Chocolate Passionfruit Banoffee Pie

Change is in the air. Last week was our first taste of autumn with my favourite kind of crisp mornings, sunny warm days and slightly cooler evenings. I've always thought that Sydney does the change of seasons really well. In the past I've always had great bursts of inspiration around spring, but I must have been too busy to notice last year because it's all happening right now. Better delayed than never! I get the feeling that 25 is going to be an interesting year.

But let's talk about this pie for a second. There's a chocolate pastry crust, a salted toffee caramel with just a hint of passionfruit, slices of banana that have been cooked in brown sugar, and on top some whipped cream and a mountain of chocolate shavings. It's Banoffee with a twist, and looks like the sort of decadent concoction that Miss Candy herself would think up. And boy, is it good!

Of course Easter is this coming weekend and this is a perfect choice for dessert. The pie crust and caramel can be made in advance, so putting it together on the day is a breeze. When making your caramel, watch the colour closely as it uses passionfruit juice rather than water and it's a little harder to tell when it's ready.

I hope you all have a lovely long weekend! If you're looking for any other Easter inspired recipes both savoury or sweet, head right over here.

Hazelnut Frangipane Tart with Semillon Vanilla Peaches

And just like that, we are almost halfway through January, and halfway through summer too. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I can’t get enough summer stone fruit! As much as I love yellow peaches, nectarines and plums, I had never given much thought to baking with white peaches before. But I love their light, floral taste and they are in season right now.


Over the weekend I wanted to experiment with a new tart crust recipe, based on Matt Moran's chocolate pastry that has never failed me. I hate it when pastry shrinks in the oven, but this recipe uses eggs to bind it together instead of water and eliminates that, so I wanted to see if a plain sweet version would work based on the same method. I'm happy to report that it did, and while its not as delicate and buttery as some other pastry recipes, it seems to be a little more reliable, easy to roll out, and it freezes really well too (this recipe made enough for two large tarts and a few smaller ones).

And so with the tart crust a success, I needed a delicious filling to go inside! Inspired by a beautiful dessert that my friend Karen made last summer, I decided to use hazelnuts, Frangelico and lots of vanilla in the frangipane mixture (because I had run out of almonds, oops) and it was so lovely.


And on top, some of the beautiful white peaches I had bought a few days earlier, cooked gently in a syrup made from dessert wine, honey and vanilla bean, just perfect. I used a lovely Cane Cut Semillon from Vasse Felix that has been one of my favourites since our lunch at the vineyard a few years ago that was a lovely match for the peaches. And if stone fruit isn't in season where you live, I think this would also be beautiful with apples or pears!

It was so nice to be pottering around in the kitchen again after all the craziness in the last few weeks. I'm so inspired by all the great produce around at the moment so I can't wait to share some more summery recipes with you before the season is over! But it has me curious, what is your favourite summer fruit? xx

Chocolate Baklava Fingers

I have had Greek food on the brain a lot lately, not least of all because one of our brand new venues at work is a heritage pub in Newtown downstairs and a Greek restaurant called The Animal upstairs. With all the menu revisions making me very very hungry, I was very much looking forward to going and checking it out.

Happily, the doors swung open about 2 weeks ago and things are going great guns. The decor is awesome and so is the food, although I have only sampled a very small portion of the menu so far. I am looking forward to going back with a big group of friends so with our stomachs combined we can try a whole lot more of the dishes - so stay tuned!


I have shared one recipe for baklava on this blog, a few years ago now, but I've always really loved the dessert and thought I'd make a slightly different version this time. Chocolate, cacao nibs, pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon, honey and crispy filo is a combination that I knew would be great so I set to work chopping, mixing, brushing and rolling these little baklava "fingers" - individual servings of sweet and sticky deliciousness.


There are so many ways that you could adapt this recipe. Add some orange zest to the filling or the honey syrup, try a different combination of nuts, use chopped dark chocolate instead of the cacao nibs, accompany the baklava, with fresh figs or pomegranate arils instead of the raspberries I have used, or serve with a slick of salted caramel sauce like they do at The Animal, or a scoop of ice cream while they're still warm. Yum!

