Does the thought of cooking with pastry scare you?

Or do you always avoid preparing a fancy dessert when entertaining, worried that it might not turn out?

This recipe is for you my friend.

We are about to embark on a season of entertaining, mostly outdoors, with kids swimming and playing and adults relaxing and catching up.

Even the crazy cooks, like myself, love to actually be chilling with our guests when they are over, and not spending all the time in the kitchen.

This dessert suits both the cooks and non-cooks alike.

Cooks, enjoy making your own curd and crumble from scratch, (both of which can be done in advance) and then simply layer in glasses when you are ready to serve.

Non-cooks, purchase a jar of yummy store-bought curd, and instead of following the crumble recipe, buy a packet of shortbread biscuits and blitz them in the food processor. Follow the rest of the recipe as normal.

The quantities of ingredients listed below can be easily doubled to serve a crowd of 10-12, or you may want to make larger servings than I did and serve 4 instead of 6, or stretch it to serve 8! Basically, you have a good quantity of each element, how many you want it to serve is entirely up to you.

This is an easy dessert for summer time entertaining. It looks beautiful and tastes great. It has crunch and creaminess and you do actually feel like you are eating a Citrus Tart.

Beware my family and friends, this will probably be on the menu a bit this Christmas season.

The link to my Lemon Curd can be found here.

 

We’ve had a rocky journey together, Creme Brûlée and I.

After noticing early on in our married years that this was the dessert my husband always ordered when we were out, I was determined to master it at home.

But alas, that sounds easier said than done!

I have tried many recipes for this divine dessert and many times it has FAILED. I will never forget the New Years Eve gathering where I had boldly stated I was bringing Creme Brûlée for all of our friends, only to pull the tray out of the fridge as we were leaving and the un-set custards pouring all over the kitchen floor. There may have been tears……and there may have been more tears when my husband said “It’s okay babe, we’ll just swing past Woolies and buy a dessert to take!”  For those of you who know me well…..no more needs to be said.

I don’t give up easily and so after many attempts, I finally came across this incredibly simple recipe from Gary Mehigan’s cookbook, Comfort Food. And I have not changed it one bit. I am way too scared to play with this recipe, it just works so perfectly.

The first time I made it and it worked so well I laughed out loud at myself. See the thing is, I’ve tried many complex brulee recipes that have never set. And then when I read “mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pour into ramekins” I realised that IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE HARD for it to be a good recipe.

So, get your chef’s torch ready and get set to impress your family and friends with this dessert!

 

 

 

 

 

Using 200ml sized ramekins, this mixture makes 5. If you use larger ramekins, it will serve 4 nicely, but I find this size is a perfect portion without being too much. I double it if I am serving a large crowd.

Ingredients

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped (don’t be tempted to substitute essence or extract, you’ll be disappointed).

500ml pouring cream

6 egg yolks (freeze your egg whites for later use)

90gm castor sugar (plus a little extra for the topping)

Method

Preheat oven to 140 degrees celsius.

Cut your vanilla bean in half lengthways, and then with a tip of a knife, scrape the seeds out. Place seeds into a mixing bowl. (You can either discard the pod at this stage, or stick it in a sugar bowl or container to give it a vanilla flavour).

Add the cream, egg yolks and sugar and using a hand whisk, whisk until it’s combined.

Pour the mixture evenly into ramekins.

Place the ramekins in a large roasting dish and fill the roasting dish with boiling water (this is called a bain marie), so the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. *It’s easiest to place your tin on the shelf in the oven, and then fill it with the boiling water from a kettle, then gently push the oven shelf in, so that the water doesn’t spill everywhere.

Bake for 45 minutes or until just set with a slight wobble in the centre.

Put in the fridge until needed.

Just before you are ready to serve, sprinkle each custard with 1/2 tablespoon of castor sugar, and using a chef’s torch, caramelise the sugar.

 

 

An oldie but a goodie, this would be one of our favourite desserts. Simple enough for a mid-week Dessert Night, but also fancy enough to serve if having visitors.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 bunch of rhubarb, cut into 3cm pieces

2 large granny smith apples, peeled and sliced thinly

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Crumble Topping 

100gm plain flour

100gm butter, cubed

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Lightly grease a pie or gratin dish and place rhubarb and apple in the dish. Pour over the lemon juice and maple syrup and give everything a big mix.

To make the topping, rub the butter into the flour using your fingers until you have a chunky breadcrumb like consistency.

Stir in sugar, oats and cinnamon.

Sprinkle evenly over the top of the fruit and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbling.

Cool slightly and serve with custard, cream or ice-cream.