Muted Dessert Palette

Muted Dessert Palette

Apricot Frangipane Tart

Ingredients: 

For the dough

• 500g plain flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 100g icing sugar, sifted
• 250g butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 organic lemon, zest
• 2 l arge eggs, beaten
• 1 splash milk

For the filling

• 85g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 130g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs (plus one for the egg wash)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 180g almond meal
• Pinch of salt
• 4 apricots, de-stoned & halved
• 50g blackberries
• 25g pistachios, chopped
• 1 tsp maple syrup

Method: 

1. On your work surface pour your flour and icing sugar into a mound. Add your cubed butter. TIP: ensure your hands are cold so as not to melt the butter. Using your fingers tips, rub the flour, sugar and butter together until it resembles a fine crumbly mixture. Add the lemon zest, eggs and milk and start working it together until you have a ball of dough. Flour your dough and pat it into a flat round. Wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for half an hour minimum.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. For the filling, in a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric beater on medium speed. Add the eggs and extracts and stir until combined. Add almond meal and salt and stir until combined
3. Remove the dough from the fridge, dust your work surface with flour, using a floured rolling-pin, roll out until it’s just under 1cm thick. Line a 24cm pie tin with the pastry, trimming off any excess round the edges using a sharp knife. Prick the base of the pastry all over with a fork. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with uncooked rice. Bake in the oven for 15 mins until the pastry is firm. Remove the paper and rice and bake for a further 5 minutes.
4. Whisk the final egg in a small bowl. Brush the bare baked pastry crust with the egg wash. Pour the filling into the tart shell and spread out evenly. Add the apricots and blackberries on top of the filling, pressing them in slightly. Sprinkle with half the chopped pistachios. Place the tart back in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the filling has browned. Remove the tart from the oven and brush the apricots with maple syrup. Sprinkle with remaining pistachios.

Serve with some Greek yogurt and enjoy!

Grilled Blueberry Peach Meringues

Ingredients: 

For the blueberry sauce

• 200g blueberries
• 60g sugar
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 60ml water

For the meringue

• 3 egg whites
• 220g caster sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

To serve

• 300ml whipping cream
• 2 peaches, cut into 8 segments per peach
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 50g blueberries

Method: 

1. Place blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, corn flour and water into a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and stir continuously for 5 minutes until the blueberries have popped and the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside for ten minutes until cooled slightly. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour blueberry sauce into a bowl and set aside to cool until room temperature.
2. Heat your oven 140°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and trace 6 circles about 8cm in diameter in pencil leaving space between each circle. Then turn the paper over so that the pencil marks are underneath. Using a stand mixer or hand-held electric beaters, in a large bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Whilst beating, add one tablespoon of caster sugar at a time, whisking well between each addition. Once all the sugar is added, continue whisking for 6 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and whisk for another 4 minutes or until the mixture is thick and glossy and the sugar is fully incorporated. (When rubbed between finger and thumb the mixture should not feel grainy. If it does continue whisking.)
3. Dollop large spoonfuls of meringue onto the baking sheets. Then dollop one heaped teaspoon of blueberry sauce onto the meringue mounds. Use a teaspoon to swirl the blueberry sauce into the meringue and then hollow out the middle of each one so that it has slightly higher sides and a flat middle, like a nest.
4. Place the baking tray in the centre or the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 110°C and bake for 2.5 hours. Then turn the oven off and leave to cool for a minimum of 2 hours. (Do not open the oven door during this whole process, until fully cooled.)
5. Ten minutes before serving, pour your cream into a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Baste the peach segments in olive oil. Heat a grill pan on medium to high heat and then grill the peach segments for a couple of minutes on each side.
6. To serve, dollop a couple of spoonfuls of whipped cream on each meringue nest. Pour some of the blueberry sauce over the cream, top with 2 or 3 grilled peach segments and fresh blueberries and a couple of mint leaves.

Orange Honey Cake topped with Figs

Ingredients:

For the cake

• 100g honey, plus extra to serve
• 400g unsalted butter
• 240g granulated sugar
• 6 eggs
• 70g self-raising flour
• 150g coarse semolina
• 300g ground almonds
• 4 tsp orange blossom water
• Zest 3 organic oranges

For the filling

• 1 jar Bonne Maman Fig Preserve

For the buttercream

• 75g butter
• 320g powered icing sugar
• ½ tsp orange extract
• 1 organic orange, zest
• 2 tsp orange juice

To serve

• 6 figs, halved or quartered
• 2 tsp honey
• Greek style yogurt

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease and line base and sides of three 7 inch cake tins with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the honey, flour, semolina, ground almonds, orange blossom water and orange zest and stir well to combine.
2. Spoon the mixture equally between the three cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans for ten minutes before turning out onto wire racks and allow to cool completely.
3. In a large bowl beat butter until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, orange extract, orange zest and beat until well combined. Add one tablespoon at a time of orange juice and beat until desired consistency has been reached.
4. To assemble: Place one layer of cake on a cake plate and spoon half the jar of fig preserve onto the cake layer and spread evenly to the edges. Place the second layer of cake onto the jam and repeat adding the remaining jam. Place the last layer of cake onto the jam. Spoon the buttercream onto the top and using an offset spatula, spread the buttercream over the top of the layer cake. Place the figs on the top and drizzle the honey over the figs. Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt.