Chocolate and Raspberry Gluten Free Tarts

This week I have been thinking a lot about creativity. I believe there is a fine line between just making a mess and learning technique so you can channel creative energy. Sometimes you can get so very caught up in the technique that you can forget to be creative though.......its all about balance I suppose.

Life feels so much more lovely when I am consciously spending time doing creative things..........but sometimes its not so simple. Creativity for me often takes on a very solitary role and being so crazy social I really have to force myself to sit down and internationalise it. Its so lovely when something beautiful comes out of this though, and so worth while.

So I have been baking away, trying out new recipes, inventing recipes and icing cookies for hours and hours on end........

Also I stayed up half the night last night 'redecorating' my friends furniture......because we badly needed to have a creative outlet......It was so lovely.

I made a tart recipe with gluten free pastry as I was getting frustrated with not being able to find any gluten free treats to eat. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope they make you feel creative.....and full of life.

Gluten Free Chocolate and Raspberry Tarts........ I could seriously eat these all day. Makes 8 small tarts.

For the pastry:
 85 g of melted butter
2/3 cup of shredded coconut
100g almond meal
1/2 cup of brown sugar

• Mix everything together and press mixture into some small tart shells.
• Place the tart shells in the fridge to set for half an hour or until firm.
• Cook in a preheated over with baking paper and baking weights at 160 for 10 minutes.
• Remove the baking weights and cook for another 10 minutes or until starting to turn slightly golden.
• Remove tart shells from the oven and let cool slightly. Using your fingers press the pastry flat into the shell if it has risen at all, so that it is compact and smooth.

For the filling:

1/2 cup of raspberries

1 egg

110g dark chocolate

2/3 cup of cream

2 tsp vanilla essence

• Place a couple of berries into each tart shell
• In a pot bring the cream and vanilla to the boil. Take of the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until smooth.
• Whisk the egg and slowly pour the chocolate mix over the top while whisking.
• Divide the mix between the tart shells and bake at 160 for 20 minutes or until set around the sides but still slightly wobbly in the middle. 
• Let cool.

Meringue topping:

2 egg whites

110g caster sugar

• With and electric whisk beat egg whites until bubbly.
• Slowly rain in sugar and continue to beat until thick and glossy.
• Pipe swirls or meringue on top of the tarts.
• Place under a grill (watch them carefully) until they become slightly brown and the meringue is a little firm on the outside. 

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.

• Sprinkle with white sugar and use a burlee torch to caramelise the tops.

Back To Melbourne Town

I have been so naughty with not keeping up with my blog over the last two weeks! I really cant stand to type on any computer that isn't my tiny little mac, and life has been a wee bit hectic. I am finally back in my little Melbourne apartment, and back to 'normal' life. It always feels so strange coming home to Melbourne......sometimes I am so excited, and other times I feel so sad. It was hard to leave this time. Sometimes I'm not so sure what I am doing so far away from my family and the sunshine........but when I think back over the last week and everything I got done, it helps me remember why I'm here.

Speaking of everything I got done!! I have now officially catered my first wedding. Such bliss! Such madness. Catering a wedding is a huge huge job......but when you combine it with catering your sisters engagement party its all becomes a little insane. Luckily I was staying at my best friends house who constantly fed me coffee and wine the whole time. I had so many mornings waking up before six (or even before five) blurry eyed, and exhausted stumbling into the kitchen to make an espresso and start on a batch of cakes. Between the two parties I  must have hand rolled over 150 tart shells, made over 10 batches of cakes, 2 wedding cakes, 8 batches of butter creams..........and what feels like 1000 other things.

The craziest thing of all this is the fact that I actually got through it all. The day after the wedding (which was the day before the second party) I called up my ex so exhausted I could hardly focus my eyes on anything. "I'm about to say something you have never heard me utter before," I told him , "But I think I have taken on a wee bit too much." These few words are something he has been expecting to hear from me for years, as he has always been the one trying to convince me to slow down. This is the boy that told me not to study two courses at once in case I got run down, the boy that warned me against  launching a cafe opening in Noosa when I had an immune system virus, the boy that told me doing 14 hour shifts would be too hard on me...........however I did all these things regardless. So this was his big chance, his chance to be right. AND WHAT DID HE DO??? Tell me to get on with it, and I'd be fine, and of course I was......I just made another espresso and popped the next batch of cakes in the oven.

Despite being exhausted for five days, and drinking excessive amounts of red wine and coffee.........I had such a good time. I felt so very much in my element. The few days I had to rest at home with my family just encouraged me to get back to Melbourne and keep chipping away at doing what I love. It was also amazing to be part of the start of two beautiful relationships (a wedding and an engagement.)

