Heart Shaped Fruit Tart

You can celebrate this Valentine's Day with these elegant, fruity and creamy berry tarts with custard cream.

Happy Valentine's Day!!
For today, my last heart shaped dessert: made from scratch, berry tarts with custard cream.
I really outdid myself this Valentine's week with lots of sweetness. My kids especially have been super happy with a new delicious, homemade dessert almost everyday. I can't lie, I ate and really enjoy them too. But man, oh man, now I have to pick up my workout for the rest of the month. I started already yesterday morning. I went for an amazing 5 miles hike with a friend here in the Santa Monica mountains, AND I played tennis for an hour.  So much fun! I wish I had enough time every day for all this workout.
Going back to today's recipe: it's simple, elegant, colorful and oh-so yummy. And in a heart shape, of course! I took the idea on how to make the tart crust from a video I saw on facebook: you cut the dough with a cookie cutter, place it on an upside down muffin mold and bake. The theory is great, and I'm happy with the results. But in practice, you have to be really careful on how you place the dough or the cups might come out in a really weird shape. This is the first time I tried it, and with the exception of a couple, most of mine came out quite good.

Here is the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients: To make 12 tarts

• 6 tablespoons (85 gr) of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 1/3 cup (70 gr) of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• 1 cup (150 gr) of all-purpose flour, plus a few tablespoons
• strawberries and blueberries for decoration

for the custard cream:

• 10 fl oz (300 ml) of milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/3 cups (65 gr) of sugar
• 2 tablespoons (20 gr) of corn starch
• 2 fl oz (60 ml) of heavy whipping cream (optional)

Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus one hour (or more) inactive

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In  a large bowl, place the butter at room temperature, egg yolk, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Blend all the ingredients until smooth and fluffy.

2. Add the flour and blend again. 

3. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough and cut your 12 (or so) cookies. 

4. On a baking sheet, place your mold upside down and top with your cut out dough. Make sure it is centered. 

5. Bake for about 14 minutes, or until slightly golden on the edges.

6. Prepare a custard cream using 10 oz of milk, vanilla extract, egg yolks, sugar and corn starch. Follow this recipe. Let it cool down and refrigerate for at least an hour.

7. If you would like to make your cream a little more light and rich, whip 2 oz of whipping cream, and combine to the custard cream.

 Decorate the cups right before serving (so the fruit will look fresh) with the cream, strawberries cut in half and blueberries.

Enjoy!

Frittelle di Carnevale - Italian Carnival Fritters FIlled with Custard Cream

Classic Italian stuffed frittelle di Carnevale: soft fried dough filled with rich and creamy custard.

I bet you can't eat just one! They are simply irresistible.

I can't believe that Fat Tuesday is coming up in less than two weeks. So here is a recipe for you, just in time for your Carnival celebration. In my house, it's not Carnival unless you eat one (... or many) of these traditional frittelle.
Italy is the birthplace of the Carnevale, which makes February a fun time to visit, especially Venezia. You'd be amazed by the stunning masks and world famous costumes, the street parades and all-day parties. If you were in Venice right now, walking along the canals and down the calli, you would be for sure enticed by the aroma of fried dough coming out of every pasticceria. And, believe me, it can't be ignored!
Frittelle are fried round doughnuts, that generally come in three varieties: Veneziane (with raisins and pinenuts), filled with zabaione cream or crema pasticcera. My favorite, as you might have guessed, are the last one. Soft and perfectly sweet. Light and fluffy. Made with simple ingredients. Deep fried and filled with a deliciously rich custard. Heavenly!
And I say: Yes! Carnival is just once a year... I can have frittelle and not feel guilty about it.

Don't forget to enter for your chance to win a free set of professional silicone baking mat from Kitchen Executive Chef. Here is the link for you:

This giveaway ends at 12:00 pm on Tuesday, February 10. Get your entries now. Bookmark this page and come back for extra entries. It is open to US residents, 18+ only.
You can also buy these mats on Amazon.com. And special for you today, use code 3UV37XAR at check out to receive a 30% off your purchase. Here is the link:



Ingredients: to make around 40 small frittelle

• 16 fl oz (500 ml) of milk
• 3/4 cup (125 gr) semolina flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar
• 1  cup (150 gr) of all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon (15 gr) of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 large organic orange, zest
• oil for deep frying
• powder sugar for decoration
• 2 oz (60 ml) whipping cream (optional)

For the custard cream:

• 8 fl oz (240 ml) of milk
• 2 fl oz (60 ml) of heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cups (65 gr) of sugar
• 3 tablespoons (30 gr) of corn starch

Preparation time:  about 1 hour
Directions:
1. Warm the milk in a large pan. Before it boils, add the semolino flour and whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until it starts to detach from the sides of pan. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

2. Add the eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well, until smooth again.

3. Add the orange zest, finely grated. And whisk again. Let the batter rest for about half an hour, or until you prepare the custard cream.

