Cardamom Cream Tart

I've decided to invest in a tripod in a bid to improve my mundane photography as you can see in the picture above.

"Look Ma! No hands‼"

I can definitely see the improvement already. There's more of myself in every picture (Har! Har!). But seriously now, I think it's proved super handy in dingy situations where the natural light source was blocked off by the side of the oven. Oh oh! And especially when I'm busy getting my hands dirty, I've figured out that I can just set my camera on timer to take happy snaps automatically instead of coating everything in flour and getting gluggy bits stuck in all the grooves of the focusing ring. How cool is that!

I was flicking through my copy of 'Tartine' and realised that it's been quite a while since I've made a tart. Without any cream or fresh fruit on hand, I decided I'd try whipping up something cardamom flavoured. The batter is a little like frangipane but not overtly so and when baked, it jiggles around in the pan like crème brûlée. It sets a little more solidly and just enough so to slice neatly with the addition of almond meal yet still retains a lovely soft cream-like texture.

Pâte Sablée

127 g unsalted butter, chopped
100 g castor sugar
1 g salt
1 egg
250 g flour

Combine butter, sugar, salt and egg in a food processor.
Add flour and pulse until just combined.
Flatten into a disc then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Lightly dust benchtop with flour and roll into a circle of 3mm thickness.
Roll pastry around rolling pin and gently lower onto a 20cm tart pan.
Press in the corners with a pastry brush or spare dough.
Cut off excess dough with a sharp knife.
Cover and freeze for half an hour.
Blind bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes.
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Cardamom Cream Filling

130 g unsalted butter, room temperature
130 g castor sugar
2 g salt
2 g cardamom
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
1 egg
80 g almond meal
12 g potato starch
140 g milk, room temperature

Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer with paddle attachment until light.
Add salt, cardamom, vanilla seeds, egg and beat for a few minutes until thick.
Blend almond meal and potato starch in a bowl.
Add almond blend to mixer and mix until combined.
Add milk and stir to combine.
Pour into the pre-baked tart case.
Bake at 180ºC for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 140ºC and cook for a further 25 - 30 minutes or until set.

PB Heaven

I idled away another lazy Sunday in mid Autumn, shuffling slowly to and fro over the warm tiled floor of the kitchen downstairs. Heavily scented peanut butter biscuits emerged from the oven with a heat like the suns embrace. I lifted the tray of tender golden nuggets to my bossom and bathed in the heady aroma of freshly baked butter-filled cookies. If I were to die tonight, I should be so happy as to have my coffin filled with these.

Peanut Butter Cookies
heavily adapted from a previous recipe

90 g peanut butter
40 g unsalted butter, room temperature
3 g salt
145 g castor sugar
2 g baking powder
1 egg
190 g flour
40 g pouring cream

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment cream peanut butter and butter until smooth.
Add salt, sugar, baking powder and beat well.
Add egg and beat for a few minutes.
Blend in sifted flour on low speed.
Mix through cream.
Divide mix into 30 balls and place onto two lined trays.
Squash each ball to approx. 1 cm thickness.
Bake at 180ºC for 12 minutes, rotating halfway.

A Top Grunt

Eating is the quintessence of esotericism. Arriving home every morning at 2am after a long days work with the current wet and blisteringly chilly Sydney weather seems a perfect excuse to try an apple grunt recipe from 'James Beard's Simple Foods'.

My sister and I didn't exactly grow up devouring lavish cakes, cookies and crumbles that my dearly beloved Grandma baked every Sunday for church bake sales, nor did we ever have feasts with the family gathered in the kitchen kept warm by the gentle glow of an old-fashioned cast iron Aga oven. Meals at our house were simple ones. Cringeworthingly simple. Slow food was introduced into our kitchen purely by way of functionality and my sister still has a cabinet dedicated to instant noodles. I like to think that I'm the black sheep of the family.

