Custard tarts

I have always wanted to make custard tarts, and even have a number of recipes bookmarked, dog-eared, photocopied and handwritten(!). Like many things I want to make, it was on a list and had to wait its* turn. This list does not exist on paper, but rather in my head, where items on it come and go, depending on the whims of my memory and what I'm craving at the moment. 

The reason this recipe vaulted to the top of the list is that I signed up to test it for Food52's contest on late winter tarts. The recipe is by a member called checker, and you really should read the original post here, as the instructions are much funnier than mine. I really enjoy testing the recipes, but I always worry about giving feedback on them. What if I don't like it? I don't want anyone to think I'm a big meanie. For that reason, I only choose recipes I am confident I'll love, and this one fit that category nicely. The other difficult thing about testing recipes is making them as written. I find this a very difficult task, which is why I only test a recipe a month. Of course, next time I make this I'll make some changes, but minor ones. I'll eliminate the cinnamon and citrus peels. That's it. That's not a big change, is it? Then, for me, they'll be perfect: custardy but not too rich, and with a very flaky pastry. 

Rough puff pastry

makes more than enough for 12 tarts

Source: Gordon Ramsay via BBC Good Food

250g all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
250g butter, at room temperature, but not soft (I used chilled)
about 150ml cold water

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Roughly break the butter in small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
2. Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of the cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed. Wrap in plastic and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle. Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don't overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect.
4. Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length. Fold as before, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.
5. For the tarts, roll it to a 1/4" thick rectangle, then roll the pastry up tightly, starting on a short side. It should look like a spiral from the end. Wrap and refrigerate.

I gave mine an extra turn, just for kicks.

Custard

Source: checker, a Food52 member. Here is the original text of the recipe.

4 extra-large egg yolks (I used 6 large yolks)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 3/4 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (I doubled this)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 1" piece lemon peel
1 1" piece orange peel
cinnamon for dusting
icing sugar for dusting

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together yolks, cream, milk, sugar, flour and salt. Add the citrus peels and cinnamon and cook over medium-low heat, whisking or stirring constantly until it is thickened and just beginning to boil. Checker recommends leaving peels and cinnamon in, but I found the flavour strong, so I strained them out at this point.
2. Remove from heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Cover surface of custard with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
3. Preheat oven to 400℉/200℃. Have ready a 12-cup muffin tray.
4. Remove pastry from fridge and make 12 1/4" slices. Now, the original recipe has you flatten and stretch these by hand to form a cup, but I just bashed them in my tortilla press, between pieces of lightly floured waxed paper, then finished stretching them to fill the muffin cups. The tortilla press kept them nice and round. If you haven't got one, we can't be friends. I mean, take one circle of dough, rest it on your fingertips and use your thumbs to press the centre, while rotating it, until you have a circle big enough to fit in your muffin tin. It's easy, but tricky to explain. I'll try to get a photo next time. Transfer to tin, and refrigerate for a few minutes if the pastry seems warm or greasy at all.
5. Fill each pastry case with custard to within ½" of the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until custard is set and pastry is golden. Cool on a rack, dust with cinnamon and icing sugar and serve. 

There should be a photo of one with a bite out of it right about here, but it was impossible to stop after just one bite. Maybe next time....

*It's not "it's", it's "its" for possession/belonging/attributes. I'll rant more about that another day.

Hazelnut-buckwheat crêpes with pear-ginger compote and crème fraiche

I recently joined the Food52 site when I saw that you could sign up to test recipes that members had submitted. These days, it seems that I belong to too many cooking groups, but I liked that with this one, you only sign up if there's a recipe you'd like to test. For me, that means dessert recipes. Then, it's as easy as writing a 100-word review and sending it in to the editors to help them make their picks for the week's winner. I haven't got around to submitting a recipe yet, as I always seem to be cooking someone else's, but hopefully soon.

I chose this recipe because it seemed to have a really interesting mixture of textures and flavours, and also because I love both buckwheat and crêpes. I loved the pear compote, with its sharp, gingery and lemony syrup. Sadly, I did not love the crêpes. I found them really heavy, and, if I make this again, I will eliminate the hazelnuts in the crepes and just use them as a garnish. The only change I made to the recipe was to use a rich, thick, local Greek-style yogurt in place of the crème fraiche. It was what I had on hand, and I actually prefer it.

