Tag: petits fours

Caramel Cream Refrigerator Cakes with Roasted Strawberries … tiny delights!

“So many ideas, so much I want to do, so little time…
But I love the feeling of being inspired…”
Canelle Vanille on Twitter
1+main+ 1
I love the lines above. Saw them on twitter a few days ago, and they stayed in my mind. I went back to look for them today as a quote that is truly reflective of my feelings too!! Aran expressed it beautifully!
It’s now the end of the strawberry season here and I giggled with glee looking at my stash of strawberries I had lugged from my recent vacation. Sadly now with the mercury rising, they threaten to spoil very soon. If earlier I could safely keep them fresh in the fridge for 4-5 days, now even 2-3 days is cutting it fine. I had to look for ways to use them, preserve them!
I recalled having read about roasted strawberries somewhere, maybe at Canelle et Vanille, but could find only roasted rhubarb. It was back to old friend Mr Google, and I was happy to find a couple of link. Headed straight for Zoes beautiful blog Zoe Bakes (also the celebrated co-author of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a day), a place I knew I’d find something special!
I wasn’t disappointed! I found the most delectable recipe for roasted strawberries in balsamic vinegar, a promise to preserve this passionate berry for treats when the sun beats down madly. In her post (in the comments), Zoe suggests that these can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, else frozen for longer, and they still retain their shape and taste. Couldn’t get better than this …

By the time I entered the kitchen I had forgotten the measures of ingredients but had the basic idea in mind. Instead of using a lined cookie sheet, I roasted in an oven proof CorningWare dish, which ensured that all the precious juices were saved. The sugar had to be the ever charming vanilla sugar, and the aged balsamic from a precious jar that Asha from Fork Spoon Knife parcelled to me as part of a gift from NYC! (In there also was some delicious coffee which I used in Espresso Double Chocolate Biscotti)  I loved it, the bottle, the packaging, the very idea! I’ve saved it long for something special, and this was IT! Thank you Asha…
To celebrate the gorgeous flavours that literally sang out of the bowl of the roasted strawberries, I just had to make some dessert petit fours! Made these little no bake cheesecakes as an experiment while the strawberries were chilling. They’re a sort of panna cotta but the cream is not cooked. I whipped up the cream with caramel syrup, and then added gelatin to stabilise it and help it set. Worked out fine as the dessert held it’s ground, and was very simple to demold too. Normally, my panna cotta is hardly ever as obliging to leave a mold cleanly, so I was delighted! The caramel added a special deep sweetness. NICE!!

Eggless Caramel Cream Refrigerator Cakes (No Bake)
Serves 4
70gms Homemade Graham Crackers or Digestive Biscuits, crushed
30gms melted unsalted butter
200ml low fat cream, chilled
2tbsps caramel syrup
1/2 tsp gelatin
1/2 quantity Roasted Balsamic Strawberries (recipe follows)
Method:
Mix the crushed biscuit crumbs with melted butter, divide equally between 4 X 3″ dessert rings. Press down firmly to make a base. Chill in freezer for 10 minutes.
Soften gelatin over 1 tbsp of cold water in a small bowl, and place this bowl in a bigger bowl of luke warm water till the gelatin is clear. (If the weather is very warm, you might need to increase the gelatin by a 1/8 tsp)
Beat the cream and caramel to soft-medium peaks. Taste and increase the caramel if you like. I like to keep it mildly sweet.
Next pour in the clear gelatin beating constantly.
Divide the whipped cream mix between the 4 dessert rings, level with an offset spatula, or tap gently to level, and place in freezer, covered, to set for 30-45 minutes.
Now you can bring it back into the fridge and chill until ready to serve.
Demold gently, garnish with some grated chocolate. Top with 2 tbsps of chilled roasted balsamic strawberries, and some strawberry-balsamic reduction. ENJOY!!


