Baking with Elliott

Baking the world a sweeter place

Tart

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart

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Do you need a quick recipe for Valentine’s Day? Look no further, I’m share with you how to make this no-bake cheesecake tart.

This recipe is a twist on my more traditional no-bake cheesecake, after thinking about how I could improve or change the recipe. After being on Instagram and Pinterest for a short while, I saw there was the odd cheesecake tart, I didn’t follow any of the recipes that I found as I had the basics covered and that’s all you need. 

So I take my simple no-bake recipe and make some changes, mostly lowering the amounts of each ingredients as I don’t need as much for this tart. If you have seen any of my other cheesecakes before, you will know that they have a thick consistency but this one was slightly less so, but it still set nicely.

Before you start working on the tart, you’ll want to do some prep work. Get the pie/tart tin ready and weigh up all your ingredients. To start the tart, you’ll want to make the base (and sides) which is super simple and only requires 2 ingredients – digestive biscuits and melted butter. You’ll want to make the digestive biscuits into crumbs (it will look like sand once ready) and you can do this 2 ways – method one is the easiest and it’s to use a food processor, blitz the biscuits for a few seconds until they have reached a crumb consistency. Method two is too place the biscuits into a ziplock bag and crush them using a rolling pin, this takes longer but works equally as well.

Once you’ve  got your biscuit crumbs, you can then add the melted butter and either blitz or mix in the butter until it’s turned to wet sand colour. Place the biscuit mixture into the base of your 9 inch pie/tart tin and get yourself a cup measurement or something similar and start to compress it down, while you do that you’ll also want to press it out towards the edge and build up the sides, it may take some time to get the edges just right but it’s all worth it in the end. So take the time needed to get the base and sides as level all around as possible.

Once you’ve got the biscuit base sorted, you can then go ahead and place that in the fridge to firm up while you make the filling.

To make the cheesecake filling, you’ll want to get yourself a medium-large mixing bowl and place in the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla then give it all a good mix with either a hand whisk or a electric mixer (whichever you have or prefer to use). Once all the ingredients are fully incorporated, add in the jam (I used strawberry as I knew it would turn the mixture pink but feel free to use whatever flavour you’d like) and give it all a give whisk together until the jam has been worked in fully, if possible, try and use jam without bits, it will help the mixture to stay smooth. Add in the double cream and whisk until the mixture thickens up – mine was looser in consistency as it was warm in my kitchen but it set up alright.

Now you’ll want to take your tart case out of the fridge and add in the filling into and level it off as best you can, then place back in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight (which is preferred by me personally). The longer you allow it to chill, the more it will firm up.

The following morning, I take the tart out the frIdge and remove it from the tin. I set it onto my decorative plate but feel free to use whatever you have, a cake stand or normal plate will work well. One last thing before we finish the tart off, which is optional but seeing as Valentine’s Day is today, why not put something romantic on top, so I did. I piped the word ‘love’ with seedless strawberry jam.

You can then cut and slice it as your wish, this tart is like a cheesecake but in a different form – if you like cheesecake  recommend trying this recipe out!

Ingredients:

Base:

375g Digestive biscuits.

150g Butter, melted.

 

Filling:

400g Soft cheese.

100g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

200-250g Strawberry jam, seedless.

200ml Double cream.

 

Decoration:

Strawberry jam, seedless and in a piping bag (with no tip).

 

No baking times as this is a chilled dessert, so up to 8 hours chilling in the fridge.

 

Homemade Mince Pies

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Whether you like them or not, its mince pie season, regardless.

These tasty little treats are sweet, spicy and fruity all in one bite. Which can be overwhelming or downright confusing, especially if you haven’t them before.

If you’re from somewhere in the world that doesn’t have these easily accessible, don’t worry. Despite the name, the mincemeat is sweet (made most of dried fruit, sugar, spices and alcohol) and doesn’t contain a single gram of meat. Many years ago they would have been meat based but they have evolved to become what we know and love today.

I thought that mincemeat was available around the world, but it isn’t. Don’t worry I have already uploaded a recipe on how to make mincemeat here (which is actually super easy, it just needs some time to mature).

Some prep work won’t go amiss here. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weigh up your ingredients and get any equipment you may need ready.

