Fig tarts with pista crumble

24th of the month and it is time for our 'Sweet day' celebration. 

For those who do not know, every 24th I share a sweet creation to celebrate the birth of the little angel in our lives, our munchkin, our daughter Vaanya.

Next month Vaanya will turn 3 years old and we will have a grand family get together in Allahabad.

I love baking with fruits and look forward to seasonal ones to experiment. Having not much opportunity to find figs here in Kolkata, once I did I jumped onto trying 2-3 recipes with it which have been in the folder since months. 

This recipe was first viewed on Masterchef Australia where Gary Mehigan took a masterclass. The combination of pista with fresh figs intrigued me a lot and I was happy to finally out my hands on it. 

As usual I have reduced the recipe to suit our small family. I have modified the procedure to my ease and have used my tried and tested tart shell recipe. 

Recipe from : Adapted from Masterchef Australia

Ingredients : I reduced the recipe to get two 3" tarts 

Shortcrust pastry for tart shells:

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp cold butter
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• cold water for kneading

Pista Crumble :  

• 5-6 blanched, peeled and finely chopped pista
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp chilled butter

Frangipane filling :

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 small egg
• 1/4 tsp zest of a lemon
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 15 blanched and peeled almonds
• 20 blanched and peeled pistachios
• 2 tbsp honey

Garnish : 

• 1 fig, slices/wedges
• chopped pista

 

 Procedure : 

Shortcrust pastry :
Take flour and butter in a bowl and rub the butter cubes with the flour till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (in texture).
Now add cold water 1 tbsp at a time and knead to get a smooth dough. Do not over knead.
Wrap this dough in a plastic sheet and refrigerate for half an hour.
Take out the dough and roll it with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Roll it roughly to the size of the chosen tart tin with 1/8" thickness.
Gently press the dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the tart tin. Trim excess dough.
Line all the tart tins the same way. Make holes on the sides and bottom with a fork and refrigerate for another half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Bake the tarts for 15-20 mins or till they get a light brown colour.
Take them out and let them cool.

For a detailed step by step illustration refer here

Pista Crumble : 

Take a bowl and mix pista, sugar and flour. Rub butter into this mixture. Leave small lumps of butter in it. Keep aside.

Frangipane Filling :

Grind almonds and pistachios with honey till you get a fine paste. 

Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius. 

Whisk butter and sugar in a bowl till creamy. 

Add egg, lemon zest, flour and almond-pista paste. Mix well. 

Spoon the mixture in the prepared tart shells till 3/4 full. 

Sprinkle the pista crumble on it.

Press in the fig slices/wedges. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or till the top browns a little. 
Allow to cool.
Sprinkle chopped pista on top and serve.

Happy Fig tart enjoying

Amrita

Mini Mug Gingerbread house

As a child, I,  like many others was always fascinated with the witches house in Hansel and Gretel. I mean who will not fancy a house made of Gingerbread  and cakes with candies and chocolate all over. Having never tasted a Gingerbread cookie and a long hidden desire to put my hands on a gingerbread house, made me decide to try these adorable mini Gingerbread houses. These can perch on your mugs and look very cute. 

I added my own touch to these cookies by adding Nolen gur in the dough instead of normal jaggery. Not being a big fan of ginger myself, these cookies are not overpowering with the ginger taste (as I always thought). In fact, the spices along with jaggery and honey gives it a very unique flavour. 

Ideally the Gingerbread house calls for the use of Royal icing to join the pieces together. Having my own constraint of not wanting to use raw egg whites, I decide to try a basic icing where icing sugar is diluted to required consistency with some lemon juice and/or milk. The Gingerbread house required heaps of patience as the pieces were so fragile while joining and would fall apart. I had to join them again and again and finally said a short prayer and left them to dry. Thankfully they held themselves together finally. 

I also made some Gingerbread men with the leftover dough and decorated them with the same icing. 

Recipe source : Adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients : For 5 Mini gingerbread houses and 15 Gingerbread men

• 50 gm butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup jaggery, grated(I used Nolen gur)
• 1/2 egg(Beat one egg in a bowl and use half quantity) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp ginger powder(I used saunth-dry ginger powder)
• 1/4 tbsp cinnamon powder
• 6-7 cloves, dry roasted and powdered
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 8-10 black pepper, ground
• 1 cardamom, powdered
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Icing:

• 5-6 tbsp icing sugar
• few drops of lemon juice
• little milk for diluting

Procedure : 

Gingerbread dough:

Take jaggery and butter in a bowl and beat till pale and creamy. 