Etch's Caramel Date Tart

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang

I used to think of myself as a strictly coffee-only kind of girl, but in the last few years that has definitely changed. Green tea in the morning, Earl Grey in the afternoon and Peppermint at night – but one thing that doesn’t change is that I love my tea hot, sweet and super strong. Which is why I was excited to try Twinings’ new blend, Assam Bold, originating from the region of the same name in India’s north-east.


The part that piqued my interest is that this is the strongest Twinings blend ever in Australia. It was nice to take the time to share a cup of tea with my Mum, something that we don’t get to do very often! I really liked the rich, strong, malty, biscuity flavour, and it didn’t have even a hint of bitterness that other black teas sometimes get when you brew them for a strong cup. I had mine with a little sugar, she had a little milk.


Of course I had to make a little tea-inspired dessert to go with it. I made a slight twist on the Caramel Date Tart from Etch, a restaurant which sadly closed its doors recently. I had this for a dessert on my birthday a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I steeped the dates in Assam Bold tea instead of Earl Grey, which meant it was a perfect match, carrying the flavours through wonderfully.

The caramel layer was smooth and creamy, and I was surprised to find that it was actually very easy to make. For afternoon tea I served it plain, but if you were making it for a dessert, a big scoop of ice cream and a little caramel sauce with the tart would be lovely.

I also have one Twinings tea chest to give away for one lucky reader so you can try out Assam Bold for yourself! To enter, leave a comment and tell me what is your favourite sweet treat to eat with a cup of tea. The competition is open until 5pm Friday 19th October, and the winner will be notified by email, so sorry but no anonymous comments will be eligible. For full Terms & Conditions, please click here.

This competition is now closed.

Cherry & Pimm's Pie

I look forward to cherry season every year. It's a short but sweet couple of months where I quite literally gorge on them at every opportunity. Our cherry season is still quite a way off, but the imported cherries from the USA have been delicious, abundant and downright cheap this year, and I couldn't help but turn a few into a lovely pie. I know they have travelled an awfully long way and I should be cooking seasonally, but this cherry addict kinda doesn't care. I also tried blushing pink Rainier cherries for the first time this year and loved their sweet flavour, although they didn't make it into the pie as we I ate them all first!


It was actually a stunning winter's day on Sunday when I made these pies, warmer outside than in the house so we opened up the windows and let that almost-warm breeze flow through. A nice reminder that spring is on its way. My thought process while I was rolling out the pastry went a little like this...

Is 11am too early for Pimm's? It's perfect weather for it. I should make another recipe with Pimm's one of these days. Those Pimm's and Pomegranate Macarons we had in Melbourne were amazing. My kitchen is covered in cherry juice, it looks like a crime scene. Really must buy a cherry pitter. I wonder if Pimm's would go with cherries. I could muddle a few in a glass... I could put Pimm's in the pie filling!! DING DING!!


Unfortunately the taste ended up being quite subtle for this Pimm's fan, so I've amended the recipe below to hopefully give a stronger Pimm's taste in the finished product. But Pimm's or no Pimms, the pies are delicious warm or cold with a big scoop of ice cream on top. I wish I had some chocolate coated popping candy to sprinkle on top like the one at Gazebo!

Have a lovely week everyone! xo

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

 I'm smiling as I write this post, thinking about what a great time I had in Perth over the Easter long weekend. The weather was just stunning, the mood was relaxed (yay holidays!) and I got to hang out with my very favourite person. It doesn't get much better than that. On Easter Sunday we hosted a nice casual lunch with the best roast pork I've made to date (mmmm crackling), heaps of sides and this Salted Caramel Cheesecake for dessert.

Yes I'm sharing this recipe a little after the fact, but it was so delicious I couldn't let it sit another week on my hard drive. I had been wanting to make this Salted Caramel Cheesecake ever since it graced the cover of the 2011 Entertaining Issue of Donna Hay.
 I have a love/hate relationship with Donna's recipes these days, sometimes they work flawlessly - like this one, happily - but I've also had my fair share of utter disasters where I can't figure out if I did something wrong, or if the recipe wasn't properly tested before it was published. Those disasters often end up in the bin and not on the blog! So past frustrations aside, I gave this recipe a crack, sticking to the instructions exactly. Well, almost exactly... I couldn’t help adding a glug of bourbon to the caramel sauce.

