I am exhausted…
Have a good night and sweet orange dreams!

Orange custard tartelettes

Makes 50:

Sweet pâte brisée:

250 g wheat flour
125 g butter, softened
125 g icing sugar
1 egg
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour 10 small tart pans.
Combine well all the ingredients.
Form a ball and wrap with film.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry over a lightly floured work surface.
Put on the 5,5 cms diameter moulds.
Pinch the pastry’s sides and bottom with a fork, cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil and put on some ceramic pie weights (dried beans would work too).
Bake for 15 minutes.
Take off the paper and bake for 5 minutes more or until golden brown.
Set aside.

Orange custard:

8 eggs
290 g sugar
90 g butter, in small dices
45 g cornstarch
4 oranges (juice and zest)
1 lemon (juice and zest)

Combine half of the sugar with the cornstarch and the eggs until smooth.
Set aside.
Combine the juices and zests with the remaining sugar and bring to boil, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and pour into the egg mixture while stirring.
Bring this mixture to a double-boiler and stir until the custard is firm.
Let the custard cool down to 50ºC.
Add the butter and stir until smooth.
Refrigerate.

Orange salt:

Pre-heat the oven to 80ºC.
Grate the orange zest and spread over a silpat.


Remove from heat when dehydrated.
Spread the orange custard on the bottom of each tartelette.
Sprinkle the top with sugar
Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top.
Decorate with the orange salt.

“Everyone has his alcohol.”
Fernando Pessoa, Book of disquiet





Baileys’ tartelettes

Makes 24 (4,5cms diameter):

Crust:
150 g butter, softened
50 g sugar
250 g wheat flour
1 egg
a pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour the tartelettes’ moulds.
Combine all the ingredients together in the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.
Roll out the dough over a slightly floured worksurface.
Cut small circles and place them into the moulds.
Pinch the pastry’s sides and bottom with a fork, cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil and put on some ceramic pie weights (dried beans would work too).
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside.

Chocolate coating
Melt 200g of dark chocolate in a double-boiler.
Brush the inside of the tartelettes with the chocolate.
Refrigerate.

Baileys’ custard

100 ml Baileys
100 ml whole milk
20 g cornstarch
2 eggs
100 sugar

Gently dissolve the cornstarch with the milk.
Combine with all the remaining ingredients.
Bring to low heat until thick, stirring constantly.
Let it cool down for a while.
Fill the tartelettes with the custard.

“O Porto é o lugar onde para mim começam as maravilhas e todas as angústias.”
[To me Oporto is the place where wonders and all the anguishes start.]

Sophia de Mello Breyner

Tarteletas de pêra com Porto

112.5 g açúcar
125 g manteiga amolecida
250 g de farinha de trigo peneirada
2 ovos

Pré-aquecer o forno a 180ºC.
Amassar todos os ingredientes juntos até que fique uma massa homogénea.
Formar uma bola com a massa, envolver com film e refrigerar por 1 hora.
Estender a massa sobre uma superfície ligeiramente enfarinhada.
Forrar as forminhas de tarte e cobrir com papel de alumínio ou vegetal.
Espalhar por cima algumas contas de cerâmica para assados ou alguma leguminosa que faça peso e não deixe que a massa infle ao cozer.
Cozer por 20 minutos.
Reservar.

Recheio:
2 pêras cortadas aos quadradinhos
Sumo de limão q.b.
Canela a gosto
2 colheres de sobremesa de mel
50 ml de vinho do Porto

Regar as pêras com o limão.
Juntar a canela, o mel e o vinho e cozer em lume brando.

Encher a massa com a pêra e cobrir com chocolate branco.

I’ve kidnapped Spring… in a one-bite pleasure…

Strawberry fields

Pâte sablé

Makes 24 (5 cms diameter)
40 g egg yolks
60 g icing sugar
62.5 g butter, softened
84 g wheat flour
5 g baking powder
1.5 g salt

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.
Combine butter with sugar until creamy.
Add the egg yolks (one by one).
Gently seive the salt with flour and baking powder into the egg mixture, mixing constantly.
With a pastry bag pour the mixture into small moulds.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Almond jelly:

Makes 24 (4cms diameter):

300 ml milk
75 ml cream
75 g almonds, powdered
75 g sugar
7.5 gelatin sheets (15 g)

Grease (with vegetable oil) 24 small pans (or use silicon pans).
Hydrate the gelatin and dry well.
Combine all the ingredients and bring to heat until cooked.
Remove from heat and add the gelatin, stirring constantly to completely dissolve the gelatin.
Pour this mixture into the pans.
Refrigerate until firm.

Place the jelly over the pâte sablé discs.
Decorate with strawberry and pistachio.
Brush with a neutral glaze.

These last weeks had been busy… time is devoted to work on fridays’ buffets and the little time I have isn’t enough to get some rest and to keep my blog alive.
When weekend arrives I just want to go home. I don’t want to hear anything. I just want my hot bath and go to sleep without worrying about the next day.
I must try to relax until the sleep brings me the light saturday morning…

Meringue coconut custard tarts

Makes 10 (12 cm diameter):

Pastry:
250 g wheat flour
30 g sugar
125 g butter, softened
2 egg yolks

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour 10 small tart pans.
Combine well all the ingredients.
Roll out the pastry over a lightly floured work surface.
Put on the moulds.
Pinch the pastry’s sides and bottom with a fork, cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil and put on some ceramic pie weights (dried beans would work too).
Bake for 15 minutes.
Take off the paper and bake for 5 minutes more.
Set aside.
Reduce oven to 150ºC.

Coconut custard:
120 g de Wheat flour
160 g grated coconut
160 g sugar
2 egg yolks
500 ml milk

In a pan, combine all the ingredients together and bring to heat to thicken.
Pour the filling over the crust.

Meringue:

4 egg whites
250 g sugar
grated coconut, to sprinkle

Whisk the egg whites and gradually add sugar until stiff peaks form.
Top the filling with meringue and sprinkle some grated coconut.
Bake until meringue is dry. ( 20-30 minutes)