The French sometimes call this tart a "tarte jardinière" because it is garnished with fruit and berries from the garden. Typically, they are made with a sweet tart crust and crème pâtissière (pastry cream) filling. Pastry cream thickened with cornstarch doesn't need any gelatin to set properly, so this fruit tart recipe does not have gelatin.

Fruit Tart Components

The classic fruit tart you see in pastry shops is usually a custard tart made up of three components:

1. crust or tart shell, traditionally made from a pâte sucrée or sweet shortcrust pastry, which is basically like a sweet cookie crust.
2. custard filling, usually vanilla pastry cream (French baking term for pastry cream is crème pâtissière), though it could also be a mousseline filling, combining pastry cream with more butter (the same filling that is in the classic framboisier cake)
3. fruits, generally lots of berries, but you'll also see other fruits like segments of citrus fruit, grapes, kiwis, etc.
4. glaze, which is optional, but if your fruit isn't as fresh and sweet as you were hoping, sometimes a transparent glaze (you could even use honey or maple syrup) will add shine to the fruit garnish and also some sweetness. Powdered sugar is an alternative to the glaze.

Ingredients

There are three major components to plan for when you are making a fruit tart, and each requires its own set of ingredients.

• butter, specifically unsalted butter, though salted would also work here. You can either skip the salt in the pastry recipe if you use salted, or lean into the salt because a little extra salt in the crust will bring out the flavours
• sugar—you will need both granulated and icing sugar. The granulated sugar is for the pastry cream while the icing sugar is in the crust, leading to a more tender cookie crust
• ground almonds, which also make the dough more tender and less hard
• eggs—egg yolks for the pastry cream to help thicken and enrich it ,and for the crust too to help bind it together
• milk—for a creamier custard filling, use whole milk with 3.25 % or 2 % fat milk. I don't recommend using skim milk here because the filling needs a little fat to make it rich and creamy.
• flour and cornstarch to hold the tart dough together and give it structure, just like a rolled sugar cookie dough and to thicken the pastry cream so that it is firmer when chilled.
• vanilla—you can use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, adding either of these to the pastry cream after it has cooked, or you can use a vanilla bean, added to the milk before you heat it up to temper the eggs
• fruit garnish—I like to garnish fruit tarts with a variety of fruit, picking what's in season, but also what fruits would look nice together on a tart. Think of contrasting colours, but also think of picking fruits that vary in shades of the same colour for an ombré effect. You can easily use canned fruit. Choose fruit canned in sugar-based syrup or fruit juice because they taste better than any fruit canned in water (which is sweetened with sucralose!).

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions And Variations

The classic fruit tart served in most French pastry shops is filled with pastry cream, usually flavoured with vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste or a vanilla bean.

• Alternate sugars—You could consider using a mixture of sugar and honey or maple syrup in the pastry cream, and that would bring a lot of flavour to this dessert.
• Flavouring pastry cream—The beauty of pastry cream is that you can infuse the milk with a lot of flavours, and it's a sweet creamy blank canvas that balances out the acidity of the fruit garnish. Try infusing the hot milk with tea or coffee (you can strain out the leaves or coffee grinds later), or a little tonka bean. Cardamom works beautifully here, or in the fall, consider warm spices to pair with a fruit topping of poached pears or poached quince.
• Alternate fillings—Just because most people make fruit tarts with pastry cream doesn't mean you don't have options. You can also consider filling the baked tart shell with:
  • chocolate ganache, like this raspberry chocolate tart or this rhubarb chocolate tart
  • panna cotta, like for these Earl Grey panna cotta tarts
  • fruit curd, like lemon curd, like these matcha tarts filled with passion fruit curd

Special Tools

Aside from the usual baking tools you already have on hand, to make a fruit tart, or any tart, you will need a few tools:

• a tart pan with a removable bottom—this type of tart pan will make it easier for you to unmould the tart. If you are in a hurry, you can even unmould the blind-baked shell when it's still warm. This will also speed up the cooling process.
• a sheet pan—because we bake tarts in tart pans with a removable bottom, there is a big risk that, if you aren't paying attention when loading it into and out of the oven, you may grab the pan in the wrong way, un-moulding or breaking the tart shell, especially if it's still hot and fragile. To avoid this, always place your tart pan on a sheet pan. This way you are moving the sheet pan from fridge-to-counter-to-oven, thus protecting your tart shell.
• a rolling pin—some bakers prefer straight rolling pins, but I am most comfortable using a French rolling pin, with tapered ends. Regardless of the shape, I highly recommend investing in a rolling pin made of wood. I much prefer it to silicone rolling pins.
• a pastry brush—not only will you use this to brush off any excess flour from rolling out the pastry dough, you will also use it to brush melted chocolate inside the baked tart shell to seal it to help keep it dry from the moisture of the filling.

How To Make A Tart With Pastry Cream And Fruit

Fruit tarts make stunning desserts. But because they are so pretty to look at, bakers may feel intimidated, thinking that the dessert is complicated to make. I'm here to tell you it's not. Break it down and you'll see that to make a fruit tart at home, you will rely on basic baking techniques you've probably already mastered:

1. The creaming method is a mixing method commonly used to make cookie dough starting from softened butter which is combined with sugar until well mixed with a lighter texture. The tart shell is made from cookie dough that is rolled out. If you can make rolled sugar cookies, you should be able to make this!
2. Blind-baking, where you bake the tart shell until it is completely baked and golden-brown delicious. You use this technique for tarts where the filling is prepared/cooked separately. The tart shell must be baked through and completely cooled before filling, as a rule.
3. Tempering eggs, which is a method to gently warm up eggs before cooking them on the stove, either to make a custard sauce (crème anglaise) or a pastry cream, like in the recipe below.
4. Chabloner is a technique that pastry chefs use. Professionals will brush the inside of blind-baked tart shells with melted chocolate. When the chocolate sets, this creates a barrier between the filling and the crust. The tart shell will not soften or absorb moisture from the filling, allowing you to store the tarts for longer without compromising texture or flavour.

Step 1—Start by making the tart dough because you will have to chill it. Combine the butter, icing sugar and ground almond in a large bowl (image 1) and mix it until it is very cream before adding the egg yolk (image 2). Then stir in the flour (image 3) and the milk to bind it together (image 4)

Step 2—Wrap the dough in plastic wrap to chill it until firm. Shape the dough into a disk because you will roll it out to fit a round tart pan. Once the dough has chilled enough, roll it out and line the tart pan with the rolled-out dough, docking it with a fork to prevent air pockets from forming (image 6) and bake it until it is baked through. The edges will be golden brown and recede a little from the pan (image 7).

Step 3—While the tart shell is chilling and baking, make the pastry cream by whisking together the egg yolks and sugar (image 8) before incorporating the cornstarch (image 9). This is to ensure there are no lumps. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture to temper the yolks (image 10) before transferring the mixture back to the saucepan to cook on the stove and thicken the custard filling (image 11).

Step 4—Add the butter to the cooked custard off the heat (image 12). Add the vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract (image 13), and then strain the mixture to remove any lumps or hard-cooked egg bits (image 14). Wrap tightly with plastic wrap, ensuring the wrap is in contact with the custard so that it doesn't form a skin (image 15).

Step 5—Once the tart shell has cooled, you can brush the inside of the shell with melted white chocolate to seal it and prevent the crust from getting soggy (image 17), and then fill with pastry cream (image 17) and garnish with berries (images 18 and 19).

Tart Baking Tips: How To Get The Tart Out Of The Pan

It's no secret that unmoulding a tart from a tart pan can be stressful. But tart pans with removable bottoms take some of that stress away. Here's how to remove a tart from a tart pan:

1. Place the pan carefully over an inverted bowl, or anything with a smaller diameter than the tart pan
2. Let the tart ring slide down
3. Lift the tart up
4. Lift the tart off the disk base or slide it off the disk base onto your serving plate.

If the tart is stuck to the bottom piece of the pan, you may have to use an offset spatula, gliding it gently between the flat metal base and the tart shell to unstick it. But really, that's it! Once the tart shell has cooled down, it should be sturdy enough to manipulate without worrying that it will fall apart.

Storage

This fruit tart should be refrigerated, but I can say, if you take it out to serve it, it can easily sit out for a few hours at room temperature. You will still be able to slice it cleanly, and the filling won't soften too much. This is yet another reason why I opted for cornstarch in this recipe, not flour. The filling is more stable to temperature fluctuations, yet still creamy and smooth.

Tart FAQs

More Baking With Berries

Make the most of berry season with these desserts baked with berries, from a simple blueberry crumb cake to a more complex blueberry lattice pie:

If you tried this recipe for the best fruit tart (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Fruit Tart

Learn how to make a fruit tart with this easy recipe. It's made with a sweet shortcrust (pâte sucrée) and topped with pastry cream and fresh fruit.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Chill time 1 day day

Total Time 1 day day 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 469kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• Tart pan
• Rolling pin

Ingredients

Pâte sucrée (sweet shortcrust)

• 84 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 63 grams icing sugar
• 33 grams ground almonds
• 1 large egg yolk(s)
• 156 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 15 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) or 2 % fat

Pastry cream

• 500 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) or 2 % fat
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 5 large egg yolk(s)
• 40 grams cornstarch
• 10 mL vanilla bean paste
• 58 grams unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes

Assembly and Finishing

• 58 grams white chocolate melted
• 300 grams Fresh berries raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and red currants
• 150 grams mandarine segments fresh or canned

Metric - US

Instructions

Make the pâte sucrée

• Cream the butter with the icing sugar and the ground almond.
• Add the egg and mix until smooth.
• Add the flour and mix until the flour is blended in but don't overmix.
• Pat the dough into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Place a 9-inch (23 cm) tart pan with removable bottom on a sheet pan. Set aside.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until it's 11.5–12 inches (29.2–30.5 cm) in diameter. Work fast so the dough doesn't get too warm. The dough will become more delicate the warmer it gets.
• Fold the dough in half and carefully transfer to the tart pan to line it with the dough. If the dough breaks, don't worry. You can just press any cracks or breaks back together. Trim the edges using a knife or your rolling pin.
• Dock the pastry using a fork to poke holes over the entire surface. Chill the unbaked shell for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Bake the tart shell for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the pastry looks dry and baked through. Keep an eye on the tart shell and be sure to press down any areas that may bubble up during baking before the crust sets and dries.
• Let cool completely, then unmold from tart pans.