I am usually a bit iffy about ricotta as a general rule, but I loved the texture of this cheesecake. It was rich but not sickly sweet thanks to the addition of sour cream to the topping. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be pulling out again for the next special occasion! 

And here’s a gif, just because.

Vanilla Passionfruit Slice

When I got home from Perth, there was a gorgeous and unexpected surprise waiting for me at home - a beautiful basket of passionfruit, sent by the lovely folks at Impact Communication. While I love passionfruit, it's not something I bake with very often and I was thankful for this little reminder to do so.

It took me a little while to think of what to make – everything from pavlova to cocktails crossed my mind – but when I saw this recipe in Gourmet Traveller, I was sold. My mum is a vanilla slice fiend! It's one of her favourite desserts and one of the only ones she's made special requests for (every year around Mothers Day in fact!)



For those that don’t know, a vanilla slice is kind of an Australian classic, and can be a beautiful thing when done right – two layers of flaky puff pastry, with a creamy vanilla custard in between. I was never a huge fan until I made my first homemade one with real vanilla bean a few years ago. It was so different from any storebought one I'd ever tried - the custard wasnt stodgy or starchy, the pastry wasnt soggy and the vanilla taste really shone through.

This time around I added fresh passionfruit to both the custard and the glaze and it was absolutely delicious. Actually what really got me was how good the passionfruit made my kitchen smell for hours and hours afterwards. But something disturbing that I noticed, was the fact that every commercial brand of puff pastry in the supermarket contained some kind of vegetable shortening and not real butter. So next time I’m being a little more organised and picking up a pack of Careme pastry, or taking the time to make my own puff pastry from scratch. The difference is incredible and helps to make this a truly spectacular dessert.

Thanks again to Impact Communication for the gorgeous passionfruits that inspired this dessert.



Vanilla Passionfruit Slice
Serves 6
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller

• 2 sheets butter puff pastry

Passionfruit Vanilla Custard
• 150g caster sugar
• 100g cornflour
• 810ml (3 ¼ cups) milk
• 125ml passionfruit juice*
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 2 egg yolks
• 40g butter, softened

*To make passionfruit juice, blend passionfruit pulp in a food processor to crack seeds then strain through a fine sieve. You will need about 6 or 7 passionfruits.

Passionfruit Icing
• 150g pure icing sugar, sifted
• 2 passionfruit, pulp only

Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Roll out the pastry to fit inside a 27x17cm brownie pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

For the custard, combine sugar and cornflour in a saucepan over medium heat, add milk a little at a time, whisking until smooth. Add juice and vanilla seeds. Bring just to the boil, whisking until smooth and thick. Remove from the heat, whisk in yolks and butter and set aside.

Line brownie pan with baking paper. Place a piece of pastry in the base and pour over the custard. Level with a palette knife and top with another piece of pastry. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

For the icing, combine ingredients and a bowl and mix. Spread over slice and serve. Cut with a serrated knife.

Key Lime Pie with Homemade Graham Cracker Crust

I’ve had a long-standing fascination with Key Lime Pie, since the very first time I saw it in a recipe magazine when I was young. But I had never tried it, let alone baked it until now! I always thought of it as the cousin of the Lemon Meringue Pie, which was one of my childhood favourite desserts.

The recipe originated in Florida during the 19th century, where you can find key limes, which smaller and a little more tart than regular limes. Floridians are serious about their famous dish, in 1965 even calling for a fine to be put into place for anyone advertising Key Lime Pie that was not made with key limes! Unfortunately key limes (or even bottled key lime juice) are almost impossible to find here in Australia, so I had to use regular limes. Just don’t tell anyone!


Surprisingly, I learned that the recipe has hardly changed since its invention. Before refrigeration, condensed milk in cans could be stored much more easily than fresh cream or milk. And with limes in abundance, it’s likely that fishermen combined the condensed milk and eggs from their supplies to create what then became one of America’s most famous desserts.

I used homemade Graham crackers, which were then pulverised into crumbs for my crust, and the recipe from Pepe’s Café in Key West (via Bon Appetit) for the filling. The addition of whipped egg whites gave the pie a lighter texture, in fact it was almost like cheesecake. But boy was it sweet. Next time I’d add a little finely grated lime zest to the filling along with the juice for a little more tang. I topped my pie with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and a handful of Coconut Chips, my new favourite snack.