Roasted Strawberries in Balsamic Vinegar
Adapted from Zoe Bakes
450-500gms strawberries, quartered
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1/8 cup aged balsamic vinegar
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.
Place the strawberries in a glass baking dish.
Sprinkle over the vanilla sugar, followed by the aged balsamic vinegar. Mix gently.
Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
Drain strawberries.Put the liquid into a sauce pan, and reduce to a thick concentrate. It will thicken a bit as it cools. Chill before use.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

Roasted Plum Brown Sugar Cakes … delicious desserts!

“What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree?”
Logan Pearsall Smith

T’was the day after Diwali, and the bazaars were finally nice and empty. The festive frenzy had ceased, & I could stroll at leisure. The fruit vendor came to me with a clutch of plums, firm, large & very tempting. While he tried to talk me into buying them, I could see Aran‘s beautiful Roasted Plum Muscavado Sugar Cakes in the back of my head. I didn’t need convincing at all! Came home bounding with renewed energy. Yes, indeed a bonanza to find some plums when fall is here, and time for a bake with fruit again. Made the cakes with whatever I had on hand. Me, being me, the adventurous ‘substitution baker’ played around. No muscavado sugar here, so used soft brown sugar. Didn’t have sour cream, so used my own oft-used concoction of hung yogurt, low fat cream & a dash of lime juice. Also added some almond meal to it. I still have a bagful I made for my escapades with French macarons in eager anticipation of ‘feet’!
I like the addition of almond meal to bakes. It adds oomph to the texture, making each bite more interesting, and is also nutritionally good. Just 1/4 to 1/2 cup of almond meal in desserts is becoming more of a norm with me. So far, the experiments have ended on a positive note! These turned out to be pretty cakes indeed, and the house smelt so good. I made just half the recipe, using my 3″ tart rings I had bought from a trip into Old Delhi not too long ago. I love an opportunity to use them, and this was just the thing. Petit fours, individually plated desserts etc are the love of my life. A little dusting of sugar, a tiny dollop of cream, just the tiniest hint of silver leaf, a few slivers of almonds … all dressed up & looking good!! Just the way I like it…
Roasted Plum and Soft Brown Sugar Cakes
adapted from this recipe @ Canelle et Vanille
Makes 6 mini cakes, 3″ each
Ingredients:
90 grams butter, room temperature
75 grams soft brown sugar sugar
60 grams granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lime
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
90 grams sour cream (I used a mix of hung yogurt + 1 tbsps low fat cream + juice of 1/2 lime)
90 grams flour
30gms almond meal
1/2 tsp baking powder
2-3 firm, ripe plums
Soft brown sugar for sprinkling Method:
Cream butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, lime zest and vanilla together until light. Add the egg, and beat. Scrape the bowl well. Add the sour cream and mix. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until batter comes together.
Lightly butter and flour mini cake molds (I used tart rings that are 3″x1″). Pipe the batter into the molds. Place thin slices of plum on top and sprinkle with some more brown sugar.
Bake at 180CF for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Wait until slightly cool to unmold them gently.

Serve warm, with a little dollop of cream, if desired!

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

A PARTY FOR A POPPET…FRUIT GALETTE TARTS

“Sing a song of Birthdays
Full of fun and cheer,
And may you keep on having them
For many a happy year.”
Author Unknown

Sitting waiting for the cream to come by…yum yum yum!!

All dressed up for the party… it’s the BIG 1 !!

The head was dizzy with a heady mix of poppet, party & France. An eclectic mix of thoughts, while enjoying the delectable success of my rustic Peach & Plum Galette , set me thinking. Had to make something for Dhhangit’s sweet little poppet, Mayumi, who is about to turn 1.
Dhhangit has the cutest little baby girl, & this loving Mum has called out a 1st birthday party event for the little one…the Perfect Party Dishes blog event!

I love kids birthday parties & thought…why not nick some galette dough & try a few fruit tarts for the party.

Dhhangit’s event jostled up many memories & made me dig into archives & reminiscence about days that had gone by… it seems SO long ago when mine were as young as hers. Dived into my album to put my thoughts into snapshots…

My kids are both way past 1, but these ‘Big 1‘ buntings are still around. My sis had sent them to me from the States for the my little fellows’ 1st birthday (in the year 2000!!), but in the general chaos that ensued, the buntings didn’t see light of day. I rediscovered them a while ago, & have on hung to them for some silly reason. Now it doesn’t seem silly any more…little did I know that I would blog ’em for baby Dhhangit’s turning 1!!

