Tangy Lime Tart (Tarte au Citron Vert)

Tahitian Limes were 7 for $2.00AU at the Vic market on Thursday. I couldn't resist buying them with the thought of making this sublime zingy tart. The sweet pastry has a delectable crumbly melt in the mouth sweet pastry. It is enriched with an extra egg yolk. The recipes I have used are an adaption of the 'Lemon Tart Filling' and 'Sweet Pastry' from Justin North's "French Lessons". As timing and oven temperature used were not given in Justin's book, I have used a similar recipes from Loretta Sartori's 'The Cooks Book - Patisserie' (2004).

Tangy Lime Tart (Tarte au Citron Vert)

Ingredients:
140 gm cold unsalted butter diced
100 grams icing (confectioner's) sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
230 grams plain flour
20 grams cornflour
750 ml lime filling (recipe follows)

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar until lightly creamed. Add the salt and slowly drizzle in the beaten egg. Continue beating until you have a smooth mass. Sift the flour and conrnflour together and add to the bowl. Mix until it just comes together.

Place the dough on to a lightly floured work surface. Using your hands, shape it into a smooth flattened ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for half an hour before using. This stops the pastry from shrinking. Knead the dough lightly to soften a little. Flour your work surface and roll out to fit the tart tin. Chill once again.

Blind bake the prepared empty tart case to prevent it from becoming soggy and to stop it from rising while baking.  To do this, line the base and sides of the uncooked pastry case with non-stick baking paper, then foil, pressing the foil flush with the base of the pastry case and up the sides. Fill with baking weights or dry beans. Place on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven 170°C (340°F)  for 20 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and remove the baking weights or beans. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until light golden. Let it cool. Keep an eye on the baking so as not to over do the edges. Note: While baking with the filling, I place aluminum foil underneath the tart tin and bring it up the edges and fold and crimp it in over the sides of the tart shell to prevent it from browning too much.

Heat the oven to 160°C. Gently pour the lime filling into the prepared tart case. Carefully transfer to the oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The filling should still wobble gently. Let it cool.

Lime Filling
This recipe makes 750 ml which is enough to fill a 22 cm x 2 cm tart tin.

5 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
130 grams castor (superfine) sugar
200 ml cream
130 ml lime juice, strained (juice from 4 limes)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, extra yolk and sugar and gently whisk until well combined. Stir in the cream, lime juice and lemon zest. You can use lime zest if you prefer, but I personally find it a little bitter. Cover and leave to infuse overnight in the refrigerator. It can be prepared up to 2 days before hand if required.

Overall
The tart tasted sublime. However, the pastry case shrunk more than I would have liked. Next time I will stick to 123 Sweet Pastry dough recipe I usually use (it is always successful, is crumbly with a melt in the mouth feel). I had too many bubbles. Probably because I gave it a good whisk before filling the tart. I baked this tart for only 40 minutes on conventional and it was slightly overdone and not wobbly.

Raspberry Frangipane Tart

I was inspired to make this lovely raspberry frangipane tart after my recent visit and stay at a berry farm in Tasmania. After tasting the beautifully ripe and lucsious raspberries I was reminded of how, as a child, I was always delighted by the beautiful fragrance of the frangipane flowers. 

The closest thing in taste to this beautiful fragrance is almond frangipane.  And what could be a better compliment to the almond frangipane than the raspberry. 

Sweetened Shortcrust Dough

This is a lovely tender pastry commonly know as '123'. The ingredients are calculated by weight - 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat and 3 parts flour with the addition of an egg. The trick to keeping the pastry tender is not to over handle it which causes it to become tough and the finished pastry greasy.

This recipe makes 650 grams of pastry. I often double the amount and then freeze half for another day. Just leave it in the fridge overnight to defrost before using.

Ingredients:

200 grams (7 oz) unsalted butter

100 grams (3.5 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

1 large egg (55 gram/2 oz)

300 grams (10.5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

pinch of salt 

Method:

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar lightly. Add the egg and continue mixing until the egg is absorbed. Fold in the flour and salt, mixing only until it is combined. 

The dough will be rather sticky. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for half an hour before using. This stops the pastry from shrinking. Knead the dough lightly to soften a little. Flour your work surface and roll out to fit a 28 cm tart tin. Chill once again.

Blind bake the shortcrust pastry to prevent it from becoming soggy and to stop it from rising while baking.  To do this, line the base and sides of the uncooked pastry case with non-stick baking paper, then foil, pressing the foil flush with the base of the pastry case and up the sides. Fill with baking weights or dry beans. Place on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven 170°C (340°F)  for 20 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and remove the baking weights or beans. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes  or until light golden. Let it cool.

Frangipane Filling

Ingredients:

100 grams (3.5 oz) butter 

75 grams (2.5 oz) castor (superfine) sugar

120 grams (4.5 oz) almond meal (ground almonds)

1 teaspoon rose water

pinch of salt

2 large eggs (110 gram/4 oz)

Method: 

Cream the butter, sugar and almond meal. Add the salt and the rose water, then the eggs. Continue mixing until they are absorbed and the mixture is light and pale.

Note: You can roast the almond meal first to help bring out the flavour. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Spread it out on a baking tray and place it in the oven at 150˚C (300˚F) for 5 minutes and then cool it down completely before using. 

Assembling the tart

500 grams (approx 17 oz) raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (360°F). Spread a layer of the frangipane into the baked pastry case and spread it out evenly with a palette knife. Starting from the outside and working towards the middle of the tart, arrange the raspberries on top, nestling them upside down in concentric circles and very gently pushing them into the frangipane. Bake for 50 minutes or until the frangipane is golden on top. Cool slightly then glaze.  

For the glaze

1/2 cup of rose jam (or red currant jam)  

1 teaspoon rose water for the glaze

Heat the  jam in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until it becomes a liquid.  Remove from heat and strain through a fine strainer to remove petals.  Cool slightly, then using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of the tart with the glaze. Cool. 

Serve either warm with ice-cream or let it cool and serve with whipped cream.

Tasmanian Brown Trout with Garlic and Almond

We've just returned from ten days in Tasmania. Four of those days were spent in the Derwent Valley,  with a beautiful tranquil environment surrounded by pasture and bushland, overlooking acres of raspberry and blackcurrent bushes.  In the distance, there were spectacular views of the Wellington Mountain Range. Mr. G. spent the mornings fly fishing on the Tyenna River, a ten minute walk away. 

Freshly caught Tyenna River brown trout with Hungarian paprika, garlic and slivered almonds done to perfection by Mr. G. along with some local crusty bread and wine

We stayed in a small cabin overlooking a berry farm.

The Teyenna River

Tasmanian Bumble Bee

Mr. G's catch of the day