over along the sides and more than necessary. Place a mini-cupcake paper in each and fill with baking beans (not baked beans,) then cover with an identical cupcake pan. This will retard the “puff” of the pastry.

Raspberry coulis
Coulis filled bottom of shell
Key lime whipped cream piped into shell

Bake about 15 minutes at 400F. Remove the upper pan, the cupcake paper and beans, turn the oven off and return the baked shells to the over to dry the bottoms. This should take ~5 minutes.

Raspberry drizzled profiteroles
Raspberry drizzled pastry shells
Final pastries
I could have done a better job drizzling (should have!) When the first attempt failed I made profiteroles as well.

Key Lime Cream Puff Pastry

INGREDIENTS
• 1 sheet puff pastry (Trader Joe’s preferred)

Whipped Cream Key Lime Curd:
• ½ c white sugar
• 2 Tbl cornstarch
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 1 large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tsp lime zest
• ⅔ c key lime juice
• ⅔ c sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tbl butter
• ¾ c heavy whipping cream

Key Lime Drizzle:
• 3 c confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tsp lime zest
• 4-6 Tbl key lime juice
• ¼ tsp Agar agar.

Alternative Raspberry Drizzle
• 12 oz raspberries – fresh or frozen; about 320g
• ~4 to 6 Tbl granulated sugar – to taste
• ~1 tsp lemon (or lime) juice
• ¼ tsp Agar agar.

METHOD

  1. Curd: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
  2. Whisk in the egg yolks, lime zest, and juice. Bring to a boil, over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly and cook for about 1 minute.
  3. Remove from heat, whisk in sweetened condensed milk, and bring back to a boil.
  4. Remove from heat again and strain the mixture through a sieve. Add in butter and whisk until smooth.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
  6. Puff Pastry Shell: Cut defrosted and pliable puff pastry into circles 2” larger than the cupcake pan pocket. I use hexagon cutters as they are more efficient and don’t waste as much pastry dough.
  7. Fill each cupcake pan pocket with pastry, put small cupcake paper in each pocket, fill with beans and cover with an identical cupcake pan.
  8. Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Remove the upper pan, beans and cupcake papers and bake another 5 minutes to dry the bottoms of the shells.
  9. Cool pastry cups to room temperature.
  10. Drizzle: Whisk together confectioners’ sugar, key lime zest, and lime juice. Add more powdered sugar/lime juice if needed for the right dripping consistency.
  11. Assembly: Spread a thin layer pf curd in the bottom of each cup.
  12. Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks and fold into the the balance of the curd.
  13. Refrigerate the mixture until ready to use.
  14. Transfer the whipped cream key lime curd to a piping bag, with a large star tip.

Alternative raspberry drizzle:

  1. Add the raspberries, sugar, agar-agar and lemon juice to a saucepan and bring to a boil while mashing the raspberries to break them down. Once it boils, turn off the heat and adjust with more sugar or lemon juice as needed.
  2. Strain the raspberry sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Press firmly to extract all of the pulp as that is what thickens the sauce.
  3. Thin with a teaspoon of water at a time, (if desired) keeping in mind the sauce thickens as it cools.
  4. Use in place of lime curd where desired.

Harry Potter: “I Love Magic”

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This recipe for a chocolate magic custard cake flew by my Facebook stream and I knew I was going to make it.

Baked in one pan the resultant cake has three distinct layers, hence, the magic. The bottom is a typical, albeit dense, cake. The center is a delicious chocolate custard, much like a smooth, rich pudding. The top has the consistence of a very thin brownie.

The originators of this recipe have a number of “magic” cakes, Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin. Try them, they are worthy.

Ingredients, prepped in advance
Cooled cake
You can see the layers on the left side.

CHOCOLATE MAGIC CUSTARD CAKE

INGREDIENTS
• 4 eggs, room temperature, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 110g butter (½ cup), melted and cooled
• ½ cup AP flour
• ⅓ cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups lukewarm milk
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for dusting

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 320F (160C).
  2. Grease an 8×8 inch square (or 9-inch round) baking pan line it with parchment paper.
  3. Beat egg whites in a bowl until stiff and put aside.
  4. Whisk egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar until creamy.
  5. Add melted butter and mix for half a minute.
  6. Add the flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. Mix with a whisk (whisk attachment with hand mixer) until well incorporated.
  7. Pour the milk gradually and continue whisking.
  8. Add in the egg whites, one third at a time and gently stir with a whisk. (Full disclosure: I used a hand mixer with the whisk attachment at the slowest speed.) Stir until combined, do not over mix. There will be some small bits of egg white visible in the batter. Don’t worry about it.
  9. Pour this runny batter into the baking pan and bake for 60 minutes. I started checking doneness at 45 minutes, then every 5 minutes thereafter. (I stopped at 55 minutes.)
  10. The centre of the cake will still be jiggly when removed from oven.
  11. Let it cool for about half an hour and then remove from the pan. When it reaches room temperature, chill it at least for an hour. (I couldn’t wait and cut a QC piece in 30 minutes, cooling at room temperature. It was fine.)
  12. Slice it in the size you like and dust with powdered sugar right before serving and/or garnish it with fresh fruit
  13. Store in refrigerator

Apple/Pear Tarte Tartin

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With perfect timing this recipe crossed my FaceBook feed a while ago when I needed a dessert like this for a reception coming up in a couple of weeks.

The first rendition of the original recipe was sampled by QC and me and was subsequently “binned.” There was too much caramel and it was too runny. As I was making in accordance with the recipe I felt, and even told QC that this was wrong, but I persevered and it failed.