So tell me, what is your favourite American dessert?

Peach and Bourbon Pie + 13 Ways with Peaches

It’s just not summer without delicious, juicy stone fruit. Peaches are one of my ultimate favourites, and they have been especially beautiful this year. There are so many interesting things you can do with them, so I thought I would share a few ideas courtesty of some of my favourite blogs (and a few old favourites from my own archives) that will hopefully inspire you to get creative with peaches before the summer is over. I’ve also got a seriously delicious recipe to share with you too, at the end of the post. Enjoy!



Picture Credits: Bless Her Heart & Verses From My Kitchen

1. What could be better than peaches with your Pimm’s? Not much I imagine. Bless Her Heart gives us a lovely recipe for a Pimms Cocktail that has a triple hit of peach with peach bitters, peach syrup and lovely fresh peaches too!

2. Another lovely drink (with possibly the best name ever) is The Shucks Deluxe from Verses From My Kitchen. I love the sound of this summery drink with vodka, honey and a hint of rosemary. Yum!



Picture Credits: Endless Simmer & Cherry Tea Cakes

3. Yes, yes, I know I’m a little bit obsessed with boozy pops lately, but these Strawberry Peach Vodka Collins Pops from Endless Simmer sound amazing! I love the sound of peach, strawberry and vodka together in one adult iceblock.

4. This Peach and Lemon Thyme Ice Cream from Cherry Tea Cakes sounds pretty amazing. I love combining fruit and herbs and this recipe sounds like a winner!

Picture Credits: Citrus and Candy & Spicy Icecream

5. This delicious Summer Verrine of Peaches and Honey comes courtesy of my friend Karen from Citrus and Candy, which looks like the best way to enjoy both yellow and white peaches, apart from eating them fresh with the juices running all the way down your arm!

6. Peach and Ginger is a lovely combination that works so well in this ice cream, especially served with a delicious gooey blondie. Or, serve this in ice cream sandwich form as in the original recipe from Whimsy and Spice via Design*Sponge.

Picture Credits: Always With Butter & Spicy Icecream

7. How stunning is this Peaches and Cream Layer Cake from Always With Butter! I love the sound of the mascarpone ‘frosting’ that I think would truly let the peaches shine. I wish my birthday was in summer so I could have this as my cake!

8. This Yoghurt and Almond Cake with Caramel Peaches is one from my own archives and I had to include it because it’s a beautifully simple cake that is a great base for any number of flavours. I just loved this version topped with caramel peaches.

Picture Credits: What Katie Ate & Inspiring The Everyday

9. These Praline Peaches from What Katie Ate just look magical don’t they? They are baked in honey and served with a homemade praline and lightly sweetened mascarpone. I can’t wait to make these for my next summer dinner party!

10. Peaches are also lovely as part of a decadent weekend breakfast! I love the look of the Roasted Peach Crepes from Inspiring the Everyday. I mean isn’t that photo beautiful! I’ve never made crepes before but these with a little whipped cream and dark cherry jam look like perfection!

Picture Credits: Raspberri Cupcakes & Gourmet Traveller

11. Steph from Raspberri Cupcakes did a wonderful job recreating the classic dessert Peach Melba into Macaron form with raspberry buttercream and poached peach. And aren’t the heart shapes totally cute!

12. As soon as I saw the Pork Pizza with Provolone and Peach in Gourmet Traveller, Ut Si Café was a must visit for our Tasmania trip early last year. And I’m so glad we did, because that pizza (changed up in different seasons and served with pear when we had it) was absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try it at home!



13. I’m so glad I have been able to finally make the Peach and Bourbon Pies that have been floating around in my head for such a long time now, and they were even more delicious than I imagined they would be! I used my favourite pastry recipe again, although I found it necessary to put it back into the fridge a few times because the heat made it quite tricky to work with, and the filling couldn’t be simpler. These little pies were very popular around here. They were great hot or cold, served with ice cream or completely plain. There's one left and I think someone's going to have to fight me for it!

