Buttered Grapes: Chocolate and espresso Brulee Tarts

Every time I get home from the coast I feel a little sad......there is something about going home and being a kid again that makes life feel so very easy. You don't have to make decisions, you don't worry about bills and there is always food in the fridge. Coming back to Melbourne town and being snapped out of being as irresponsible as possible is always a little shock to the system. I opened the door to my tiny unit only to find a new bill waiting for me, an empty fridge and reality.

The second thing about going home is everyone jokes about the cold in Melbourne. I think about every second person I talked to made some comment about the weather I would be returning back to. I laughed it off, and bravely responded "its not so bad when you get used to it." This I am sure is true, and it probably wouldn't be so bad if I got used to it. The tiny problem is though.....I WILL NEVER EVER GET USED TO IT.

So I have been faced with two choices........I could pull the blankets over my head and sleep for the next two weeks of my uni holidays, or I could pull myself out of bed, into the cold and into life. (I've settled on a mixture of the two.)

I was super inspired when I went home to get into some amazingly creative cooking ideas......but by the time I got back the cold leached all these ideas out of my and I was struggling to remember what I was 'super inspired' by?

So this is what I have done
1) Clean the whole house ........it makes life easier when you have a clean slate
2) Buy flowers and decorate the whole house with them.
3) Get in the kitchen and start practicing some new recipes.
4) Buy a trashy chic lit book......I don't recommend this, but I do it all the same.

Today I made the espresso chocolate tarts from the latest Donna Hay Magazine. The quantities are all exactly the same as is the method...I've just put it in my own words. It goes a little something like this........

Ingredients:
75g dark chocolate
1/4 cup of single pouring cream
white sugar for sprinkling

creme patissiere:
1 tsp of instant coffee
2 tbs of boiling water
2/3 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup of caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbs of plain flour
1/2 cup of pouring cream

pastry:
1/4 cup of coco powder
1 and 1/4 cups of plain flour
125g butter, chopped
1/2 cup of icing sugar
3 egg yolks
1tbs iced water.

What to do:

Start by making the pastry. Sift together the coco, flour and icing sugar. The next step you can either do in a food processor or by hand. Add the butter and blend (in food processor) or rub with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. I like to use my fingers at it feels all nice and earthy.....but then I was raised by hippies.
Add the yolks and water. Mix in together, and pull into a ball. Flatten out into a disk, wrap in glad wrap and place in the fridge to set for an hour.

Next the creme patissiere. Pour the boiling water over the instant coffee and mix to combine.
Heat the milk and vanilla and half the sugar.
Whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar, coffee mix and the flour.
Slowly pour the warm milk mix over the egg mix stirring continually.
Return the mix back to the pot and place on a very low heat, stirring until thickened. Place the mix in a bowl.
Whisk the cream until soft peaks, and fold into the coffee creme mix. Place aside.
On a low heat, melt together the coffee and the cream, place aside.
Roll out the pastry and line tart tins.
Rest pastry in tart tins for 30 minutes.
Prick the pastry all over with a folk and place some baking paper and baking weights in the tart shells. Bake at 180 for 10 minutes.
Remove the weights and the paper and cook for a further 10 minutes or until cooked.
Remove from tart shells and let cool.
Once cooled add the chocolate mix at the bottom, and spoon the coffee mix onto.