It’s Fall and that means it’s time to bake savory biscuits and pastries. Scones are in a category all their own.
I first had this scone at Manresa Bread, a local bakery that makes some of the most outstanding sourdough breads and other yummy bakes. Unfortunately it is not always available, so I did some digging and found the recipe. I love to eat these with a bowl of soup or just on their own. The savory sharpness of the parm and the addition of kale and leeks makes me feel like I’m eating something healthy. These are light and fluffy, owing to the cake flour and the cream. Make sure not to over mix the dough. The chunks of butter also keep it from becoming “claggy” (British for thick and sticky).
KALE PARMESAN SCONES (from Manresa Bread)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
112 grams (~½ cup) sliced leek (the white part)
1 bunch Lacinato kale, ribs removed, and coarsely chopped
340 grams (2 ½ cups) cake flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch chunks
1 to 1 ½ cups of cream or milk
Grated parmesan
Instructions
Sauteé the leeks in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until they are soft, taking care not to let the leeks colour.
Remove from heat and put in a bowl to cool
Add the other Tbsp. of olive oil to the skillet and sautée the kale for about 3-4 minutes just until it begins to wilt
Remove from heat and put in a bowl to cool
Combine all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a standing mixer
Add the butter chunks and mix on low speed until the butter resembles pebbles
Add the kale and leeks, then the parmesan. Mix on low speed until just combined.
Add 1 cup of cream and mix on low just until the dough comes together. Add more cream if needed.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a ball.
Then shape into a rectangle about one inch thick.
Cut into 12 triangles.
Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 to 25 minutes until lightly golden on the top and bottom.
There is no question I’ve been doing a sh*! ton of baking in this house for the last two months. Thankfully I haven’t had a problem finding ingredients despite the run on household staples as we all went into State-ordered hibernation. I am still baffled by all the people who decided to take up baking (especially bread baking) when this pandemic forced all of us indoors. Why not knitting? Or drawing? Or guitar lessons?
Anyhow, I shouldn’t be poo pooing people’s ambitions to expand their culinary horizons. Baking is great. It’s cathartic and at the end of the activity, not only do you have a pile of dirty dishes to clean, but you also have something yummy and delicious to eat (hopefully).
One recipe that doesn’t require any yeast, is scones. My mom has been baking so many of these, I have this image of scores of scones tumbling out of her freezer as she opens the door. She calls all her baking “distractabaking.”
I found a great recipe for scones on the King Arthur Flour website and modified it with my own add-ins. I had some leeks that looked like they had only a few days left before being chucked so I saved them from a worse fate. I also had a chunk of Comte cheese that was growing a nice fuzzy green coat of mold, so I cut away all the mold and shredded what remained to add to the mixture. There was also some leftover cooked bacon and who doesn’t love bacon?
Scones originated in Ireland. There are so many variations (including how to pronounce the name–scON or scOHn?), I couldn’t possibly go into all the details. All I can tell you is that baking powder is the leavening agent used to make these rise. There are no eggs in this particular recipe, but some recipes do call for eggs.
You can switch up the add-ins to suit your own taste. I also like to make the kale parmesan version of these–a recipe that comes from Manresa Bread, which is a bakery in Campbell, California. Whatever you fancy–sweet or savoury–scones make a great snack or breakfast treat.
Bacon, Leek and Cheese Scones
2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup grated cheese of your choosing (the sharper the cheese, the more flavourful the scone IMO)
1/3 cup diced and sauteed wilted leeks
1 cup cooked bacon bits
3/4 cups heavy cream
Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.
Combine all the dry ingredients together with a whisk.
Add the butter, cut into small chunks, and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until it appears crumbly.
Add the cheese, leeks and bacon and combine thoroughly.
Pour the cream over the mixture and combine until the dough comes together and appears ragged.
Pour the mixture out onto a floured surface and squeeze together into a ball. Form the dough into a flat round about 3/4 of an inch high and approximately 7 inches wide. Transfer to a lined baking sheet.
With a regular knife or a bench knife, cut the disk into eight equal triangles. You can pull them apart a bit before baking, or you can do what I do and wait to completely cut them until they finish baking.
Brush the dough with a bit of cream before baking. This helps them brown nicely.
Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until they are browned on top.
