Custard Tarts - Great British Bake Off Technical Challenge #4

So then, tarts.

Custard tarts to be precise.  Week 4 of the Great British Bake Off and I've gone and attempted a technical challenge that I knew really, really wouldn't be simple.  First off, the recipe's here.

I've rarely made custard from scratch.  In fact, prior to this challenge I made crème pâtissière once for a tart I was making up on the spot (here).  To further my difficulties I've never eaten a custard tart.  I've never wanted to eat a custard tart.  I'm not a big fan of nutmeg, and every custard tart I've ever seen reminds me of quiche.  Quiche is the work of the devil.

So, you can see my difficulties began before I even started baking.  I have a much better chance of 'winging it' if I at least know how the finished product should taste, and what texture the filling should be.  But yes, of course, I watched the episode so I should have known precisely what I was doing.

The recipe itself was simple to follow, I can't deny that much.  However, I should have trusted my instincts a little more than I did.  I've been baking long enough to know that if I think twice about the thickness of the pastry, I should change the thickness of the pastry!

I did make some mistakes with this challenge, I can't deny it; photographic evidence is forthcoming, I promise.

The pastry was very soft.  It was perhaps down to the temperature of the kitchen (although the butter was definitely chilled).  Maybe using a whole egg instead of water to bind it together made a difference.  It might have needed a little longer in the fridge.  One thing's for certain; as easy as it was to roll out and manipulate in the muffin tray, even though there were no tears in the pastry cases the filling still leaked through a few of them.

I did at least have the foresight to use a trick one of the GBBO contestants demonstrated.  Don't underestimate the usefulness of the paper.  The paper was a huge contributor to the fact that so many came out more or less in one piece!

The handy 'strips of greaseproof paper' trick

Now, I knew long before these babies came out of the oven that they would look homemade.  I was in no doubt that the cutter I used was a little too small for the muffin tin, the pastry was very soft, and that manipulating the raw pastry up the side of the tin a little would push them out of shape.  In fact, the pastry was so soft that it was misshapen even before I played around with it.  You can see it there too, I know you can; twelve imperfect tarts waiting to get their bottoms browned.

Waiting to go in the oven

Just a quickie about making the custard before I forget; it was very simple.  Follow the instructions and you won't go far wrong.  I did use an electric hand whisk for the yolks and sugar to make sure when beaten that they were nice and pale and creamy, but that's all.  The making of the custard was uneventful!

Yes.  Imperfect is definitely the word.

Do you see these baked tarts?  This is what happens when you use those little strips of paper in the tin.  Ignore the ones in the background.  Please.  But really, it did help immensely.  Something I didn't consider was that even after the obligatory 30 mins cooling in the tin, the custard was so light and delicate and the pastry so thin, that removing them without either crushing them or having them fall apart was almost impossible.

A very un-soggy bottom!

The sogginess of their bottoms was uneven.  The twelve tarts you see above were fine, but they were on the top shelf of the oven.  It turned out that I rolled the pastry so thinly that there was enough remaining to make a further eight tarts, which of course I did.  After all, it never hurts to have spares!

The extra eight tarts went onto a lower shelf in the oven, and yet again I should have trusted my instincts and left them in a little longer.  I should have also used the paper in their tray, but curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see how difficult it was to remove the tarts without said paper.

I say remove...

Me?  On GBBO?  Really?????

I wouldn't go so far as to say what was remaining of the eight were tarts.  They would have brought on a stern look from Mary Berry and laughter from Paul Hollywood.  And we all know your bake is a travesty if Paul Hollywood laughs!

Fully cooled, cut and glistening; one of the eight with slightly under-baked pastry.

As imperfect as these tarts look, though, once I cut into this one I knew I'd done something right.  Finally!  This is how the custard should look, right?  Oh, for the love of everything covered in flour, please tell me this is how the custard should look!!!

All in all, this wasn't a big fail... just a little one.  Despite my trepidation with nutmeg I did eat that one you see up there ^ and it was tasty.  It was.  I think perhaps I'm just someone who doesn't go crazy on custard.  No, that's a whole different show.

So, my tips?

• Use the paper
• Knead the pastry a little more than you normally would
• Use the paper
• Don't be too concerned about getting a thin pastry case, or it will be way too delicate to move
• USE THE PAPER!

I won't be auctioning off these babies for Matty's Bistro; they're just not how they should be and I'm a perfectionist.  Other people will get to eat them, but I won't expect anyone to pay for the privilege!

Oh, and as for the 7 leftover egg whites, dad gets a treat.  He hates custard so he won't eat the tarts, but he loves a nice pavlova.  So now, cooling in the oven, is a huge pavlova that tomorrow will be filled with whipped cream, raspberries and strawberries, and drizzled with homemade lemon curd.

