Gooseberry Tart

     Since moving to Germary, I've come to love shopping at the local markets and grocery stores.  A while back I stumbled across these golden little gems, that us Americans refer to them as Gooseberries.  Where as the Germans call them Physalis.  They are quite tasty on their own, but I really wanted to find a recipe to try.  Thanks to Pinterest, yet again, I discovered one!  

My little sous chef would sneak a few while we were de-tailing them.

On to making the tart shell

Recipe from Good Food

What you need: 

250 g all-butter shortcrust pastry

all purpose flour for dusting

2 large eggs, room temperature

200 ml double cream

85 g granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

300 g small gooseberries, topped and tailed

powder sugar for garnish

How to make it:

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until large enough to line a 23cm loose-bottom tart pan.

Trim the excess pastry from the around the edge, then line the pastry case with baking parchment paper, fill it with baking beans and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200˚C (about 400˚F).

Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes, then carefully life out the parchment paper and beans, and bake for another 5 minutes or until biscuity.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs, cream, sugar, and vanilla together, then strain into a bowl.

Scatter the gooseberries into the pastry shell, then pour in the vanilla custard mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the custard is set and the gooseberries are tender.

Cool a little before serving.

Dust with powder sugar then ENJOY!

Apple Rose Tart

Recipe from Hip Foodie Mom

What you need:

Crust-

2 1/2 cups walnut pieces

4 TBsp unsalted butter (melted)

2 TBsp granulated sugar

1 egg white (room temperature)

1/4 tsp salt

Custard-

1 1/2 cups milk

6 egg yolks (room temperature)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup cornstarch 

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish-

2 apples (I used Red Delicious, quarter, cored, and thinly sliced - keep in lemon water until ready to use)

juice of a lemon

1/4 cup apricot jam (warmed)

How to make it:

Crust-

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.

In a food processor, pulse the walnuts until they are finely chopped and pieces are about the size of breadcrumbs.

Place the copped nuts in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients, tossing together with a fork.

Press the mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Custard-

Pour the milk into a small pot and place over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs yolks with the maple syrup, cornstarch, and salt.

Slowly pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, while whisking, to warm the eggs.

Place the mixture back into the pot and place over low heat.

Cook, stirring consulate, until the mixture comes to a bubble and becomes very thick.

Stir in the vanilla and transfer to a heat safe container.

Lay a plastic wrap over the surface.

Chill for 2 hours.

Assembling-

Spread the maple custard in the walnut tart shell.

Warm the apple slices in the microwave for 30-40 seconds to make pliable.

Roll a sliced apple into a tight spiral and stand it up vertically in the custard.

Continue to arrange apple slices in a concentric patter, around the first one, building a rose pattern.

Warm the apricot jam, and then it with lemon juice.

Brush the apricot glaze over the apples, for shine and to prevent browning.

Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve or slice it up and ENJOY!

Easter in August??

     Today, as I was updating my blog, I totally realized I never posted about our Easter Sunday this year...So here it is a few months later.

     The morning started off great.  The kiddos woke to up to baskets full of surprises from the Easter Bunny.  They busted right into them!     

Here is Kinley's basket

And Liam's basket

Look at those happy faces!

The hubby and I must have been good, because we got one too!

I LOVE me some Reese's Peanut Butter Bunnies!

So after they opened their baskets and did a fun egg hunt we dyed some eggs.

Usually, we do the dye in the cups with the tabs and vinegar, but this year I found this cool

dye spinner. I knew the kiddos would have fun.

It was so easy, just put in the boiled egg then the dye then pump..pump...pump.

That's it!  

After the egg spinning, they wanted to further their egg decorating with these PAAS Color Snaps. 

It was messy... 

But FUN!

Such beautiful eggs!

After the egg decorating, we got cleaned up and in our Easter Sunday best then headed over to our friend's house for brunch and an Easter Egg Hunt.

Kinley had a blast collecting her eggs.

Liam had a great time too! 

Looks like Liam found a bunch!

I put on my cute Jamberry Nail Wraps

and my cute new wedges with my pretty springy dress,

and brought a Blueberry Toasted Coconut Tart that I made to share.

After brunch, we headed back home and got out the Cascarones (confetti eggs) 

to pop on each other's heads.  I don't know how popular they are here, but it's an Easter and Fiesta tradition where we come from.

Even with all the hoopla that goes with Easter, from the baskets to candy to eggs hunts, to toys, and dying eggs....we still know the true meaning behind the Easter holiday.  Being with family and friends to rejoice in the Rising of Jesus Christ.

Hope your Easter, though many months ago, was fun and kept you in the spirit.

