Berrylicious .... Raspberry & Lemon Cream OR Blackberries & white Chocolate Cream , with Sesame Praline Tart

Take a trip down Memory lane with these old-Fashioned favourites . Whether you are planning a family afternoon tea , Dinner party or for a girl's indulgent get together , these are extremely simple to make , inexpensive , fool proof , quick and a Special salute to the fantastic berries .

I just love the flavour of White Chocolate with fresh Blackberries , or lemon cream with Raspberries but a special favourite in my household is the Classic Creme Patisserie with either of the Raspberries or Blackberries . The Sesame Praline adds an extra savoury dimension .

I do these tarts the Express way , by that I mean with shop bought ready rolled short crust pastry . My favourite Ready rolled shortcrust pastry is from Greenvale at ALDI  @ €1.29 . Rolls out like a dream and bakes in 20 mins .  These tarts from start to finish takes 30 mins .


For the Tart Case

Lightly grease a tart tin , preferably with a removable base . Roll out the pastry out of it's grease proof paper wrapping  and ease it into the tin , gently pressing it into the corners and trimming the edges with a knife . Rest the pastry in the fridge for 5-10 mins , this prevents it from shrinking when baked . Cover with the grease proof paper wrapping and fill with  dried beans and blind bake for 15 mins at 180 .  Remove the beans and bake for a further 5 mins or until golden . Leave the tart shell to cool , then carefully remove from the tin .

While the tart is in the oven , make your desired filling . Here are the 3 choices .

Classic Creme Patisserie ( a sweet , light and velvety cream )

• 350 ml of milk
• 75 grms of caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp of flour
• drop of Vanilla Essence

 Heat up the milk . Whisk up the egg yolks & sugar . Add the flour and whisk until smooth , add the vanilla. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture while continuing whisking . Pour back into the pan and whisk over medium heat until thickened into a thick custard and starting to come away from the side of the pan . Pour into a bowl , cover with a skin of cling film to prevent a skin forming and allow to cool until needed.

White Chocolate Cream ( a sweet , rich , full bodied cream for White chocolate lovers )

• 375 good quality white chocolate , here I use Valrhona ( available at Donnybrook fair )
• 3 egg yolks
• 750 grms of whipped cream

Melt the white chocolate in a pry ex bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water , making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the  boiling water. Stir until melted, then whisk in the egg yolks and add a drop of hot water if needed . Finally fold in the whipped cream, cover with a skin of cling film and chill until needed .

Lemon Cream  (a sweet ,tangy, rich cream , ideal also with Short bread Biscuits bases or puff pastry for Millefeuille )

• 125 grms of lemon juice
• 75 grms of caster sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 75 grms of soft butter
• 1 leaf of presoaked gelatin

 Heat up the lemon juice .Whisk the sugar , eggs and yolks . Pour the hot lemon juice over the egg mixture and put back into the pan and cook over medium heat while continually whisking until it reaches boiling point . Add the gelatin and whisk to dissolve .
Cover with a skin of cling film and chill until needed .

For the Sesame and Poppy seeds Praline

• 50 grms of Sesame seeds ( Black & White sesame seeds or use Poppy seeds if you can't find blk sesame seeds  )
• 40 grms of sugar
• 15 ml of milk
• 20 grms of liquid  glucose
• 30 grms of butter

Cook all of the above in a heavy based pan over medium heat to a thick pliable paste and until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan .  Pour onto a sheet of greased proof paper , cover with another sheet and roll to a thinnish thickness .  Divide and freeze until needed .
Bake at 160 until golden . Allow to cool , then break into small pieces and sprinkle over the tart .

Makes also a great garnish for ice cream and other desserts .  Cut out shapes with a scone cutter , while still hot or cut into triangles with a knife and rest over a bottled lying down until cooled and set .
 Freezes really well , uncooked .





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