fig and almond tart, with orange and chocolate

I used to make almond and fruit tarts regularly when we had the cafe and thought that this year I might make one with apricots or peaches, or berries even. But the fruit and the urge never seemed to combine and the almond meal sat in the back of the fridge mocking me. Then one day about three weeks ago, I knew I had to make a tart that weekend. So I made a big batch of pastry (enough for two tarts still in the freezer) and enough almond filling for two tarts (all gone). When I went to the shop to get some peaches, well .... they were as hard as rocks and I knew in my heart that they would disappoint. But there were some figs. Gooey white figs. Cheap. So I bought more than I thought I could possibly use and me and the tart, we were on.

As I started assembling the filling, I had two brainwaves. What about some chocolate? Just a little bit. As it happened there was 70g of Lindt 70% in the fridge. Only because someone had given it to Grace and therefore I wasn't allowed to eat it all. But Grace was happy with just a piece and said I could use the rest. Then I thought, oh I know, the almond filling really needs a citrus note. Lemon would be too sharp, but orange would be good. Having no oranges in the house and reluctant to go to the shop again, I looked wistfully out the laundry window at our neighbours laden orange tree. Oranges that just fall to the ground and rot. So, I went and knocked on the door. He seemed a bit embarrassed - perhaps he'd been napping in his underwear - and said that the oranges were sour but to help myself. So I did. And they were perfect.

Indeed I think I would say that the tart was pretty close to perfect. It finished cooking just before we went to dinner in the park. Later I dashed home and collected it. We ate it all.* The kids didn't even get a look in.**

You will need

• A good plateful of ripe figs, peeled or not according to your preference. I peeled on this occasion.
• 1 tablespoon give or take of orange zest (no white bits) finely chopped
• 50g dark chocolate - 70% cocoa or more, finely chopped (eg Lindt or Black and Greens)
• 1 quantity of frangipane
• 1 quantity of biscuit crust

To make

• Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 28cm tart tin.
• Line tart tin with biscuit crust. No need to roll it out. Just press it in with your fingers. Try not to make it too thick anywhere. Trim.
• Bake (absolutely no need to bake blind) until crust starts to colour and puff up a little.
• While tart crust is baking, prepare the frangipane. If you are using some plain frangipane from the fridge or freezer, add the orange zest and mix well.
• Peel figs. Or not. Try not to eat too many.
• When tart crust is ready, remove from oven and press out any really puffy bits with the back of a spoon.
• Scatter the chopped chocolate on the base of the tart.
• Dollop spoonfuls of frangipane in the crust.
• Place figs on top.
• Bake until almond filling doesn't wobble very much in the middle. Or a bit longer if you would like the tart to be very firm. I quite like a bit of goo in the middle.
• Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before removing from tin.
• Delicious warm with cream. Or cold the next day when to tart would have firmed up.

* This tart was shared between 16 adults, but really there are 8-12 good serves. Between 16 the slices were a bit measly.
** But I made the kids a chocolate beetroot cake this weekend which was received with a great deal of enthusiasm. Recipe is still under development.

frangipane

This is a lovely filling to use in a fruit tart. Sometime I have ground the nuts myself which makes for a more textured filling with a lovely fresh taste. Most of the time though, I use ground almonds from Hassoons, which has them in the deli section. It's important to use fresh ground nuts, not ones that have been sitting around in a supermarket for ages. As for the sugar, well white sugar gives a paler colour and is good for delicate flavours but brown sugar is nice too.

I've given quantities for one for two tarts. As the mixture keeps for a few days in the fridge or you can be frozen, I tend to make the bigger mix. Which works better in the kenwood. And means I can make another tart with half the faffing.

You will need

1x
125g butter
150g caster or brown sugar
200g ground almonds
2 eggs
flavouring such as finely chopped orange or lemon rind, 3 tablespoons of brandy or some other liquor.

2x
250g butter
300g caster or brown sugar
400g ground almonds
4 eggs
flavouring such as finely chopped orange or lemon rind, 6 tablespoons of brandy or some other liquor.

To make

• Cream the butter and sugar and add any flavourings
• Beat in the eggs
• Mix in the ground almonds
• Tarts filled with frangipane should be baked at 180C until the top is golden and the centre feels cooked (or nearly cooked if you don't mind a slightly gooey tart).

lemon and lime cheesecake

I do love an unbaked cheesecake. Made with cream cheese, cream and gelatine. And a crushed biscuit crust. Part of me feels like I should like the baked cheesecake more, but I really do prefer a well made unbaked cheesecake. Something to do with the creamy, slightly wobbly texture. Trashy but oh so nice. I don't tend to make them very often as they are not vegetarian due to the gelatine.