Peach and Bourbon Pies
Serves 6

Vanilla Pastry (adapted from Gourmet Traveller)
• 450g plain flour
• 120g pure icing sugar, sifted
• 225g cold butter, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons iced water

Peach and Bourbon Filling
• 5 or 6 peaches (depending on size)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• ½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 1 tablespoon cornflour

To make the pastry, combine flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add 3-4 tablespoons iced water and vanilla extract and pulse until mixture just combines. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). For the pie filling, peel peaches and remove stones. Cut each peach half into quarters, and depending on the size, you may need to cut them in half again. Combine peach slices and the rest of the ingredients for pie filling in a bowl and stir gently to combine. Set aside.

To assemble pies, roll two-thirds of the pastry between sheets of non-stick baking paper to 3mm thick and use to line 6 buttered 9.5cm diameter pie pans. Fill with peach mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to 3mm thick and cut into 1cm strips. Place strips over tops of pies in a lattice shape, press down and trim edges. Brush tops with egg wash and scatter with raw sugar. Bake pies for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Mixed Berry Cobbler with Buttermilk Pastry

If I were forced to choose only one kind of sweet to make for the rest of my life, it would have to be gorgeous, rustic, Southern-style fruit desserts. From pies to crisps, buckles to slumps, I am in love with them all…especially their curious names! You can’t really go wrong with baked fruit and pastry with a big scoop of ice cream on top.



Today I’ve got a beautiful recipe for you guys, and I’m not ashamed to say I ate pretty much all of this on my own because I didn’t want to share! To make the most of the delicious berries that are in season at the moment, I baked up a Berry Cobbler. I used a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and red currants subtly flavoured with elderflower, topped with a delicious buttermilk biscuit pastry.



It was a really great dessert, one I’m sure would be a delicious ending to any summer BBQ. Bonus points because it takes hardly any time at all to put together, and you can definitely play around with the fruits and flavours you use. Any kind of stone fruit would be delicious, from cherries to peaches or even apricots. In winter, try it with apples and pears spiced with cinnamon and vanilla.



Mixed Berry Cobbler with Buttermilk Pastry
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Serves 2 hungry people

• 400g mixed berries (I used a combination of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and red currants)
• 200g raw caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 40ml elderflower cordial or liqueur

Buttermilk Pastry
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 50g butter, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar, plus extra for scattering
• 90ml buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 180°C (400°F). Combine berries, sugar, flour and elderflower cordial or liqueur in a bowl and divide between 2 ovenproof bowls (or in one larger bowl if you prefer)

For the buttermilk pastry, process flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add buttermilk and process until mixture forms a dough, then transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Roll out to 5mm thick and cut out 5cm rounds with a pastry cutter. Arrange over berries, overlapping slightly. Brush tops with a little extra buttermilk and scatter raw sugar over pastry. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until fruit is bubbling and pastry is golden and risen. Serve hot with ice cream.

Mixed Berry Lattice Pies

I’m a big believer that things happen for a reason. Although sometimes it’s not easy to see what that reason is straight away when everything seems to be going wrong. But I’ve found that with a little bit of faith, things tend to work out even better than you’d hoped. The older I get, the harder it is to follow that advice. I’m not too good at waiting for things to happen, but I’ve learned better than to force things before the time is right. Especially when major life decisions are involved. Maybe in a few months if all things go to plan, I can elaborate. But for now I must be patient.



When I thought up the idea for these pies, I had planned to make them with a vodka pastry. It might sound strange, but the science makes sense. Having pastry shrink is one of my biggest pet hates, but because vodka is just 60% water, it will give your pastry the moisture it needs to roll out beautifully, but won’t evaporate in the oven (and therefore make your pastry shrink) like water will. Plus being colourless and odourless, you won’t even know it’s there.



But unfortunately the vodka pastry was a bit of a failure. I knew it long before I rolled it out and lined the tins, but I persevered and wasted some of my precious berry filling on the damn failed pies. I think was my own fault, but it’s definitely dissuaded me from using shortening in pastry. From here on out, it's butter all the way. In a moment of panic, I turned to a recipe I’ve used before. It’s totally delicious, with a hint of vanilla, and is absolutely perfect for pies. Why on earth didn't I just use this pastry to begin with?!



I’ll say it simply, I loved these pies. The combination of beautifully ripe strawberries, blueberries and raspberries made them perfect for this time of year when berries are in season, abundant, and affordable! Served simply with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream, you can’t ask for better than this.