Blueberry Toasted Coconut Tart

Recipe from Sugar Hero

What you need:

Dough-

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup toasted coconut

5 oz cold butter (cubed)

1 large egg yolk (room temperature)

Pastry Cream-

2 large egg yolks (room temperature)

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 TBsp cornstarch 

1 cup toasted coconut

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp coconut extract

Topping-

3 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

zest of one lemon

juice of one lemon

1 1/2 TBsp corn starch

How to make it:

Dough-

Combine the flour, sugar, toasted coconut, and salt in a bowl of a food processor, and pulse until everything is well blended.

Add the cold butter and pulse until it is in small pea-sized pieces.

Add the egg yolk and pulse in long 5 second bursts until the dough starts clumping together.

Turn the dough out of the food processor and knead it lightly several times to incorporate any extra flour.

Spray a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with nonstick cooking spray.

Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan in an even layer.

Freeze the shell for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Spray the top of the tart dough with nonstick spray, then press a sheet of foil into the shell, shiny side down and fill the foil with dry beans, rice, or pie weights.

Bake the shell for 20 minutes, until the sides start to take on a little color and the center no longer looks raw, then carefully remove the foil and weights.

Bake for an additional 14-15 minutes, until the shell is golden brown.

Let the shell cool completely before filling it.

Pastry Cream-

Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk them briefly to break them up.

Combine the milk, sugar, salt, and corn starch in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Whisk everything together until the sugar and cornstarch dissolve, and continue to whisk while the mixture heats up.

Once it starts to bubble and thicken, remove it from the heat.

Whisk the bowl of egg yolks while slowly streaming in about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture.

Now whisk the milk mixture while you pour the egg yolks into the saucepan.

Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook, whisking constantly until pastry cream thickens and has the texture of pudding.

You may want to occasionally scrape the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula to prevent any scorching.

Once think, remove the pan from heat.

Stir in the toasted coconut, vanilla extract, and coconut extract.

Let cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally so that the top doesn't form a skin.

Topping-

Combine 1 cup of fresh blueberries with the sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Stir occasionally while the sugar melts.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and corn starch; when corn starch has dissolved, pour mixture into the blueberry saucepan.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, while blueberries come to a simmer, break down, and begin to thicken.

Cook until the mixture has a thick jammy consistency, about 3-4 minutes once it comes to a boil.

Remove the pan from the heat, then whisk occasionally as it cools to room temperature.

Once room temperature, stir in the remaining 2 cups of fresh blueberries.

To assemble, remove the tart shell from the pan.

Spread the chilled pastry cream in the bottom of the shell.

Top with cool blueberry topping mixture.

Chill the tart for about 30 minutes to set all the layers.

Cut into slices, then ENJOY!

Ginger Pumpkin Tart

Original recipe from Food Network

Here's what you need:

2 1/2 cups crushed Swedish ginger cookies (about 55-60 cookies)

6 TBsp unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 large egg yolks (room temperature)

pinch salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

whipped cream 

How you make it:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Put a 9-inch removable bottom fluted tart pan on a baking sheet.

Make the crust by combing the ginger cookie crumbs and the melted butter in a large bowl, until well blended.

Add the crumbs to the tart pan and evenly press over the bottom and up the sides with the bottom of a measuring cup.

Bake until set and bit darker in color, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove form oven and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, condensed milk, egg yolks, salt, and pumpkin pie spice until well blended.  

Pour filling into the cooled crust, return to the oven and bake until set and beginning to brown on the top, about 30 minutes.

Remove tart from the oven, cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator, at least 1 hour or until ready to serve.

To serve, carefully remove outer tart shell ring and slice.

Serve with whipped cream and ENJOY!

Deadly Nighshade Tart

     The other day I was invited over to a friend's house for a little Hunger Games party to watch the movie and gear up for Catching Fire movie that premiers this week!  Since I LOVE theme parties, I decided to make a Deadly Nightshade Tart and some whipped cream to bring over! (It's really just my new Foodie Favorite, Lingonberry Jam).  It turned out amazing....and no one died!

Recipe from Elsbro.

** Ok, so the recipe I used was all in Metric, so I did my best to convert it to the Americanized measurements, the easiest was to use Tablespoons for everything **

How to make it:

13 TBsp unsalted butter (room temperature)

12 TBsp oatmeal

12 TBsp all purpose flour (sifted)

8 TBsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

Lingonberry jam

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Add the butter, oatmeal, flour, sugar, and baking soda into a large bowl and work together with your hands OR add all ingredients into a food processor, pulse until you get a fine sandy textured dough.

Take 2/3 of the dough and push into a butter or parchment lined cake dish with your hands. (I used a tart pan)

Spread the jam over the the dough.

Sprinkle the rest of the dough over the jam.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool, then slice, add a dollop of fresh whipped cream, and ENJOY!