The success of this recipe depends on beating the cream cheese until it is very smooth before adding anything other than a little lemon or lime juice. And in getting the balance between the sugar and citrus right. I like to hover on the edge of danger here, but others around me prefer it if it isn't too lemony.

Crust

• I x 250g packet of arnotts ginger nut snaps (not plain brand)
• 125g of melted butter

I crush my biscuits inside a cloth bad with a rolling pin, but if you have a food processor, that would make it a whole lot easier. Just don't crush them too fine. Or your crust won't have texture. Stir in the melted butter. Place a piece of baking paper on the bottom of a spring form cake tin and clip together. Brush all around with oil or melted butter. Press biscuit mixture into tin and press down, including right into the corners with the back of a spoon. Place in fridge while you make the filling.

Filling

• 2 x 250g blocks of Philadelphia (or similar) cream cheese softened (back in the day when we had a microwave, I would cut it into chunks and zap briefly).
• 200ml pure cream
• 1 tablespoon of gelatine dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water and cooled
• 3/4 caster sugar (I have used plain white sugar and it works fine, you just have to beat it for longer. Brown sugar would also work fine and taste lovely but I quite like the pale colour of this cheesecake)
• the juice of 3 or 4 lemons and or limes, strained.

Beat the cream cheese in an electric beater until there are no lumps. If the cream cheese is a little hard, adding a small amount of the lemon juice will help. Add most of the remaining lemon/lime juice, the sugar and the gelatine and beat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream and mix gently. Taste for citrus/sugar balance. Add more citrus and/or sugar if necessary. When you're happy with the taste, beat the mixture on high speed until soft peaks form. Fill the crust, nearly to the top, and place back in fridge. The cheesecake will be ready to eat the next day. If there is any filling left over, place in a small bowl and have as a secret snack later that night. Yum.

To serve, run a knife around the edge of the tin and loosen the outside. The cheesecake should be easy to pick up with the baking paper. The baking paper will peel back easily once a cake slide or spatula is placed under the cake.

Lemon tart

I love lemon tart and it's quite easy to make. I use a tart tin with a removable base; the wider, flatter tin if the tart has to be served soon after baking or is serving lots of people. But I think the deeper tin gives a nicer result with a higher ratio of curd to pastry. The lemon curd filling I use is pretty much as described in the Cook's Companion. The pastry is super easy, indeed it's not even proper pastry, it's a biscuit crust. I usually make the larger quantity and freeze what I'm not using. Then when I need to make a tart, break off a piece, whack it in the microwave to soften and then press it into the tart tin. However, I've recently realised that if you like a crisp pastry, the filling needs to be added while it's still warm. Either straight out of the oven or baked the day before and warmed up (I'm pretty sure that would work, my theory being that the lemon curd starts to cook quicker and not soak into the pastry if it's already warm).

First, make the base as described here. Then for the filling, you will need:

3 large (or up to six small) lemons
6 eggs
250g casor sugar
200 ml pure cream

1. Preheat oven to 160 C
2. Wash the lemons in warm soapy water, rinse and dry well. This is really important if the lemons have supermarket wax on them. Less so if they're from a tree out the back.
3. Peel the zest (ie the yellow part of the skin) from the lemons being careful not to get any of the white pith. If you do get some pith, cut it out because it's yucky and will add bitterness rather than zing. I use a sharp potato/vegetable peeler with light strokes. It's tedious but worth it.
4. Chop the lemon rind into pieces and then grind them very finely with some of the caster sugar. I have an old electric coffee grinder that I use for this. A food processor or bamix nut grinder works just as well. If you have neither, then chop the lemon rind as fine as you can with a knife. I dislike pieces of rind in lemon tart, so this is an important step for me.
5. Juice lemons and strain the pips and pulp out.
6. Mix juice, lemon rind, sugar, eggs and cream in a big bowl with a ballon whisk or similar. It doesn't have to be beaten, just really well combined.
7. Taste for sweet/sour balance and add a little more sugar or lemon juice if necessary. I like my lemon tart to hover on the edge of sour and if it tastes just a little sweeter than I'd like raw, it will usually be just right after baking. That said, if I'm baking for people I don't know or for a big group, I might make the filling a teensy bit sweeter than I'd really prefer. G likes it better this way too.
8. Place the warm baked tart tin on a tray in the oven and pour the filling into the case. When I remember I do this step with the tart base pretty much the oven to stop having to carry it across the kitchen.
9. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until almost set. Allow to cool for about half an hour before serving or it will fall apart. Yummo.