Pastry cream

• Place the milk in a medium saucepan with half the sugar. Set it to heat on the stove on medium–high.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar untiil light and fluffy and pale in colour. Whisk in the cornstarch until the mixture looks thick and creamy.
• When the milk is just about to boil, take the pan off the heat and pour the milk over the whipped yolk mixture. Whisk everything together really well to temper the eggs.
• Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and heat on medium heat until the pastry cream comes to a boil, whisking constantly.
• Boil the pastry cream for 3 minutes.
• Take the pan off the heat and add the butter, a piece at a time, whisking constantly. You can decide at this point if you want to strain it or not.
• Transfer the cooked pastry cream to a bowl, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.

Assembly and finishing

• When the baked tart shell has cooled completely and the pastry cream is cold, you are ready to assemble the tart.
• Place the unmoulded tart shell on your serving plate. Brush the inside of the tart shell with the melted white chocolate to coat the entire surface and protect it from moisture. Coat it with a thin layer. You may not use all the chocolate for this!
• Place the tart shell in the fridge for 5 minutes to set the chocolate if it's warm in your kitchen.
• Take the pastry cream out of the fridge, unwrap it, then using a whisk, whip the pastry cream until it is smooth and creamy. This will take a few minutes because it will be quite firm but it will smooth out the more you work it.
• Spread the pastry cream in the tart shell and smooth it out so that it's even.
• Top the pastry cream with lots of fresh berries and sliced fruits, arranging them in a pattern or haphazardly, as you like. Cover the pastry cream completely with fruit so that none is exposed.
• Store the fruit tart in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it.

Notes

• We use a combination of flour and cornstarch to create a stable filling that holds its shape so you can slice the tart cleanly to serve it.
• Salt—This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Alternate sugars—Consider using a mixture of sugar and honey or maple syrup in the pastry cream, and that would bring a lot of flavour to this dessert.
• Flavouring pastry cream—The beauty of pastry cream is that you can infuse the milk with a lot of flavours, and it's a sweet, creamy blank canvas that balances out the acidity of the fruit garnish. Try infusing the hot milk with tea or coffee (you can strain out the leaves or coffee grinds later), or a little tonka bean. Cardamom works beautifully here, or in the fall, consider warm spices to pair with a fruit topping of poached pears or poached quince.
• Alternate fillings—Just because most people make fruit tarts with pastry cream doesn't mean you don't have options. You can also consider filling the baked tart shell
  • chocolate ganache, like this raspberry milk chocolate tart or this rhubarb dark chocolate tart
  • panna cotta, like for these Earl Grey panna cotta tarts
  • fruit curd, like lemon curd, like these matcha tarts filled with passion fruit curd

Nutrition

Calories: 469kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 180mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 992IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 125mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Fruit Tart (Tarte Jardinière) appeared first on The Bake School.

Ingredients

This apple blackberry crumble is made from a simple list of ingredients and you likely have most of them in your pantry!

• butter—use unsalted butter or adjust the salt in the topping
• sugar—any sugar will do, whether light or dark brown sugar or granulated sugar
• flour—bleached all-purpose flour you can also use a mix of all-purpose and buckwheat, or all-purpose and whole wheat
• oats—use rolled oats (or large flake oats). Do not use quick or minute oats which have a finer texture that is less interesting
• salt—I used Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt. If using table salt, add half the amount
• apples—use baking apples that hold their shape like Cortland, Granny Smith, Gala, or Honeycrisp apples, or use a combination with a saucing apple like McIntosh. Do not use saucing apples only for the filling as it will turn to mush and lack texture.
• lemon juice—use fresh or bottled lemon juice. It's optional and used to create an acidic water bath to prevent the peeled apples from browning while you peel and slice them all.
• berries—use fresh blackberries washed, dried, and picked over, but frozen will also work. You don't have to defrost them.
• thickener—use cornstarch, not flour to avoid making the filling cloudy
• vanilla—it's optional but I love to add vanilla bean paste to fruit crisps. You could also use vanilla extract.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

This is a very simple recipe. Your substitution and variation options are limited.

• sugar—any sugar will do, whether light or dark brown sugar or granulated sugar. Don't use coarse sugar that may be too slow to dissolve, especially in the filling.
• vanilla—it's optional, but I love to add vanilla bean paste to fruit crisps. You could also use vanilla extract.
• spices—while I only used vanilla in the fruit filling and no flavourings in the topping, you can add spices to the oat topping, like cinnamon to add flavour, like ½–1 teaspoon (2.5–5 mL)
• berries—I used fresh wild blackberries which have a great flavour but they are only available in late summer where I live. You could also use frozen berries instead. Don't defrost them.

Don't have blackberries? Try this apple and blueberry crumble!

Instructions

Like all fruit crisps and crumbles, there are two components to prepare to make this apple blackberry crumble: the oat topping and the apple blackberry filling. I like to start by making the topping first to stick it in the fridge to firm up while I make the filling.

Step 1—start by making the oat crumble topping by combining the dry topping ingredients with the sugar (image 1) and whisking them until evenly dispersed (image 2). Then drop the diced butter into the bowl of dry ingredients (image 3) and work the mixture with your fingertips until it resembles wet sand (image 4).

Tip: I like to take the topping a step further, working it into a cookie dough texture that clumps together, but you don't have to.

Step 2—Prepare the apples by peeling them all (image 5) and then coring and slicing them into 1-inch slices (image 6).

Tip: Since there are a lot of apples to peel and slice, have a bowl of lemon water on the side to drop the apples in as you peel them. This will reduce the browning that may happen with certain apple varieties.

Step 3—Prepare the fruit filling by first mixing together the sugar and cornstarch (image 7). Use a whisk or even your fingertips to make sure the mixture has no lumps in it (image 8), then add the sliced apples and blackberries, along with vanilla bean paste (image 9) and use your hands to mix the fruit filling really well, being sure to lift up from the bottom and get all the sugar off the bottom of the bowl (image 10).

Hint: how much thickener you use is entirely dependent on the types of apples, how juicy the berries are, and how thick or thin you want the fruit filling. I created a thick filling with cornstarch and a mixture of apple varieties, but you can use less (or no thickener) for a loose filling.

Step 4: Transfer the fruit filling to a deep 9x13x2-inch (23x33x5-cm) (image 11). I used a metal OXO pan, but a glass Pyrex pan will work too. Scatter the oat crumble topping over the fruit (image 12) making sure that it is spread out in an even layer from edge to edge (image 13). Bake until golden brown and bubbling in the centre (image 14).

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Other Apple Desserts

If you tried this recipe for apple blackberry crumble with oats (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Apple and Blackberry Crumble

This delicious apple blackberry crumble is so easy to make from fresh blackberries and sliced apples and topped with a sweet oat crumble.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 528kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 9x13 baking pan
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

Oat crumble topping

• 230 grams unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes
• 200 grams light brown sugar
• 190 grams bleached all-purpose flour you can also use a mix of all-purpose and buckwheat, or all-purpose and whole wheat
• 140 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Apple blackberry filling

• 1.75 kg Cortland apple(s) I used 10 small–medium apples
• 30 mL fresh lemon juice
• 450 grams fresh blackberries washed, dried, and picked over
• 100 grams light brown sugar
• 30 grams cornstarch
• 10 mL vanilla bean paste

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190 °C). Butter a large baking dish or casserole dish (I used a 9x13x2-inch baking pan with a non-stick finish, but a Pyrex or ceramic pan would work fine). Set the baking dish on a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment (to catch any drips). Set aside.

Oat crumble topping

• In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, oats, sugar, and salt. Add in the cubes of cold butter and toss it in the dry mixture to coat all the pieces. You can do this with your fingertips. Press and work the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a crumbly topping with lots of texture. Set aside. You can refrigerate the crumble topping if your kitchen is warm.

Apple blackberry filling

• Peel and core the apples, and then slice them into 1-inch slices. Place them in a bowl with the lemon juice and some water to immerse them and prevent the apples from browning while you work. Pat them dry before mixing with the rest of the filling ingredients
• Wash, dry, and pick over the blackberries to remove any stems or twigs. Pat them dry
• Mix the cornstarch and sugar until evenly mixed in a large bowl, being sure to squish any lumps.
• Drain and pat the fruit dry and add to the large bowl of sugar and cornstarch, along with the vanilla bean paste.
• Stir the filling really well to make sure the fruit is evenly coated. Ensure that all the sugar and cornstarch are incorporated throughout the fruit. Pour the fruit evenly into the bottom of the buttered baking dish.
• Scatter globs of the crumble topping over the fruit from edge-to-edge.
• Bake the blackberry apple crumble for 45 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 350 ºF (175 °C). Continue baking until the fruit layer is bubbling, the topping is golden brown. This takes another 20–30 minutes or so.
• Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or custard sauce.

Notes

•  sugar—any sugar will do, whether light or dark brown sugar or granulated sugar
• vanilla—it's optional but I love to add vanilla bean paste to fruit crisps. You could also use vanilla extract.
• spices—while I only used vanilla in the fruit filling and no flavourings in the topping, you can add spices to the oat topping, like cinnamon to add flavour, like ½–1 teaspoon (2.5–5 mL)
• berries—I used fresh wild blackberries, which have a great flavour but they are only available in late summer where I live. You could also use frozen berries instead. Don't defrost them.
• salt—This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Feel free to modify the amount and type of thickener. You can try using more to achieve a thicker, more set fruit filling, and try arrowroot or tapioca starch instead of cornstarch.
• I don't recommend using flour as a thickener because it will make the filling appear cloudy.

