blueberry porridge

Winter mornings can go die in a hole. 

Having an excuse to eat this however, makes them just a little better. 

blueberry porridge [serves 1]

1/3 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup of either milk, water or a combination

handful of blueberries [okay, I think 1/3 cup is sufficient but I go a little overboard cos I love my berries]

1 tsp brown sugar

cinnamon

maple or golden syrup for serving

1. Combine the oats and milk/water in a saucepan and leave it to stand to soften them.

2. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally until oats are further softened. [5-10 minutes]

3. Add blueberries and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Transfer to bowl, top with syrup and cinnamon and eat. 

Sorry for the shifty photo. I didn't realise it was out of focus until I uploaded them onto my computer and by that time, I was already eating it. So yeah, this will have to do.

Instant sachet porridge can also die in a hole. If you guys have not tried making your own stove top porridge, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is so much creamier, tastier and you don't have that explosion of milk every time you make it. You know the one I'm talking about. It's the reason why you use a bowl four times too big when microwaving oats. It does take longer so perhaps make it on weekends. Late Sunday mornings are a great time for indulgent breakfasts.

And also, frozen berries are your friend. I could never survive winter without them.

Sorry for the short post, but stuff to do, things to cram. 

Okay, study time.

Remember, partying is for the weak. Only hardcore kids like us spend our weekends at libraries. Alone.

chocolate + raspberry tart

chocolate and raspberry tart experiment

Aim: To make a dessert for a hoard of hungry Asian relatives coming over this Sunday.

Hypothesis: Due to past experiences with baking, the task is quite possible. However, due to the factor called me ceebsing, it cannot be certain that I can be bothered to do it.

Equipment:

sweet pastry (for a 22cm tin)

200g/1 2/3 cups plain flour

[It's always best to weigh out ingredients but I've given the approximate cup measurements too]

large pinch of salt
70g unsalted butter (cut into 1cm cubes)
80g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-2 drops vanilla extract

tart filling

70g raspberries (you can be as stingy our generous as you want)
145g dark chocolate (60%-70% or 50% if you're a wimp)
115g unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
1 large egg (stirred with a fork)
3 egg yolks (stirred with a fork)
2 tbsp sugar-

Method:

sweet pastry

1. The flour and salt was sifted into a large bowl.
2. The butter was rubbed into the flour until it resembled fine breadcrumbs.
3. The sugar was stirred in and a well was made in the centre.
4. The egg and vanilla was worked in with a pastry knife. [So pretty much keep cutting through the mixture with the knife until it forms a rough ball]. Water could be added if the mixture was too dry.
5. The dough was put onto a lightly floured surface. With the palm of a hand, the dough was smeared away continually until smooth.
6. The dough was gathered into a ball, wrapped in plastic and was refrigerated for 20 minutes.
7. A tart tin was greased with butter.
8. The dough was rolled out to slightly larger than the tin. It was then rolled onto a rolling pin.
9. The dough was rolled back out onto the tin.
10. With a small piece of excess dough, the pastry was pressed into the sides of the tin. [Pressing with your fingers tend to damage the pastry so using dough is more gentle]
11. The excess pastry was trimmed and the pastry was pricked with a fork. [Allows steam to escape while baking]
12. A piece of baking paper was crushed into a ball and opened out again. This was put over the pastry.
13. Baking beans/rice/grains were placed over the paper. [This is called blind baking which prevent the base from becoming soggy when cooked]
14. The pastry was baked in a preheated 190 degree Celsius oven for 10 minutes.
15. The beans were removed and the pastry was cooked for a further 10 minutes or until the centre began to colour.
16. The pastry case was cooled on a wire rack.

Rolling Pastry onto a Tin

tart filling

1.The oven was preheated to 190 degrees Celsius.
2. Around two thirds of the raspberries were arranged into the pastry case.
3. The chocolate and butter were melted separately in two bowls. This could be done over a double boiler or in a microwave. They were cooled down until warm, not hot [60 degrees Celciusish].
4. The egg was added and using a rubber spatula, was gently combined with the chocolate. [Try not to add any air into the chocolate]
5. The egg yolks were then stirred in, then the sugar and then the melted butter.
6. The ganache was poured into the pastry case.
7. The tart was baked for 16 minutes until the surface was dull and the centre 'jiggly'. [Original recipe says 11 minutes]
8. The tart was cooled for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack and topped with fresh raspberries before serving.

Diagrams:

double boiler

Results:

The chocolate ganache was a little too soft and needed more time in the oven. The raspberries balanced out the rich chocolate nicely and the pastry was good but could have been a little softer.

Conclusion: Most relatives seem to have enjoyed the tart so I call it a reasonable win.

Discussion:

Firstly...why the fudge is this a scientific report? [See what I did there? "Fudge" Both a way to avoid swearing AND food blog relevant. Haha! I be so funny. Why am I still typing in brackets?] Anyway this tart was pretty simple to make. Just make your basic pastry, roll it out and bake it. The chocolate filling wasn't really that hard but I kinda epic failed the first time I made it. The chocolate and butter completely split and I ended up with a bowl of grease with chocolate lumps in it. I would take photos but I think that might put you off. So when that happens, just give up and start over as there is no way to salvage the chocolate. Now I am stuck with about 7 egg whites. I'm actually not that sure it split, but generally, chocolate splits when it is over heated or if in comes in contact with water...I see a word equation coming up...

Chocolate (aq) + Water (aq or g) --heat--> ZOMG EPIC CHOCOLATE DISASTER FAIL!!! ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

Yeah...

Sorry that most of the "baking in progress" photos are kinda shitastic. You do not know how hard it is to try taking photos and bake at the same time. Actually I will tell you-but in a later post. And I generally bake at night [that sounds somewhat hardcore] meaning that the lighting is really bad and when light=bad, photo=bad.

Oh, and see my attempt to plate up of fancy/pretentious/overlyexpensiveripofffoodwhereonlyaquarter-oftheplatehasfoodonit style.

Ooh yeah. And I attempted to do another shot of the tart with a small bite taken out of it [You know the typical food photography one] but that didn't really work out.

I took one bite and didn't stop until this stage where my tastebuds/stomach were satisfied and I remembered that I was supposed to be taking photos. Ahh well, I tried.

Last thing, shout outs, The pastry recipe was taken from some recipe book I've had in my home for ages. The chocolate filling is a Pierre Herme recipe that has been floating around on the internet. One day, I will buy his recipe books and will be a happy day for us all. 


And this brings us to the inevitable end of the blog post,


So long little children. 


Remember, fruit is for losers, unless combined with chocolate. Then that's okay.