Last week I mentioned baking something for J's Valentine's Day gift. As I mentioned before, I'm not a massive fan of overly sweet desserts, but J asked for a white chocolate pie so I decided to give it a go. It took me a while to try and find the best recipe. I skipped the cream cheese ones (although in hindsight perhaps that was a bad idea) and chose this white chocolate and raspberry tart. This recipe would lead to my first attempt at blind baking. With J. scheduled to arrive at 5pm, I started just before lunch: my optimism - and pride - not yet dented.
I started with the pastry case. Although the recipe uses a food processor, I mixed the ingredients by hand. It worked well as the ingredients only needed to be rubbed together to form a dough, so don't worry if you don't have a food processor yourself. Once made and chilled, I lined the tin and rolled a pin over the tin so the excess pastry fell off. This technique leaves a perfect fit...or so I thought.
Within about two minutes of blind baking I saw the edges had shrank. I baked it to the full time anyway and ended up with that mess. Luckily I had enough extra pastry to make three small tarts. This time I left the excess pastry on (as stated in the recipe) and had a better result.
I then filled the pastry cases with a white chocolate and egg filling and popped the tarts back in the oven for their final bake.
By the time I had done this J. had already arrived, and it was already time to make dinner. So much for my fantasy of having the one pie displayed proudly on the cake stand when he arrived.
Although not a bake, I'd thought I'd include shots of the meal anyway. I made a seafood pasta (although the recipe is spaghetti, I prefer linguine myself). I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a quick, simple meal. It is all cooked within one pot or wok - the pasta is even cooked in the sauce - and anything could be added to it. If you don't like seafood, you could add chicken, veggies, chorizo etc. It takes 20 minutes to half an hour to prepare and cook, and I served it with my favourite side - a handful of spinach leaves with some lemon squeezed over the top. With only one pot, it was quick to wash up as well - unlike the large amount of dishes associated with the tarts!
So after 40 minutes in the over I ended up with this motley crew of tarts. The pastry was uneven (no surprises there) and the filling looked curdled! Although the pastry didn't taste burnt, the outside looked a little dark as well.
We ate the small ones first as they looked more appetising. The pastry worked well - thin, crisp and no soggy bottom! The pie was actually quite nice, served with some raspberries, it was light and not too sweet. However. There was practically no hint of the white chocolate (although I used 300g - three big bars) and they tasted like egg custard tarts. Tasty, yet it turns out J. dislikes egg custard tarts. So much for that thoughtful gift. Later, we tasted the large pie, which tasted very white chocolatey. I think if I make a similar filling again I would make sure I actually mixed it properly...
Hope you all enjoyed Valentine's Day - whoever you spent it with, and for those who aren't interested, you had a great Thursday!
Until next week,
S. x
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