Nutrition

Calories: 528kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 134mg | Potassium: 380mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 766IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Apple Blackberry Crumble appeared first on The Bake School.

If you are looking to truly showcase strawberries this season, this strawberry cream tart is for you! This dessert is very simple to make with an easy shortbread cookie crust, whipped cream, and lots of strawberries.

The ratio used for this crust is high in butter, just like for the jam-filled shortbread cookies because we want a crust that is tender and easy to slice, which means we need equal parts butter and flour by weight. This is quite different than the traditional crunchy shortbread with a 1-2-3 ratio where you have 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, and 3 parts flour by weight.

What You Need To Make The Best Strawberry Cream Tart

For this strawberry cream tart recipe, you will be making a big shortbread cookie in a tart pan, yogurt whipped cream, and macerated fresh strawberries before assembling the tart.

Here's what you need to make this strawberry tart recipe:

• butter—use unsalted butter, though salted could work as we aren't using much in this recipe. You may omit the salt in the cookie dough if you bake with salted butter
• sugar—icing sugar makes the shortbread tart crust more tender and fine and the whipped cream topping much smoother than granulated would
• vanilla extract—use pure vanilla extract if you can for a gentler flavour
• flour—all-purpose works well in this recipe and I wouldn't substitute another
• salt to balance out the sweetness of this dessert—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is less salty than regular table salt. Adjust accordingly if you use table salt instead
• maple syrup—to macerate the berries and lightly sweeten them
• whipping cream—full fat 35 % whipping cream so that the topping is more stable and thick
• yogurt—specifically Greek yogurt which has less water. Please opt for yogurt that has at least 2 % fat for better taste and creamier texture
• fresh strawberries—I prefer to bake with local seasonal strawberries whenever possible because they are smaller and more flavourful
• herbs—fresh basil or mint leaves work great to garnish strawberry recipes

Please read the recipe card for more information on quantities and ingredients.

Substitutions And Variations

Here are a few ways to tweak this recipe. Remember that any drastic changes beyond these may require more testing.

• Yogurt:
  • mascarpone cheese—replace the yogurt with full-fat mascarpone
  • plain whipped cream: replace the yogurt with extra whipping cream if you aren't a fan of yogurt and its tangy flavour
  • vanilla pastry cream: you can use the pastry cream filling from this fruit tart recipe instead of the whipped cream filling
• Whipped cream flavouring—along with vanilla extract, you can also add a little citrus zest (either orange or lemon), or even replace the vanilla with a sweet flavoured liqueur, like Amaretto or Grand Marnier.
• Strawberries—try another berry, like blackberries or raspberries, depending on what's in season and available!
• Fresh herbs—instead of garnishing with mint or basil, you can also sprinkle with chopped toasted almonds for a strawberry almond tart or pistachios for a strawberry pistachio version.

Tip: use fresh strawberries in season! This is not a good recipe for frozen berries, which will become very soft and lose a lot of water when defrosted. If you must use frozen strawberries, you will have to cook them into a compote or even strawberry jam and drizzle that over the cream instead!

Instructions

There are three components to this strawberry tart recipe: making the shortbread cookie crust (using the creaming mixing method), macerating the strawberries, and whipping the cream.

Step 1: make the shortbread cookie dough in the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric mixer by first creaming the butter with the sugar (image 1), then adding the vanilla (image 2) and finally the flour (image 3). Mix the dough until it comes together and the flour has disappeared (image 4), but don't overmix it.

Step 2: prepare the tart crust by scraping the dough out of the mixer bowl with a bowl scraper (image 5) and crumbling it evenly into a 9-inch tart pan (image 6). Use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough out evenly (image 7).

Step 3: The shortbread cookie dough should fill the tart pan from edge to edge (image 8). Bake the tart until the edges are golden brown (image 9) then cool it on a wire rack in the pan.

Cool the crust before assembling! Make sure to cool the shortbread tart crust completely before spreading the whipped cream over top. If you don't, the whipped cream will melt and the fats will loosen, making the filling more liquidy and creating a messy look and a soggy bottom.

Step 4: Prepare the strawberries while the tart is baking and cooling. Hull the washed berries to remove the stem and slice them in half or thirds (depending on the size of the berries) (image 10). Place the sliced berries in a bowl (image 11) and stir in maple syrup (image 12).

Step 5: Just before serving, place the cream and yogurt in a large bowl (image 13). Whip it with an electric hand mixer (or with a balloon whisk by hand) until the mixture is thickened but still soft (image 14). Add the icing sugar and vanilla to the bowl (image 15) and continue whipping until the whipped cream is thick and spreadable (image 16).

Proportions for the yogurt whipped cream: I used 60 mL (¼ cup) of Greek yogurt for 125 mL (½ cup) of whipping cream, so 1 part Greek yogurt to 2 parts whipping cream. The rule of thumb for sweetening whipped cream is to use 10 % of the weight of the cream, so in this case, we used about 10 % of the total weight of yogurt and cream combined.

Step 6: Place the shortbread crust on a serving plate and spread the whipped cream filling over top (image 17), leaving a little border around the edge, then top with macerated strawberries (image 18).

Hint: Make it cute! Garnish the tart with fresh herbs like mint or basil leaves, or even some lavender buds or elderflowers.

Top Tip

Use a small bowl to unmould the tart from the tart pan: invert the bowl and place the tart pan over it. The ring will drop down and you can lift the base of the pan up with the crust. Use an offset spatula to loosen the tart crust from the base and then slide it onto your serving plate.

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Looking for other beautiful tart recipes like this? Try these:

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Strawberry Cream Tart with Yogurt Whipped Cream

Learn how to make a gorgeous strawberry cream tart with this easy recipe with a shortbread tart crust, yogurt whipped cream and fresh strawberries macerated in maple syrup.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Calories 281kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Braun mixer
• Tart pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• Bowl scraper

Ingredients

Shortbread cookie tart crust

• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 40 grams icing sugar
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 125 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Maple macerated strawberries

• 450 grams fresh strawberries washed, hulled, and sliced
• 30 mL pure maple syrup

Yogurt whipped cream

• 125 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
• 60 mL greek yogurt use at least 2% fat greek yogurt, see notes for substitute
• 20 grams icing sugar
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 5–6 basil leaves or mint leaves (for garnish)

Metric - US

Instructions

For the shortbread cookie tart crust

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 ºC).
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar until it is well mixed.
• Add the vanilla and stir it in.
• On low speed, add the flour and the salt. When the flour is mostly incorporated, increase the speed of the mixer until the ingredients come together to form a cookie dough.
• Crumble the dough in an even layer into a fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Press the cookie dough flatly and evenly. The dough should fit the pan from edge-to-edge. Use a flat-bottomed glass (or your palm) to press the dough and spread it out evenly.
• Place the tart pan in the oven, and bake the cookie until the edges turn golden, about 20 minutes.
• Let the tart cool completely before unmolding onto a serving plate (check out my tricks for removing a tart from a tart pan!).

For the strawberries

• Mix the sliced strawberries with the maple syrup in a medium bowl. Let them macerate while you prepare the cream. Store them in a bowl, covered, in the fridge.

For the yogurt cream

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using. an electric hand mixer), whip the yogurt and the cream until thick but soft.
• Add the sugar and vanilla, and continue whipping until the yogurt whipped cream is thick and spreadable. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembly

• Spread the thick whipped cream over the cooled cookie base, leaving a half-inch edge.
• Top with the macerated strawberries, and garnish with a few fresh basil or mint leaves.

Notes

Before tackling this recipe, please read through the blog post, including the recipe card and tips so you know what you are doing. Here are a few things to note:

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Press the dough in the pan: You may need to use a little flour (or even a little water) to prevent the glass (or your fingertips) from sticking to the dough.
• Cool the crust completely! Do not top with the whipped cream or the strawberries until you are sure the tart has cooled completely.
• Unmould the tart easily: Don't stress about unmoulding your cookie tart crust from the tart ring: use my tricks for removing a tart from a tart pan, like an inverted bowl (see photo above)! Works like a charm!
• Making the whipped cream: If you don't want to add yogurt to make the whipped cream topping, replace it with the same amount of whipping cream or even mascarpone cream, if you have it!
• Make ahead tips: You can make the components ahead of time, bake the crust and let it cool, macerate the berries in maple syrup, and prepare the whipped cream ahead of time. Store the berries and whipped cream covered in the fridge, and keep the cookie crust in a cool dry place until you are ready to assemble the dessert, preferably just before serving so that the crust doesn't get soggy.

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 85mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 745IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Fresh Strawberry Cream Tart With Yogurt Whipped Cream appeared first on The Bake School.

Summer is here, which basically implies eating a ridiculous amount of summer fruit and daily frozen treats in my little world. For real. My entire summer basically revolves around these two "food groups", if we can call them that.

Peaches are actually what I look forward to the most, peach fuzz and all. I want to eat every variety, and I want to eat them every day. My go-to summer snack, sometimes twice a day, is a big, fresh peach with a handful of nuts. I slice the fruit off the pit, but still eat the slices with my hands. The juices run down my arms all the way to my elbows. I become a sticky mess from eating peaches but that's been part of my summer ritual for as long as I can remember.

For this recipe, I took my go-to summertime snack of peaches and nuts, and I took it to a whole other level. I roasted peaches with muscovado, coconut oil (the good kind that tastes like a tropical vacation), and a splash of rum because you can't go wrong adding rum to a baked fruit dessert.

I paired these roasted peaches with So Delicious Cashewmilk Salted Caramel Cluster frozen dessert for an easy summertime treat. It's like taking my fave summer snack and making it WAY BETTER! These roasted peaches would also go really well with the Creamy Cashew or the Very Vanilla flavours. I love the Salted Caramel Cluster flavour because it's got lots of specks of dark chocolate and chunks of toasted cashew, making this flavour a real treat! The muscovado and coconut oil melt onto the peaches as they roast in the oven, creating a lovely dark caramel sauce that ties everything together.