Every time I go home I feel I get a little of my inspiration back again. I'm not sure if its just getting some vitamin B from the sunshine, or its all the amazingly creative things going on there. The sunshine coast is so packed full of amazing people doing some amazingly creative things. There are so many quirky cafes, patisseries and artists just doing what they love. (I'm also going to be a bit of a bitch and note that there can also be way too many bogans as well.) It makes me want to keep doing what I love, and doing it well.


Its nice to be home in Melbourne, in my little life that I have made for myself. Its nice to be walking distance from the coffee shop. Its nice to have my computer. Its nice to be near the city. Its nice to see my friends and its nice to curl up in my quirky little apartment. Be expecting lots of blog posts and cakes coming up soon.......I'm super inspired, and want to share it with you.

Raspberry and Lime Cake

Over the last few days I have been stuck in bed with the flu. So you will understand that I haven't much felt like cooking or writing.......or walking for that matter. Its been really quite awful. Mainly I've been watching lots of trashy t.v. shows and napping. I've discovered a lovely show called Miss Fishers Murders, thats all about a lady detective from Melbourne in the early 1920's (I've got a little girl crush on her.) She runs around solving crimes, all in lipstick and heals.

Secretly I would love to do the same with my career (the lipstick and heels part not the solving crime part.) One of my friends always says I will be the 'chef who wears Chanel.' One can only hope.

Until then though, I will leave you will this delicious lime cake recipe which I made last week. Its so very moist.....and just a wee bit stylish (like a chef in Chanel.) I wish I had a picture of this lovely to cake to show you....but well we ate it all before I got the chance.

Raspberry and lime cake.

Ingredients:

• 225g soft butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• grated zest of 2 limes
• 5 tbs of lime juice
• 250g self raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 25g almond meal
• 200g of raspberries

• For the syrup
• Juice of five limes
• 150g of caster sugar

What to do:

1. Cream together butter and sugar in electric mixer.
2. Slowly add one egg at a time, beating well in between each addition.
3. Add lime juice.
4. Fold through dry ingredients
5. Fold through 2/3 of the berries.
6. Pour cake into a lined cake tin and sprinkle over the remaining berries.
7. Cook at 180 for one hours.
8. While cake is cooking mix together lime juice and sugar in a small pot. Cook on a low heat until sugar dissolves (be careful not to boil mixture.)
9. When the cake comes out of the oven prick it all over with a squire, and pour over the syrup. 
10. Let cool in the tin for one hour before serving. 

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi

I wish I could report that I spent my whole day studying for exams that are next week....but unfortunately this is not the case. Instead after school I took a (much needed) nap and did some cooking. Neither of these things will help me pass my law subject, but I can always convince myself that cooking is a justified procrastination......as I am studying at a culinary school after all, which is basically just cooking..... sort of......

My intentions have been so good all week. I was going to run more, and organise more 'things' that need organising, and be wonderful and productive. I have been pushing so hard lately to get everything done, and now the end is in sight I have fallen into a bit of a heap. At the start of the term I made a list of things I really wanted to achieve. I wanted to get ready for the wedding I am catering, I wanted to do more yoga, I wanted to fit into my tiny silk dress, and I wanted to meet a nice boy(lets just leave that last one alone, as I have decided that the boy on the tram who offered me a shot of tequila probably wasn't relationship maternal). I am happy to report that I am extremely prepared for the wedding. The good work stops there though. I have not attending one yoga class, and despite going for 30 minute runs 3 to 4 times a week it is starting to become glaringly obvious that that dress does not want to fit (goodness....who wants to be a size 8 anyway?) The longer I continue my profession as a pasty chef, a cake maker, and food blogger, the more I realise I may never be the size of all the wildly inappropriate girls my ex boyfriend back home dates.

The thing is though.......I love my life here in Melbourne selling cakes and practicing recipes, and I wouldn't give it up....even to be size 8. I have this beautiful tiny little apartment and some amazing friends.......and right now, thats kinda perfect.

Today one of my best friends and I went to a little community market and sold all our old clothes. We sat in the sunshine all day eating organic cakes and drinking lots of coffee. It was super lovely. To prepare for this though and discus our market plans we had a 'pre market stall dinner' the night before......followed by martini's at one of my favourite little spots in Melbourne.

Its about time I post up a savoury recipe after all the cakes I've been cooking lately. Here's the dinner I made.

Cheats Spinach and Ricotta gnocchi with chunky tomato and prosciutto sauce.

What you will need:

Gnocchi:

• 2 eggs
• 300g blanched silver beat
• One cup of ricotta
• 2/3 cup plane flour
• 2/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Break up ricotta cheese
2. Mix all ingredients together, until it forms a sticky dough.
3. Roll teaspoon sized balls, using floured hands.
4. Place balls on a floured tray and set aside.