Let them cool completely before serving. If there are leftovers (and that’s a big IF), place them in an air tight container in the fridge. They also freeze nicely. Pop them in the oven and reheat on low.
Homemade braided challah bread with everything seasoning
I have to hand it to my mother–she has, without fail, baked challah every Friday for years now. She took over after my Bubby–my grandmother–passed away. The entire family looks forward to her homemade bread, which are shaped into beautiful round boules of egg bread, often sprinkled with sesame seeds or dotted with sweet raisins inside. Usually there are not one, but two challahs on the table. We say the blessings over the candles, then the wine and finish with the bread. The loaf is sliced, passed around the table to the delight of guests big and small. It tastes delicious on its own, or as is often the case, used to dip into a bowl of piping hot chicken soup. If there are any leftovers, they make great french toast the next morning, or a hearty PB & J sandwich.
Challah is meant to be a ceremonial bread used for special occasions like the Sabbath (every Friday night for Jews) or weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. It is often braided, washed with egg and sprinkled with sesame or poppy seeds.
I looked up the origin of the bread on Wikipedia and discovered that the name refers to the act of separating a portion of the dough for “payment” or taxation to the high priests, who were known as the Kohens (the surname Cohen is the modern name for the descendants of these priests), before the dough was braided.
Whatever the reason was back in biblical times, challah remains a staple for Jewish households. The act of making challah, I find, is very comforting. Measuring, mixing and especially kneading the bread are a great way to stay in the present. It’s almost a form of meditation.
The recipe I am using comes from my Mom. She hand wrote it into a book full of recipes and her own illustrations back in 2006. I cherish this book so much and hope that I can write something similar for my three kids, minus the beautiful illustrations–I’ll leave that to her. My one piece of advice: be patient. You can’t rush good bread. Take the time to knead it (or use a food processor to cut the time by 8 minutes), and give it time to rise before you bake it. The smell in the house is heavenly, which is fitting, since challah is made to honour God and all the bounty he/she has provided. This Friday, take time to thank whatever power you believe in is keeping us safe during such uncertain times. I hope this bread brings you the kind of comfort it brings to me and my family.
Challah Bread
3/4 cup of water
1/3 cup of oil
2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 envelope OR 2 1/4 teaspoons of dry activated yeast
2 eggs
3 cups of flour (plus more for kneading)
1 egg for egg wash
sesame seeds, poppy seeds, raisins, everything seasoning for finishing the bread
Instructions
Heat the water and oil together, but not boiling (you can do this on the stovetop or in the microwave)
Add sugar and salt to the water and oil
Sprinkle the yeast on top of this mixture and gently stir–set aside
Measure 3 cups of flour into a large bowl
Beat two eggs and pour over flour
Water and yeast mixture should look foamy now; pour this mixture into the bowl with the flour and eggs.
*If you want to put raisins in your challah, now is the time to add them to your dough.
Mix all the ingredients until they come together
Sprinkle flour onto a tea towel
Pour the dough out onto the tea towel and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is no longer sticky and becomes elastic-y.
*If using a food processor, knead for two minutes in the machine.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
While the dough is resting, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
*HINT: if you don’t want the bottom of the bread to burn while baking, double up your baking sheets, or if you have a baking stone, use that!
Next step is to shape the dough: I like to braid it like a hair braid: divide your dough into three even pieces–if you want to be precise, use a kitchen scale. Roll out each piece into a long strand. Press all three strands together at one end and start braiding. When you get to the end, tuck it underneath the braid. Put your challah on your baking sheet and cover it with your tea towel. Leave the challah to rise for approximately 1 hour, or until it is nearly double in size.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees . While it’s heating up beat an egg and add a dash of water to it. Use this for the egg wash on the challah. Sprinkle with the seeds or seasoning of your choice.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes. If you find the exterior of your challah is browning too quickly, you can always tent it with tin foil, or lower the temperature on your oven by 10 or 15 degrees.
You can also check the internal temperature of your challah before removing it with an oven thermometer, which should read 190 degrees.
Remove from oven and cool in the pan covered with a tea towel.
As previously mentioned, my brand-spanking new oven isn’t working. It hasn’t since we got it over a MONTH ago.