This recipe takes 5 minutes to throw together, making it perfect for those lazy, hazy summer days when you want to make a treat but you don't want to slave away in the kitchen. Easier than pie à la mode, but just as satisfying. Plus it's all gluten-free and vegan too!

It would pair nicely with a whiskey peach crumble pie too. Just sayin'. Or perhaps you could use it to make homemade ice cream sandwiches.

📖 Recipe

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Roasted Peaches with So Delicious Cashewmilk Frozen Dessert

This dessert is way easier than pie. Just sprinkle halved pitted peaches with muscovado sugar (or brown sugar) and some spiced rum, and then roast them. Top with your favourite dairy free frozen dessert or ice cream. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Calories 409kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 6 large peaches halved and pitted
• 50 grams muscovado sugar
• 30 mL spiced or dark rum
• 10 mL coconut oil melted
• 500 mL So Delicious Cashewmilk Salted Caramel Cluster Frozen Dessert

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Arrange the peach halves, cut side up. Sprinkle with muscovado sugar, then drizzle with spiced rum and melted coconut oil. Cover the dish with foil.
• Bake the peaches for about 20 to 30 minutes with the foil on, then uncover and bake for an additional 10 to 20 minutes. The baking time is entirely dependant on how ripe your peaches are. If your peaches aren't ripe, they may take even longer. You want the muscovado sugar to melt and form a sauce and the peaches to be nice and tender so that you can eat them with just a spoon. Feel free to sprinkle a little water around the peaches if you find the caramel sauce is getting too dry. You don't want it to burn.
• Serve the roasted peaches warm with scoops of So Delicious Cashewmilk Salted Caramel Cluster Frozen Dessert.

Nutrition

Calories: 409kcal

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of So Delicious. The opinions and text are all mine. I was compensated monetarily. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it.

The post Roasted Peaches appeared first on The Bake School.

Plum cakes tend to be a more rustic bake, popular in many cultures, especially in European countries, like Germany and Italy. A cake with plums can be referred to as a plum torte because it's a single-layer cake, a little on the denser side and closer to a pound cake, baked with fresh plums on top, usually plum halves as opposed to slices. It's a simple, rustic, yet deeply satisfying cake that is a real treat served as a snack in the afternoon.

This cake with fresh plums is a variation of the 1-2-3-4 cake recipe that is so forgiving. The 1-2-3-4 baking ratio is by volume, which translates to 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, and 4 eggs. For an 8-inch springform, half of the 1-2-3-4 recipe fits the cake pan perfectly, so that's what you see in the recipe card below.

This post is sponsored by Fruits from Chile. Chile exports more than 2.6 million tons of fruit annually to more than 100 countries across the globe and we are lucky to have access to plums from Chile so we can bake with plums year round!

Ingredients To Make a Plain Plum Cake

This easy recipe for plum cake is made from simple ingredients, including fresh plums and can be flavoured with cardamom, cinnamon, or ginger. Feel free to use any type of plums as long as they are ripe.

• flour—use all-purpose flour specifically. Any changes to the type of flour will result in a different texture and flavour.
• leavening agents, specifically the chemical leavener baking powder. Don't use baking soda here because it would be too much for this cake and there isn't any acidity to balance it out.
• salt—use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is finer and less salty. If using table salt, you may want to halve the amount to control the salt.
• butter—use unsalted butter, or if using salted, you may want to reduce the salt added to the recipe
• sugar—use plain granulated sugar, which will add sweetness without messing with the flavour of the plums.
• eggs—use large eggs. If you use smaller eggs, your cake may end dry or more crumbly.
• vanilla—use pure vanilla extract for the best results. There's no point in using vanilla bean paste in this recipe because it won't show or make a difference and it is more costly.
• plums—pick plums that are firm but ripe. Don't use plums that are too soft because they will be harder to handle and will turn to mush in the oven very quickly

Tip: You don’t want the plums to be super soft. A slightly firmer Chilean plum will give you the best texture and will slice open beautifully so you can bake with them easily. The fruit will soften as it bakes and become even more juicy!

See recipe card for more ingredient information and exact quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

This plain plum cake is highly adaptable and very versatile. I flavoured the cake batter with cardamom and garnished it with sliced almonds. Both of those are optional!

• Anise: I have also baked this recipe with ground anise, which might seem like an unusual pairing, but it works great!
• Warm spices: Try this cake with plums with warm spices like cinnamon, ground ginger, or even allspice.
• Almond: Skip the spices and add a few drops of almond extract to the cake batter instead (up to 1.25 mL or ¼ teaspoon). You could also replace a small portion of the flour (30 grams or ¼ cup) with the same weight of ground almonds, which will create a more dense crumb with a mild almond flavour.

Tip: You can bake with any variety of plums that you can get your hand on, really, as long as they are ripe, but not too ripe!

How To Make a Cake With Plums

Making a plum cake is quite easy! You will make the batter for a simple butter cake, similar to a pound cake, and then top it with plum halves before baking in a springform pan.

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (image 1) before adding the eggs (image 2) and the vanilla. The batter should be fluffy and creamy at this stage (image 3).

Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom or spices (if using) (image 4), then add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (image 5) and stir them in. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever needed (image 6).

Step 3: Butter and flour an 8-inch springform pan, lining the bottom with a round of parchment paper (image 7). Transfer the batter to the pan (image 8) and spread it from edge to edge in an even layer with a mini offset spatula (image 9). Place the plum halves on top of the batter, cut side-down (image 10).

Step 4: You can sprinkle the top of the cake with sliced almonds (or chopped nuts) and garnish with a little turbinado sugar before baking (image 11). Bake the cake until the plums are soft and the cake is golden brown (image 12).

Hint: Let the colour of the cake as it bakes be your guide so you know how long to bake it! It takes well over an hour for it to turn golden brown and this ensures that the cake won't sink when it cools down. The surface will be set and the plums soft.

Top Tip

It's sometimes tricky to remove pits from stone fruit like fresh plums. Sometimes, you can cut the fruit in half and twist it off the pit. Other times, you can't.

If that happens, you may have to place the plum, stem-side down on a cutting board to cut downward on either side of the pit, parallel to it, angling the knife slightly if the knife hits the pit on its way down.

Plum Cake FAQs

Other Recipes To Make With Plums

Plums are so versatile because they have a tart skin surrounding the sweet fruit. If you have a lot of plums to work with, you can make this cake with plums, obviously. But here are some other ideas for baking with them:

• plum jam that you can make with just plums and granulated sugar, or feel free to flavour it with vanilla bean, tea leaves, spices like cinnamon
• plum muffins which are coffee cake-style muffins with a streusel topping
• plum tart which is a fancy dessert: a pie crust with a plum filling that is sweetened with muscovado sugar, which gives the filling a deeper molasses flavour

What To Serve With Plum Cake

Serve slices of plain plum cake with ice cream in the summer months!

If you tried this plain plum cake recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Plain Plum Cake

This plain plum cake is flavoured with a little vanilla and ground cardamom, giving this cake a sweet flavour that pairs so well with bright plums!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 334kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Cake tester
• GIR spatula
• 8-in springform
• Mini offset

Ingredients

• 190 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 7.5 mL baking powder
• 3.75 mL ground cardamom
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 4 plums halved and pit removed
• 10 grams sliced almonds optional
• 10 grams Turbinado sugar optional

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan with parchment, then butter and flour the sides. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well. Beat the mixture for 2 minutes until it is aerated and very light in colour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the batter is evenly mixed at this point. You can beat it a little more to make sure.
• Stir in the flour mixture on low speed, just until the flour is completely incorporated.
• Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Place the plum halves, cut side down (or up works too!), and pressing them slightly into batter. Scatter a few sliced almonds and some turbinado sugar on top (if using)
• Bake the cake until the edges are golden brown and the plums are soft and releasing their juices. A cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the cake (avoiding the fruit). This could take as much as 90 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven, and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then release the cake from the springform pan.
• Let the cake cool completely before slicing and serving.

Notes

1. Don’t use plums that are very soft. A slightly firmer Chilean plum will give you the best texture and will slice open beautifully so you can bake with them easily. The fruit will soften as it bakes and become even more juicy!
2. This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
3. Note that the baking time is quite long. The baking time may be less (about 60 minutes) if you place the plums cut-side up so the juices evaporate or if you use a larger pan like a 9-inch cake pan.
4. Let the colour of the cake as it bakes be your guide so you know how long to bake it! It takes well over an hour for it to turn golden brown and this ensures that the cake won't sink when it cools down. The surface will be set and the plums soft.
5. This is a very versatile cake and plums play really well with so many fun spices. Feel free to replace the cardamom with:
   • ground anise
   • ground cinnamon
   • ground ginger
6. For a almond plum cake, you can use almond extract (1.25 mL or ¼ teaspoon) and replace a portion of the flour with the same weight of ground almonds (up to 60 grams  or ½ cup).
   • ground allspice

Nutrition

Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 532IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Plain Plum Cake appeared first on The Bake School.

Poaching refers to slow cooking in a large volume of simmering liquid. It's the same principle as poaching eggs, where eggs are dropped in a large volume of almost-boiling water to cook them. Poaching is a gentle way of cooking.

Which pears are best for poaching?

For poaching, you want to choose a firm pear of a variety that holds its shape well during cooking and baking. You can use Bosc pears or Bartlett for poaching. Flemmish Beauty pears are also great for poaching. These pears keep their shape when heated, which makes them perfect for poaching in a light syrup or a wine syrup.

Don't poach pears that are overly ripe or too soft because they won't hold up to cooking as well and may break down too much.

What goes into the poaching liquid?

I love to poach pears in a mixture of wine, sugar, water, and spices. This sweet wine syrup adds a ton of flavour to pears, and if you use red wine, the purple colour is gorgeous.

