This past Saturday Ryan and I had my friend Sarah and her boyfriend Ben over for dinner. Since moving here, it was only the second time we’d had people over for dinner, so I was a little nervous. I cleaned the whole flat and planned a menu that I knew how to make. And this is an important tip: you’ll be a better dinner party host if you make dishes you’ve made before. Seriously, don’t make something for the first time when you’re having people over. If you know what you’re doing, you’ll be more confident, less stressed, and you’ll know your guests will like the food. I decided to serve a salad, steamed broccoli, and baked rigatoni. Not fancy, but tasty and allows for big portions.

Since such a big pasta bake can be really heavy, I decided I wanted dessert to be a fruit tart. I decided to try out passion fruit because it would be silky and light. I’ve also never made anything with passion fruit before, so I was curious about using it. And, I was good and did take my own advice. A few days before my dinner party I decided to do a dry run and make a practice passion fruit tart. 

I went to the store and bought a dozen passion fruits. They are such a gorgeous fruit! A beautiful deep purple on the outside, a slight hint of magenta on the outer edge, and vibrant marigold flesh. The problem though with passion fruits, is they are kind of small and have lots of seeds. If you were having a passion fruit straight you can eat the seeds, but for a tart I wanted a clean puree.

So I scooped out the flesh and did my best to strain, press, and pick out all of the seeds. It was exhausting work and took me close to an hour, and still a few seeds got into the tart. It was also really messy and my hands and counter were all sticky. This leads me to my my second piece of advice: buy passion fruit puree from the store. It has got to be less expensive and will be way easier. Save yourself the headache.

This tart is absolutely delicious. It’s tart and juicy, with just a whisper of creaminess. The texture is smooth and luscious. My favorite part though might have been the pastry crust. I’m not usually that into crust, but this pastry was sweet, crumbly, and buttery. Overall, it felt a little decadent without being heavy.

But, if I’m being honest, I have to tell you the rest of the story. It took so much work to create my own passion fruit puree that I was put off from making this recipe again. I didn’t have the time to go to the store to buy puree, so I decided on the day of the party to make a lemon tart instead. I made the same pastry for my lemon tart and that came out perfectly. But I curdled the lemon curd and for some reason I decided maybe baking it would help heal my ruined tart. It didn’t help at all. The tart came out looking really gross and unappetizing. I ended up sending Ryan, one hour before our friends arrived, to the store one hour to buy something for dessert. So you see? My advice is important. Don’t make something new the day of a dinner party. Practice is really important! It helps you know how much work is ahead of you and it will give you confidence. Most importantly, you won’t have to run to the shop.

Adapted from Butter Baking.

Messy level: If you make the passion fruit puree, this is a super messy recipe. But, if you buy the puree it’s not so bad. The pastry has a lot of butter, which means it will stick to your counter a bit as you roll it out and it can be a bit crumbly – but it’s nothing to really worry about. You might end up with crumbs and bits of sugar on your counter, but it’s truly an easy clean up.

Passion Fruit Tart

 

Print

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Original recipe was written in grams. I've done my best to convert the measurements to cups, but they might not be perfect translations.

Author: Butter Baking

Serves: 8

Ingredients

pastry

• 175g/12½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 100g/1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
• pinch salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 250g/ 2½ cups plain flour

Passion fruit filling:

• 150ml/ ½ cup heavy cream
• 105g/ ½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 5 eggs
• 165g/ slightly more than ¾ cup passion fruit puree

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, confectioner's sugar and salt with an electric mixer. Mix until light and free of lumps. It is imperative that you sift the confectioner's sugar. I know it's annoying, but this will help make sure everything is smooth.
2. Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until combined. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
3. Add in the flour and mix until just incorporated.
4. Once everything is mixed, use your hands to gather the dough together. When it's in the bowl, it might look a little crumbly, but it will press together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 2 - 3 hours.
5. Once the pastry has rested, remove it from the fridge and well grease a 10 inch tart tin with butter.
6. Put the pastry in between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a rolling pen, roll out the pastry until it is thin, or about 1/16" thick. (You can do this straight on the counter, but using the parchment means you help prevent sticking)
7. Remove one piece of parchment paper. Flip your rolled out dough over and place it dough-side down on the tart tin. Remove the other piece of parchment paper. Press the dough it into the sides and crevices of the case. It's ok if you leave some over hang at this stage.
8. Place the tart shell in the fridge for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
9. Once it has rested again, line your tart shell with baking paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or rice. This is done so when you pre-bake it, the tart won't puff up too much.
10. Place the tart tin on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the weights/beans/rice and cook for another 5 minutes.
11. As the pastry is baking, make your filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, sugar, eggs and passion fruit puree.
12. Once the pastry is done blind baking, slide the tray out slightly, but not all the way, from the oven. While it's all still in the oven, pour the passion fruit mixture into the pastry, filling it right up to the top. You're doing this while it's in the oven so that you don't spill!
13. Bake for 20- 25 minutes, until just set in the center.
14. Allow to cool slightly. Cut off any excess pastry that might be hanging off the edges. This will give you a clean look. Then put the tart in the fridge to cool completely. It tastes best when it's cold!

