Almond Peach Tart

Hi to all readers!! Im back to update my humble blog as i have too many recipes pilling up in my brain..hehe...and im running out of space!! got to share it with y'all.   I will starts from where i stopped last year December and will continue until today.  So i hope you all enjoy my blog and recipe.  Take Care and thank you for reading.

07.12.2014 - ( date is for my own record of cooking ).  Here i prepared a beautiful and delicious Almond Peach Tart, it was my 2nd time making this yummy tart.  Its simply delicious.

My Tart pastry recipe adapted from "The Complete Book of Baking" and for the Almond filling adapted from "Something Sweet - Food Lovers " cookbook.

FOR PASTRY / CRUST INGREDIENTS:-
190g All Purpose Flour
4ml salt
90g Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
40-45ml / 2 1/2 - 3tbsp ice water ( i used only 1tbsp ice water ) 

* For the pastry, sift flour and salt into a bowl.
* Add in cold butter and cut in with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Stir in egg yolk and just enough water to bind the pastry.  Gather into a ball, wrap in baking parchment and chill for at least 20 minutes.
* On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3mm thick.  Transfer to a 24cm pie dish.
* Trim the edge, prick base and chill until need. Not needed blind bake.


FILLING INGREDIENTS:-
3 Eggs
150g Sugar ( i reduced to 120g ) 
150g heavy cream
2tbsp lemon juice
1tsp lemon zest
75g butter
150g Ground Almond
3-4 peaches ( i used 1/2 half canned of sweet peaches )
Almond Flakes, sprinkle - topping, optional
Dash of cinnamon powder, optional

* Meanwhile, put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat together until thick and foamy.  Stir in the cream, lemon juice and lemon zest and add the butter in small pieces.  Stand the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with an mixer until thick and creamy.  Stir in the ground almonds.

* Drop the peaches into boiling water for a few seconds, then skin, halve, remove the pits ( stones ) and slice thinly.  If u canned peach, drain syrup and slice peaces into desire shape and size.

* Pre-heat the oven to 200c.

* Roll out pastry on floured work table and use to line 9-10" / 24- 26cm tart pan / tin, cut off the excess by rolling over the top of the pan with your rolling pan.  Line with a sheet of baking parchment and weight down with dried beans.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the baking parchment and dried beans, set aside.  Spread the almond filling smoothly into the hot pastry shell and arrange peach slices attractively on top and * sprinkle with almond flakes and dash of cinnamon powder ( optional ).

* Bake at 180c for 1 hour and 30 minutes until the filling is set andlightly browned, but cover with foil if it browns too quickly.   Removed tart from oven, brush peach syrup on tart and leave to cool before serving with vanilla ice cream.

Apple Pie

03.11.2013 - Batam.  I tell ya! This is my DREAM Apple Pie!! Taste just the way i imagined.   There are just too many types of Apple Pie Recipe flying around.  But i used my own recipe, fillings recipe is from my Fried Apple Pie Recipe.  The crust taste just as buttery as eating the Pineapple Tart. So that good.

But the pastry crust given me some hard time, while i roll out my pastry, its start to break apart.   maybe the ingredients need to be studied one more time.  But after this monster baked, i absolutely love the buttery crust!!!! love it love it love it!! I guess all my hard work pays off!! It is delicious and so should i do adjustment with the pastry crust ingredients or just leave it as it is. you tell me!

Ingredients for apple fillings:-

4 big fiji red apple + 2 small red apples -peel & cut into square small pcs ( use any apple you desire)

2tbsp - Cinnamon powder ( if you prefer more cinnamon taste you may add more )

A pinch of grated nutmag 

2tbsp - Butter

5tbsp - Granulated Sugar ( if you prefer sweeter you may add more ) 

1/4 cup - water

( 3 divided into 3 portion, 1st & 2nd portion i blended a second to paste and the 3rd portion i leave it as it is in square, I did not use flour as thickening agent for this recipe )

Ingredients for the pastry:

2 1/2 cups flour

3 tbsp cornstarch

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking powder 

2 sticks/226 gram butter, chilled and cubed ( 1pkt of butter 227g )

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cold water (if necessary) ( I didn't use water for this crust )

For Glaze/ egg wash:

1 egg and milk - beaten

Method :

Prepare fillings :- 

* Heat Pan, add in butter, stir to melt and add in cut apples cubes mixed well.

* Add in caster sugar and cinnamon powder stir and cook slowly with slow heat till apple become soft.

* If the apple become watery from sugar syrup, add in 1tbsp flour, mixed well and dish up. and if the apple still one cube but have been soften ( different apple different texture ), use a hand blender to blend a second with smaller chunks of apple.

* Set aside wait to cool.

Prepare Pastry Crust :-

*Place Flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine ingredients. Add the butter, and using a pastry blender or your hands, cut the butter into the flour or rub it together until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add egg and the vanilla extract and mix until the dough begins to come together. If the mixture seems too dry and crumbly, add water a tablespoon at a time.

*Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until combined [do not overwork the dough]. Shape the dough into a disc, and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. ( I find my dough very buttery and breaks apart ) but the result is remarkable, very buttery crust. so you have to work very gently with the crust. is quite stressful at this point. but don't give up! you gonna have a great pie in the end of the day!

* Preheat the oven to 350ºF. ( i preheated with 200c at the same time i put in the pastry shell to preheat together, so the crust shell cook a little earlier. I didn't use blind baking because it is not necessary for my crust ) Once again you may not necessary to bake during pre-heating your oven like i did which nobody will do that.. (LOL) i just do the way my way! either totally no need to pre-bake/blind baking or you wanted to you may do so or totally leave it as it is bake together with the fillings at once.

*Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Remove the disc of dough from the refrigerator, roll out the dough and line the bottom of a 9” tart pan or small tart pans. Separates dough into half one for base and for top strips ( i have a hard time of rolling my dough because its breaking apart and i added alot of flour on my working table but still struggling to work on the dough.  The only way i can  roll my dough into the pan is that I used flip over method with cling wrap on my working counter, i use that to transfer the soft pastry crust to my pan successfully instead of using the roller. ) 

*Once the oven pre-heated, i remove my crust from oven and spread the filling evenly over the bottom layer of dough. Carefully place the strips of dough over the filling, forming a crisscross or lattice pattern. Press the edges of the dough strips into the rim of the tart pan, removing any excess.

 *Brush the dough strips, the edges of the tart and the top of the tart/tarts with egg wash. Bake the tart until the top turns golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. ( i put at 40mins, last 10 mins i brush egg wash on crust for the 2nd time and reduce temperature to 170c ) (depend on your oven). After just 10mins the apple pie eventually smells so good! maybe all the hard work pays off!!

*Remove from the oven, and allow the tart to cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. 

* Served in room temperature with Vanilla Ice. 

Here you see two color fromt he top and base.  I prebake the shell crust for 10mins during pre-heating oven, which you might not necessary to follow my way of doing this.  You can either blind baking first or leave it as it is bake at once with fillings. 

So perfectly baked.

so soft and buttery that the crust simply melts on your mouth

Its perfect with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream!!

This perfect Apple Pie is a classic of my dream!

Fried Apple Pie with Puff Pastry

22.02.2013 - Batam.   Yes! i do miss McDonald Fried Apple Pie.

I used puff pastry sheets. Making Fried Apple is not difficult at all.  Just a hard work of cooking the apple fillings, but with that crunchiness and deliciousness apple fillings, all your hard work pays off.  Duh....hahaha :P

Here are the ingredients.

Ingredients:-
5 pcs - Green apple, peel & cut into square small pcs
1tbsp - Cinnamon powder ( if you like more cinnamon taste, you could add more )
1tbsp - Butter
3tbsp - caster sugar ( taste and add as you desire )
1tbsp - flour
1/4 cup - water

Icing sugar / confectioner sugar for dusting

Method :

* Heat Pan, add in butter, stir to melt and add in cut apples cubes mixed well.
* Add in caster sugar and cinnamon powder stir and cook slowly with slow heat till apple become soften.
* Apple will become watery from sugar syrup, add in 1tbsp flour, mixed well and dish up.
* Set aside wait to cool.
* Roll out a sheet of cool puff pastry, dust a little flour if necessary, roll a little and cut in any shape or size as you desire for your apple pie. ( do not cut the pastry sheet too big as it will expand when deep-frying.
* With a pastry brush or small pastry spatula, spread water around the edge of the wrapper. Spoon two spoonful of cooked apple filling on pastry sheet and cover.  Press the side with fork so as it could sealed the fillings properly and give a nice shape at the edge like a pie.
* In a wok, heat cooking oil for deep frying.  with a medium fire deepfried apple pie to gold brown and dish up immediate.
* Dust with confectioner's sugar, serve with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream! Perfect!

Happy Eating!!

Heat Pan, add in butter, stir to melt and add in cut apples cubes mixed well.

Add in caster sugar and cinnamon powder stir and cook slowly with slow 

heat till apple become soften. Apple is cooking and starting to caramelize

Apple will become watery from sugar syrup, add in 1tbsp flour, mixed well and dish up.

The apple filling is ready, set aside to cool 

Press the side with fork so as it could sealed the fillings properly and give it a nice 

shape at the edge like a pie. It is ready to deep-fried 

 Apple pies fried into golden brown and ready for sugar dusting

 Dust a table spoonful of confectioner's sugar on top and served hot

 you can see how beautiful it is inside, a few layers holds the apple fillings equally. 

Ta-Da!! my own version of McDonald Fried Apple Pie!! BUT mine is better than 

McDonald Fried Apple Pie. Sorry to say!!

However, Thank you Mcdonald inspire me to make my own!! hAAA...Yumm!!