Next, I researched several other recipes, combining the parts that I thought were sensible and voila!

Fruit basting in caramel
Puff pastry covering tart with edges tucked under,
Finished tarte tartin, still in frypan

I cut the pears in halves and cut out the cores. I cut the apples in eighths to position three thick slices between each pear half. I did siphon off a half cup of caramel as I felt it was too “soupy”and if I cooked it down too much more the apples would disintegrate.

Apple And Pear Tarte Tatin

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup granulated sugar
100 g butter
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cut in eighths
1 large Bosch pears, peeled, quartered
2 sheets frozen butter puff pastry, slightly thawed
1 egg-yolk, beaten
½ cup water
¼ cup caster sugar
thickened cream, to serve

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to very hot, 425°F.
  2. Heat an 8-inch frying pan on medium. Add sugar and water and heat, stirring, until it starts to bubble.
  3. Then, simmer without stirring, for 4-5 minutes, until it begins to turn golden.
  4. Add butter and swirl to mix.
  5. Add apples, cut side up, firmly packed. Simmer, gently stirring and basting for 12-15 minutes, until beginning to caramelize.
  6. Add pears and simmer an additional 3-5 minutes. The pears will break down faster than the apples so should be caramelized for a shorter time. (I removed some caramel at this point to remove some liquid.)
  7. Brush one sheet of pastry with a little egg yolk. Place second sheet on top and press firmly to sandwich together. Roll out slightly. Place over fruit to cover, tucking excess overhang inside pan.
  8. Cover handle of pan with foil, if necessary, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until pastry is golden and crisp.
  9. Place a rimmed serving dish over pan. Invert pan and carefully lift pan off (remember to use an oven mitt).
  10. Add the water and extra sugar to same pan. Cook, stirring, until sugar and caramel residue dissolves.
  11. Bring to boil and cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes, until thickened and golden. Drizzle over tart. Serve warm with thickened cream.

Thickened Cream

  1. Mix cold water with equal parts cornstarch to form a paste-like substance
  2. Blend the mixture with a hand whisk to avoid clumping.
  3. Heat your cream to just below boiling
  4. Add the cornstarch mixture, constantly whisking.
  5. Let it simmer for a few minutes until the desired thickness of the cream.
  6. It will require about 2 tablespoons of the water and cornstarch mixture for about 1 cup of cream to be thickened.

Orange Tart

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Oh, there is so much I could say about an orange tart, but this is neither the time nor the place.

I saw this recipe and decided to give it a try. I changed out the orange custard for another recipe I had, and used my standard tart shell recipe. Actually, all I kept was the orange filling. It intrigued me because it seemed like it would produce an orange jelly without any gelatin (which I never use) or agar-agar (which is my go to “gelling” agent.)

Once one of the small tartlets was submitted to QC we both thought it needed something else. I made a quick batch of basic meringue and piped stars around the perimeter of the large tart. I should have taken the time to make Italian meringue. It would have been firmer and kept its shape longer.

Orange Cream Tart

INGREDIENTS

CUSTARD FILLING
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 egg yolks (Save the whites for meringue)
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

ORANGE FILLING
• 1 cup (250ml) orange juice, strained
• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
• ⅓ cup (50g) corn starch
• 2 Tbl (30g) unsalted butter

SHORTCRUST PASTRY
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 60 g icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs – 1 for the dough and the other reserved for an egg wash

METHOD
For the pastry shell:

  1. Mix butter with sugar
  2. Add salt then vanilla
  3. Add egg
  4. Stir in flour. Mix by hand until incorporated
  5. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
  6. Butter tartlet pan, or use non-stick pan
  7. Roll dough to about ⅛” thick
  8. Lay over tart mold and press into all crevices
  9. Roll top to cut off excess
  10. Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
  11. Fill tart with pastry weights (I put beans in crumpled, then flattened parchment paper and remove 5 minutes before the end of the bake.)
  12. Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
  13. Bake in preheated oven 350 deg F (175 C) for 15 min
  14. Immediately remove from pan and cool on a wire rack

    For the custard filling:
  15. Heat milk in medium saucepan until hot but not boiling.
  16. While milk is heating, add sugar and cornstarch to mixing bowl. Whisk together.
  17. With an electric mixer or by hand, whisk egg yolks into sugar mixture until pale yellow.
  18. Whisk in orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla.
  19. Remove milk from heat.
  20. While whisking/mixing on low, very slowly pour heated milk into egg mixture. Mix slowly until combined.
  21. Pour mixture back into saucepan and place over medium heat.
  22. Heat and whisk continuously for 5 minutes, until custard has thickened to consistency of thick
    pudding.
  23. Once thick, remove from heat and whisk in butter.
  24. Pour custard into large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap onto top of custard to prevent skin from forming.

    For the orange filling:
  25. Place 1 cup (250ml) water, orange juice and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to just below the boil.
  26. Whisk cornflour and ¼ cup (60ml) water in a bowl and add to orange juice mixture. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes or until thickened.
  27. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then add butter, whisking to combine. Slowly pour into tart, over cold and set custard filling.
  28. Chill for 1 hour or until firm.
  29. Cut into wedges to serve.

Meringue – Basic

INGREDIENTS
• 3 egg whites (90g), at room temperature
• ¼ tsp ( 1.25 mL )cream of tartar
• ¼ cup ( 60 mL )granulated sugar
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METHOD

  1. Beat egg whites in medium bowl with electric mixer until frothy.
  2. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
  3. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, until sugar is dissolved and stiff, glossy peaks form.