The pastry isn’t exactly hard to make, all you need to do is beat the sugar and egg together, then set it aside until later on. Into a bowl or food processor place the flour, salt and butter then combine them together by either rubbing the butter into the flour or pulsing them together in a food processor (I went with the food processor method on this occasion. Mostly because I as short on time and my hands are warm and often heat up the butter, which isn’t what you want while making pastry).

Once they are combined, add in the egg/sugar mix and work it into the flour/butter mixture. This will bind the dough together, work them together until almost fully combined then tip out onto a floured surface to knead the pastry together. You’re looking for a clear dough, with no traces of a single ingredient. Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap then chill in the fridge for around an hour, this is to allow the butter to firm up and the gluten to relax.

After the hour in the fridge, take your dough out of the fridge and chop it roughly in half, keeping half out and rewrapping the other half and placing back in the fridge until you need it later on. Roll out your dough until you’ve achieved 5mm in thickness, once achieved, cut out your circles of pastry for each pie. Use a 3 inch cookie cutter, this gets your the perfect shape/amount for each cup on the cupcake pan. I only made 6 but you could easily make around 8-10.

Once you’ve got your pastry cases in the cupcake tin, you’ll then want to fill them with a generous amount of the homemade mincemeat, you can go as far as just a few millimetres below the top of the case (the more the better I say, but go with your preference). You can then work on the ‘lids’ which is a smaller circle cut out (around 1.5 – 2 inches), then place on top of each mince pie and secure in place by crimping the side of the pastry case and the pastry lid together with a fork, repeat for all your mince pies. You’ll want to egg wash your pastry (this helps to make your pastry bake a better golden brown colour), to make the egg wash, crack an egg into a small bowl and beat until its all combined. Use your pastry brush and give the tops of the mince pies a generous coating with the egg wash.

Just before you use the last of the pastry, stab a hole into the centre of each mince pie, this is to release any steam that may build up while they bake. You can then partially cover the hole with small cut out pastry decoration, I used a small plunger cutter do this but its completely optional. Egg wash the little cut out, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is a nice golden brown.

 

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 Egg.

90g Granulated sugar.

225g Butter.

375g Plain Flour.

A pinch of salt.w

Mince meat recipe here

 

Method:

  1. Start by doing some prep work by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up your ingredients into small bowls and prepare any equipment you’ll need to use.
  2. Start the recipe by making your pastry. Crack an egg into a small bowl then add the sugar and mix the two together until the sugar has dissolved in the egg, set aside until later on.
  3. Into a large bowl or food processor, place the flour, salt and butter then combine them by rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients or pulsing them together.
  4. Once they are fully combined, add in the egg/sugar mix from earlier on. Mix in or pulse together until they are almost fully combined, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until a clear dough forms. Once you’ve got a clear dough, wrap the flattened ball of dough in clingfilm/plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour to chill. This give the gluten in the dough time to relax and for the butter to firm up.
  5. After about an hour, take your pastry out of the fridge and cut in half. Keep one half out and wrap the other back up and place in the fridge until you need it later on.
  6. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until its about 5mm in thickness (this is the ideal thickness). Take a 3 inch cookie cutter and cut out your circles. I made 6 mince pies but with this amount of pastry you could easily make 8-10.
  7. Take your pastry circles and place them into the cupcake tin. Work and manipulate the dough to fit into the shape of the cupcake tray, repeat until you’ve got all your pastry cases done.
  8. Fill each mince pie almost to the top with the homemade mincemeat. Repeat this for each mince pie.
  9. With the remaining pastry, roll it out until slightly thinner than 5mm then cut out some more circles but this time they are smaller, around 1.5-2 inches (whichever fits just right on top of the mince pies).
  10. Crimp the pastry case and the lid together using fork. This secures the lid on top and stops it from popping off while baking. Once the lids are on, egg wash the top of each mince pie (the egg wash is just a beaten egg in a small bowl).
  11. Stab a hole in the centre of the mince pie, this is to allow the steam to escape. Then partially cover the hole with a small pastry cut out that has been made with a small plunger cutter. This is optional but adds a homemade touch to the mince pies. Egg wash the cut outs if you use them.
  12. Bake the mince pies in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is a nice golden brown colour.
  13. Once baked and cooled, just before serving you can give them a dusting with icing sugar and enjoy on there own OR serve with some cream or ice cream.

