Avid Baker's Challenge: Classic Fruit Tart

This month's Avid Baker's Challenge recipe is the Classic Fruit Tart on page 366 of The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge. With buying our house and moving, I've missed the past two months (scones and braided brioche) so was really looking forward to getting back in the club this month but, sadly, I was not very impressed with the recipe. I guess I picked the wrong month to jump back in!

My main issue is that the pâte sucrée crust was really difficult to work with, impossible to roll out and crumbled into pieces when I tried to move it from the cooling rack to the serving platter. I was extremely disappointed - especially since I was making it for our 4th of July party! The pastry cream was okay - nothing very different from when I've made it before - but with the difficulties with the crust I'd have to give this month's recipe two thumbs down. If this was the first tart crust I'd ever made, I definitely would have thought it was me and would be soured on ever trying it again. It was that bad. Luckily I have a lot of experience - and love of - making pie/tart crusts so I know it was just a flukey recipe.

I had doubled the recipe so I could make two 7-inch tarts and two 3-inch tarts...but that didn't work out so well. The only ones that were salvageable were the small tarts, so I guess all was not lost. Here are my small tarts and step-by-step is below.

my two surviving tartlets

mise en place for the pâte sucrée

cutting the butter into the dry ingredients

the butter is incorporated then the egg gets added

at this point the dough was still very dry and not coming together in the bowl.
I dumped it onto the counter to knead it together.

done! At this point I had no idea of the difficulties that lay ahead...

into the fridge to chill out and rest the gluten

it was a nightmare getting the dough into my tart rings, but I finally did it...
the ugliest crust I've ever made. Boo.

trying to move the first large crust to the serving plate...ruined!

and here's what happened with the second large crust, a bigger disaster.
I ended up serving the pieces as a sort of a 'make your own' trifle bar at our July 4th party.

mise en place for the custard for the pastry cream

I like to make custard by beating the eggs, sugar and flour in the standing mixer...

until it gets to ribbon stage...

and then pouring in the hot milk.

then it goes back into the saucepan and onto the stove and whisk, whisk, whisk like crazy as it is heated to a boil

then simmer for 1-2 minutes and press through a sieve to get out any lumps

the strained custard is covered with plastic wrap and goes into the refrigerator to chill

my berries - delicious! Sadly, I didn't end up being able to use them all after my large crusts shattered...

whipped cream to lighten up the custard

voila, the finished pastry cream

building the tartlet

with fruit on top

yum

Bye for now...

Avid Baker's Challenge: Cupid's Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream

The second Avid Baker's Challenge September cake is Cupid's Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream on page 314 of Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions. I actually made this cake a few months ago for a party but saved the photos for this month. This is going to be a quick post with just the pictures as I'm so overdue in getting this posted.

I made the cake on a hot and humid June day so the cream cheese buttercream frosting didn't participate too well - even after chilling in the fridge. However, this is partly my fault because I refuse to use gelatin, so I'm sure it would have set up better with the called-for gelatin. In the end though, the super soft buttercream didn't really matter because the overall cake was absolutely delicious! I made the cake for a wine and cheese party (aka my bookclub) along with the HCB Mud Turtle Cupcakes and both were a hit. I loved the yellow cake - moist and light but sturdy - perfect for filling with jam. And the other flavors - the cream cheese frosting with a hint of lemon, jam and strawberries - all went together really well. Another hit from Flo!

mise en place for the cake

creaming the butter and sugar until very pale

in go the eggs then the rest of the ingredients

into the oven

out of the oven...golden brown

mise en place for the buttercream

cream cheese and butter, whipped

whipping the egg yolks

water-sugar mixture is boiled to soft-ball stage and added, then whipped some more

the cream cheese mixture is added

fresh strawberries and jam

ready to slice - with my new 18" long cake knife - and assemble

first layer, sliced in half, waiting for a layer of jam

in the middle of the cake, strawberries get sandwiched  between buttercream

the finished cake

seems a shame to cut it!

but I've got to have a taste...delicious!

Bye for now...