You can poach pears in any flavourful liquid:

• The base liquid: you can dilute wine, fruit juice, or just go with water
• The sweetener: any sugar will work here, just use one you actually like the taste of, whether that's honey, agave, maple syrup, or just plain granulated sugar
• The flavour agents: for spices, you can use cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, etc. Get creative and use what you like! You can also use vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste, the zest of a lemon or an orange.

How to poach pears

To make poached pears, you first prepare a thin syrup or simple syrup of sugar and water. You can add wine and spices to make the poaching liquid more flavourful. Vanilla bean is also nice for this type of recipe.

Make sure you prepare enough poaching liquid to fully immerse the pears. If the pears don't have enough liquid, you will have to keep turning the fruit every 5 to 10 minutes to ensure they poach evenly on all sides. You can fit a sheet of parchment over the simmering pears to hold in the heat and moisture, and to ensure they cook more evenly.

Once the poaching liquid is ready, all you have to do is peel and core a few pears, immerse them in the poaching syrup, and let them simmer for about 20 minutes or until they are fork tender, but not falling apart.

Pear halves will take about 20 minutes to poach, whereas whole pears will take 30 to 45 minutes. You may need to cover the pot to avoid the syrup evaporating too much. And to keep the fruit immersed, you can use crumpled parchment paper pressed directly onto the surface of the liquid in the pot. This will also help minimize evaporation.

What to do with poached pears

You can strain the pears when they are cooked through and then boil down the poaching liquid to make a syrup to serve with the poached pears. It's the same principle for poached quince, but quince take longer to cook through.

Serve poached pears with blue cheese and nuts for a cheese course, or serve on top of a bed of greens for a fun salad.

You can also serve poached pears with vanilla bean ice cream or transform them into a pear pie. Now that you know how to poach pears, what will you do with them?

📖 Recipe

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Easy Poached Pears

Poached pears are an easy, stunning dessert to make. You can serve them with vanilla ice cream or with blue cheese for a cheese course. Poach them in wine or port for a sophisticated twist on a simple dish. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 305kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 1 Rondeau pan or a large sauce pan

Ingredients

• 750 mL liquid can be wine, fruit juice, or water
• 250 mL water
• 200 grams granulated sugar more or less depending on how sweet you want them
• 1 cinnamon stick(s) or other spices like whole cloves, star anise, cardamom seeds, etc.
• 1 vanilla bean split
• 1 slice lemon peel or orange peel, no pith
• 1.8 kg pears peeled, cored and cut in half or whole—I recommend Flemish Beauty or firm Bosc/Bartlett pears

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a large sauce pan or sauté pan, combine the liquid (whether wine or juice) and water with sugar and spices, vanilla bean, and lemon peel. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. The sugar should dissolve before you proceed with the rest of the recipe.
• Add the pears to the hot poaching liquid, and bring back to a boil again. Cover with a round of parchment and weigh everything down with a lid or a plate so that the pears are immersed. Reduce the heat so that the poaching liquid is just simmering. Poach the pears for 10 to 15 minutes. The pears should be tender but not mushy when they are done. Whole pears could take as much as 45 minutes. You can use a pairing knife to gauge how cooked the pears are: you should be able to easily pierce the pear all the way through when the pears are done.
• Strain the pears into a large container, then let the poaching liquid cool completely. Transfer the liquid to the container with the pears, cover, and let the pears soak for to absorb more flavour.

  Alternatively, you can strain out the pears and boil down the syrup to serve with the pears.

Notes

• Use red wine for a more robust wine flavour, a light rosé or white for a milder taste
• Use maple syrup or honey instead of granulated sugar; feel free to use less sugar in the recipe if you want it less sweet.
• Use any sweet, warm spices you like, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, star anise, cardamom, etc.

Nutrition

Calories: 305kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 356mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 58IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg

The post How to poach pears appeared first on The Bake School.

Types of apples for roasting

If you want to roast apples and have them keep their shape when served, use a firm apple that can withstand cooking. The types of apples

Apples that hold their shape:

• Gala apples are sweet and hold their shape when baked, so are great for roasting
• Honeycrisp apples are sweet and bake beautifully. These work well for roasting and in desserts like apple tarte tatin.
• Granny Smith apples (green apples) that are firm and in season are best, otherwise if they are soft or out-of-season, they may break down.
• Cortland apples that are firm and in season work decently well, but they will be very delicate once roasted.

Apples that don't hold their shape:

• McIntosh apples and similar varieties are more appropriate for sauces and shouldn't be used for roasting unless you plan to purée them after.

How to brown butter

Brown butter is my favourite kind of butter. Beurre noisette is the French baking term for it and it's made from butter. Don't confuse it with beurre de noisette, hazelnut butter.

Browning butter is easy: you stick your butter in a saucepan and heat it on medium until the butter is fully melted and the milk solids turn golden brown delicious. I think this is one case when "the nose knows" because usually my nose can tell the butter is browned before my eyes have caught up with what's going on at the bottom of the saucepan. Every butter browning session is a moment of zen, standing over the saucepan, swirling every so often, listening to the sizzle, taking in the scent of butter.

I used brown butter to make this quick caramel sauce. It's a quick brown sugar sauce based on the recipe in the marmalade puddings post.

Remember that corn syrup in caramels and quick caramels helps prevent the caramel sauce from crystallizing.

I made this whiskey sauce slightly thicker by adding less water to the recipe, and also I flavoured it with some booze because, as I pointed out earlier, I knew this sauce would taste great with a little booze, and would be perfect served over baked granny smith apples.

In summer, you can serve it with roasted peaches. Of course, you can serve baked apples as is, but the vanilla bean ice cream on top makes it even better!

Note that I didn't core the apples, and instead I just cut them in half. For a more "sophisticated" dessert, you might want to core/remove the seeds.

📖 Recipe

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Baked Apples with Brown Butter Whiskey Sauce

Learn how to bake apples with this easy recipe! You can top them with a quick brown butter whiskey sauce and vanilla ice cream for an easy fall dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 372kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

Baked apples

• 4 Granny Smith apples sliced in half
• 30 grams dark brown sugar
• 115 grams unsalted butter

Brown butter whiskey sauce

• 87 grams unsalted butter
• 200 grams dark brown sugar
• 30 mL light corn syrup optional, but best to use to avoid the sauce crystallizing as it cools
• 60 mL water
• 2 large egg yolk(s) lightly beaten
• 30 mL whiskey I used Jack Daniel’s
• Vanilla bean ice cream

Metric - US

Instructions

Baked apples

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a rimmed baking pan with parchment. Cut your apples in half. If the halves don't sit flat with their cut side up, you can trim a thin slice off the rounded side of each apple half so that they can sit straight/flat in the pan.
• Top each half with a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of brown sugar.
• Roast the apples for about 40 minutes or until they are tender.

Brown butter whiskey sauce

• While the apples are roasting, prepare the brown butter whiskey sauce.
• Melt and brown the butter in a saucepan on medium heat until you can smell the nuttiness and the milk solids turn to a deep golden brown. Swirl the pan often so that the milk solids don't burn on the bottom.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in the cup of dark brown sugar, the corn syrup, and the water (carefully because the pan is hot!). Whisk the mixture over medium heat and bring it just to a boil, making sure that all the sugar is dissolved.
• Pour half the hot sugar mixture over the yolks and whisk to temper the eggs, then add them to the saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil and boil for 1 minute on medium heat, whisking constantly.
• Strain the sauce into a heatproof container then stir in the whiskey.
• When the apples are done baking, serve each half drizzled generously with brown butter whiskey sauce and with a scoop of ice cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 372kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 17mg | Potassium: 147mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 745IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Easy baked apples with brown butter whiskey sauce appeared first on The Bake School.

Tarts filled with almond cream or frangipane are so easy and can be made into quite an elegant dessert that is both impressive in looks and taste!

When baking with pistachios, if you want them to be greener, you will need to learn how to peel pistachios to remove the darker skins. Also, read up on how to use a tart pan with a removable bottom if this is your first time baking with this type of bakeware.

Pistachio Cream versus Pistachio Frangipane

Almond cream and frangipane aren't necessarily the same thing though sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. Technically in classical and French baking terms, "almond cream" refers to a mixture of equal parts by weight of butter, sugar, and ground almond, bound together with eggs, while frangipane is almond cream lightened with pastry cream. Both fillings are baked to set them. In many countries though, the terms frangipane and almond cream are used interchangeably and are made following the formula for almond cream.

In this recipe, we fill the pistachio crust with pistachio cream, though as mentioned above, some may refer to it as pistachio frangipane.

Ingredients

Both the sweet pistachio tart crust and the pistachio filling are made with similar ingredients, so the list of things you need to make this pistachio dessert is quite simple.

• butter, specifically unsalted butter, though salted would also work here. You can either skip the salt in the pastry recipe if you use salted or lean into the salt because a little extra salt in the crust will bring a bigger contrast between the salty and the sweet
• icing sugar, leading to a more tender cookie crust
• pistachios, ground and slivered—ground pistachios make the dough more tender and contribute a ton of flavour to the filling, while the slivered pistachios add vibrant green pops of colour when you decorate the tart before serving.
• eggs to bind the crust and the filling ingredients together, and also to make the dough more pliable and easier to roll out
• flour holds the dough together and gives it structure, just like a rolled sugar cookie dough. You will also add a small amount of flour to the filling
• vanilla extract and spiced rum to flavour the filling. For the vanilla, you can use homemade vanilla extract or store-bought.
• salt, preferably Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is less salty than table salt
• fruit—I like to garnish pistachio tarts with a variety of fruit, picking what's in season, but also what fruits pair nicely with pistachios. For this tart, I used a combination of canned sliced peaches (choose fruits canned in sugar-based syrup or fruit juice because they taste better than any fruit canned in water, which is sweetened with sucralose!).

