Berry Custard Flan

It's now a standing joke on family meal night that where possible I like to add toffee sauce to everything. I mean I do make my own sauce and it is very tasty and everyone likes it, I just seem to try and pair it with everything ;)

So once again this dessert was paired with a lovely homemade toffee sauce. The beautiful thing about this dessert is that it looks so pretty and tastes very yummy, but requires very little skill or effort, which is very handy when you've been paying more attention to the main course :)

This is similar to a dessert I've already posted except I changed the cream to custard and chose berries instead of strawberries ....

Ingredients:
1 store bought flan case.
custard - I used birds custard powder and made it thicker than the instructions said but you could be fancy and make your own
your jam of choice
a selection of berries or your favourite seasonal fruit.

Method:
Cook the custard according to the instructions / your recipe.  Remember to make it thicker than usual as it will need to set and hold it's shape. Place in the fridge to set and cool. (roughly and hour).
Spread an even layer of jam on the flan case, this I like to call the moist maker like on friends with the turkey sandwich episode? anyone ? no, ok...
Now spread/pour on the cold custard and return to the fridge to set again, roughly half an hour or so.
Now your flan is ready to decorate s you wish. I used raspberries, blueberries and red currents but you can choose what you like.
Layer them on top of the custard and that is it!

TOFFEE SAUCE.
1 large knob butter
3 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
1/2 pint double cream.
 Melt the butter in pan, add the sugar, gently stirring, and then add the cream. Do not over cook, but make sure the sugar is dissolved.  I serve my toffee sauce warm so it is runny as it goes thicker is cool.

 It's a little messy to dish up, but I think that was because my custard wasn't quite thick enough, so be careful not to make it too runny..

Lastly Alfred was being a little pain as I was photographing the dessert, cheeky little worm :)

Quick and easy Raspberry tarts

I have been so busy with college work and the tearoom recently that Ive had to come up with a few quick recipes for meals and desserts that I could whip up quickly and that didn't involve too much time. This little tart is perfect and takes no time at all!

Ingredients:

All butter pastry cases (you could make them yourself, but for a quick dessert these are really good)

clotted cream or creme patisserie

a punnet of raspberries (or a fruit of your choice)

150g milk or white chocolate

1 tablespoon jam

1 dessert spoon of sugar

Melt your chocolate over a pan of hot water or in the microwave. I used milk chocolate because that's what we had in, but white chocolate usually goes with these types of tarts (but it's totally up to you which you pick). Spoon roughly 1-3 teaspoons of chocolate into each tart case.

For the creme -  I used clotted cream as Scott hates custard style fillings, but both work well. I loosened my cream with a little milk, and added a dessert spoon full of sugar to sweeten it a little. Spoon it over the tart until it's almost full.

Now add your fruit! I like raspberries best as they are my favourite fruit and they look quite symmetrical which looks good really. You could try strawberries, mixed fruits, or whatever you liked (that's the fun part).

This part is optional, but it adds a little shine to the tarts - Melt the jam with a tablespoon of water until melted. Gently spoon over the fruit to create a sort of glaze for your tart.

And that is all! They look like a lot of time and effort but really they're dead simple as you can see.I hope you enjoy :)

Shortbread samples

Over the last few weeks I've been lucky enough to help test some samples for the new tearoom my parents are opening in the near future. Ive tried everything from fruit presses, scones, brownies, shortbread etc, and it's been wonderful! I particularly like the fruit cordials and presses, as I have a bit of a love affair with anything made with elderflower, and I found the brand that makes the perfect bottle! I will post more about this once everything has been finalised, but until then I will leave you with a few images from this week's samples....

Here are some delicious shortbread I had for lunch yesterday. They were crumbly and delicious, but after consuming too many I decided to 'jazz' them up a bit and added clotted cream, raspberries and a sprig of mint. The combination is so yummy, and really transforms them into a delicious treat or even a small dessert!

I had them with a glass of cold full fat milk, because let's face it, life's too short to bother with skimmed milk, especially to drink on it's own.

I have a bit of a t'hing' for paper straws, especially the red and white kind, and when they came in the post the other day I was so excited! They make whatever your drinking feel that bit more interesting and special!

Here is Scott sampling a lightly sparkling plum presse. The colour was so pretty, but we both agrees it needed a bit more 'oomf' as it wasn't as plum-y as we had hoped.