Oh yes, NOW you're talking!

If I remember, there may even be a photo of it here before it's demolished.

Angel Food Cake - Great British Bake Off Technical Challenge #2

It was a week ago when I took on the challenge of the Angel Food Cake from the first episode of the Great British Bake Off.

Now, I've made fatless sponges before but they're few and far between, and they were certainly nothing as technical as this.  Usually I make up the batter, pour it in the tin, throw some blueberries on top, and just cut it up into squares when it's cooled.  It's one of my diet treats, and it's really lovely.  But this?  I was determined to achieve perfection and nothing else would do.

The recipe I used is here.  The technical challenge recipes are posted on the BBC website after each episode has aired.

So then, down to business.  This recipe is a delightfully light sponge cake made without butter and with little flour, getting its rise from 10 egg whites.  It's lightly flavoured with lemon zest and is finished with vanilla cream and homemade lemon curd.  The recipe called for passion fruit in the curd too, but the one week I wanted to buy passion fruit was the one week I couldn't find it anywhere!

The main things that I discovered I required, beyond the ingredients, were a light touch and a lot of patience!

Egg whites whipped with the lemon juice and sugar

The egg whites above took around 10 minutes to reach the stage you see here.  This was because not only were there 10 egg whites in the bowl (and therefore a lot more volume to whip up than usual) but the sugar needed to be added slowly.  Had I done this using a stand alone mixer instead of a little hand mixer, I'm sure it would've been a heck-load quicker!  Add to this the slow, careful process of folding in the flour in three stages, slowly, gradually combining it so as not to knock all the air out of the egg whites, and you can see where most of the patience is needed!

About to go in the oven

It took a while, but here is my beautiful new cake tin, complete with delicately poured batter ready to go in the oven.  To say that it went against everything I know as an amateur baker not to grease the tin is an understatement.  I knew that as it rose the batter needed something to grip onto, and that the same would be the case for when it cooled, but I was still skeptical.

Hurry up and cool already!

Have you ever cooled a cake upside down still in its tin?  No?  Neither had I.  Was I desperate to see the result?  Oh by-heck-in-a-hand-basket, was I ever!  This was where the rest of the patience came in useful.  I wanted to lift it up and prod and poke and just see how my delicate baby of a cake was doing, but I resisted.  To this day I don't know how I did it, but I do know that the making of the lemon curd helped.

Lemon curd

I know this looks orange, and in its jar it does look like orange curd; it's not just down to the photograph.  I can guarantee it's the best lemon curd I've tasted, and I'm not only saying that because I made it; it's absolutely true.  It's also true that I was ecstatic to see that the finishing of the cake used up all of the egg yolks.  How happy am I that in a few weeks I get to use up some more of the remaining curd in a birthday cake for a colleague?  Very.  Not to mention how fabulous it is on hot toast!

Anyway, I digress (and drool a little!).

It turned out nice!

This is it.  This is what made me want to jump for joy in the kitchen and do a victory dance.  I kid you not.  Having carefully gone round the edges of the cake in its tin with a thin, non-serrated knife, this was the beauty that slid out; perfectly formed, evenly baked and all in one piece.  I was so happy I could have cried!

Now, having recovered from my joy and amazement, all that was left was to decorate the big beauty.  Whipped cream with vanilla and a drizzle of lemon curd (minus the passion fruit) were the only things remaining.  It felt like a shame to cover her up, but cover her up I did.

All done.  Decorated and ready for its box.

I did still have the nagging little doubts in my mind; what if it's not fully cooked in the middle?  With the muffins I could make extra and be sure that they were fit for consumption before I auctioned them off, but not with this.  With this Angel Food Cake I spent the next few hours worrying that it might still be a little raw inside.  I was lucky, then, to be offered a slice by the winning bidder!

The winning bidder.  Chuffed and a half!

When I said this was a big cake, I wasn't kidding.  The photo above has put it in perspective, and it wasn't long before it was put in bellies!

I said I was lucky to have been offered a slice before I left this lovely lady's home, and I really was.  My worries were blown away with just how light and moist (and fully cooked... hurrah!) this cake was.  I urge anyone to try it; it's not a difficult bake, it just takes some patience and a light touch.

I was reliably informed a few days after this photo was taken that her granddaughter announced I was "through to the next round", and she'd gone at the cake with a ladle!  It's only a shame there wasn't any photographic evidence!

I'm already noting down ideas for the next Angel Food Cake I bake.  And the next.  And the one after that.

It's lovely.  Try it!

Not to forget a big thank you to all who bid on this cake.  Every last penny helps out the fabulous work Matty's Bistro does for the young adults in Teesside.  Much love x