See the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Tip: For the greenest pistachios, bake with raw pistachios and pick raw shelled pistachios that are green. You may find them at Middle Eastern stores, for example. Vibrant green pistachios tend to be younger than yellow-green nuts.

Substitutions and Variations

This recipe doesn't have many ingredients so your substitutions and variations are limited:

• Icing sugar - the crust and filling recipe will work with icing sugar or granulated sugar. The textures may vary depending on which you use, but it will work.
• Pistachios - grind some sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds instead of the pistachios if you want to make a nut-free tart (obviously, it won't be pistachio anymore though if you replace the pistachios!) or use ground almond for a version featuring a different nut

One common variation you may see in many recipes for pistachio and almond tarts is to nestle the fruit over the almond cream before baking. You can certainly do that with this recipe, but in this case, you will use significantly less fruit because you don't want to overload the filling, which can break down in the oven and release water into the filling.

There are many other ways to make this pistachio tart differently. Here are a few other options:

• Pear—top this pistachio tart with poached pears instead of canned peaches
• Plum or pluot—I've topped this pistachio tart with sliced fresh plums or pluots in season. Apricots would also be great (fresh or canned).
• Lemon—skip the fruit and top the tart with a generous smear of homemade lemon curd from edge to edge
• Bakewell style—spread a layer of homemade jam over the entire surface of the par-baked tart shell before spreading the pistachio cream
• À la mode—skip the fruit on top and instead dust with icing sugar and ground pistachios to decorate the top, and serve with vanilla ice cream or either this cardamom ice cream or lemon custard ice cream!

Instructions

This recipe has two components: the sweet crust and the pistachio cream filling. You can work on the pistachio cream while the dough for the tart is chilling in the fridge, and then store the filling in the fridge while you line the tart pan with the dough. Or you could also make the filling while the tart shell is baking. Staggering the steps of each recipe will make the overall process faster and easier.

To make the tart shell

The dry ingredients (flour and salt) are whisked in a small bowl)

Cream the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Mix in the ground pistachios

Mix in the egg to bind it all together

Stir in the whisked dry ingredients.

Stir it all together until it's evenly mixed and a dough forms.

Shape the pistachio tart dough into a disk on a piece of plastic wrap.

Flatten it out and wrap the dough tightly to refrigerate for an hour.

Slice the cold dough into thin strips to line the bottom and sides of a tart pan.

Press the dough strips together to form a smooth tart shell from edge to edge with no gaps or holes.

Press into patties on the tray

Use a fork to dock the pastry and poke holes that will act as steam vents as the tart shell bakes.

Place the unbaked tart shell on a sheet pan to make moving it in and out of the oven easier.

Bake the tart shell at 350 °F until set and dry. Let it cool before filling (about 20 minutes).

How to make pistachio cream and bake the tart

While the tart shell is baking, cream the butter, icing sugar, flour, and ground pistachios.

Add in the egg, rum, and vanilla to bind the filling ingredients together.

The pistachio filling should be creamy and evenly mixed.

Fill the baked tart shell with the pistachio frangipane using a mini offset spatula.

Smooth the filling from edge to edge.

Bake the tart until golden brown and the filling is set.

Once the tart has baked and cooled completely, all you have to do is unmould it and then decorate it, either:

• dusting the tart with powdered sugar and more ground pistachios
• garnishing the top with fresh fruit or canned fruit (like slices of poached pears or canned peaches)

Tip: when buying canned fruit, read the ingredients and make sure to buy fruit packed in syrup or fruit juice. Verify that the ingredients feature sugar, as opposed to an alternative sweetener. Canned fruits packed in water are often sweetened with sucralose and the fruit tend to be cloyingly sweet, so much so that you can't taste the fruit as well.

Tart-Making Tips

You don't need any special equipment to make this recipe but you will definitely need a tart pan with a removable bottom so that you can easily get the tart out of the pan to serve it on a plate.

A tart pan is preferable to a pie plate for this recipe so that you can unmould the tart, and also get the pretty fluted edge. Remember, when it comes to unmolding the tart, use this trick to remove your tart from a tart pan with removable bottom.

Serving suggestions

This pistachio tart, whether garnished with fruit or not, would be great served à la mode with a scoop of ice cream. Browse through the ice cream recipes to find a flavour that would pair nicely with your version of this pistachio tart!

Frequently asked questions

Related

If you love pistachios, try these delicious pistachio financiers (cute mini pistachio cakes) and of course, the classic pistachio baklava. And if you are looking for other tart recipes like this? Here are some popular ones:

If you tried this pistachio tart recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Pistachio Tart

This easy pistachio tart is made with a sweet pistachio cookie crust and a pistachio cream filling. You can serve it as is, or garnish it with fruit, like peaches and raspberries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Chill time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 313kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Tart pan

Ingredients

Pistachio tart crust

• 86 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 63 grams icing sugar
• 33 grams ground pistachios
• 1 large egg(s)
• 156 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Pistachio cream filling (pistachio frangipane)

• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 125 grams icing sugar
• 120 grams ground pistachios
• 12 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2 large egg(s)
• 15 mL spiced or dark rum
• 10 mL pure vanilla extract

Garnish options

• fresh raspberries
• large peaches sliced, or canned peaches
• ground pistachios or slivered pistachios

Metric - US

Instructions

To make the pâte sablée

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter with the icing sugar, and the ground pistachios.
• Add the egg and beat it in, then mix in the flour and salt on low. Mix until the dough clumps together.
• Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• You will be using a 9-inch (23 cm) tart pan with removable bottom. Slice the disk of chilled dough into thin, equal strips, roughly ¼ inch thick. Line the bottom and sides of the tart pan with the strips, pressing them together to flatten the surface so there are no holes or gaps. You will use all the dough to line the pan in this way.
• Place the pan on a baking sheet and chill the unbaked pastry shell for about 1 hour until it is cold and firm. You can speed this step up by freezing teh tart shell for 15–20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). When the pastry is very cold, remove the baking sheet with the tart from the fridge. Using a fork, poke holes all over the crust.
• Bake the tart shell on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and have pulled away from the sides just a little. As the tart shell bakes, check on it every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure there aren't any air pockets forming. If you see a lump of air, just poke it with a tooth pick, a fork, or a wooden skewer to release the air. Press the pastry gently to smooth it out.
• When the tart shell is completely baked, remove the sheet pan from the oven.
• Allow the baked tart to cool for at least 15 minutes before unmolding. Check out my trick for unmolding a tart for this step. Cool completely on a wire rack. Place the unmolded baked tart shell on a serving plate.

Garnish options

• Decorate the cooled tart with fruit (like fresh raspberries and sliced fresh or canned peaches) and sprinkle with ground pistachios and/or slivered pistachios.
• Alternatively, you can also simply dust the top with powdered sugar and ground pistachios for a simpler look.

Notes

• Please read about how to use a tart pan if you have never baked with one before, especially if you are nervous about unmoulding the tart.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• There are many other ways to make this pistachio tart differently. Here are a few other options:
  • Pear—top this pistachio tart with poached pears instead of canned peaches
  • Plum or pluot—I've topped this pistachio tart with sliced fresh plums or pluots in season. Apricots would also be great (fresh or canned).
  • Lemon—skip the fruit and top the tart with a generous smear of homemade lemon curd from edge to edge
  • Bakewell style—spread a layer of homemade jam over the entire surface of the par-baked tart shell before spreading the pistachio cream
  • À la mode—skip the fruit on top and instead dust with icing sugar and ground pistachios to decorate the top, and serve with vanilla ice cream or either this cardamom ice cream or lemon custard ice cream!

Nutrition

Calories: 313kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 579IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Pistachio Tart appeared first on The Bake School.

Pavlova is not your typical meringue

A pavlova is a one layer cake made from a big meringue disk that is made in such a way that the interior becomes soft and marshmallowy, while the outside forms a thin, delicate crispy dry meringue layer that cracks when you cut into it. Some parts of the pavlova can even be a little chewy.

This is very different from meringue cookies that are airy and baked until completely dry and crisp.

Toppings

Pavlovas can be finished with a variety of toppings, and they are sliced and served like a cake. The most common topping for a pavlova is whipped cream and berries, though you may also see versions with lemon curd, salted caramel sauce, or other fun toppings. Like many one layer cake recipes, the meringue base is a blank canvas for creativity.

What makes it special

The special combination of textures and flavours makes pavlova desserts so unique and so addictive:

• the textures of a pavlova combine crispy, dry, chew, marshmallowy, and creamy.
• the flavours combine very sweet meringue with a lightly sweetened cool, creamy whipped cream, and bright fresh fruit.

The difference between meringue and pavlova

A meringue is made by whipping egg whites with sugar (or a sugar syrup) until it is stable and stiff. Meringue is one of the most important base recipes in pastry that is a jumping off point for creativity. Master making meringue, and you can make so many different desserts, from cookies to cakes to buttercream frostings and fillings.

A pavlova is made from a meringue, but cornstarch is added to the meringue to give it a texture that is crisp and light on the outside and gooey and soft on the inside, after baking. All pavlovas are meringues, but meringues are not pavlovas.

Ingredients you need to make the best pavlova every time

A pavlova should have a light, airy, dry meringue crust with a marshmallowy centre. Though it starts with a typical meringue recipe, made from egg whites and sugar, pavlova is made with a few special ingredients that set it apart from regular French meringue cookies.

Before you make a pavlova, make sure you have these extra ingredients in your pantry:

• cream of tartar not only helps you whip up a stable meringue, cream of tartar is an acid that also helps you unwind the globules of egg white proteins, making it easier to incorporate air and build those bubbles. Cream of tartar is optional, but I like to add it to make sure I set myself up for success!
• salt adds flavour, and especially in sweet recipes, salt helps to balance out all the sugar, making sweet desserts less bland or one-noted. In meringues, salt helps break up the protein-protein interactions that hold the egg white together. But salt can have a weakening effect on egg foams and meringues for the same reason: the ions (sodium and chloride) interact with the egg white proteins, preventing them from interacting with each other when you want to whip them into a stable foam.
• water is added to the egg whites before incorporating the sugar. The water helps to dilute the proteins, allowing you to whip them faster into a lighter, more stable structure, and it can help you achieve a bigger volume. The extra moisture can also help dissolve the sugar, which is important to build a stable meringue that won't weep.
• cornstarch helps create an airy exterior with a chewy and marshmallowy interior. The cornstarch also gives some structure to the meringue and makes it less likely to weep. The cornstarch is an essential ingredient in pavlova. Though some recipes may use less, you cannot skip it.
• vinegar, whether white vinegar or cider vinegar, is an acid that will lower the pH of the meringue, strengthening the airy structure you formed and it also contributes to the signature texture of the dessert. You cannot skip the vinegar in this recipe.
• superfine sugar is a very fine, quick-dissolving sugar. I was very hesitant about recommending that you use a different sugar, but superfine sugar dissolves faster when whipped with the egg whites, which means less weeping and it's less likely to weigh down your meringue as you build it up in the mixer. Luckily, you can order superfine sugar from Amazon, or you can make your own (see below).

Making superfine sugar at home

If you can't get your hands on superfine sugar, then you will have to make it. To do so, I use a food processor. Weigh out the amount of sugar you need and process it until the crystals are finer. You will know you've made superfine sugar when you open up the food processor and a cloud of sugar puffs out. That means it's very fine! That's what you want!

How to make pavlova

There are three ways to make a meringue that vary in complexity, and any of these methods could work to make a pavlova:

1. French meringue technique, where egg whites are whipped and the sugar is very slowly added to create a thick, glossy, sturdy mixture that holds peaks. The French technique is the easiest to do, but it's difficult to master because the sugar has to completely dissolve in the egg whites to avoid any weeping when the meringue is baked. French meringue is also the least stable meringue.
2. Swiss meringue technique, where egg whites and sugar are heated together over a bain-marie (the French baking term for a simmering water bath). The egg whites and sugar are stirred often and heated until the mixture hits roughly 71 ºC (160ºF). At that temperature, the sugar has all dissolved and the egg white proteins are unwound so that they are primed for whipping and holding air. The heat also helps stabilize them. Swiss meringues are more stable than French meringues. If you mix Swiss meringue with butter, you get Swiss meringue buttercream, which is quite stable and often favoured for wedding cakes.
3. Italian meringue technique, where the sugar is heated separately from the egg whites. The sugar syrup is cooked to a soft ball stage (usually around 116 ºC (241 ºF), but you can go as high as 121 ºC (250 ºF) and it will work well). The hot syrup is poured over whipped egg whites, while whipping, and the meringue is whipped until it's room temperature, glossy, very thick, and very firm. This is the most stable meringue you can make, but also the most challenging to do because you have to pour a dangerously hot syrup while whisking. If you mix Italian meringue with butter, you get Italian meringue buttercream, which is the most stable buttercream you can make.

Technically, you could make the meringue base following any one of these techniques, but I've had the most success with the French meringue technique, as long as you have superfine sugar.

Granulated sugar (also called special fine sugar) is more coarse than superfine sugar, which means:

• granulated sugar can weigh down the meringue, making it harder to incorporate it into the egg whites
• granulated sugar is slower to dissolve because the granules are bigger.

The size of the sugar crystals and getting the sugar to dissolve actually matters a lot. Granulated sugar is more dense and can weigh down the delicate protein network of egg whites that you are trying to build up and stabilise. Granulated sugar could deflate it.

Undissolved sugar will lead to bubbling along the edges of the meringue as it bakes and weeping or oozing, where the sugar melts and leeches out, drawing moisture out with it. If you notice any bubbling or a syrup at the edges of the meringue, it means your sugar didn't dissolve properly.

Critical steps for success

If you look at the short list of ingredients and the steps to make a pavlova, it definitely is an easy dessert to make. The trouble is there are a few steps that will separate a good pavlova from a great pavlova. I have struggled with a few of these myself and I am here to tell you, whether your pavlova is perfect or not so perfect, all roads lead to a yummy dessert that is an explosion of textures and flavours. To make the perfect pavlova, here's a few key steps where you need to focus your energy:

Building a stable meringue

Meringues are tricky. To make the basic meringue, all you need are egg whites and sugar. SO easy! Yet things can go very wrong when you can combine these two ingredients. Trust me.

Start by whipping the egg whites with the cream of tartar (and/or a little salt). The acidity of the cream of tartar will help unfold the globular protein structures that hold the egg whites together. The acids loosen them up, helping them separate from each other so that they can unwind and refold in a different way to trap lots and lots of tiny air bubbles with the help of a ton of whipping. At the beginning, you want to whisk the whites until they achieve soft to medium peaks, so the whites should be past the foamy stage, but not firm.

Do not over-whip the whites at this stage because they will break down into a dry foam on top of a watery layer, and then it's pretty much impossible to undo that and recover.

Add the sugar very slowly to the medium peaks, with the mixer running, a little spoonful at a time. Keep whipping as you add the sugar, but make sure to add the sugar slowly, otherwise the sugar will cause the foam to collapse, ruining the structure that you are trying to build and to reinforce. This is the opposite of what you want. Add the sugar very slowly. It can take 10 minutes to add the sugar and that's okay. Don't worry much about the time: focus on what's happening in the bowl of the mixer.

Baking the pavlova

Pavlovas are baked low and slow for a long time, just like regular meringues. A key feature in many recipes it to let the pavlova cool in the oven after turning it off, with the door cracked open slightly. This allows the meringue to slowly cool down in a controlled fashion and avoids temperature shocks to the meringue that may cause contractions and cracking of the crispy exterior which is very delicate.

Cooling the pavlova and finishing

Pavlova meringue bakes into a crispy, thin outer shell with a marshmallow interior, which means that they are very fragile and prone to cracking and breaking.

For this reason, it's very important to leave the oven alone during the baking process and once the pavlova is baked. Never open the oven door, even when the pavlova is cooling in the oven. Temperature shock can cause the pavlova's crispy exterior to crack:

• Baking at too high a temperature can cause cracking because the outside may set while the interior expands from the heat. The shell of the pavlova may crack
• Cooling a baked pavlova abruptly can cause the shell to crack or collapse because of the sudden temperature change which can lead to the interior contracting suddenly compromising the outer shell.

Once cooled, the pavlova should be a little less prone to breaking but you still need to be careful. Run a metal offset spatula between the parchment paper and the pavlova very carefully to release the cake base so that you can transfer it to a serving plate.

Whipped cream ratio

I love to fill pavlovas with lots of lightly sweetened whipped cream, flavoured with a hint of vanilla. The basic formula for making whipped cream is simple: use 10 % of the weight of cream in icing sugar, so if you are using 350 grams of whipping cream, sweeten with 35 grams of icing sugar.

Since the density of whipping cream is pretty close to 1 gram per millilitre, that means for 375 mL whipping cream, use 38 grams of icing sugar. For this recipe, I rounded down to 30 grams (¼ cup) of icing sugar because the pavlova meringue is quite sweet already!

When making whipped cream, remember to not overwhip. For this quantity of cream, I prefer to use an electric hand mixer, and I recommend incorporating the sugar and vanilla when your cream forms soft peaks to make sure you whip until firm peaks, but not more.

If you over-whip the cream, the emulsion will breakdown and you will end up with solid butter separated from the whey liquid. You can't recover it at that point, but you can strain off the liquid and spread the homemade butter on toast or cook with it!

Another filling option would be this easy lemon mousse, made by folding lemon curd into whipped cream. You don't have to completely incorporate the two, actually, so that you get streaks of lemon curd throughout the cream filling.

Once you've baked, cooled, and filled the pavlova, ideally you let the pavlova chill for about an hour. This helps the whipped cream firm up but also helps soften the meringue slightly, making it easier to serve.

Leftover pavlova should be stored in the fridge. You can enjoy it the next day, but ideally, it's best to serve it an hour after filling it when it has the perfect textures, crunchy, creamy, and marshmallowy. After a day in the fridge, the humidity may lead to a softer exterior. It's not the end of the world, but not ideal either.

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Pavlova

This pavlova with raspberries is made from a French meringue combined with vinegar and cornstarch before baking, then topped with a generous amount of whipped cream, lemon curd, and fresh raspberries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Australian, New Zealand

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Cool time 12 hours hours

Total Time 15 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 346kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• Sheet pan
• Braun mixer
• GIR spatula

Ingredients

• 150 grams large egg white(s)
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 0.625 mL cream of tartar optional
• 45 mL cold water
• 250 grams superfine sugar
• 8 grams cornstarch
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 5 mL apple cider vinegar or you can use white vinegar

Whipped cream

• 375 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
• 30 grams icing sugar
• 5 mL vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Toppings

• 30 mL lemon curd
• Fresh raspberries or other berries
• icing sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

Pavlova

• Preheat the oven to 275 °F (140 °C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, and using a pencil, draw a circle that's 6 or 7 inches (15.25–17.75 cm) in diameter (about two inches less than your serving plate or cake stand). Flip the paper over and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium–high with the salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. This can take about 5 minutes.
• Lower the speed to medium–low, then whisk in the water.
• Start adding the sugar, a spoonful at a time, slowly. This will take a few minutes. Take your time.
• Once the sugar is added, increase the speed back up to medium–high and continue whipping the meringue until you form very stiff peaks that hold up straight when you remove the beater and flip it upside down.
• Once the meringue has reached stiff peaks, fold into the egg whites the cornstarch, vanilla, and vinegar. The mixture will be very thick, firm, and stiff.
• Dollop the mixture within the circle drawn on the parchment. The goal is to form a tall mountain. Then working with an offset spatula, smooth the mixture out to fill the drawn circle from edge to edge. You can use your spatula to coax the meringue sides upward to create a little crater or valley in the centre of the mountain (see photos).
• Bake the pavlova for 45 minutes, then drop the temperature to 250 ºF (130 °C) and continue baking. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake the pavlova.
• Once baked, turn off the oven and turn on the oven light. Don't open the door yet!