James Beard suggests filling the pan with raw apples, unpeeled and cut into 6th's, dotted with butter and sprinkled with sugar however shreds of apple skin are not very nice and unless you use teeny tiny apples they won't cook down enough before the crust is baked and you'll end up with brown skin, undercooked apple wedges and a wet bottom. SO my suggestion is to peel, dice and precook the apples a little in a pan to give the filling a head start, then toss the filling in a mixture of sugar and cornflour before baking so it will become caramelised when the crust is done and have a lovely sort of thickened sauce as opposed to a weak fruity dribble.

Grunt Topping

165 g self-raising flour
2 g salt
1 g baking powder
8 g castor sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
60 g milk
190 g double cream

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.
Whisk vanilla seeds into milk for even distribution.
Combine milk with double cream then gently work it into the flour until just combined.
Half fill a 5" x 9" ceramic pan with precooked fruit tossed in sugar, dot with butter then drop tablespoons of batter over the top.
Bake at 160ºC for 40 minutes.

".. until crust is deep brown and apples are bubbled up around the edges. Let the grunt cool slightly before eating, with additional whipped cream, if you're feeling luxurious .."

Moreish Macadamias

This is my recipe for white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies like the ones you get at subway only a hundred times better. It originated from a generic choc chip cookie recipe handed down from my sous chef whom it was bestowed upon by a member of Bill's kitchen many long years ago.

The secret ingredients are sweet Australian macadamia nuts (that leave the palate feeling as though you've just been smacked with a soft pat of butter), a good pinch of salt and loads of double cream. I halved the castor sugar called for in the recipe and slightly reduced the amount of chocolate chips so obtaining quality macadamias is essential as their flavour really shines here.

I elected to add much more cream than the original recipe contained. I also pounded the macadamias in a mortar and pestle until they became a nut meal with generous chunks throughout. The high fat content and thinning batter create a cookie that is delicately sweetened by flecks of white chocolate and crushed macadamias. A moreish buttery treat that I'll no doubt be revisiting in the not too distant future.

Macadamia Cookies

250 g unsalted butter, room temperature
6 g salt
295 g castor sugar
2 vanilla pods, split and scraped
4 g baking powder
2 eggs
375 g flour
100 g double cream
280 g macadamia nuts, crushed
230 g white chocolate chips

Beat butter in electric mixer with paddle attachment until smooth and plastic.
Add salt, sugar, vanilla beans, baking powder and beat until creamed.
Add eggs one at a time and beat for 4 minutes on medium.
Mix in flour on low until just combined.
Mix in cream, crushed macadamias, white choc chips and mix until just combined.
Bake flattened tablespoons of mix at 190ºC for 8 minutes.

It's Hectic Hollandaise Bro

I've had a hectic fortnight involving the police, a car crash, blackout and three attempted burglaries. Next Wednesday a new boundary fence will be erected (Dad was pushing for barbed wire but my Mother flat-out refused for beautification purposes) and I'll be attempting to rig up a home security camera system - an effort to get a photo of the poor excuse for a human being who keeps coming back to our house to break in through the kitchen window.

Unfortunately in Australia it's illegal to set traps on your own property for intruders which may cause physical harm or to defend your own goddamn private property unless your life is under threat and you are acting in self-defence.. PFFT! Luckily our house is less than a 5 minute drive away from the local police station. Too bad it takes them 4 freaking hours to get here on a Friday night. Occasionally I experience nostalgia for the days when it was perfectly acceptable to follow the fucker home and kick his teeth in to teach him a lesson or two.. Oh well..

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The following is my recipe for verjuice hollandaise into which I stirred through a little pickled onion brunoise for texture and sweetness. I served it very simply - spooned over a salad of potato, bacon, tomato, asparagus and poached egg. A simple dish for when things get a little hectic.

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Verjuice Hollandaise

35 g spanish onion, brunoise
3 g maldon sea salt
1 egg
28 g verjuice
55 g unsalted butter, melted

Sprinkle salt over onion and stir to combine.

Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Whisk egg and verjuice vigorously over a baine marie until thickened (about 5-10 minutes).

Drizzle in butter, whisking continuously to emulsify.

Stir through pickled onion and serve warm.

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If Yan Can Cook..

My dad is a transplantation immunologist with a masters in veterinary science and a PhD in embryology. Unfortunately he is also as stubborn as all hell and despite acting totally cool when I came out to him a few years ago, he's one of those old-fashioned guys who don't believe in this new-fangled idea of using recipes to create a better product.

Prime example #1 - steamed buns. He likes to use cold water straight from the tap and only barely mixes the dough with a flimsy pair of chopsticks. Dough does not get proofed whatsoever and the resulting horror resembles a brick no less.

When I had a go at making Swedish saffron bread not too long ago, he was keeping an eagle eye on me, most likely to make sure that I didn't leave the kitchen looking like it had just been bombed with flour. A little inquisitive for his nature, he asked what I was doing and I tried my best to explain the purpose of proofing and the optimum temperature for the multiplication of yeast and whatever else.

I thought he would have taken something from our in-depth conversation to improve his lacklustre method of making steamed buns, but to no avail. Bricks again. So when my mother cooked up a batch of sweetened adzuki beans and left me home alone, I took the opportunity to one up my dad with steamed buns adapted from a recipe in 'Martin Yan The Chinese Chef'.

I kept it simple by rolling 35g portions of dough into 6cm rounds before stuffing them with a rough tablespoon of beans and then pleating or attempting to pleat anyway. When steaming I line the steamer insert with perforated baking paper. I take a large square of baking paper (the same stuff i use for oven-baked goods) and fold it numerous times and trim just like making a cartouche. Make sure it fits the steamer insert then fold it back up again and punch holes into it at regular intervals using a regular stationary hole puncher. If handled carefully and dried afterwards, it can be used over and over without the need for replacing.

Steamed Milk Dough

35 g castor sugar
5 g active dry yeast
125 g lukewarm milk
70 g lukewarm water
260 g flour
2 g salt

Combine sugar and yeast then sprinkle over a small bowl containing milk and water.
Mix to combine and set aside for 10 mins until frothy.
In an electric stand mixer with dough hook attachment mix flour, salt and yeast together for 5 minutes on medium until smooth and elastic.
Transfer into a greased bowl, cover and proof for 1 hour until doubled.
Portion into 35 grams, roll out on floured bench, fill each bun and pleat.
Steam for 10-12 minutes.

YeastSpotting

Seeing as I have a tendency to promote autolysis rather than good bread making, I thought I'd make a scrumptious homely bread and butter pudding with some leftover bread. I used a 700g soy and linseed loaf from Sonoma which I purchased the day before on my way to work. With the crusts removed it weighed approximately 400g, yielded ten thick slices and layered into an ordinary round cake pan it turned out rather nicely. I didn't have any cream on hand so I created the recipe using potato starch (you could also use corn starch) as a thickener.

Bread & Butter Pudding

50 g currants
40 g butterscotch schnapps
700 g soy & linseed loaf, crust removed
550 g milk
90 g unsalted butter
7 g vanilla extract
1 g cinnamon
5 g orange zest, finely grated
2 g salt
2 eggs
55 g castor sugar
10 g potato starch
10 g cane sugar

Heat butterscotch schnapps and pour over currants.
Allow to soak for at least half an hour.
Layer bread slices into a round cake pan with currants sprinkled over.
Bring milk to a simmer with butter, vanilla, cinnamon, zest and salt.
Whisk eggs, sugar and potato starch in a bowl.
Temper with a little hot milk then combine with remaining milk.
Pour over sliced bread and allow to soak for half an hour.
Sprinkle cane sugar over the top.
Bake at 180ºC for 40 minutes.