Lemon Chocolate Tart

So I've FINALLY completed my last classes and assignments in school and I'm just left with 2 examinations before I graduate. This is just about the moment I've been waiting for. After all, 4 years of teaching training is tough and I can't wait to complete my training. It has been really tough and filled with challenges and I'm pretty glad that I'm almost done.

On a lighter note, Billy and I were featured in NTUC's NEXT Magazine, April 2013 issue! It's been about 1.5 years since I've started blogging and indeed, this is like a huge milestone to me. It's little things like this (Okay, maybe more than little) that keeps me going. The many emails and comments I get from those who love reading this blog too keeps me going! (:

So, back to the topic, this Lemon Chocolate Tart was baked to commemorate my 'partial' graduation. This tart is just firm and crunchy while the lemon curd is tangy and the chocolate mousse is all rich. And this tart is just so pretty to boot! This project took me about 2 hours and I'd grade it a level 3 out of 5 for difficulty. 

Mini Apple Tartlets

This is my second attempt at baking Apple Pie/Tarts.

The first attempt were 'Mcdonald' style pies but somehow, there was too much pastry.

Hence, this miniature version!

This project takes about 2.5 hours and costs about $20. 

This project yields about 12 mini tartlets.

Recipe credits: Small Small Baker

The blog post for this recipe was previously cranky so here's a repost for it. (:

Mini Apple Tartlets Recipe

Ingredients

Pastry

130g plain flour

100g butter, cubed

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tbsp sugar

35-40 ml cold water

Filling

(A) 

220 g apple, cubed (About 2 China Fuji Apples)

260ml water

20 ml lemon juice (Optional)

90g sugar

(B)

60ml water

2 tbsp cornflour

20g butter (Margarine works well too)

1 tsp brown sugar

1 egg, beaten for glazing

Pineapple Tarts

I experimented with pineapple tarts this new year (2011).

This recipe was from my second attempt, the improved version.

This project will cost about $20 and it takes 4 hours to complete.

This blog post was previously cranky so here's a repost of it. (:

Pineapple Tarts Recipe

Ingredients

Pineapple Paste

4 Honey Pineapples

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp white sugar

Pastry

4 oz plain flour (about 125+g)

4 oz all purpose flour (about 125+g)

5oz salted butter (about 150+g)

3 eggs

1 egg for glaze

Mini Fruit Tarts

These Mini Fruit Tarts were my first attempt at baking any tarts.

Who can ever resist pretty fruit tarts with tasty custard and buttery tart?

This project takes about 4 hours and costs about $30.

Recipe Credits: The Kwoks Viewfinder

This blog post was previously cranky so here's a repost of it. (:

Mini Fruit Tarts Recipe

Ingredients

Tart Shell (Makes at least 50 mini tarts)

500 g cake flour

150g icing sugar

250g softened butter

150g whole eggs (About 3 medium sized eggs)

Custard cream

10 tbsp corn flour

5 egg yolks

12 1/3 tbsp sugar

500ml milk

1 punnet of strawberries

3 kiwis

Mini Egg Tarts

This is my first attempt at Mini Egg Tarts!

Egg tarts have always been one of my favourite snacks and since it didn't seem that difficult to bake, I gave it a try! I must say that it's pretty simple to prepare, though time consuming. 

I spent about 15 bucks for this project that takes 2 hours.

I used two tart moulds: the disposable ones I used in the Mini Fruit Tarts and even tinier ones Phoon Huat.

(5.90 for 12 mini reusable moulds!)

Recipe adapted from: Dreamersloft.

As this recipe's blog post was cranky, here's a repost. 

Mini Egg Tarts Recipe (Yields about 40 mini egg tarts)

Ingredients:

PASTRY

180g unsalted butter (I used butter and it was still as good!)

70g icing sugar

(I couldn't find mine so I used castor sugar, in which when you 

bite into the pastry, you can taste the grains of sugar)

340g plain flour

16g evaporated milk (I like Carnation's!)