At first I thought maybe it was me. Maybe we had to become better acquainted with each other. After a few called to customer service, I was persuaded to try troubleshooting the problem before the company sent out a repair person. Well, after tinkering with the oven for a week and told the company it just wasn’t working.
The repairman who came turned out to be the most misogynistic piece of garbage I have ever met. I can’t recall a time in recent memory when a man was so overtly demeaning to me. I was so upset and called the company to complain. My oven was still broken, requiring a new part. I made it clear that repair man was not allowed anywhere near the premises. The new part was ordered and sent. A new repair company was retained and they have yet to show up to fix the oven. I am non-plussed. Actually, I am more than non-plussed. I am angry, disappointed, frustrated and I also feel helpless. I don’t like feeling like I am at the mercy of a company that took my money and delivered a substandard product and beyond crappy customer service.
To make myself feel better, I went on a road trip today with a friend of mine. We were on a mission. If I couldn’t bake in my own kitchen, I was going to live vicariously through the small country bake shops in farm country. We drove north to Sonoma County.
Our first stop was Mom’s Apple Pie in Sebastopol. It’s been around since 1984. In my head I was thinking, “oh! that’s not so long ago. I was just a kid then.” But then I remembered I’m getting old. That means the pie shop has been around for 35 years! THIRTY FIVE YEARS!!! We ordered ahead of time because it happens to be the week of Thanksgiving and we would have been sorely disappointed with the selection of pies if we had simply shown up. I got two kinds; strawberry rhubarb and apricot.
I did not get their namesake pie because I intend to bake an apple pie of my own. I also tried a mixed berry turnover while I was there, which was delicious. It was especially yummy because my stomach was growling after the two hour drive.
That’s Apricot on the left and Strawberry Rhubarb on the right. But who can tell?
After leaving Mom’s we headed to Hale’s Orchard and picked up a bunch of blemished apples, which they refer to as “seconds.” I call them C-grade apples, which aren’t nice enough to sell in a grocery store, but certainly tasty enough and useful enough to turn into apple sauce or pies. So I bought 25 pounds. Normally I would get one variety, but since I don’t know anything about the varieties that are grown out here, I heeded the advice of the nice woman at the fruit stand and bought a variety. She said the best sauces and pies come from a mixture of apples.
A variety of C grade apples from Sonoma County
From Hale’s we made a pit stop at Andy’s market, an independent grocery store that has wonderful produce, a great selection of meats and cheeses and lots of great bulk food.
But we saved the best for last! We went to Wild Flour Bakery in Freestone. The *main* street, if you could call it that, is a small unassuming road off the main highway that you would miss altogether if you blinked. There are a few shops clustered together, but that’s it.
We went just days before US Thanksgiving so it was busier than normal, according to my travel companion, Elizabeth, who frequents this bakery quite regularly. The breads and bakes are outstanding!!! I got three loaves–a Fougasse that was stuffed with cheese, herbs and tomato. I got another flat bread, also stuffed with cheese and herbs, as well as a garlic loaf.
Beautiful breads from Wild Flour Bakery
I also got two scones; one sweet, the other savoury. Both were delicious, especially the chocolate walnut. Yum!
If you are in the area, these places are definitely worth checking out.
I haven’t been baking that much these days because my new oven is misbehaving. I’ve attempted to recalibrate the temperature but I can’t seem to get it right yet. My bakes are either getting burned on top and stay raw in the middle, or they stay limp and anemic looking. But today I decided to make a batch of brownies because I was in the mood for something chocolatey. I was prepared to take my chances for the sake of a craving.
This brownie recipe comes from the back of the package of cocoa–no secret ingredients, just good quality cocoa. But not just any cocoa; Dutch processed cocoa. Whenever I hear this term, I picture little blonde people in wooden clogs running cocoa beans through a stone grinder underneath a traditional windmill. It’s really a chemical process that was, in fact, developed by a Dutch man by the name of Coenraad Johannes van Houten back in the 19th century. Dutch processed cocoa is made with an alkalizing agent and it is supposed to be less acidic than naturally processed cocoa. So if you’re recipe calls for baking soda (also known as a leavening agent) to help your bake rise, it will need to react with something acidic like yogurt or buttermilk, because the cocoa powder has a neutral pH and won’t do anything to help those cookies, squares or cakes rise.
The colour of Dutch processes baking power is also darker than natural cocoa powder and is supposed to have a milder flavour.