4. Prepare a custard cream following this recipe. Let it cool completely and place in the refrigerator. 

5. Heat the oil in a large enough pan. Note: it's better if the oil fills no more than half of the pan.

 Drop spoonfuls of batter in the oil and fry until golden brown. Make sure you don't fry too many frittelle at the same time. They need space to cook, and turn around. Remove from the oil and place on paper towel to drain the excess oil. Check the first fritter and make sure it's fully cooked inside. If not, lower the flame and cook for a little longer. Let the frittelle cool down.

6. If you would like to make your custard cream a little softer, whip 2 oz of whipping cream and add to the custard cream. Mix well, until smooth.

7. When ready to eat them, cut the frittelle in half and fill with the cream.

Sprinkle with powder sugar and enjoy!

Custard Filled Puff Tower with Caramel Sauce - Profiterol with Caramel

Perfect dessert for your holidays: heavenly delicious puffs filled with rich custard cream, 

all piled up and decorated with crunchy caramel. Irresistible!

This recipe will FOR SURE make a big impression at your holiday dinner table.
Ready to learn how to make these delicious cream puffs?!?
It's not a hard recipe and it uses quite basic ingredients. But it involves many steps.
You first need to prepare the cream puffs, and make sure they are properly baked. If not, they deflate once they are out of the oven. Still good, but not so pretty!
Second, you need a deliciously creamy custard. You probably can't go wrong with this recipe. I made it with corn starch, not flour, and it tastes delicious. It's thick and rich, with pudding-like texture. Amazing with the puffs!
Now, you can fill the puffs with the cream and enjoy them just like that.

Or you can add some caramel, and assemble them in a tower. To make the caramel, you only need to cook the sugar until melted and golden in color. No other ingredients. Easy, but a bit messy. Caramel quickly cools down and sticks everywhere. It ended up all over my kitchen. Stove, counters, floors, ... my camera - please don't ask!
You will need to dip each puff in the hot, melted caramel, and decorate it as you like. Also, be really careful: it's easy to burn your fingers ... yes, I'm talking from experience!
Many steps, but trust me: every bite of this dessert if filled with a soft and sweet bigne', stuffed with heavenly and rich cream, with a sugary caramel crunch.
After all this work, you can take a deep breath, sit down, serve yourself... hmmm... let's say: three puffs (or more!), close your eyes, and enjoy!

Ingredients: to make 26 puffs about 2 inches in diameter
For the puffs:

• 4 oz, 1 stick (110 gr) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 gr) sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• 10 fl oz (300 ml) water
• 1 cup (150 gr) all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

For the custard cream:

• 12 fl oz (355 ml) of whole milk
• 4 fl oz (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
• 4 tablespoons (40 gr) of corn starch

For the caramel (optional):

• 1 cup (200 gr) of sugar

Preparation time: 90 minutes
Directions:

Step 1: Let's start with the puffs: in a large pan, bring to a boil 10 oz of water with the butter cut in pieces, sugar, vanilla extract and salt.

Step 2: As soon as the water starts to boil, whisk in the flour. Lower the heat, and mix continuously.
When the mixture starts to detach from the sides of the pan, remove from the heat. Place the dough in a different bowl and let cool down for 10 minutes or so.

Step 3: In the meantime you can prepare the custard cream so it has time to cool down. Follow this recipe. using 12 oz of whole milk, 4 oz  heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoons vanilla extract, 4 egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar and 4 tablespoons of corn starch, as listed in the ingredients. Store the custard in the refrigerator when cool, covered with plastic wrap until the puffs are ready.
Step 4: When the puff dough is a bit cooler, mix the eggs, one at the time, until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 350º F (180º C). Pipe the mixture into balls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone mat. Make sure you leave enough space between the puffs, because when they cook they will increase in size.

Step 7: Bake for 30-35 minutes, until they are nicely golden on top. Turn off the oven, and leave the puffs inside, with the door slightly open, until they cool down a bit. This will prevent the puffs to flatten down once outside the oven.

Step 8: Once the puffs are cooled down,  use a piping bag, and fill the puffs with custard cream.

Step 9: If you would like to make a tower, first decide where to place the puffs, and get an idea on how you would like to build it (how many pieces and which are the largest that you will place on the bottom). To prepare the caramel: in a large pot, with heavy bottom, melt the sugar over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar is melted and has a golden color. Remove from the heat and dip the bottom of the cream puffs in the caramel. Place them on the serving plate. The caramel will become hard very quickly so you won't be able to move the puffs. 

Finish the tower and decorate with more caramel, and whipped cream if you like. To make the star, I used melted caramel on parchment paper spread out in the shape of a star (as well as I could). It quickly cools down and easily peel off. You can place it on top of your puff tree, using more caramel to hold it up.

Happy Holidays!