You probably have worked it out by now, I do love sweets and I do love baking. One of my favourite things, is the Lemon and Lime Tart. It’s easier than you think, just take some time and patience… most of all because it is much better the next day.

So here we go with the pastry, it is my grandma’s recipe and I have used it for more than 10 years. She’s been using it for a lot longer, so it’s kind of trusted.

Ingredients:
200g Flour
100g Sugar (white or brown, you can use both)
100g Butter (at room temperature, in small cubes)
1 Egg
1 Yolk
1 Pinch of Salt

Arrange the flour and sugar on a bench in a volcano shape, eggs and butter in the middle. Start working the dough, until nice and smooth. It is going to be a little crumbly at first, don’t panic and keep going. Wrap in cling foil and let rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, butter the tart tins (I like small tarts, with this recipe you can make up to 6 x 10cm) and dust with flour.
Take the dough from the fridge, divide in 6 equal portions and roll it to fit into the tin, then pierce the base with a fork. Heat the oven to 180°C, put baking paper and some dry chikpeas on top so that the base doesn’t rise. Bake for about 10/15 minutes until golden, take the baking paper and chickpeas off and let bake for another couple of minutes. Let rest and cool down outside of the oven.

For the curd:
250ml of Lemon and Lime Juice  (1 1/2 Lemon and 6 Limes)
160g Sugar
4 Eggs
120g Butter (at room temperature, in small cubes)
Lemon and Lime zest (I used about 3 limes and 1 lemon, the more the punchier!)

Slightly beat the eggs, add the sugar, the zest and slowly the juice. Place the bowl over a saucepan with simmering water, the heat shouldn’t be too strong as this may cook the curd too fast. Also, the boiling water should not touch the bowl, this is very important. Keep whisking to make sure that there are no lumps in the mixture, it will take about 15 minutes to become nice and thick, it will change pretty fast so be ready to take off the heat and cool in some cold water. Add the butter and gently mix it into the curd until smooth.

When the curd has cooled down a little, you can pour it into the tarts and then refrigerate for a few hours… or if you can manage that long, a day.
Enjoy!

Ps. For the curd, I used a recipe from one of my favourite blogs… the quantities are for passion fruit, but the principle works well for this too. Thanks Cavoletto!

More readings you'll love

• Torta Paradiso

There are things you do in your childhood that, for some reason, just stick with you. Whether are names, dates, faces, episodes or stories… they just stay with you and come back and visit, every once in a while.  My memory of today is a cake, a particular one. On winter Sunday afternoons, after having lunch with family, watching football on TV, done with homework it was time to bake. The recipe was always the same so it is probably no surprise that after 25 years I still remember it and do it exactly the way I used to.

It’s super easy, you only need to use one mixer (so incredibly fast to clean kitchen afterwards) but the ingredients need to go in this order… very important, and make sure you taste all the way!
First in the processor are 300gr sugar and 150gr unsalted butter. Let it go for a while, until sugar and butter have no lumps. Next step, add 4 eggs and let it go for couple of minutes and then add 300gr of  flour 00. While the mixture is going, add 1 glass of milk, this should make the mixture a lot softer. Also add 1 bag of Pane degli Angeli yeast, it’s beautiful for cakes and you can find it in little Italian shops, it comes in a box of ten I think and it’s really the best.

After a few minutes when the mix is nice and smooth, batter a baking tin and dust over some flour. Make sure that the layer of flour is light but cover across the whole tin and then pour the mixture. You can leave it as it is, or put some chocolate chips… up to you!

The one I did this afternoon was with chocolate chips and orange zest… the cake has to bake for about 45 minutes at 180°/190°. Check with a toothpick that the cake is cooked through and let rest out of the oven for a while. Then make a tea, call some friends and enjoy a good movie. Or maybe a cartoon… it’s always good to feel like little kids again!

More readings you'll love

• Lemon & Lime Tart

I am not really sure if after my Macarons Masterclass I mentioned my homey attempt of recreating these lovely and adorable French pastries. Well, I did and the result wasn’t what I expected. They were flat, footless, chewy… overall, not pretty. I guess my mistake was not mixing the almond flour and egg whites properly, and now that I think about it, they didn’t rest enough as well. Which apparently is a crucial step for the formation of the foot and missing it, didn’t help in achieving the final result. I didn’t take any picture of those embarrassing macarons but I did take a picture of the ones I did couple of weeks ago. They made me proud!

So, what did I do differently? Well, I started with half the ingredients, used my boyfriend to mix part of them (extremely helpful!) and I let them rest properly… I also opened the oven after 4 and 8 minutes so the humidity could escape avoiding unpleasant explosions. Now, they were not all super pretty, but they tasted goooood!
Also, keep in mind, as much as it seems to be an impossible task, they do need to rest 3 or 4 days… they taste heaps better!

Here we go with the recipe and the quantities I used, next step is getting crazy with the ganache. Oh, the picture I have taken was soon after they were assembled so the filling doesn’t look as it should. They were a lot more expressive after few days… Enjoy!