The fudgey brownie batter
However these brownies are far from mild. They are fudge-y and rich and full of chocolatey flavour. They are full of butter, sugar, eggs and lots of cocoa. They are dead simple to make (no special folding whipping, resting or anything). The trick is making sure you take them out of the oven before they get over baked. Baking with chocolate means you can’t tell when your bake is done because it doesn’t really change colour the way a blonde batter would.
Pour the batter into a 9x 13 pan lined with parchment paper
I took these out after 25 minutes in the oven. Given that my oven is acting up, I probably could have taken them out after 20-ish minutes, but the recipe called for 30 minutes and I reduced it by 5.
I make these even more decadent by slathering on a generous helping of milk chocolate icing. For fun I put some chocolate sprinkles on (they look like baby Smarties). These go great with a cup of tea or a tall glass of cold milk. Or you could just gobble it up sans beverage.
Rodelle Gooey Fudge Brownies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with a parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Ingredients:
1 Cup + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 1/4 Cups sugar
5 eggs
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp flour
3/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 Tbsp salt (I omitted this)
1/2 Cup semisweet chocolate chips (I upped this to 1 Cup)
3/4 Cup chopped nuts (I omitted this)
Directions:
Melt the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl and let cool slightly. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix. Sift the dry ingredients together then combine with wet ingredients until just incorporated. Add chipits and nuts, mix and then pour into the pan. Bake until just firm (maximum 35 minutes). Let them cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting into squares. Enjoy!
Time for a break from making finnicky desserts and time for some down-to-earth comfort cookies. I fished out a recipe for these cookies that I got from my long time neighbour, Kelly. I remember she brought a freshly baked batch over to our house and they were gone in no time flat.
I can’t remember the last time I made these, probably because the kids can’t take these in their school lunches (or rather, I won’t let them–there are no laws here in California that prevent kids from bringing peanut and nut products to school, unlike in Ontario where Sabrina’s Law exists).
Some would argue these cookies bake best with processed peanut butter like Kraft or Skippy, but I only buy natural peanut butter. Just peanuts!
The butter mixed with the peanut butter was so creamy when I blended it together with the hand mixer.
Creamy peanut butter and unsalted butter
Then I added the requisite sugar, eggs and flour and voila! beautiful cookie batter.
Yes, sugar
I found a couple of Dairy Milk bars in the cupboard and decided to crush them up and throw them in the batter instead of using chipits and I’m glad I did.
Chocolate + peanut butter= sheer perfection
Just before baking, I used the back of a fork to press the requisite hash marks into each cookie. Because, peanut butter cookies. Right?
The resulting cookies were so creamy and delicious, and once again, they disappeared within a few days. I think the milk chocolate chunks also made a big difference.
These were quick and easy to make and didn’t require much, if any, skill or precision. So go make some!!!
Fork tine marks are required in peanut butter cookiesLet the cookies completely on a wire rack–if you can resist!
Kelly’s Peanut Butter Cookies
1 Cup peanut butter (I like to use all natural smooth PB)
1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 Cups, all purpose flour (or you can do half whole wheat flour for a slightly denser cookie)
2 bars of your favourite chocolate bar (I used Dairy Milk), crushed up into chunks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Blend peanut butter and butter together in a standing mixer or with a hand mixer until completely incorporated
Add eggs and blend followed by sugars
Add baking powder and flour(s) and blend until ingredients are incorporated.
Mix in chocolate chunks until evenly distributed
Scoop 1″ balls of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheet
Take the back of a fork and press firmly down until fork tine marks appear in flattened cookie (but not too hard!)
Bake for ~10 minutes until cookies are lightly browned
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (if you can wait that long!)
So if you thought I had a death wish when I decided to tackle puff pastry, think again. Pastry, shmastry! Puff pastry was a cake walk compared to making French macarons for the first time. Now I know why Laduree and Nadege charge a pretty penny for these dainty sweets.
To be honest, I didn’t spend a ton of time researching this recipe and maybe my results are proof that I should have spent more time studying before breaking out the almond flour. But I had six egg whites in the fridge after making those yummy Portuguese custard tarts. And I think I was feeling a little overconfident after making those divine tarts, nay, impatient to prove I could succeed again at making a *Patchka* recipe.
