Last Friday's baking deviated from the norm, its good to mix things up occasionally! An old friend from work also had Friday's off and we were keen to catch up. Sarah was also keen to have a go at some baking so what better opportunity to get together catch up do lunch and bake. I left it to Sarah to pick the recipe so with a bit of to and froing we decided to try something with short crust pasty. I had notions of pies and pasties but Sarah is vegetarian and was kind of keen to try a recipe for chocolate stuffed prunes in almond tart. I was quite surprised - its not a combination I'd ever heard of before, but oh let me tell you, its ever so tasty!
I was in two minds on whether to just use Sarah's recipe and just substitute the flour to make it gluten free or to try a tried and trusted tart base. In the end I went with the substitution as I was keen to try a different ratio of flour butter water and eggs to see if it works ok. And luckily it worked out rather well. To make up the flour combination I did use the same component flours and just adjusted the quantities to make up the smaller quantity of flour. It mixed together well and just required a little bit of cold water (approx 1Tbsp) to bring it all together properly.
It was interesting working in someone else's kitchen and its refreshing to know that I'm not the only one who cooks in a small kitchen with not a great deal of bench space and with a less than accurate oven temperature dial! And it's reassuring that you can adapt and work around this. Don't get me wrong - I still dream of one day being able to bake in a spacious well appointed kitchen but until that day arrives I'm not going to let that stop me baking! It's also fun to bake with someone else who is also a bit forgetful. As we were making the pastry, me gluten free Sarah normal, we both made the same mistake of forgetting to put the sugar in with the flour and butter. Surprisingly enough the lake of sweetness in the pastry didn't detract from the tart at all. If anything it made the filling speak for its self in all its rich almondy and gooey chocolaty pruney flavour. Ever so delightful. We also nearly had a few mishaps with the filling as we often forgot that we were doubling the recipe and wondering why it didn't look right. Anyway fortunately we did remember at the right moment.
It was also a bit of a challenge as between us we only had to small tart tins so there was way too much filling but we improvised with ramekins to take the left overs. And baking times were a bit of a challenge without an accurate temperature and a variety of different tart and ramekin sizes but it all came together in the end. One thing to note that I deviated from the recipe by choosing to roll my pastry between two layers of baking paper rather than to grate and press the pasty into the time. That sounded a bit too random for the likes of me. And it was also much quicker to roll it and the fit was more even.
I think what makes this tart special is the combination of flavours. The prunes are plumped up with butter and brandy then stuffed with the best value dark chocolate you can afford. The stuffed prunes then float in a mix of roughly ground almonds more butter, brandy and eggs and it comes together really well. And it is best served warm so that chocolate is gooey inside of the prunes. Anyway it is quite rich and not for the faint hearted and goes well with double cream or natural yogurt.
Anyway the tart made it out of the oven just in time for Sarah to go pick up her boys from school and for me to go buy a sewing machine. I've decided I need to look after my heart and waistline by only baking one item a week and spend some of the spare time trying to master the basics of sewing! Phew, we'll see how that one goes. So thanks Sarah for sharing your kitchen and this recipe with me, we must do it again sometime. And now other can enjoy it too!
Chocolate-stuffed prunes in an almond tart (The Cranks Bible by Nadine Abensur)
pastry
90g unsalted butter, cold & diced
95g rice flour
50g cornflour
30g soy flour
1tsp xanthan gum
60g caster sugar (optional)
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks
filling
300g semi dried plums or 225g soft prunes (pitted)
175g caster sugar
175ml brandy
90g dark chocolate
175g whole almonds
175g butter
2 eggs
Pastry
1. In a bowl whisk flours, salt and xanthan gum, add sugar if desired then rub the butter into the flour mix to form fine crumbs.
2. Bring together with egg yolks and a little cold water if needed. Roll the ball around the bowl a couple of times until it is smooth and the colour of polenta. Wrap in cling-wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease 28cm tart tin.
4. Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper, (or if you prefer grate into time and press it down). Refrigerate for 20minutes.
5. Blind bake for 10-15 minutes until pale golden.
Filling
6.Tuck the prunes into a small pan with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and 60ml of the brandy. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes, turning each prune/plum in the process so that all the brandy is absorbed and they are coated in a thin layer of sticky syrup.
7. Allow prunes to cool and stuff them full of chocolate.
8. Process whole almonds in a processor, spice or coffee grinder until they are broken up into a mixture of fine and coarser grits.
9. Beat almonds, sugar and butter together and whisk in eggs one at a time, continuing until they are well blended. Finally add the remaining brandy and mix well. The mixture is almost bound to split and look curdled but don't become alarmed as it will come together again in the oven.
10. Lay stuffed prunes in the pasty shell then spread the almond mixture all the round. It will spread and fill any gaps on cooking. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until crisp on top, moist in the middle and the chocolate is melting inside the prunes. Serve warm.
Note: This recipe can be made ahead an warmed in the oven for a couple of minutes, especially to get the melted chocolate which is a special treat!
Baked Friday 10th September 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment