Bord Bia Irish Food Bloggers Event Part Trois

I am entering this tart into English Mum's Big Bake Off due to some bullying, yes blatant bulling from The Glutton and of bit of Gluttony egging on from English Mum herself.  Wish me luck peeps.

I may have mentioned once or thrice that I recently attended a Food Bloggers Event in Bord Bia.  Well, for those of you who missed that I did.  As part of the days events the lovely people at Bord Bia fed and watered us very nicely indeedy.  Much to everyone's delight, having stuffed us full of delicious Irish Pork and various accompaniments, dessert followed in the form of a beautiful strawberry tart.  The room filled with 'oohs' and 'aahs' of appreciation as it was delivered to tables and I heard more than one person express an interest in receiving the recipe after lunch.  Now, as if the people of Bord Bia had not been good enough to us already they happily said they would make the recipe available to anyone interested, and they did.  Having put them to the trouble of emailing me with said recipe it would have been positively rude of me not to post about it, so here you go peeps, get ready to drool.  This is a deliciously light tart, perfect for summer entertaining.  I made it last night and it is no more this morning.  Mr. Boo and myself had a very generous slice each and my neighbours were the lucky and very grateful recipients of the rest. So go on, off to the kitchen with you and whip up this little lovely.  Go on, shoo!

White Chocolate and Strawberry Tart

Serves 12

250g Plain Flour
25g Icing Sugar
65g Cold Unsalted Butter
1 Egg
250g Mascarpone
200g bar of good quality white chocolate
145ml cream
400g Strawberries

1) Sieve the flour and icing sugar into a food processor. Add the butter and whiz until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add just enough egg to bring the mixture together.
2) Shape pastry into a disc and wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
3) Roll out the pastry and shape into a 20.5cm (8”) fluted pastry tin. Prick all over. Cover with a large circle of baking parchment and top with baking beans. Chill until firm. Preheat the oven to 190°C(170°C fan)/374°F/Mark 5.

4) Bake for 12-15 minutes until the pastry has set. Remove the beans and parchment and continue baking for 5-10 minutes until the pastry is dry and slightly sandy to the touch. Cool in the tin on a wire rack.
5) Melt the mascarpone and chocolate together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base the of bowl doesn’t touch the water. Don’t stir; otherwise the mixture will thicken into a sticky mess.
6) Remove bowl from the pan and set aside to cool completely. Meanwhile, lightly whip the cream. Fold the chocolate mixture into the cream. Spoon the filling into the pastry case and chill.
7) To serve, top with strawberries cut in half and dust with icing sugar.

I have added some notes after the pics.

Notes: 

I forgot to dust it with icing sugar at the end as I was a tad over excited at the prospect of getting stuck into it!

I added the egg a couple of tablesppons at a time (I broke it into a small bowl and gave it a little whisk) until I had enough, rather than add it all at once and find I had too much.

I used my grease proof paper trick to line the pastry case but cut it a little big so that I could gather up the edges to remove the baking beans easily.

If you have neither the time nor the energy to bake your own pastry buy a ready made tart case from a supermarket and just make the filling. (I'm all for the easy life so don't worry I won't judge you, promise)

I know it says DO NOT STIR up there, but I just couldn't resist.  When I removed the chocolate mixture from the heat I did give it a quick stir to mix the chocolate and mascarpone as I was afraid they would not mix when added to the cream once chilled.  Sorry, but that was like asking Dougal NOT to press the big red button, it just wasn't going to happen.

OK lesson over, now off with yiz!

And for dessert madam? One large slice of memory please

When I am in a restaurant and the dessert menu happens to find itself in my mits I follow the same process everytime, EVERYTIME.  I open said menu, do a quick scan, locate the word chocolate, read the description of the chocolate offering and then disregard everything else.  To some this may seem boring or habitual, to those who know me it is regarded as normal, without question.  I am a chocoholic so any fruity options to me are just blah.

My husband is the opposite as are some of my friends and would favour a sweet, tangy crumble or pie over the dense, rich, smooth indulgence of chocolate.  For me chocolate is pure, decadent luxury and as such is the perfect way to finish a delicious culinary experience.  I would feel it a waste of a fine dining experience to come away having not sampled the pastry chefs chocolate creation, an insult almost to there time and effort toiling in the heat of the kitchen.

My husband and I enjoy entertaining in our home meaning our guests reciprocate and cook for us in their home.  Such invitations are always accepted with enthusiasm as we are blessed with a network of friends all of whom are very skilled in the culinary department.  I do however always feel a pang of anxiety depending on the house to be visited regards dessert.  You see some people like myself (I always have at least two desserts to choose from in an effort to suit all tastes) will plan their menu according to the tastes of their guests, others however suit their own tastes.  It is in these house I know I will be offered up poached fruit or some such confection which is perfectly delicious but give us a birra chocola pulease!!!

Two weeks ago myself and the hubby attended Sunday lunch in the home of the parents of our sister in law.  My husband is not backward in coming forward and harrasses the poor woman every time he sees her for an invitation to Sunday lunch for some of her famous mushy peas.  So it would seem that he wore her down and she finally told our sis in law to invite us.  It was a delicious mammy's dinner.  Full of flavour, every mouthful a little bit of comfort on a fork and each plate groaned under the weight of enough food to feed a small family.  Then dessert was brought to the table, two deep filled apple tarts.  I smiled politely and enthused that they looked delicious whilst inwardly whinging at the thought of NO FRICKIN CHOCOLATE!

My manners are impeccable so I accepted my plate with much thanks and politely proceeded to spoon some into my mouth.  Bang.  I had tasted this deliciously perfect apple tart before, fresh from my mams oven and many, many years ago.  However, following years of dismissal of such caca milis I had completely eradicated all traces of it from my memory right up until this moment.  It brought the warmest of smiles to my face to remember happily tucking into large wedges of apple tart, still warm and smothered in cream on many Sunday afternoons, my mam standing over the kitchen table ensuring everyone happy and contented before she sat down to hers, wiping her hands on her orange and yellow ditsy floral print apron.  The day of this magical epiphany, Mothers day, how apt as she so vividly flooded my consciosness and a love of apple tart long forgotten was reborn.

For that reason I have, as best I can, recreated a version as closely matched to my mam's as I can remember.  I hope to enjoy this many times again, and that many others will too.

Apple Tart

For the pastry:
175g/6oz Butter (softened)
50g/2oz Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
250g/9oz Plain Flour (sieved)
For the filling:
700g/1&1/2lbs Bramley Cooking Apples
150g/5oz Caster Sugar

1.  For the pastry cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy using a a hand held electric whisk with dough hooks.
2.  Add one egg and continue to beat.
3.  In a seperate bowl beat the second egg and add half to the butter/sugar mixture, reserve the rest for later, continue to beat.
4.  Sieve in the flour and beat until the mixture forms a ball of dough.
5.  On a clean work surface knead the dough for a couple of minutes.
6.  Divide the dough in to two pieces, flatten each into a round, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
7.  Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
8.  Lightly grease a baking dish/tin with butter.
9.  Peel and slice the apples and toss in the caster sugar.
10. Once chilled place the dough onto a floured work surface and roll each round to a depth of 3mm.
11. Line the prepared dish/tin with one sheet of pastry dough and trim any excess from the edges.  Brush some of the reserved beaten egg around the rim.
12. Fill the pastry case with the apples, layering them evenly throughout.
13. Place the second sheet of pastry over the top of the apples, press down on the rim and trim any excess.  Brush all over with the remaining beaten egg.
14. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 45-50mins or until golden brown on top.
15. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy with fresh cream, custard or ice cream.