Super for holiday entertaining - Wholemeal Lemon and Strawberry Tarts

Nothing heralds the beginning of summer like an abundance of strawberries, and at no time in the season are they as delicious as they are now. It's the taste of the promise of summer, and treats not seen since last year, that makes them so much of an early season treat. Ask me in January and I'll tell you that raspberries are the star, but for this early part of summer it's all about the strawberry. Here's my little early season contribution to summer entertaining. 

For this recipe I used wholemeal flour to add a bit more bite and a nutty flavour to the tart cases. The pastry is super easy to make in the food processor and the lemon curd will keep in the fridge for about a week. If you have all the components ready it only takes minutes to assemble before the guests arrive. 

Wholemeal Lemon and Strawberry Tarts

For the lemon curd:
the zest and juice of 4 lemons
165g caster sugar
80g butter - softened
2 large eggs - well beaten

Find a large heat proof bowl that will fit neatly into a saucepan to form a water bath. 

Put the pot on to boil while you prepare the ingredients. In the heat proof bowl, combine the lemon zest and sugar. Stir them around to crush the zest into the sugar. Add the lemon juice and butter. 

Place the bowl over the boiling water in the sauce pan. Stir the mixture until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. 

Take the bowl from the heat and stir in the well beaten eggs. Take care to keep the mixture moving as you don't want the egg to cook on the bottom or sides of the bowl. I use a rubber spatula for this. 

Return the bowl to the saucepan, continue to stir constantly and cook slowly until the mixture thickens to a creamy consistency. 

If you think it's cooking too quickly, just remove from the heat for a few minutes, stir, then return again once you're happy its not overcooking. Don't overcook or the mixture will curdle. 

Set aside to cool stirring from time to time, then place in the fridge to chill. 












For the pastry:
300g wholemeal flour
200g cold butter
100g caster sugar
4 tablespoons cold water













Place the flour, butter and sugar in the food processor and blend until it looks like crumbs. 

With the motor running, add the water a tablespoon at a time until the dough forms into a ball.  

Press into a lump and cover with cling wrap. Chill for at least half an hour in the fridge. 



Once chilled, preheat the oven to 180deg. C

Take half the mixture and roll it in between two sheets of baking paper until about 4 to 5mm thick.
The remaining half can be chilled for later or frozen for up to 3 months.

Use the old trick of lifting the top sheet, sprinkling the dough with flour, then replacing the paper and flipping the whole lot over. Remove the top sheet and the dough will be easy to remove from the bottom layer of paper. 

Using a fluted circular cutter, cut out as many circles as will fit. Gather up the off cuts and repeat the process. 

Place the pastry circles into shallow tart tins and bake for 15 minutes at 180deg. C.

Once baked, remove them to a cooling tray so they don't sweat in the tin. 

Leave to cool. 










Assembly:
half the pastry will make about 22 cases 
cooled lemon curd
a punnet of strawberries or any other summer fruit. 

Place a teaspoon of lemon curd into each case, then top with sliced strawberries. 




If you would like a creamier tart. Mix the curd with an equal quantity of mascapone cheese. 
These tarts are best assembled close to serving as you want the wholemeal cases to remain crispy. The cases will keep quite happily in an air tight container for a few days. 

Strawberry Cheesecake with pink meringues

When I asked our little blossom what she might like for pudding when our friends came around she was adamant she wanted meringues. To be fair she and her buddies just loved them the last time we made then. Thinking the adults might like something more than a meringue, I decided to whip up this very simple and easy Strawberry Cheesecake. You can swap the strawberries for any summer fruit that happens to be handy. Be sure to allow yourself enough chilling time as it doesn't contain any gelatine, so needs the full 4 hours in the fridge.

Strawberry Cheesecake

250g plain sweet biscuits - I used Wine biscuits
80g butter

500g cream cheese - softened at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
the juice of half a lemon
a 250g punnet of strawberries
1 cup cream

Line the sides of a loose bottomed baking tin with baking paper and set aside. 