Mix in honey and egg.

Sift flour, ginger powder, all spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the bowl.

Knead dough using hands till it comes together smooth and soft. 

Wrap in a plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Roll out dough 1/4 " thick and cut out desired shapes form it.

I used my Gingerbread man cutter and a template for the Gingerbread house.

Place on a butter paper/parchment lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or till they brown well.

Allow to cool.

Icing:

Mix icing sugar with few drops of lemon juice and some milk to get a thick consistency good enough for piping. 

Fill a piping bag/Ziplock/plastic bag with this icing and snip off the end.

Make desired design on all the pieces.

Use some icing to stick colourful sprinkles on the cookies.

Leave to dry.

Use the same icing sugar as a glue to join pieces of the gingerbread house.

Note : 

• Cut out the template on a piece of thick paper/cardboard and use it to cut out shapes from the dough.
• Keep a check on the cookies while baking to prevent overbrowning.
• You can omit the egg and use some milk for kneading the dough. 
• The joining of Gingerbread house pieces require some patience and precision as the house can fall apart. After fixing the pieces let it dry completely before touching.

Sending this recipe to 'Kolkata Food Blogger's ongoing baking event 'Baking Palooza 2013

Happy Mini Gingerbread house enjoying
Amrita

Russian Honey Cake/Medovik

The only reason for being a bee that I know of is to make honey.... And the only reason for making honey, is so as I can eat it. - Winnie the Pooh  

Baking Partners, a baking group started one year back, was started as an effort to learn and experiment different bakes each month. We have baked amazing cakes, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cookies, the softest bread, ageold favourite Apple pie, and yummy Pumpkin muffins, just to name a few. It has been so much fun baking some amazing recipes and learning new techniques.
This month, as a celebration of completing one year, we decided to bake cakes. After all, how can a celebration be complete without a cake!! As usual, we were given 2 awesome recipes. It is always hard to decide on one recipe. Humi who blogs from  Gheza-e-shiriin suggested a Russian Honey cake called Medovik. Since I had never heard of this cake and the technique looked very different from a normal cake, I decided to try this unusual cake.  

Medovik is one of the most popular cakes in Russia.  It is also known as Honey cake. Basically it is a honey torte with layers of baked cookie with each layer soaked with a creamy filling which is kept overnight to absorb the cream and gives the cake its soft texture. Traditionally, the scraps from the baked cookie is pulsed to get crumbs which is then sprinkled all over the cake.
I used my flower shaped tin to give the cookie a different look than the traditional round shape. Since the cake was given a flower shape, it was but natural to pipe a bee with some melted chocolate!

 

Recipe Source : AZcook

Ingredients: I used 1/3 of the recipe to get a 4" cake 

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 30 gm unsalted butter
• 1/3 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup all purpose flour+more if required

Filling:

• 100 gms paneer
• 100 ml cream
• 25 gm white butter 
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp honey

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius.

To make the dough, you will need a double boiler. Take water in a pan over medium heat and place a bowl over it so that it does not touch the water.

Add egg and sugar in the bowl and mix.

Add honey and butter. Cook the mixture until it is well blended and smooth, for about 5 minutes.

Add baking soda and cook stirring continuously for another 1/2 minute.

Remove the bowl from heat and add flour to it gradually. Add more flour if required to get a sticky dough like a Play dough.

Divide into 5 equal balls.

Prepare baking tray by lining it with aluminium foil lightly buttered.

Spread the dough using your fingers and flatten it. 

I used my flower shaped cutter to get the desired shape. You may try any shape. Leave the scraps to be cooked along with the shaped dough.

Since I baked, a smaller version I baked 2 at a go.

Bake for 5-10 mins till it gets light brown in colour.

Remove from tray and keep aside.

Bake the rest of the dough similarly to get 5 layers.

Grind the trim offs to get crumbs.

Filling :

Churn all the ingredients in a mixer to get a smooth consistency.

Assembly :

Spread a generous amount of cream on each cookie and stack them together. 

Cover the top and sides with the cream too.

Leave it overnight in the fridge to absorb all the cream and become soft.

Serve with a sprinkle of the crumbs.

I piped a bee on top with some melted chocolate.

 

 

Sending this recipe to Bakefest#21, brainchild of Vardhini

Happy Honey Cake Eating

Amrita