Baking| Strawberry Orange Rough Puff Pastry Tart … feeding the hungry blog!
Deeba @ PAB
“Fruit right of the tree is the most precious treasure for a food stylist.”
Aran Goyoaga @ Cannelle et Vanille
I starved PAB of baking goodies for a while. With the blog back to some semblance of normalcy, the blog {and the dessert starved family} heaved a sigh of relief. With PAB hacked, I didn’t bake for 4 days, no pictures taken, no dessert served. Things are looking up now, and I baked a Strawberry Orange Rough Puff Pastry Tart early yesterday morning!You could tell that all was well, life was normal again. I was up early on Sunday morning, rolling out pastry I had made the night before, chopping strawberries, taking pictures of the dog, the fruit, the flowers … yes there was a song in my heart and a spring in my step! It was thanks this good man here, who helped get my blog back on its feet! Patiently he listened to my daft queries, alarming questions, ifs, buts, whatifs … and then calmly secured PAB! The Ethical Hacker is just a shout away if you ever run into network/security issues as I did!The ‘not so terrible any more’ teen was back in the kitchen early that morning, maybe relieved that her mother was back to baking and not ‘living on the edge‘! She loves strawberries, and we are flooded with beautiful ones these days. I had 3 boxes in the fridge and finally found the inclination to use them.Also had freshly made bitter tangerine marmalade sitting on the counter, a batch made in exasperation to keep the mind busy when I was mentally fighting the hacker. My time in the kitchen, my own space is where I find peace when times are troubling. Tangerines from a neighbour soon became marmalade, bitter sweet like my life was turning out to me!That morning was inspiring in itself so I reached out for stuff on my kitchen shelf to make the filling. Aged balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, bitter tangerine marmalade, orange zest … combined with my basic 2 ingredients shortlisted in my head, rough puff pastry and strawberries, to make this delicious tart. So much colour, flavour, texture and good taste! The crisp, buttery pastry and the soft cooked fruit made life sweeter by the second. One bite later, in a heart beat, life seemed worthwhile. All was good again!!Thank you Gera for your concern, suggestions and email, and Sanjeeta too. And thank you Mr Ethical Hacker for making my online world secure again. Lesson learnt : Never despair! There is a world full of good folk out there!The kids too learnt with me {and probably lived it through too with sweet cravings!}. They questioned why anyone would hack, they struggled to understand why! Then they rejoiced when the good man brought PAB back on it’s feet, living the good, bad and ugly with me {in reverse order}.Tart time! Make it with rough puff pastry, home made is what I like {and have no other choice LOL}, or with store bought puff pastry. Whatever you choose, this gets made in a jiffy. Each time I make a batch of puff pastry, I am amazed at how versatile it can be. Yes buttery as it might be, this is one of lifes indulgences that I enjoy!Next thought in mind is savoury tart maybe. Just shows that my life is back on track and I am thinking of ways to feed the ever hungry blog again! Thank you all for hanging in here.
[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry Orange Rough Puff Pastry Tart
Summary: A quick, light, fruity tart to make. Use any seasonal berries and have it ready in next to no time.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Roll out the pastry to a 10.5 X 8.5″ rectangle. Brush a half inch border right around with low fat cream, and fold over the edges and crimp with a fork. Brush again with low fat cream and sprinkle edges with brown sugar. Paint the base with melted bitter orange marmalade. Chill for 15-20 minutes while you preheat the oven, and prepare the fruit filling.
Toss the strawberries in a big bowl with the brown sugar, orange zest, balsamic vinegar and cornflour and mix well.
Take the pastry out of the fridge and fill the base with fruit mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes until the pastry is light golden and puffy, and the fruit soft.
Take out of oven, and pain the fruit with the melted apricot glaze.