Using a food processor, crumb the biscuits until they are fine. Add the melted butter and process again until combined. 

Press the buttery crumbs into the bottom and sides of the lined baking tin and chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

Clean the crumbs from the food processor and blend the cream cheese and caster sugar until it is soft and smooth. 

This will take a few minutes. 

Add the lemon juice and process again. 

Clean and hull the strawberries. 

Add to the processor bowl with the cream cheese mixture and process until the strawberries are completely combined. 

In a separate bowl, whip the cream into soft peaks. Fold the cream cheese mixture into the cream. 

Pour the filling into the chilled biscuit base and return to the fridge for a least 4 hours. 

Just prior to serving, take the cheesecake from the fridge and release from the tin by placing the base onto a cup and pulling the sides of the tin down. Remove the paper and place the whole lot, base and all, onto a serving plate. 

Decorate the top with a little extra strawberry.

Place the meringues around the outside of the cheesecake. I made a half recipe of these ones, but instead of piping the mixture, I just put teaspoons lots onto the tray.

Nothing like pudding to put a smile on everyone's face. 

Strawberries from our garden

We are having a great year for strawberries. The ones we can beat Little Miss 4 to that is. I managed to get my hands on these beauties over the weekend. Earlier in the year I weeded the bed, spread some strawberry food and re-mulched with pine needles. This little bit of preparation and some conscientious watering has definitely paid off with plenty of fruit.
Needless to say LM4 made quick work of demolishing them. We had a great afternoon in the sunshine.

Hope your weekend was rosy too!

Raspberry Summer Fruit Pavlova

This is a variation on that great New Zealand dessert standby, the pavlova. I love pavlova: so simple, so delicious, and excellent for feeding to gluten free guests, just make sure you use actual corn-flour, not wheaten cornflour. Anyway, inspired by some layered versions I have seen lately, I decided to add some freeze dried raspberry powder into the mix and layer it up with some seasonal strawberries. Baked in a little over 1 and a half hours, it made for a great dinner party dessert. If your a Christchurch resident, you will find the raspberry powder at Rayward Fresh in Harewood.

Raspberry Summer Fruit Pavlova

It all starts with a standard pavlova mix.

6 egg whites
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
2 - 3 tablespoons freeze dried raspberry powder

250ml cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 punnets of strawberries

Preheat the oven to 125deg. C and line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.

Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Ensure the bowl and whisk attachment are spotlessly clean. Any grease will stop the egg whites from foaming up.

Combine the caster sugar and cornflour.
Add tablespoon lots of the sugar mix into the egg whites and beat well after each addition. The mixture should be smooth, glossy and thick enough to keep its shape when stirred.

Take the bowl from the mixer and fold the raspberry powder through the meringue.

Place equal amounts of meringue into two round shapes of equal size. I left the top one looking rustic and lumpy looking.

Bake at 125deg. C for 20 minutes. Then turn the temperature down to 100deg. C for the remainder of the cooking time.



Leave to cool on the tray for about half an hour before transferring the bottom layer onto a serving platter. Do this by cutting the paper in half so you can lift the first pavlova up supported by one land underneath. Place your other hand, fingers spread, on top of the pavlova. Quickly invert the pavlova, then peel the paper from the bottom. Place the first hand onto the base and invert again. Gently place on the serving tray. If this all sounds too freaky, then you can just put the pavlova, paper and all - trimmed around - onto the serving plate. 

Whip the cream and icing sugar until stiff. Remove the leaves and stalks from the strawberries and chop into quarters depending on their size.

Fold 2/3rds of the strawberries through 2/3rds of the cream and spread onto the pavlova base. Place the top half of the pavlova on top and spread with the remaining cream .

Pile the remaining strawberries on top and your done! A simple, cheap and easy dessert that everyone will love.