CUSTARD

160g eggs

65g castor sugar

50g evaporated milk

210g water

Pineapple Roses

So Chinese New Year is approaching and what is Chinese New Year without Pineapple Tarts? The last time I made Pineapple Tarts successfully was 2 years ago when I was adventurous enough to cook my pineapple paste from scratch. It was sure a lot of fun and a lot of satisfaction but as time isn't on my side this season, I decided to try out the Sarawak Pineapple Paste from Ailin that's so highly raved. Well, true enough, I love the pineapple paste that's not too sweet yet it's not too sour. For me, it's just right, even though it's not as fibrous as I'd like it to be. Then again, with store bought paste, this is really good enough at $6.80 for 1kg. So this time round, I love these Pineapple Roses.

This recipe was taken from food4tot. Even though the paste is meant for Nastar tarts, it worked perfectly fine for the close tarts I did. They melt perfectly in the mouth and that's just about the only complain I have of these tarts: they are way too crumbly and fragile! Then again, even though it's a mess to manage it after it's baked, it's all worth it as the tarts are so 'melt-in-the-mouth-and-oh-too-good-to-be-true' good.

So, give this recipe a try! (:

Nutella Tart

This Nutella Tart is just THEBOMB. This is best eaten chilled and I can't understand why I didn't bake it any earlier. This is pretty simple to bake and can be the tart can be baked in advance.. Alternatively, if you're lazy enough, buy a store-bought shortcrust pastry (: This recipe yields 2 5" Nutella Tarts. The reason why I made such a 'huge' quantity is that 1 portion of shortcrust pastry maybe too tough to work with as it is very small in quantity. You may want to halve the recipe and just bake one tart.. but since it's gonna be so good, why not 2? (:

Nutella Tart Recipe

This recipe yields 2 5" tarts

Ingredients:

125g cake flour

1 egg

38g icing sugar

63g salted butter (room temp)

240g nutella

1000g whipping cream for nutella cream

25g whipping cream for topping

 

Super Awesome 10 Inch Mega Fruit Tart

Mummy didn't want a cake for Mum's Day so I decided to do her a Super Awesome 10 Inch Mega Fruit Tart! This was a recipe I did earlier on, the Mini Fruit Tarts. I'm really pleased at how pretty this looked and how good it actually tasted even though the custard was a lil' on the milkier side!

This took me about 4 hours to bake and put together 2 Super Awesome 10 Inch Mega Fruit Tart but effectively if you're just aiming to get one done, it should take only 2 hours (: Please halve the recipe if you're intending to just bake 1 tart!

I used the oven to bake this tart but I did try the small tarts with my Happy Call Pan and they baked well even though the tart was not totally brown. It also took a lesser time to bake the tarts but the only limitation is that the maximum size the Happy Call Pan can bake is about 5 inches. If you are baking on the Happy Call Pan, bake the tart on medium-low fire on 20 minutes or till pie crust is completely cooked. If you are baking a 5 inch tart, do use tools such as inverted shallow cupcake cups to "prop up" the tart to prevent 'almost' direct contact of heat. This will prevent the base of your tart from burning before it is cooked.

Super Awesome 10 Inch Mega Fruit Tart Recipe

This yields 2 10 inch fruit tarts

Ingredients:

PIE BASE

500g cake flour

150g icing sugar, sieved

250g butter, softened

150g whole eggs (about 3 medium sized eggs)

Some plain flour (5 tbsp or so)

Some beans for bind baking

(Rice, black beans, red beans, green beans.. any of these will do)

CUSTARD CREAM

10tbsp corn flour

5 egg yolks

12 1/3 tbsp sugar

500ml milk

GELATIN FRUIT GLAZE

100ml apple juice

2 tbsp gelatin

FRUITS

A punnet of strawberries

5 kiwis

A box of blueberries

1/2 can of canned peach

2 laffa limes