Farmersgirl Kitchen

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

I like lots of mincemeat in my tarts and sometimes find that the small tarts tend towards an overload of pastry and not much mincemeat whereas a nice big tart means that it's mostly filling. The mincemeat I used for the tart is Instant Chocolate Mincemeat, this is mincemeat that you can mix up quickly using any mixture of dried fruits you have in your cupboard you can also add nuts, the chopped chocolate adds a lovely richness to the fruit mixture. Makes approximately 2 medium jars.

Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

for the mincemeat
Zest of a lemon
Juice of half a lemon

Juice of half an orange
2 Cox's Orange Pippin apples or 1 Bramley apple
2 cups mixed dried fruit
1 tbsp Tia Maria or brandy
1cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable suet
1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped

1. Put the zest and lemon juice in a bowl, grate the apple including the skin, into the juice.
2. Add all the other ingredients and stir.
3. Store in a lidded jar in the fridge until ready to use.

I used the Oxo Good Grips Box Grater to grate the apple. It was really quick to use and has a very comfortable handle and I love the little collection box which fits on the bottom of the grater, it even has a lid you can store whatever you've grated.

For the pastry

200g plain flour, plus extra for rolling

1/2 tsp salt

50g vegetable shortening or lard

70g butter

2tbsp sugar

1 egg

2tbsp water

1 tbsp flaked almonds to sprinkle on the top

1.Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Cut the shortening and butter into cubes and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs, then stir in the sugar (you can do this in a food processor)
2. Separate the egg and mix the yolk with the cold water set aside the white. Work the mixture together with a knife until it comes together, knead briefly. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5
4. Cut off 1/3 of the pastry and put to one side. Roll out the larger piece of pastry and use to line an 18cm flan/quiche tin.
5. Fill with mincemeat, then roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid.
6. Brush the edges of the pastry base with egg white and place the lid on, trim off excess pastry, press the edges of the pastry together. Brush the top of the pastry with egg white and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

I used a Masterclass Crusty Bake 18cm Quiche Tin from Kitchencraft, the holes in the tins mean that the steam escapes and there is less chance of a soggy bottom, which given that this mincemeat is quite wet, it performed extremely well.

7. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Leave for about 10 minutes to cool, then dust with icing sugar.

You can do this with a sieve or tea strainer, or you can use the Oxo Good Grips Baker's Dusting Wand which is a genius little gadget which I featured in my Christmas Gift Guide.

The Chocolate Mincemeat Tart did not disappoint. The pastry was crisp on the top and melted in the mouth and the fruit filling was lusciously sweet and moist with just enough tartness to prevent it being cloying. Much, much better than a mini mince pie!

I'm entering my Chocolate Mincemeat Tart for Family Foodies, the blog challenge run by Bangers and Mash and Eat your Veg. The theme is Festive Food and Mincemeat Tart is certainly a festive dessert.

Labels: almonds, chocolate, dried fruit, Kitchencraft, mincemeat, OXO Good Grips, pastry, suet, tart

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Hugh's Honey and Peanut Butter Flapjacks

There was nothing in the biscuit tin. There was nothing in the cake tin. I wanted something sweet now what did I have in the cupboard that would make a quick and easy sweet treat? I always have oats, dried fruits and a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds that we use in our bread, so I went looking for a FLAPJACK recipe and found this one by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in River Cottage Every Day:

Honey and Peanut Butter Booster Bars

Makes 16

125g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
125g no-sugar-added crunchy peanut butter
75g honey, plus a little more to finish
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
200g porridge oats (not jumbo)
150g dried fruit, such as raisins, sultanas and chopped apricots, prunes or dates, either singly or in combination
150g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed and sesame

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Grease and line a baking tin, about 20cm square.

Put the butter, sugar, peanut butter, honey and grated citrus zests in a deep saucepan over a very low heat. Leave until melted, stirring from time to time.

Stir the oats, dried fruit and three-quarters of the seeds into the melted butter mixture until thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture out evenly in the baking tin, smoothing the top as you go.

Scatter the remaining seeds over the surface and trickle with a little more honey. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden in the centre and golden-brown at the edges.

Leave to cool completely in the tin (be patient – it cuts much better when cold), then turn out and cut into squares with a sharp knife. These bars will keep for 5-7 days in an airtight tin.

These bars are really very moreish and you only need a small piece to fill you up. The fruit I used was mainly raisins with some dried cranberries and dried apricots. I used a mixture of smooth, crunchy and three nut peanut butter, because that's what I had in the house. The peanut butter doesn't dominate the taste of the bars and they are the soft and fudgy type of flapjack rather than the crisp, crunchy type.

I'm entering the flapjacks for Tea Time Treats, the monthly blog challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Janie at The Hedgecombers. July's Tea Time Treats is being hosted at The Hedgecombers.

Labels: apricots, cranberries, dried fruit, flapjacks, honey, Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall, oats, peanut butter, raisins, Tea Time Treats

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Farmersgirl Kitchen

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Hugh's Honey and Peanut Butter Flapjacks

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