Fruit Galette Tarts
From Peach and Plum Galette as adapted ‘minimally’ from Susan @ Food Blogga
Ingredients:
Dough:
All-purpose flour – 1 3/4 cups
Granulated sugar – 1/3 cup
Coarse cornmeal – 1/4 cup
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Cold butter – 1/2 cup; cut into small pieces
Fat-free buttermilk – 1/3 cup

Fruit Filling:
Plums – 10-12; stoned & chopped
Peaches – 3 cups; thinly sliced (about 3-4 large)
Granulated sugar – 1/2 cup
Light brown sugar – 1/4 cup
Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
Pure vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
Fresh minced ginger – 1 teaspoon
Cornstarch – 3 tablespoons

Egg white – 1
Fat-free milk – 2 tablespoons
Turbinado sugar – 1 tablespoon

Method:

  • To make the dough:
  • Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, and salt in a processor; pulse 2-3 times. Add butter and pulse 4-5 times, or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With the processor running, slowing pour the buttermilk through the chute, processing until the dough forms a ball.
  • Remove the dough ball and adhere any remaining pieces of dough to it, then wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30-35 minutes. (I did it for almost an hour because the weather was HOT)
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • To make the fruit filling, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently, making sure that the cornstarch is coating the fruit. (This will prevent too much juice from leaking out while the galette bakes.)
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Starting at the center of the dough, roll out, & then cut 3″ circles with a fluted cookie cutter.
  • Lightly whisk the egg white and milk in a small bowl. Brush dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
  • Line the tart pan with parchment paper pieces, place the dough circles on them, brush the rims with the wash & sprinkle sugar over the edges.
  • Add about a tbsp of the fruit mixture (drain any liquid first), to each little tart.
  • Bake for 15-20 hour, or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Pipe swirls of buttercream or whipped cream on each & decorate with sprinkles etc. Chill until time to serve.

Just for you Dhhangit… hope your party’s a great HIT & PERFECT…as I know it will be!

Dressed them up in some buttercream left-over from the last DB gateau challenge….& we were ready to sing Happy Birthday to you !! The pretty yummy petit fours disappeared once the children came back from school… ‘They are soooo good Mama“, said one; “Awesome“, said the other. These tasted great chilled, so can be made in advance; & chilled before serving.

For some more kid party ideas, maybe you’d like to check out some of these…

Mini Chocolate Tartlets

Jam Tartlets

Savoury Cheese Cookies

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

Iced Party Cookies

Four-in-1-Cookies

Smartie Cookies

Hung Curd/Yogurt Party Dip with chips, crudites etc.

Stained Glass Cookies

Savoury Mushroom Tartlets

Wholewheat Gingerbread Men

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

SWEET AFFAIRS OF THE HEART…Small Tarts Have Big Hearts

“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”
Mother Teresa

SMALL TARTS WITH BIG HEARTS!

Its time for event # 2 at the Mini Pie Revolution HQ – “Small Tarts Have Big Hearts”. ..time to show off our small tarts for Valentines. Manggy sent me to the Mini Pie HQs…& I was hooked. Have always had this penchant for making small bites/petits fours…thanks a ton Manggy!

Mini Pie Revolution Event # 2 ‘Small Tarts Have Big Hearts’.

TOPLESS TARTS…hmmmmmmmm?

As the Mini Pie Revolution HQs say ‘Tarts, being sexy little things, like to go topless. Some tarts leave a little more to the imagination with strategically placed whipped cream or garnishes. No tart likes complete coverage!’. All that is required is that they must be mini-tarts (bite sized), sweet & baked from scratch.

An assortment of topless tarts on the platter.
A combination of chocolate, strawberries, cake, sprinkles etc. Great fun to make for your valentine…great fun to make anyway!