3.2.2925

The post Passion Fruit Tart appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Sometimes you want to get away and have an adventure, but you don’t really want to go anywhere far. That was me and Ryan this weekend. We decided to take a mini-stay-cation to Highgate, a neighborhood that is just a short bus ride away from our flat.

Highgate is so charming and beautiful. The architecture is beautiful and what I always think of as truly English. The buildings are all brick, with wrought irons garden gates, and creeping ivy regally snuggling up the walls. There are classic red phone booths – but they are clean without any smutty adverts pasted inside. And the pubs stand out for their gorgeousness, but are simultaneously tucked away into odd angles and hidden spots. It’s the kind of place where Ryan and I walk around and think, “wouldn’t it be nice to live in this here?” (Even though it’s expensive and not so near a tube station).

So if you’re thinking of an in-town day away, here’s what I think is a nice itinerary for an afternoon out in Highgate. Be warned, my schedule is all about eating. First, start out at the Flask, a pub which dates back to 1663. Have a pint and maybe a starter, but you don’t have to go too heavy. If you go on a warm day, the outdoor patio looks like the perfect place to while the way the time drinking a pint with friends. Not only is this pub so charming to look at, it also apparently has some good history too. The Flask was visited by famous literary greats like Byron, Shelley, and Keats. If that’s not enough for you, supposedly the pub is also haunted by two ghosts.

After, walk it off with a jaunt through Waterlow Park. It’s a bit hilly, so you can feel like maybe you’re working off those calories you put on at the pub. Check out the ducks and other birds in the lake. See some kids playing on a crazy rope based looking play ground and watch tons of dogs frolicking through the fields. The trees are all knobbly and both beautiful and eerie. If you’re tired out from walking, there are plenty of benches where you can sit and watch things go by. The best part though is to find the high points in the park and catch a glimpse of the tall buildings in central London.

Are you ready for more eating? Interested in more lovely feelings of English-ness? Check out the absolutely adorable High Tea of Highgate. Have a black tea and giggle at the cow shaped creamer dish. They sell those cow dishes too and if I didn’t already have too many kitchen tchotchkes, I’d be tempted to buy one.

Then, walk north up Highgate High Street and take a left on South Grove to take a quick walk around Pond Square to look at some of the pretty architecture. I read online that Pond Square also had it’s own ghost – this one though is a chicken. Then walk back to Highgate High Street from the far side of the square and you should almost run into Highgate Pantry. Buy a delicious pastry or cake for your ride home. Everything there looks delicious, but I found the giant donuts especially tempting.

Finally, if it’s conducive to your ride home, take the bus south towards Archway. Sit on the top level of the bus and you can see the Arsenal stadium. I took a really awful grainy picture, that I won’t burden you with, but let it be known that Ryan and I were impressed. All in all, and excellent in-town day trip stay-cation. It made me look forward to discovering other nearby neighborhoods. If you have any suggestions for places I should visit near London, please leave a comment below!

The post Tourist Tuesday: Highgate appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

But, going back was something I wanted to do. From the time Ryan got the job offer to our move, it was only about six weeks. We needed more time to pack, store, sell, ship, and cancel everything we own. I wanted to stay at my job a bit longer and get to finish the school year. I’ll also get to go to some weddings and baby showers that I would have missed otherwise. There are lots of good reasons to go back, but separation is hard and I’m bad with change.

To send me off right, Ryan and I had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was epic. We took the bus to Notting Hill and looked at the colorful row houses. We walked through Portobello Market, which was really impressive. There was so many cute silver dishware, flowery teapots, and tons of other knickknacks. The food also looked amazing and the smells were alluring. There was fresh baked pies, huge pots of paella, and Mediterranean feasts. And on top of all that, tons of beautiful fragrant flowers. The only drawback was how incredibly crowded it was. The whole time we walked at a really slow pace and were constantly shoulder-to-shoulder with other people. It made it difficult to browse, so all we bought was one delicious cherry pie.