So here’s the deal with French macarons: historians tell a story of their origins in the 18th century around the time of the French revolution. Nuns who were seeking asylum made the meringue-like biscuits to sell in order to pay for their lodging at the local convent (there seems to be a pattern here with members of the cloth having a knack for baking–Portuguese custard tarts, anyone???). However, there are many other versions of the dessert that apparently date back as far as the 8th century.
And the name alone actually comes from the Italian “maccherone,” which means fine dough. There are accounts of future Queen of France, Catherine de Medici bringing the recipe over from Italy in the 1500’s.
The macarons we think of today–the two round biscuits sandwiched with a sweet filling in the middle–didn’t gain popularity until the 1930’s.
I watched an excellent tutorial by John, over at the Preppy Kitchen. He is meticulous and detailed in his explanation of the what, how and why of making macarons. There is even a term called “macronage” when it comes to incorporating the almond flour and icing sugar mixture with the stiffened egg whites. He is also not above pointing out that it took him many attempts before he got a decent batch of the cookies.
Super fine almond flour and icing sugar are sifted not once, not twice, but three times!Egg whites are whipped to a marshmallow-like consistencyThe delicate dance of “macronage” is underway.
Although I followed his instructions religiously, my biscuits did not come out with a nice glossy finish or crispy exterior as I had hoped. I blame the oven entirely. They taste delicious even if they look a little bit withered. And they are nice and fluffy and chewy.
The results of my first bake
Oh, my dull withered macarons…
I made a simple chocolate ganache for the filling. Next time I think I’ll try a caramel filling or french buttercream. Or maybe I’ll use some homemade jam!
Kind of looks like a Neopolitan cookie, doesn’t it?
All these ideas have bolstered my resolve to attempt the recipe again. Just not tomorrow. I need to recover from Round One.
My first batch of vanilla macarons with chocolate ganache filling
Did my puff pastry cliff hanger work? Well you needn’t wait any longer! I used about a third of my puff pastry recipe to make Portuguese custard tarts, which are one of my favourite pastries.
While the French introduced the world to puff pastry in the 17th century, the world would have to wait until the 18th century before Pasteis de Nata were invented.
Using my handy dandy Google translator, the literal translation of the pastry’s name is “you’re welcome pastry,” and you should thank the monks and nuns of the Jeronimos Monestery near Lisbon for these delightful creations.
I consulted with my tome on Home Baking, by husband and wife duo, Jeffrey Allford and Naomi Duguid, for the recipe.
I can’t say it was all that difficult to prepare, but you should note that you only use egg yolks for the filling, so plan ahead and make sure you’ve got another recipe up your sleeve for those egg whites (hint: recipe #5 involves egg whites!).
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the filling didn’t call for much sugar and as such, is not that sweet. But it is creamy and silky smooth and egg-y. The secret, I discovered, was to whisk the mixture excessively so there wouldn’t be a single lump or bump in it.
Whisk that egg-y filling!
The puff pastry, as you’ll see, was worked very quickly and chilled in the freezer while I prepared the filling (I even had help from some little hands!). It is the perfect vehicle for the filling and compliments to the creamy filling with a crunchy, buttery exterior.
Little hands made the puff pastry work go quickly4 inch rounds were cut out of the puff pastry and placed into a 12 cup muffin tinA perfect marriage of puff pastry and custard
It is baked at a high heat and then at the end gets a quick broil to create that nice browned, almost charred, top.
The finished Portuguese custard tarts straight out of the oven
The tarts are very quickly transferred to a wire rack to cool followed shortly thereafter by devouring, gobbling, you name it.
This homemade Pasteis de Nata is ready for its close up
Anyone who wants to make their own puff pastry from scratch must be asking for a death wish, right? Who, in this day and age of convenience foods would dain to make the most Potchka (Yiddish translated: finnicky) pastry known to mankind? That would be me.
I read about making “rough puff” which is the home baker’s shortcut method of making puff pastry. And I did seriously consider doing that as a time saver. But who was I kidding? I knew this was going to take time so why not roll up my sleeves and take the scenic route.
I familiarized myself with the process by watching Anna Olson’s instructional video.
