Apple Tart To Survive Autumn

  When the temperatures outside drop rapidly, so is my spirit. I understand that people love Autumn. I really do.  It can be beautiful indeed. Thousands of dancing  leaves, thin and crisp air, long walks with the dog in a morning mist and of course the colours right?  What about snuggling up in front of the fire?

 The way I see it though is not pretty. I am faced with constant rain and wind (that's 6 months of feeling freezing for me), the colours are only in shades of grey, it gets dark after 4pm and mentioning  size of spiders crawling into my house is not necessary.

There is one thing which helps me survive these awful times though.
  It's food of course!
Sweet potatoes, winter squashes, apples, pears, cranberries, pumpkins, hot chocolate etc. One-pot stew and apple tart is a must to survive what is coming!

APPLE TART CRUST

150g plain flour
50g ground almonds
30g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter
1 egg
pinch of salt

Put all the ingredients into food processor and create the dough. Do not overwork it. Wrap in a cling film and put it in the fridge for at least 1h. Prepare the tin and put it again in the fridge for another 1h (with the dough). Blind bake it in 180C for about 15min.Take it out of the oven and line with the filling.

CREME PATISSERIE

250ml milk
1tsp vanilla extract
50g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
10g plain flour
10g corn flour

Bring the milk with vanilla to boil In a meanwhile mix egg yolks, sugar and both flours together. Now pour 1/3 of milk into egg mix, whisk vigorously. Then pour the whole think back to the pan with milk and continue whisking over a medium heat until pastry cream thickens for at least 2 min. Cool it down.

APPLES 3-4 it will depend on size. Any apples you have got on hand will do.

Spread pastry cream on tart shell, top it up with apple thins and sprinkle with sugar and some cinnamon. It needs to go back to the oven for another 20 min or until the pastry will be golden brown and apples will get some colour as well. I used a mandolin for slicing the apples which made everything so much quicker.
Big dollop of whipped cream on the top of it makes the horrible weather so much more manageable :)

 

White Chocolate and Coconut Mousse with Caramel - dessert in a glass

  Do you know what inspired me to make that dessert? My glassware :) They are not used to their full potential. Ever! Besides, dessert looking like this is an instant winner with your guests.
 Bit of a white chocolate and coconut mousse topped with a caramel and scoop of vanilla ice cream.

MOUSSE
125ml coconut milk
100ml milk
30g caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
15g corn flour
2g gelatine leaf
125g white chocolate
225ml whipping cream
Bloom gelatine in a little water. Coconut milk, milk and half the sugar warm gradually. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, corn flour and sugar until a little pale. Add that mixture to milk and boil  for a little while. You should have a medium thick custard at this point. Take it off the heat, add gelatine. Mix until dissolves. Now it is time for chocolate. Brake it into smaller pieces, it will melt quicker. Combine it with custard and mix until smooth. Cool down and at the end add whipped cream gradually.  Pipe it in glasses and refrigerate for few hours.

 When ready, top it up with some caramel ( shop bought in my case) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream (also shop bought :) )
I also attempted spun sugar to decorate but ended up with something looking like pile of caramel needles instead. I don't have to mention that everybody thought of it as intended garnish!

Chocolate and Sour Cherry Slice

 If only sour cherries were more popular in UK ...

Sacher torte, heavenly chocolate mousse, sour cherries with punch!, cherry jelly and chocolate ganache are all it takes to make it :)

SACHER CAKE 37x25cm

100g dark chocolate, melted

65g butter, melted

4 egg yolks

5 egg whites

pinch of salt

70g icing sugar

65g plane flour, sifted

Beat the eggs until pale. Add melted butter, after that add melted chocolate (both not too warm). In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with salt. Now add 1/3 of egg whites and flour, mix together. Add remaining egg whites and combine gently , be careful not to deflate the mixture.

You can buy cherry puree or prepare it yourself way in advance and keep it in the freezer.

For each 100g fruits you will need 10g sugar. Boil together and blend using hand blender.

I also soaked some remaining cherries in kirsch punch - 2tbsp Kirsch + 2tbsp vodka + 2tbsp sugar + some water to taste :)

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE 18x18 and 14.5x14.5
210g caster sugar
6 eggs
750ml whipping cream
550g dark chocolate
12g gelatine

Boil sugar with little water to 121C. Bloom the gelatine.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs and start adding sugar syrup. Now on higher speed cool down the mixture a little. Add gelatine. Add melted chocolate as well. Mix everything together. Combine 1/3 whipped cream first, you can do it with a whisk. Now gently fold the remaining cream.

When you are ready to assemble , put a Sacher Torte in a pastry ring first. Spread some soaked cherries on the top. You can also use some punch to spray the cake. Now the chocolate mousse. Put as much as you like but leave some room for cherry jelly and a bit of ganache at the top. Into the fridge until firm.

CHERRY JELLY
150g cherry puree (or more if you want more jelly on the top)
50g sugar syrup
3 gelatine leaves
Bloom gelatine. Combine puree and sugar syrup together and boil it. Take it of the heat and add bloomed gelatine. When it cooled down pour it over chocolate mousse and put it back in the fridge.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE
1.5 : 1 chocolate to whipping cream. For example 100g chocolate and 67g whipping cream.
Heat the cream, add the chocolate. Wait a little until it melts. Combine together and pour it over your jelly.

Bit of work again but so rewarding ! Enjoy!