I made small tarts in assorted round fluted sizes from a left-over dough from a basic pie crust recipe. This was the dough remaining from the Daring Bakers Lemon Meringue Pie challenge; but you can use any other pie crust that you like. ( Approximately 1/4 the recipe should give you a dozen assorted small tarts).

For the Crust:
Pie recipe courtesy of Wanda’s Pie in the Sky by Wanda Beaver, 2002
Cold butter – ¾ cup ; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
Flour – 2 cups
Granulated sugar – ¼ cup
Salt – ¼ tsp
Ice water – ⅓ cup

For the Tops of the tarts:
  • I put a dollop of chocolate ganache on each tart.
  • I cut some small circles out of a layer of Strawberry sponge cake & placed a circle each on a few tarts shells. Topped the sponge with ganache, sprinkles & a slice of strawberry. Recipe for the sponge & ganache can be found here.
  • I mixed cake crumbs with melted chocolate, rolled them into flattish balls & placed them on others. Topped them again with a ganache, followed by sprinkles/strawberry slices.
  • Marbled one with cream; edged another tart with valentine sprinkles after drizzling melted chocolate around the edges; topped others with chocolate flakes; used sliced strawberries for others.
  • They were all extempore & loads of fun. I used whatever I could lay my hands on.
  • The kids had an absolute blast devouring them!
  • These can be made a couple of days in advance & stored covered in the fridge. Do place the strawberries just a little before serving otherwise they lose their fresh look & appeal.

    SMALL TARTS DO HAVE BIG HEARTS!!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

SAVOURY TARTLETS…Crisp & pretty appetizers.

“Food is for eating, and good food is to be enjoyed…I think food is, actually, very beautiful in itself.”
Delia Smith
SAVOURY MINI TARTS…
TOPPED WITH SWEETCORN & MUSHROOMS…

I love the idea of using my spare time creating leftover sweet (or savoury) nothings! There is no ‘main dish pressure’, the leftovers are mine to use; no demands whatsoever. The end result is always full of suspense! These little tarts are the result of one such experiment…

A FRESH BASIL LEAF ADDS TO COLOUR & TASTE
I made these teeny savoury tartlets with the pastry dough left over from the quiche the other day. Once lunch was served & done with, everyone retired to whatever they wanted to; I took over the kitchen once again. The tartlets were lovely & crisp; vegetarian too.

I cut out circles with a fluted cookie cutter, placed the cut-out circles in a mini tart pan & baked them. Then topped the little bites with left-over corn & mushroom mix from the quiche. They turned out very enjoyable indeed & looked quite nice too. I loved the look of the crisp pastry, with the cheesy topping & finally the basil leaf. They got made real quick, went under the grill for 5 minutes & were tasty little bites. Perfect for finger-food & appetizers. These are vegetarian, but you can use any topping you like…just 1 tsp of topping is good for each tartet.

Here’s what I did…
  • The recipe for the pastry is the same as for the quiche, which you can find here.
  • The topping is also the same as the mushroom mix as in the quiche filling, just till the stir frying bit in the pan. The other tarts use just steamed sweetcorn which I made from a fresh ear of corn. You can use frozen sweet corn if you like.
  • Roll out the pastry as thin as you can. Cut out 2-3″circles with a fluted cookie cutter, or even a plain one will do. Place them in the tartlet pan & bake at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes/till light brown.
  • Cool on racks.
  • Place a tsp of the mushroom mix each on half the tartlets. Top with cheese spread, oregano & a basil leaf. sprinkle with a little grated cheese.
  • On the rest, add a tsp of sweetcorn (seasoned lightly with salt & pepper). Top with cheese spread, oregano & a basil leaf. Sprinkle with a little grated cheese.
  • You can also mix the sweetcorn & mushroom to get different flavours; I kept them separate because of the kids. Just make sure the topping isn’t watery/liquidy because that will ruin the crispness of the pastry.
  • Place under a medium grill (180degrees c) for 5 minutes.
  • That’s it…serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
  • Use toppings that you like…tuna & corn; chicken…whatever; this was just an experiment!
  • The pastry tarts can be baked a couple of days in advance. Store in an airtight tin in a cool place.