Cornflake Tart Recipe

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If you’re looking for the perfect recipe for a cornflake tart, look no further, I’ve got your back.

Now I’m not sure if this is a local thing or national but if you went to school in the UK, you might recognise this. This recipe has been around for quite some time, a lot of people who went to school in the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s should remember this! It’s super simple to make and doesn’t take that long either – what’s not to like?

This recipe is my take on the traditional version of a cornflake tart, it’s a really quick, easy and cheap recipe to make and will go down well with many who get to try it. If you’re not sure what a cornflake tart is, I’ll give you a quick run down of what exactly it is. It’s a pastry case which is topped with jam (I opted for strawberry, which is what i remember but feel free to use any berry jam) and then topped with cornflakes that have a sugary sweet syrup stirred throughout them. So, it’s 3 simple layers of shortcrust pastry, jam and sweetened cornflakes, you might even have the stuff in to make it!

If you haven’t made your own pastry before, don’t worry. I have a great recipe for my own shortcrust pastry that I use for all of my pie and tart crusts, it’s yet to fail me! Don’t be intimidated by the thought of making pastry, it’s simpler than you’d think. Here is a link to my recipe, it’s got all the information you need to know, along with tips and tricks on how to make this turn out perfect for you each and every time!

Once you’ve made your pastry and allowed it to chill in the fridge, you’ll want to take roughly about half of it and roll it out until it’s about an inch bigger than the tin you’re using, I opted for a disposable 6 inch/15cm tray but feel free to use whatever you have. Once the pastry is rolled out, I then place it in the tray and press it down so it’s in place and then trim away the excess from around the edge, then dock the bottom of the pastry using a fork, this is just to stop the pastry from having air pockets while baking. The final stage before we bake this is to place it in the fridge for around 1 hour, then bake it off at the required temperature. *I only chilled mine for a short period, so the longer you chill it for, the less it will shrink*.

While your pastry case is baking in the oven, it’s best to make the filling. Place the all the ingredients (except for the cornflakes and jam) into a small saucepan and melt them together over a medium heat, stirring well. Once it’s all melted and well combined, the mixture will be a deep orange colour. Pour this mixture over your cornflakes and stir the two together until they are well coat, it doesn’t take very long at all.

Once the pastry case is out the oven, spread a good amount of your jam on top of it, then spoon on your cornflake mixture. I like to add mine gradually so I don’t make a mess, but feel free to do it your own way. once you’ve added all the cornflakes on top of the jam, I like to gently push them down a little, so its more compact. Pop this back in the oven for a few more minutes, just so the cornflakes become more golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Ingredients:

Cornflake Filling :
115g Golden syrup.
55g Butter.
20g Granulated sugar.
20g Demerara sugar.
A pinch of salt.
85g Cornflakes.
100-150g Jam (I used strawberry but feel free to use any red berry jam).

Method:

  • Make your pastry (using my recipe, if you’d like) and allow that to chill in the fridge for 1 hour before use.
  • After 1 hour, roll out half of the pastry, just until its about 1 inch/2.5cm bigger than the 6 inch tin/tray you’re using.
  • Press down the pastry into the tin and trim away the excess from the sides. (If your pastry has ripped or torn, fix it at this stage).
  • Dock the bottom of the pastry, using a fork.  This prevents pockets of air forming while the pastry is baking.
  • Chill in the fridge for around an hour, then bake in your preheated oven at 200˚c/400˚f for 15-20 minutes.
  • While the pastry is baking, make your cornflake filling. Place the golden syrup, butter, granulated sugar, demerara sugar and a pinch of salt into a small saucepan and place that over a medium heat until everything has melted and come together, stirring well.
  • Remove the liquid mix from the heat and pour over the cornflakes, stirring well until the cornflakes are all well coated in the syrup mixture.
  • Once the pastry case has been removed from the oven, spread over a generous amount of jam (I opted for strawberry but feel free to use your preferred flavour) and then spoon on your cornflake mix, pressing it down slightly once all the mix is in the case. Place back in the oven for a following 5-7 minutes (or until the cornflakes are starting to turn a golden brown colour).
  • Allow to cool completely before you enjoy it, to serve enjoy it on its own or with custard, cream or ice cream.

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!