Baklava tarts with berries

This recipe is downright amazing. For a start, when you tell people you’re making baklava tart for desert they will quickly squeal with glee ”I LOVE baklava!” and then you tell them it is filled with a creamy filling & topped with raspberries & honey, you now have a friend for life.

lets face it, sugar, nuts & spices are yummy…and anyone who doesn’t think so either has an allergy or is some kind of crazy & dangerous person. it’s all this crammed into a few crunchy layers of filo with berries and cream. I don’t know why I haven’t been making this for years. They’re a great edition to dinner parties and picnics as the filo cases can be made in advance & kept in an airtight container in the pantry for a day or 2 and the filling could also be made in advance & kept in the fridge.

Baklava Tarts with Berries

(adapted from abc’s delicious summer edition)

 Ingredients:

• 40g walnuts, toasted
• 40g pistachios, toasted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 12 sheets filo pastry, thawed
• 100g unstated butter, melted
• 1 cup pouring cream
• 1 cup softened cream cheese
• 1tsp icing sugar
• 2 x 125g punnets of raspberries
• icing sugar to dust
• honey to drizzle

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170c/340f. Line a cookie tray with baking paper
2. Pule the nuts, sugar & spices in a food processor to finely chop
3. Lay 1 filo sheet on a clean bench, brush with a little melted butter & sprinkle with sugar mix, lay another filo sheet on top, repeat with butter & nut mixture. Fold in half to form a 24cm square, brush with butter & roll edges in to form a crust. (don’t worry if the crusts explode a little, they still look very pretty once baked)Brush with butter again & cover with a damp tea towel & repeat to make 4 tart cases. Transfer to the baking tray & bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden. **note, if they puff up quite a lot in the oven, don’t worry about it too much, just crush the middle down with a spoon when you put in the filling
4. While the shells bake whip the cream until soft peaks form then add chopped cream cheese & icing sugar & whip until combined. Refrigerate until needed.
5. Allow the tart shells to cool, fill with cream cheese mixture & top with raspberries, a dusting of icing sugar & a liberal drizzle of honey.

The recipe says this serves 4 but they are very greedy portions, I cut mine in half & they were still massive. I really think you could cut them into quarters if you wanted.

A Lovely Mess on St. Valentines Day

Here I go again, being cheeky with desserts steeped in tradition.

There is nothing I would rather do less on a day like valentines day then spend hours fussing over some fiddly tart or cake. For starters, it is summer in Australia and secondly, well valentines is all about me!

I have been a long time fan of the deconstructed strawberry pavlova that is the Eton mess, this is my cherry chocolate version which I have named the lovely mess. Don’t pay too much mind to the measurements, if you want more fruit, go for it, more meringue..no worries.

Lovely Mess

• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1 heaped tbsp canned red cherry pie filling (I just wanted mine with a bit of liquid, fresh cherries would be acceptable)
• 50ml cream (must be full cream, the low fat kind doesn’t thicken when whipped)
• cherries to garnish

For the  meringue:

• 4 egg whites
• 220g white sugar
• 1heaped tbsp cocoa
• 1 pinch salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120c & line 2 cookie sheets with baking paper
2. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form & add the salt then sugar while whipping one teaspoon at a time
3. Continue whipping until smooth & silky & add the cocoa
4. Pipe into batons on the baking paper
5. Place into the oven & reduce the heat to 90c & cook for 1.5 hours
6. While the meringues are cooling, chop the strawberries & combine with the raspberries & cherry pie filling
7. Whip the cream until thick & fluffy
8. In a dessert bowl layer fruit, crumbled meringue & whipped cream
9. Top with a single cherry & serve to your beloved on valentines day

Serves 2 (with lots of extra meringues which store in an airtight container for approx 3 weeks)

 Happy Valentines Day <3

Homemade Bagels, made with love

See this man? this man is a saint, this man provided the monetary means for me to purchase my very first mix-master, and I love it…I mean HIM!

The mix-master provided me with inspiration, and as a thank you to Mr Bake&Bloom who has done nothing since we got home from America but talk about bagels I thought I would bake him some. As Nigella puts it, it might seem like a rather abstruse practice..making your own bagels. But I found it quite simple & not nearly as time consuming as one might expect. At any rate, the love received for the minimal effort spent was well worth it.

This one is for you darling.

Homemade Bagels

(From Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a domestic goddess”)

Ingredients:

• 1kg strong flour + extra for kneading
• 500ml warm water
• 1 7g packet dried yeast
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil + extra for greasing
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp malt extract or sugar for the poaching liquid

Method:

1. Combine the flour, salt & yeast in a large bowl. Add the sugar and oil to the water in a measuring jug & give it a little stir. Make a well in the dry ingredients & add the liquid, mixing the dough with a spatula or wooden spoon (I used a butter knife).
2. Knead the dough either by hand or with the dough hook of your fancy schmancy mix master. Try adding more flour if you can, you want a nice dry dough here. Continue kneading for quite a while, I managed about 12 minutes & I really think it could have done with a bit longer. You want a  really smooth elastic dough.
3. Form the dough into a ball & place into an oiled bowl .to proof, cover with clingfilm & leave in a warm dark place for 1 hour. It should be about tripled in size & should leave an impression when you poke it with a finger.
4. Punch the dough down, really punch it, then give it a good second kneading & divide into 3 pieces.
5. Using your hands, roll each piece into a long rope & cut into 5 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball & then roll into another rope, curling it around to form a ring. Seal the ends by overlapping them & pinching together (I found a little water on my fingers really helped this)
6. Put a large stock pot of water to boil, when it begins to boil add the sugar or malt.
7. Sit the bagels on baking sheets & cover with a clean tea towel to rest for a further 20 minutes, by which time they should be puffy.
8. Preheat the oven to 240c / 460f (yes, I know that is REALLY hot. Trust)
9. When the sugary/malted water is boiling and your bagels are good & puffy, start poaching them. Drop 2 in at a time & poach for 1 minute, flipping after 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a spatula & place evenly on a lightly oiled baking tray.
10. Repeat until all your bagels are poached. If you’re going to use some toppings like sesame seeds or poppy seeds (or rosemary & sea salt like I did for some of mine) sprinkle them over now.
11. Bake for 10-15 minutes until shiny & golden brown.

Makes 15 bagels.

Mr Bake&Bloom likes his with cream cheese, free range bacon & tomato sauce…because I am pretty sure we Australians have a constitutional right to tomato sauce on EVERYTHING.