  Let the pavlova cool for several hours in the oven, turned off with the light on, until it's completely cooled. I like to leave it overnight undisturbed, or even a whole day, and then finish it later.

Whipped cream

• In a bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks, add the icing sugar and vanilla, and continue whipping to the desired consistency (or firm peaks).

Finishing

• Run a metal offset spatula between the parchment paper and the cooled pavlova very carefully to release the cake base so that you can transfer it to a serving plate
• Place the baked pavlova on a serving plate. If the center of the pavlova hasn't collapsed downward/inward to leave room for filling, you can help it using a pairing knife to open up the middle. The top of the pavlova should collapse downward to create a bowl shaped meringue that can be filled.
• Fill the crater of the pavlova with whipped cream, gently working it into all the nooks. If you prefer, you can use a piping bag filled with the whipped cream to pipe the cream onto the pavlova.
• Dollop the lemon curd on top of the cream, and swirl it in. Decorate with lots of fresh berries.
• Chill the pavlova for 1 hour before serving.
• Dust with powdered sugar before serving (optional).

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Pavlova base recipe from the book Zoe Bakes Cake, available on Amazon.

Nutrition

Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 61mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 689IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg

Recipe and technique for pavlova from Zoë Bakes Cakes, available to order on Amazon. I highly recommend this book if you want to master many important baking techniques, while baking yummy cakes!

Frequently asked questions

The post Pavlova appeared first on The Bake School.

When it's peak rhubarb season, I love to bake recipes that feature rhubarb on its own so this tart ingredient can shine, whether that's in a small batch rhubarb jam or a rhubarb pie without strawberries. These recipes and this rhubarb crisp without oats allow the tart flavour of rhubarb to dominate.

Crisp Versus Crumble

The naming of desserts with fruit is confusing: there are crisps, crumbles, cobblers, grunts, and the list goes on.

Though a crisp meant a base of fruit topped with a crumbly oat topping, whereas a crumble had no oats, nowadays, the two names are used interchangeably. I'm calling this a rhubarb crumble, but in your household, maybe you'd call it a rhubarb crisp. Either way, it's delicious!

Ingredients

This easy recipe calls for a very short list of ingredients. If you've got rhubarb, then you probably have everything else in your pantry to make this easy rhubarb dessert!

• rhubarb—use fresh rhubarb if you can (trimmed and washed thoroughly) but frozen will also work
• sugar—I used granulated sugar for the filling, but light brown sugar would also be nice, adding a little flavour to the filling
• thickener—I prefer cornstarch as a thickener with rhubarb because of the water it releases
• vanilla—either vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
• flour—you can use any type of flour for the crumble topping. I used bleached all-purpose flour
• salt—Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• butter—unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes
• raspberries are very much optional in this recipe: I add them to rhubarb fillings to enhance the pink colour if the rhubarb is very green

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Thickeners for Rhubarb Desserts

Rhubarb has a lot of water, more than you would think when you look at it and cut into it. This means, if you don't add enough thickener to it, the juices will create a soupy filling that is difficult to serve and quite watery.

You need to incorporate a thickener in rhubarb fillings in order to thicken the juices and gel them so that the filling is jammy and set, not watery and overly loose.

• Flour is an easy choice, but flour creates a filling that is more opaque and white-ish. Flour is also not as potent as other thickeners, so you may have to use a lot more, which will then interfere with the flavour of rhubarb desserts.
• Starches like cornstarch, tapioca starch, or minute tapioca are preferable for desserts with rhubarb. All of these thickeners create a rhubarb filling that is set, clear, and vibrant in colour and taste.

Oat-free: Not every crumble topping has to have oats in it and the toppings can vary quite a bit. Many people prefer them without! This cherry crumble is topped with a crumble made with cocoa powder. This grape crisp has oats and peanut butter in the crumble topping. This mango crisp has sliced almonds in the topping.

Variations and Substitutions

If you want to bake a fruit crumble without a thickener, try these strawberry rhubarb crumbles. Baked in smaller ramekins, the smaller volume of filling has a better chance of heating up and bubbling, and the strawberries contribute a certain amount of pectin to help gel the fruit layer.

Some bakers use the crumble topping as a thickener, stirring a portion of it into the filling instead of flour or cornstarch. This is another option you can consider, but I have never tried it.

Tips for Achieving the Perfect Set

• use enough thickener for the amount of fruit you are baking: for 2 pounds of fruit in the filling, in order for the thickener to do its job, you need to make sure the fruit filling, from edge to centre, bubbles and boils.
• bring it to a boil: if you don't ensure the middle of the fruit layer is bubbling, the filling just won't gel without enough heat. Trust me. I tested shorter baking times and the results were mediocre.
• let the crumble or crisp cool down completely for several hours, if not overnight, before serving. This gives enough time for the filling to gel.

I photographed this rhubarb crumble the day it was baked, about an hour later so it was still warm and a little more fluid, but by the next morning, the filling was completely set.

Tip: Make this dessert the day before to give it ample time to set, then reheat it just before serving to warm it up!

How to Make a Rhubarb Crumble

Step 1: Combine half the chopped rhubarb with the sugar and thickener in your 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Roast it to release some of the water, which will help evenly disperse the sugar and thickener.

Step 2: Once all the sugar is dissolved and the water has been released from the partially baked rhubarb, I add the rest of the fruit (and a couple of raspberries if needed to enhance the pink colour).

Step 3: Prepare the crumble topping by combining the dry ingredients with cold butter so it has a coarse uneven texture.

Step 4: Top the fruit with an even layer of crumble from edge to edge. Use it all!

Bake the rhubarb dessert until the filling is bubbling in the middle and the topping is golden brown all over.

Top Tip: Baking in two stages

For fruits that contain a lot of water, like blueberries and rhubarb, I prefer to bake crumbles and crisps in two stages, a trick I learned from Stella Parks.

1. Bake half the fruit with the sugar and thickener to get the juices flowing and to get the thickener hydrated.
2. Mix in the rest of the fruit and top with the crumble topping to finish baking.

With this method, the filling has a mixture of soft jammy fruit with pieces of fruit that hold their shape. It's the best of both worlds.

Baking in two stages also allows you to give the filling a better chance of cooking properly so that the juices gel. It also gives you a chance to stir the filling a little more, part way through the baking process, so that you know the sugar is dissolved and evenly dispersed, as well as the thickener.

This is a technique I used for the blueberry rhubarb crisp because otherwise, the filling was too loose and the crumble topping would burn before the filling came to a boil when I tried to bake them together in one step.

Serving Suggestions

I love to serve warm fruit crumbles and crisps with plain vanilla ice cream, this cardamom ice cream or even this lemon custard ice cream, but you can also serve them with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla bean crème anglaise (custard sauce).

Rhubarb Baking FAQs

More Rhubarb Recipes

If you love to bake with rhubarb as much as I do, you will love these other rhubarb recipes:

If you tried this recipe for the best rhubarb crumble (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

📖 Recipe

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Rhubarb Crumble

This easy rhubarb crumble recipe is made from simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry! This rhubarb crisp is baked in stages to ensure the filling sets properly and the crumble topping bakes without burning.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 401kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 8-inch Pyrex

Ingredients

Rhubarb filling

• 1 kg fresh rhubarb trimmed and washed thoroughly
• 250 grams granulated sugar
• 32 grams cornstarch
• 30 mL water
• 5 mL vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
• 10 Fresh raspberries optional (adds pink colour if your rhubarb is very green)

Crumble topping

• 185 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes

Optional

• Vanilla bean ice cream for serving

Metric - US

Instructions

Rhubarb filling

• Preheat the oven to 400 ºF (200 °C). Place a 8x8x2 inch (20x20x5 cm) ceramic baking dish (like a deep square Pyrex or a ceramic baking dish with at least 2 inch sides) on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Set aside.
• Slice washed rhubarb into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Place half the rhubarb in the baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar, cornstarch, and water over top, then toss the ingredients together to evenly coat all the rhubarb. You can use your hands for this.
• Cover the baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil then bake the rhubarb for 30 minutes. When you carefully peel back the foil, you will see the rhubarb should be soft and has released a lot of water.
• Fold in the rest of the rhubarb and the vanilla bean paste (or extract) to make sure the filling is well mixed using a heatproof spatula. You can also add a few raspberries for colour. Set aside.

Crumble topping

• Drop the oven temperature to 375 ºF (190 °C).
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt.
• Drop the cubes of butter into the bowl and using your hands toss them in the flour mixture to coat them. Work the butter into the flour using your finger tips to form a crumbly mixture.
• Sprinkle the crumble over the rhubarb filling. Bake the rhubarb crumble, uncovered, until the filling is bubbling and very hot, even in the middle, and the topping is golden. This will take about an hour, if not more.
• Let cool for at least an hour (if not several hours) so that the juices set. Serve plain or topped with vanilla ice cream.

Video

Notes

• The raspberries are optional. We add them to make sure our rhubarb filling is bright pink, especially when rhubarb is green. You can skip them or replace them with strawberries.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Two-stage baking process: We do this to ensure the sugar and thickener are evenly dispersed throughout the fruit layer, to avoid any clumping that can occur, and to achieve the perfect set:
  1. Bake half the fruit with the sugar and thickener to get the juices flowing and to get the thickener hydrated.
  2. Mix in the rest of the fruit and top with the crumble topping to finish baking.
• Serving suggestions: I love to serve warm fruit crumbles and crisps with plain vanilla ice cream, this cardamom ice cream or even this lemon custard ice cream, but you can also serve them with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla bean crème anglaise (custard sauce).
• Tip: Make this dessert the day before to give it ample time to set, then reheat it just before serving to warm it up!

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 393mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 488IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 1mg

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