Lemon Curd Tart

This was Dear's birthday cake for 2012. I wanted to make a special "cake" and decide to make a tart instead.

I thought the lemon curd was quite sour. I have a habit of reducing the sugar that the recipe calls for. I can say that that doesn't affect all of the recipes I have tried but for this one, the lemon was more powerful than the baker!

Lemon Curd Tart (adapted from cherryteacakes.com)
makes a 10-in tart/pie

Crust

Ingredient:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp cream (I used milk; not sure if that was the reason why the crust was crumbly)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat over to 204degC.
2. Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, kosher salt, cream and vanilla, until mixture is moist and crumbly.
3. Press dough tart pan and press it up the sides, making sure the layer on the bottom is even.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust is set and firm at the edges. Cool, then fill with desired filling and bake as that recipe directs.

Lemon Curd

Ingredient:

• 1 cup sugar (I used 194g)
• 2/3 cup Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained ( I had two lemons and yielded a bit less than 2/3 cup)
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into half inch pieces

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together zest, eggs and egg yolks. When sugar mixture comes to a boil, pour very small amounts down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture while whisking continuously to temper the mixture. Continue to add only a few tablespoons at a time until all has been incorporated.
3. Transfer egg mixture back to sauce pan and return to stove. Cook on medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes, whisking frequently.
4. Remove custard from stove and whisk in butter, adding in one piece at a time.
5. When all butter has been added, cool curd for 15 minutes before pouring into prepared tart crusts.
6. Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours before serving. (Mine cut better when refrigerated for 24hrs)
7. Decorate with icing sugar, as desired.

Lemony Madeleines

the humpy cakes! so, i called them. distinctive to madeleines are humps on shell-like looking butter cakes. the first madeleines i had were the ones from Delifrance. never knew the actual names of the cakes until much later when i actually learnt to read food names first before buying the food. when i was younger, madeleines were common sight at my grandma's place because my aunties and uncles often frequent Delifrance, which was then quite hip and "class". with the dwindling number of deliverance outlets in Singapore, i think then-popular cafes are being quickly overtaken by more "artas, baristas-ish places and unique cafes like PS Cafe, the Marmalade Pantry, Wild Honey, etc. 


it has been a while since i ate madeleines. few weeks ago when i was researching on french recipes, i came across this classic madeleine recipe (from Julia Child of course!) and decided to give it a try. verdict? really awesome! the additions of lemon zest and lemon juice were simply amazing as they balanced the buttery taste of common madeleines sold in those chain bakeries, making you want for more. 


as it was my first attempt on madeleines, i was rather reluctant to buy the real madeleines molds which are quite costly. i baked this batch of madeleines using existing little cake molds that i have at home. different look but the same great taste! 

Lemony Madeleines


Ingredients:

• 2 ---------------------------- large eggs, beaten
• 140g ----------------------- granulated sugar
• 125g ----------------------- all purpose flour
• 113 g ---------------------- unsalted butter (plus 1 tbsp but greasing the molds)
• 1/8 tsp --------------------- salt
• 1 tbsp ---------------------- flour
• 2 tsp ----------------------- vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp ---------------------- grated lemon zest
• 3 drops -------------------- lemon juice

Method:


1. combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl and add three quarters of the eggs. beat vigorous and form into a heavy cream. set aside for 10min
2. boil all the butter until very slight brown. take out 1 tbsp of the butter and mix well with the 1 tbsp of flour. set side this mixture
3. cool the hot melted butter over cold water but ensure that butter still remains a liquid. beat the remaining egg into the batter and stir in the cooled liquid butter. stir in salt, lemon zest and lemon juice. cover batter and refrigerate it for at least one hour.
4. grease the molds with the butter-flour mixture from step 2
5. preheat oven to 190degC. using a spoon and rubber spatula, drop a rounded tablespoonful of batter into each madeleine cup. do not spread batter to fill the mold. repeat with the remaining batter and mold. 
6. bake in the middle rack for 20 min or until slightly brownish
7. unfold and cool on a rack with hump side up

enjoy!


*off to buy the real madeleines mold! ;)

lemon blueberry loaf - smurfilicious

this is an overdue post. it has been more than a week since i last baked. Twas a hectic week for me.

i was thrilled when i won preview tickets to Smurfs 3D two weeks ago. Smurfs 3D was nothing more than a kid's movie but the Smurfs are really cute.. seeing those Smurfberries prompted me to bake something with blueberries and so i did. 

blueberries are one of my favourite fruits and i can easily finish one punnet in less than ten minutes by myself. They appear to be extremely good for the eyes too, hence those berry essences as nutritional health products. hmm.. i wonder exactly how many blueberry goes into one bottle of Brand's berry essence and GNC's. GNC's berry essence drink tastes wonderful. you should try it too!

nutrition facts aside, blueberries make excellent bakes and desserts. i think many people enjoy blueberry bakes such as blueberry muffins, blueberry scones, blueberry yoghurt, blueberry cake, jams, tarts....the list goes on..

it was coincidental that i had lemons in my fridge and they pair really well with blueberries. so there you got it - lemon blueberry loaf cake. i like that i could enjoy fresh blueberries in the fluffy-buttery cake, embodied with a nice citrus flavour. the only thing i didnt quite like was perhaps using blueberries that were too big; it made slicing slightly more difficult.

Lemon-Blueberry Loaf Cake
(adapted from Joy Of Baking.com)

Ingredients

195 gm -------------------- all-purpose flour

1 tsp ------------------------ baking powder

1/4 tsp --------------------- salt

85 gm ---------------------- unsalted butter, room temperature

150 gm -------------------- granulated white sugar

2 ----------------------------- large eggs

1/2 tsp --------------------- pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp ------------------------ grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the

lemon)

120 ml ----------------------- milk

1 cup ------------------------- fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze: (i omitted this)

50 grams -------------------- granulated white sugar

2 tbsp ------------------------- fresh lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180degC and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan 23 x 13 x 8 cm

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and

fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

5. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until

combined.

6. Gently fold in the blueberries.

7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes

out clean.

8. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the 50 grams of sugar and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

9. When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top

of the loaf with the hot lemon glaze.

10. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 30 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

This bread is best served on the day it is made.