And perhaps there’s a lesson here. And maybe next time I’ll pay attention. Don’t try to force something else when you can feel in your gut that it’s not right. It’s okay to stick with something tried and true. And when it tastes this good, it would be crazy not to! So here's to patience, and to pies.



Mixed Berry Lattice Pies
Serves 6

Vanilla Pastry (adapted from Gourmet Traveller)
• 450g plain flour
• 120g pure icing sugar, sifted
• 225g cold butter, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons iced water

Pie Filling
• 150g strawberries, hulled and cut in halves (or quarters if strawberries are large)
• 100g blueberries
• 75g raspberries
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon cornflour

• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• Raw Sugar, for dusting

To make the pastry, combine flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add 3-4 tablespoons iced water and vanilla extract and pulse until mixture just combines. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Combine ingredients for pie filling in a bowl and stir gently to combine. Set aside.

To assemble pies, roll two-thirds of the pastry between sheets of non-stick baking paper to 3mm thick and use to line 6 buttered 9.5cm diameter pie pans. Fill with berry mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to 3mm thick and cut into 1cm strips. Place strips over tops of pies in a lattice shape, press down and trim edges. Brush tops with egg wash and scatter with raw sugar. Bake pies for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Chocolate and Pear Tart with Cardamom Creme Anglaise

I bought some absolutely beautiful pears last week. I know, I know, I get a little obsessed with them every winter, but how could you not? They lend themselves to cold-weather cooking so beautifully, both in sweets and savouries. When I got home, I found that Mum had also bought a slew of pears and my brain went into overdrive thinking about what I could do with them all. And for some reason, every idea seemed to involve pears and chocolate.

I was a little wary of the combination at first but I’ve seen it work beautifully and I wanted to give it a try. I used Matt Moran’s insanely good chocolate crust from the Aria Chocolate tart, which is kind of magical. It uses eggs to bind it together instead of iced water, which I think is the reason that it doesn’t shrink in the oven. It’s a godsend because shrinking pastry is one of my absolute pet hates in baking!

The tart filling is lovely and rich thanks to the ground almonds and cocoa. I underbaked mine a tiny bit so it was nice and gooey in the middle, with the perfectly cooked pears lending a lovely floral taste. It just was delicious with a lightly spiced cardamom crème anglaise. I loved how elegant this dessert turned out to be, and it would be a great way to end a dinner party. And, as always, a good splash of booze in the filling wouldn’t go astray – perhaps some Kahlua for a slight coffee hit.



Pear and Chocolate Tart with Cardamom Crème Anglaise
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 8

Chocolate Pastry (this makes enough for 2 tarts)
• 320g plain flour
• 60g cocoa
• 160g caster sugar
• 160g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2 eggs

Filling
• 160g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup almond meal
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 firm, ripe pears (use 4 if pears are small)

Cardamom Crème Anglaise
• 3 egg yolks
• 55g caster sugar
• 6-8 cardamom pods
• 250ml milk
• 250ml pouring cream

To make the chocolate pastry, place the flour, cocoa, sugar, butter and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add eggs and process until dough just starts to come together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Flatten into a disc shape, wrap in clingwrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick. Line the base and sides of two tart tins (I used 20cm round tins) with the pastry, and trim any excess. Alternately, halve pastry, wrap excess in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 6 months. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking weights or rice. Bake at 160°C (320°F) for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until firm to the touch. Allow to cool.

To make the filling, place butter, almond meal, sugar, eggs, cocoa and vanilla extract in the bowl of a food processor and process until combined. Spread mixture evenly in prepared tart crust. Peel, halve and core pears. Cut into quarters and slice horizontally, but not all the way through. Arrange on top of chocolate mixture, pressing in very slightly.

Increase oven temperature to 180°C (350°F). Place pan on baking sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes or until top is puffed and toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Cool completely in pan.

In the meantime, make the cardamom crème anglaise. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Place the milk, cream and cardamom in a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to infuse for 30 minutes. Return to the heat and rewarm. Whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, and return to the saucepan.

Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil. Strain through a fine sieve, allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold. Crème anglaise will keep refrigerated for one or two days. To serve warm, gently reheat in a saucepan over low heat.