This recipe was submitted by user KTC, who has a brand-new blog called Whip & Spoon. 

Hazelnut-buckwheat crêpes with pear-ginger compote and crème fraiche

Serves 6

Pear-Ginger Compote:

8 pears, firm but ripe

Juice from one lemon

Juice from one orange

2-3 strips lemon zest

2-3 strips orange zest

¼ cup honey

½ cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, beans scraped from pod

1 cup cup white wine, such as Moscato (or a dry wine will work, too)

1-1½ cups water (enough to cover pears in pan)

2 1-inch pieces fresh ginger, peeled

6-ounce container creme fraiche

1. With a swivel peeler, peel skins off pears. Remove stems and cut in half. Cut each half into four even wedges; remove seeds and tough interior with a paring knife. Add to 2.5 quart sauce pan.
2. Using a swivel peeler, remove zest strips from orange and lemon; juice lemon and orange. Add lemon and orange juice and zest strips, honey, sugar, vanilla beans and pod pieces, white wine, and ginger pieces to pan. Add one cup water (plus extra, if needed, in order to just cover the pears).
3. Bring to a boil; allow to boil for just a few minutes. Turn down heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until pears are easily pierced with a sharp knife but not falling apart.
4. With a slotted spoon, remove pear slices from ginger syrup and set aside.
5. Turn up heat, bring syrup to a boil, stirring occasionally, until it's reduced to about 1.5 cups golden, thick syrup. Pour juices released by cooling pear pieces into the syrup as you cook it.
6. Remove ginger pieces, vanilla bean pieces, and lemon and orange zest strips from syrup. Add pears to syrup.
7. Keep pear-syrup mixture on low heat if you plan to serve immediately. Otherwise, cover and refrigerate; reheat when you're ready to use it.

Hazelnut-Buckwheat Crepes:

1 cup cold water

1 cup whole milk

4 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup sifted buckwheat flour

1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 cups whole unsalted hazelnuts

2 teaspoons sugar

1. Place water, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and buckwheat and white flour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (alternatively, you can use a hand mixer or a whisk and mix by hand).
2. Mix on high (or vigorously, if by hand) for a few minutes until all ingredients are fully incorporated and batter is smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. Put hazelnuts onto a cookie sheet and into an oven preheated to 350 degrees. Roast them for 10 minutes (or, until skins start to pull away from the nuts and they turn golden). Remove the hazelnuts from the oven, wrap them in a clean kitchen towel, set aside for a few minutes to steam, then rub vigorously using the towel to remove as much of the skin as possible.
4. Divide hazelnuts into two even batches. Place one batch onto a clean plate; place a second plate on top of the hazelnuts and press down firmly a few times to crack the nuts into large pieces. Set aside to use as a garnish.
5. Repeat the above step with the second batch of hazelnuts then place the roughly cracked pieces onto a clean cutting board and chop them into fine pieces, about the size of Grapenuts. (Alternatively, you could chop them in a food processor, pulsing until you get the desired result, being careful not to overchop them into a paste). Set finely chopped hazelnuts aside.
6. When you're ready to cook the crepes, bring the batter to room temperature. Check the consistency of the batter--it should just coat the back of a spoon, like a heavy cream. Add water a little bit at a time if you need to thin the batter, then stir in the finely chopped hazelnuts (it's best to add the hazelnuts just before you cook the crepes, otherwise, if they sit in the batter, they will get soggy). Heat a 6-inch nonstick skillet over high heat, add a dab of butter (enough to thinly coat the bottom of the pan), lift the pan from the heat, and pour 1/4 cup batter into the center of the bottom of the pan as you quickly swirl it around to spread the batter evenly.
7. Return the pan to the heat. As it cooks through, gently peel it from the pan with a rubber spatula; flip the crepe with the spatula or your fingers and cook it on the second side until light golden brown. Repeat until all crepes have been cooked (stir the batter before you ladle the batter for each crepe, since hazelnuts may settle to the bottom of your bowl).
8. To assemble, fold the crepes in half, then in half again. Place one or two on a plate. Top with 8 or so pear pieces; spoon ginger syrup over the top. Add a dollop of creme fraiche. Sprinkle coarsely chopped hazelnuts on top.

Read more: http://www.food52.com/recipes/7694_hazelnutbuckwheat_crepes_with_pearginger_compote_and_creme_fraiche#ixzz1759hNUKX