For the Macaron Shell

Ingredients Part 1:
300gr TPT (150gr almond meal & 150gr icing sugar)
60gr Egg Whites (they have to be separated from yolks, out of the fridge for more than 3 days. The more you wait, the better!)

Ingredients Part 2:
150gr Caster Sugar
33gr water
60gr Egg Whites
2gr food colouring (you pick the colour!)

For the Chocolate Ganache:
225gr Thickened Cream
200gr Dark Dark Chocolate
75gr Butter

Step 1 – Making the Ganache:

Chop chocolate to very fine consistency. Chop butter into small cubes. Boil cream and when at temperature, pour 3/4 into the chopped chocolate and leave for few minutes. Start mixing slowly with a spatula, trying not to incorporate air. Once the mixture is shiny and homogenised, pour the remaining cream over the chocolate. Temperature should be no more than 55°. Add butter and mix until incorporated in the chocolate. Wait till cool, cover with clingfilm so there is no air and then place in the fridge to set.

Step 2 – Making the Meringue Shells:

Mix the TPT with egg whites, until you have a smooth paste. Use your boyfriend, it’s quite exhausting and he can be proud of the fact they are actually perfect!
In another bowl, mix caster sugar, water and colour and commence cooking monitoring temperature. Once sugar got to around 100° commence whipping eggs until they reach ‘soft peak’ consistency. When the sugar reaches 118° it’s time to remove from the stove and pour slowly on the still mixing egg whites. Keep going for about 3 minutes, until the meringue is about 50°. Using a spatula, commence incorporating the meringue into the TPT and egg white batter. Work the mix gently from the side to the middle until you reach a homogeneous, shiny texture.

Using a plastic piping bag, pipe the shells onto a baking sheet. You should have a template to make sure your shells have the same size… very important!
Leave macarons outside at room temperature for 15 minutes or until they seem to have formed a skin, or are dry at touch. Cook for 20/25 minutes (forced fan) at 150°. Open the oven gently at minute 4 and 8, to let the humidity escape. Once cooked, let cool on a wire rack.

To create macarons: try to pair the shells so they have the same size. Take the ganache out of the fridge and leave for a minute to reach room temperature. Use a piping bag and then start filling one half of the paired shell generously. Pick up the macaron filled with ganache, and the empty pair in the other and gently close them together.
Put the macarons on a tray and leave in the fridge for at least 24h. It’s hard, but the more you let them rest, the better!
Leave the macarons out before serving, at room temperature they give their absolute best… Let me know how you go!

Recipe courtesy of Baroque Bistro

More readings you'll love

• Lemon & Lime Tart
• Torta Paradiso
• Barossa… Love at First Sight!

Couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be in the same room with Luigi, the main tailor at Versace. Everything he put his hands on turned into something magically special, it was like witnessing art taking shape before my eyes. As simple as that. He and his team could put together a dress in 24h, but not just a dress… stunning evening gowns to walk the red carpet for the Academy Awards.

Comparing fashion to cooking would probably sound a little weird to the most of you… but I do have a point. Tailoring require precision, mastery, incredible knowledge, time and passion. Lots of passion. I believe cooking is the same… I will never forget Luigi, pretty much like I will never forget Jean Michel.

At 9am on a sunny Sunday morning, 8 girls met in front of Baroque Bistro in the Rocks. For those who have never eaten there before, I would highly recommend it. Food is great, staff is lovely and that is good enough reasons to go back every week. The mission? Create perfect, rounded, footed, colourful and tasty macarons… with Jean Michel guiding us step by step. Enjoy the pics!

Le Baroque Bistro…

… Le Ganache et Le Caramel au beurre salé…

… Le mélange…

… Les Macarons!

The pictures at the top is my favourite, which is why is the first one you see… There are sixty more from today, but I thought this for now would do. It has been a wonderful day, learnt a lot, laughed a lot and surprisingly enough the macarons I brought back with me are still in the fridge, untouched. You see, apparently they have to set for a day or two… let’s hope I resist till Wednesday!

Stay tuned for the recipe and more pics!

For more information on how to join a Masterclass, visit Baroque Bistro website.

More readings you'll love

• Torta Paradiso
• Lemon & Lime Tart
• Barossa… Love at First Sight!

Every time I see pictures of table settings like the above, there is only one thing that come straight to my mind: I want to have a party!

The lovely Amy Atlas we mentioned before is not only an amazingly talented business woman, but also an extremely nice person. If you happen to read her blog you will see that she likes to promote other businesses doing exactly what she does: stunning table decorations for beautiful events. Recently, she spotted this one here that I have the pleasure to share with you!

Culinary Crafts is a catering company from Utah (I know, a bit far from Australia or Italy, but inspiration doesn’t have to be always from somewhere local, right?) and the occasion for this fantastic table is a birthday party. Love the colours, the cake, the macarons and all those lollies… I want to be 3 years old again!

Photo courtesy of Amy Atlas and Culinary Crafts

More readings you'll love

• Sweet Table
• City2Surf