According to lore, puff pastry was invented by a French pastrycook’s apprentice in the mid 1600’s. Apparently there is evidence that something akin to French puff pastry already existed in Spain, and of course, in Greece there was phyllo dough (which I haven’t attempted to make yet). Regardless of its origins, puff pastry only gained in popularity with the passage of time and is now used as a staple in all sorts of patisserie.
The process starts with making the detrempe–that’s the flour, water and a bit of butter “base.”
Setting out the ingredients for my puff pastry
This is followed by the beurrage, which is just pounds of butter (that’s three pounds in this particular recipe to be exact), mixed with a wee bit of flour so that it is maleable and doesn’t turn into a giant blob of greasiness.
Following the instructions closely, both of these were pressed into plastic wrap in an 8 inch by 8 inch pan and then placed into the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours.
The next step involves laminating the detrempe and the beurrage together without compromising the integrity of each layer. Both need to be cold but maleable enough to roll out. I followed Anna’s suggestion and actually wrapped the flour mixture in the butter, which is not how most recipes suggest doing it.
That is butter (ALOT of butter) wrapping around the dough
I worked quickly so as not to melt the butter layer. I folded and turned my sheets of pastry on itself in thirds a couple times before wrapping it up in a neat package and popping it back in the fridge for more chill time.
I repeated this a couple of times so there would be a good 12 layers or so.
Then I had to figure out what to make with this precious dough…would it be croissants? Tarts? Turnovers? Or should I go savoury and make something like Beef Wellington? Or chicken pot pie? You’ll have to wait until my next post to find out!
It may not look like much, but that is the beginnings of puff pastryThe laminated puff pastry, ready to become something delicious to eat!
The only reason I’m posting this right now is because I’m feeling a tad patriotic (and because some fellow Canadian moms asked for the recipe!). At the time of writing, the Raptors are in the NBA finals against the Golden State Warriors, who play but an hour away from the home I am sitting in right now. #WeTheNorth mania has taken over Toronto and much of the country north of the 49th parallel, not to mention a lot of the United States. There is even going to be a viewing party in San Francisco for one of the games co-hosted by the Canadian Consulate and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (the owners of the team).
It also feels like summer outside and I equate butter tarts with summer, not to mention Canada Day, which is around the corner too.
I’ve tried a few butter tart recipes, but I think this one is my favourite so far. The pastry is super easy to make and easy to manipulate–IF you follow the instructions.
And the filling is also straightforward. You are more than welcome to add raisins, pecans, craisins, or whatever your heart desires. I’m a purist and like to keep it plain. They are super rich, super sweet with a super flakey pastry and super worth the time and effort.
You’re non-Canadian friends will thank you, but be careful: once you share these with them, they will want them again. And again. And again.
Rosie Daykin’s Quintessential Butter Tart
Start by making All Butter Pastry (makes enough for a couple dozen tarts)
5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large egg
1 tablespoon white vinegar
water
Place flour and salt in a large bowl, drop the butter all over the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles large crumbs. You should still be able to see some butter in the flour.
Crack the egg into a liquid measuring cup and add the vinegar. Top up with enough cold water until it reaches 1 cup. Whisk until combined. Pour over the flour and butter mixture.
Mix with a fork until the dough starts to come together and looks ragged. Use your hands to gently finish mixing the dough and it takes shape. You should still see some butter bits!
Divide the dough into four even disks about 1/2 an inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or better yet, overnight.
Now prepare the filling:
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups of sultana raisins (if you like raisins!)
Whisk all the above ingredients together and put in a liquid measuring cup with a spout so it’s easy to pour.
Roll out the chilled pastry on a floured surface with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick. Use a 4 or 5-inch circular cutter to cut out the pastry circles.
Make sure your muffin tin is well greased with shortening (I use Crisco).
Rosie’s secret technique: Take each circle and pinch it at two points, best visualized as 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Then lift up and pinch 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock and place in the muffin tin. Fill the tin with the pastry and then chill in the fridge for about 10 or 15 minutes.
Fill each tart shell with about 2 Tbsp of raisins (or not). Then top with the filling until 2/3 full.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry has browned and the centre of the tarts are puffed and golden.
Make sure not to drip the filling down the side of the muffin tins, otherwise the sugar mixture will stick to the pan and you will have trouble getting the tarts out.
Allow tarts to cool a bit before removing from pan.