While in Notting Hill, we also went to Books for Cooks. It’s a bookshop that exclusively sells cookbook! JUST COOKBOOKS. I was in love and there were many things I wanted. Ryan and I settled on a book called Pies and Tarts, and that’s where today’s recipe comes from. It’s a book both of use were excited about and it’s full of sweet and savory pie recipes and three pastry recipes. For the dough recipes, I loved that there were step by step how-to pictures. Some of the recipes seems like a challenge but there are many I want to try. I want to make everything in the cheese chapter. Cheese pies?! How great is that.

Anyway, we left Notting Hill and got fish and chips for take out. We took our food, walked to Hyde Park, and made ourselves a picnic. It was glorious! We ate and people and dog watched. After lunch we strolled around the park and passed by a few other beautiful buildings and monuments.

We then went to the Science Museum which had a lot of exhibits that made me go “whoa.” We also saw a special exhibit on the Large Hadron Collider. The exhibit was pretty good and very interesting. From my perspective as a museum professional, I thought the exhibit was so well put together and they made some really great and engaging choices. If you’re in the area check it out.

After, we crossed the street and went through a small part of the Victoria & Albert Museum. This museum is amazing because every corner we turned there was something else jaw dropping. I wish we could have done more but we were probably there for an hour.

Finally, we went home, watched the Arsenal match and cooked this dish.

Exhausting right? We did a ton, but it was an amazing day.

A few pieces of advice on this dish. The recipe for the pastry makes more than you need. If you use all of it you’ll have a lot of pastry on your pie and it will be very thick. Don’t feel like you have to use it all. Also, Ryan and I improvised on the ingredients based on what we could find at the store. The bacon was a nice addition, but I think it would still be delicious without. Anyway, here’s my adaptation based on Pies and Tarts by Stephane Reynaud.

Ingredients:

Pastry-

9oz cold butter

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 egg yolks

3 1/2 oz cold water

Sausage Roll-

4 medium sized sausages

4 oz soft-rind goat cheese (I asked the cheesemonger at the grocery store for help, you can use more cheese if you like)

basil leaves (about 16 or more, one bunch will be more than enough)

8 slices of bacon

1 egg

pepper

Directions:

1. Cut the butter into cubes and leave out to soften a little bit.

2. In a bowl, or on the counter, mix the flour and salt.

3. Add the butter. Work the butter in with your fingers. Break it up until it looks sandy.

4. Make a well in the middle of your mixture. Put the egg and water in the well. If you do this on the counter, be careful! Water will try and run away and make a big mess on your counter.

5. Using your hands, mix it all together. Mix until you can make the dough into a smooth ball.

6. Cover with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minues.

7. In a medium pot, boil salted water. Add the sausages and cook for 30 minutes.

8. Remove sausages from water, let cool a bit, then cut in half lengthwise.

9. Heat oven to 350°.

10. On one half of the sausage, place basil leaves (I used 2), then slices of cheese, then more basil leaves. Put the other side of the sausage on top. Now you have a little sandwich.

12. Wrap the sausage sandwich with bacon. I used 2 slices per sausage roll.

13. Whisk the egg

14. Remove the dough from the fridge. Cut into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle, that’s about 1 inch longer than the sausage.

15. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg. This will help keep the dough stuck together.

16. Put the sausage on the edge of the dough and roll up. Press firmly where the pastry ends, and try to make it smooth as possible. Pinch and fold the ends to keep it together.

17. Put parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place the sausage rolls on top. Brush the rolls with the egg. Cut a criss-cross pattern into the pastry. Don’t cut all the way through the pastry.

18. Sprinkle top with pepper.

19. Bake for 30 minutes.

20. Cut and enjoy!

Messy level: This was severely messy! The dough got all over the floor, the apron, and my hands. I probably should have done it in a bowl, but I followed the book and used the counter. It was a dangerous idea because the water got loose and spread everywhere. It was not so easy to keep my mess container. Also, wrapping the sausage with bacon is a bit messy. It took two of us to do it neatly. Not a clean recipe, but not too difficult either. Just make sure you give yourself time to do this.

The post Sausage Roll appeared first on Cooking is Messy.