THEY WERE REALLY NICE…We loved them!

I found just the right platform to send these to…‘Leftover Tuesdays‘ at Project Foodie. As foodie Pam writes,”Leftover Tuesdays #11 challenges you to transform your leftovers into tasty temptations and tell us all about it.” How apt…always amazed by how much sense some things make.

Am tempted to, & so, will send these for Mansi’s ‘Game Night Party’ at Fun and Food as well. These make for nice finger food which can be assembled in advance. Let the party go on!!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

JAM TARTLETS…..Pretty Ruby Petits Fours

“The rule is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today.”
Lewis Carroll

JAM TARTLETS…Petits Fours

A Tart is defined as a single-layered base of pastry (plain or puff) with a sweet or savory filling baked in either a shallow tart pan that has straight, fluted sides and a removable bottom or a metal tart ring placed on a baking sheet. The tart is removed from the tart pan or ring before serving. Broadly, the term ‘tart’ encompasses flans, quiches, and pies. Depending on the type of tart made they can be served as appetizers, entrees or desserts. Their size ranges from bite-size (hors d’oeuvre), individual-size (tartlet) to full-size (tart).’…quoted from ‘Joy of Baking‘…one of my favourite net-stops!

Sweet tarts have fillings of fruit, jams, custards, flavored creams, or nuts.

What do miniature tuiles, eclairs, fancy cakes, macaroons, glazed or candied fruits, tartlets, ladyfingers, cigarettes, etc. have in common? They all belong to a category of small fancy cookies, pastries, or confections called “petits fours”. The name petit four seems to have originated from the name of the ovens (petit four meaning ‘small oven’) they were baked in. In the 18th century the ovens were made of brick and once the large cakes were baked, small cakes were placed in the ovens as they were cooling down.
Petits fours can be eaten in one or two bites and these fancy pastries are further divided into “sec” or “glacé”. “Sec” meaning “dry” and “glacé” meaning “iced or frosted”. …Joy of Baking again!

‘LIQUID RUBY PETITS FOURS’…

I made these sweet little ‘Liquid Ruby Petits Fours’, with a jam filling, for my daughter’s birthday…& in all the confusion & excitement, forgot to put them out! What a feast my kids had over the next few days; it was tartlets all the way!! Since this months CLICK event has a liquid theme – ‘LIQUID COMFORT’, I’ve thought of sending in this one above as an entry…its atoms move freely & it took the shape of the pastry!

Moving on from there, the recipe for the pastry cases / pie shells are from a sweet little book of contemporary recipes called ‘What’s Cooking Chocolate’ by Jacqueline Bellefontaine, which she uses to make mini chocolate tartlets. I made those & some of these as well, variety being the spice of my life!!

Here’s the recipe as adapted from her book…
Ingredients:

Flour – 1 1/2 cups

Butter – 1/3 cup ; chilled & cut into pieces
Castor Sugar – 1 tbsp
Chilled water – 3-4 tbsp

Method:
  • Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.
  • Rub in the chilled butter with your fingertips to get a breadcrumb like mix.
  • Stir in the sugar.
  • Add enough water to make a soft dough.
  • Cover & chill for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
  • Roll out to 1/4-1/8″ thickness & line the pastry/tart shells or mini muffin trays with them.
  • Cover the pastry with foil, put in pie weights ( I used beans) & bake blind for 15 minutes approximately till light brown.
  • Cool completely on racks & store in an airtight tin until use. I made mine 3 days in advance.
  • Heat about 1/2 cup of jam with 1 tbsp water in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time, until jam is runny.
  • Pour carefully into prepared tart shells, use sprinkles if you like, and leave to set.

‘Ruby don’t take your love to town’…this song has been playing in my head all the while I have been putting this post together. Kenny Rogers at his very best!! Used to be one of my favourite numbers & am glad to renew the link!!
Posted by Deeba @ PAB
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