Sauce:

• One onion
• Five clothes of garlic
• One tine of diced tomatoes
• 3 slices of prosciutto
• Half a cup of red wine
• One cup of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• Half a bunch of basil
• 1 tbs of tomato paste

What to do:

1. Dice onion and garlic and saute in a fry pan on low heat until clear.
2. Finely dice prosciutto and add to onion and garlic. Cook until slightly crispy.
3. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring continually for one minute.
4. Add wine and let cook down for 4 minutes (this gets out the bitter flavour, but leaves the yummy wine taste.)
5. Add the tomatoes, stock and half the basil (with stalks and all.) 
6. Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for half an hour.
7. Add the gnocchi (oh oh but first remove the basil stems) place the lid on the sauce.....cook for five minutes, or until the gnocchi is firm. If it is not fully submerged in the sauce you may want to turn the gnocchi half way through the cooking. 
8. Shred the remaining basil and add to the sauce. 

Gluten Free Raspberry Cup Cakes

I remember when I first moved to Melbourne, everything seemed like an adventure. I was so excited to meet everyone, and do anything new. It was new, it was fresh, it was exciting. Some days now just getting out of bed feels like an effort. The walk to the supermarket is a grand ordeal at times, and meeting friends with coffee can feel like such a stretch.

The magic of this city has work off a little. At times the magic of life wears off too. Buying my morning coffee is no longer a treat, its just another step I have to go through to get to the next stage in my day. Somewhere along the way I stopped going to the pastry shop before collage to by croissants because I realised how much butter goes into them. I stopped eating chocolate for breakfast, and I stopped flirting with waiters (nothing good comes of it....ever!)

I think what I have realised lately.....is that I'm growing up, and I'm not so sure how much I like it. I feel like I'm facing the real world while all the 'peta pan's' I've ever dated are still back in never never land, doing as they please. At times this doesn't seem very fair. Finding the magic in life seems to come so easily for some, while the rest of us are forced to grapple with the reality of life.....such as bills, broken hearts, bathrooms that need cleaning, washing, stress, sensitive emotions, calories, and assignments about law.

What I'd like to know is.....can we get on with life, and have some magic? Can we have our cake, eat it too, and still fit into a little black dress? I hope so. I'm going to make more of an effort to look out for magic over the next few months. I'll start with these gluten free raspberry cakes.

Gluten free Raspberry Cup cakes

1 and 1/2 cups of icing sugar
1 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of rice flour
6 egg whites
250 g melted butter
Raspberries

What to do:

• Sift together icing sugar, almond meal and rice flour. Stir.
• Melt butter and let cool
• Fold butter into dry ingredients
• With a hand whisk, whisk egg whites until bubbly and foamy.
• Fold egg whites though cake batter
• Spoon into patty pans
• Poke in raspberries
• Let sit for 20 minutes
• Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until set in a moderate oven. 

I used the buttercream icing that I used on the blueberry and rosewater cake in an earlier post to frost the cakes. 

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A small cat

Today I found out that my pet cat back home died. I know that this isn't a very happy blog topic.....but today wasn't a very happy day. I had no idea how to deal with this news. Deaths are always such strange things to deal with. How do you morn the loss of an animal? I started by calling my ex boyfriend at seven thirty in the morning.......crying. "Isabell died," I sobbed down the phone. "Who's Isabell? " he enquired, half asleep, and confused. I spent the rest of the day in a haze. I did some baking, talk to friends, went out to dinner and then came home. I settled in to drink my housemates beers (which doesn't interrupt my healthy eating week as beer is liquid....not food.....there is no logic in this I know....just go with it, and let me pretend, I'm in morning for goodness sake!)

I think I'll really miss my cat when I go home. She was one of my favourite pets. This may sound silly.....but I liked her because she was so fiercely independent. I'm not a huge animal person, but I really liked Isabell for the fact that she just came and go as she wanted, and never really needed anyone. She was pretty aloof, and secretly I think I admired her. I'm always running around jumping from relationship to relationship, worrying about work, working about a career, trying to get everything in order, discover the perfect recipe, buy the perfect dress, fit into that perfect dress, be a good friend, be a good person, remember to just be alive...... and no I'm not crazy and I totally understand that my cat probably never had the pressure of working and going to pastry school all while trying to meet a nice boy, but still, I thought she was pretty cool in her own catish sort of way.

Loss is such a hard emotion to deal with, as it is pretty consuming. I was so grateful to have some recipes to work on so I could take my mind off it. Salted caramel tarts can be so soothing to make with all the boiling of sugar and rolling of pastry. I think my cat would have approved, because they are full of cream.......and she really liked cream.