Wednesday 15 April 2020

Fruity Freezer Tart - Quarantine Baking

At the start of the virus crisis, my mojo went on holidays - without me:-)  I have struggled to do much except cook and bake and clean - and eat!  I was supposed to be writing short stories for competitions - nah, didn't happen.  Blog posts? - nope, my brain was/is a no-go zone.  But the car is soooo clean, and Mr P.'s hair is veeerrry short.  It's just so soothing to clip away all that fuzz from his (somewhat balding) head.

So, anyways, my fridge and freezer are looking good, and lots of funny little bags of whatever have been used.  I found some frozen pastry in the downstairs freezer (I never look there!); I found several different kinds of frozen fruit, and I had some cream about to expire.  Frozen fruit tart it was then.  You can make your own pastry if you wish, (if you can find flour) and use fresh fruit, but blah blah blah.  Come on, this is quarantine cooking, my friends.  Use whatever you have.  Oh, that's right, I had three floury apples about to head South, so I puréed them up too.


decorated and ready to eat


ingredients:


1 sheet of frozen shortcrust pastry


Apple purée:

3 medium-sized apples

60 mL (1/4 cup) water

a big knob of butter - say, 1 tbs 

2-3 tbs caster sugar


Fruit compote:

250-300g. frozen fruit (any sort, your choice) - I had cherries and berries (mixed) and cranberries - placed on a baking tray to thaw

1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

2 tbs caster sugar

2 tsp cornflour

1½ tbs water


Creamy topping:


1 tub (250g.) Philly Caramilk cream cheese, or plain Philly cheese

180 mL (3/4 cup) thickened cream

1 tbs caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste (optional)


rose powder and/or dried rose petals to decorate (optional)


Method:


First, lightly butter your pie dish, place the frozen sheet of pastry on top, then gently push it into place when it starts to thaw

Then push it firmly into the tin, trim the edges, cover with a piece of baking paper and some pie weights, and bake at 185C for 15 minutes

Take off the weights (and baking paper), and back it goes into the oven to crisp up for another 5 or so minutes, till golden

Put aside to get completely cool

Now the apples:

Meanwhile, roughly peel, core and slice the apples, tip into a medium saucepan over a low heat, and add the water

Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes till tender

Add the butter and sugar, and simmer for a few more minutes

Put aside to cool, then mash roughly - it's quarantine cooking, we don't care about any lumps, do we? :-)

Now for the fruit compote:

Tip the thawed fruit into a medium saucepan with the vanilla and sugar

Watch it carefully, and stir regularly while it simmers away for 5-8 minutes

Mix the cornflour and water together in a teacup to make a slurry; pour into the fruit, stir well and cook it out for a couple of minutes - you will end up with a beautiful, darkly-pink, slightly-thickened compote

Cool it, of course  - that's the compote, not you - unless you need to...

And now for the creamy topping:

Spoon the caramilk (or plain) Philly cheese into a mixing bowl, grab your electric beaters (or hand beater) and beat for 3-4 minutes

Add the cream, sugar and vanilla, and beat for several more minutes - you want this to be fluffy and airy

Now the fun part, putting it all together:

Spoon the apple purée over the base of the tart, then on goes the fruity compote

Then the creamy, cheesy topping gets spread evenly over the compote

Cast on the bling, if using 

Let it settle for a couple of hours in the fridge, and eat!


Notes: 

I didn't weigh the fruit - use more or less, as you please.  Use whatever frozen fruit you have, but I think the cranberries were almost essential to the sweet/sour flavours of this tart

I used some wild hibiscus sugar for this dish; it adds the most beautiful colour and flavour


Thanks to those kind readers who wished me well recently.  I have been really down these past few weeks, and I hope I'm now starting to come out of the dumps!  All the best to you, too!



apple purée covering the baked tart crust - (I know I know, it looks murky, but there was some skin involved)


fruit compote on top of the apple purée


in goes the sugar (I used wild hibiscus sugar for added flavour)


Philly topping whipped till light and airy


sorry - blurry:)  Too much social isolation drinking - tee hee!


rosy bling thrown over the top - powder AND petals


fruity and creamy on crisp pastry 


here it is, in case you don't know what I'm talking about


fruity artwork © Sherry's Pickings


cranberries © Sherry's Pickings

44 comments:

  1. Best of all -- you are back to illustrating your posts -- I like the fruity art work. Good to see that you are coping like the rest of us and using up what's available.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. thanks muchly Mae. i am feeling a wee bit better this week. not quite so down. hope you're doing well too. cheers S

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  2. Looks and sounds wonderful to me. I've been baking my brains out, too. It feels healing!

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    1. yes it does! i have been cooking and baking like a navvie:) keep well!

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  3. Lovely to see your post Sherry. I think we are all a bit up and down at the moment, but writing is quite therapeutic don't you think, even if not many people read it, ha, ha. I love this recipe, when I recover from the chocolate Easter cake we have been eating, I'll think about making a fruit tart. I have never bought or even seen the Caramilk, interesting. Did you make your own wild hibiscus sugar which I am thinking is made using rosellas? I haven't grown them this year,however I would love to know how you came by it, perhaps a little blog post? I still have rosella seeds so might plant some again this year. All the best, Pauline

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    1. the hibiscus sugar was a gift from my cousin in fact:) it is fabulous stuff; gives a lot of colour and flavour to a dish. take care S x

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  4. Cute fruity artwork! The freezer tart looks utterly delicious and reminds me that I need to take a closer look in my freezer too..maybe I could find something nice to bake too.

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    1. thanks very much angie! yes it's incredible what can be found in the depths of the freezer:) keep well.

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  5. I’m glad you’re back, although I know it’s hard, but my creativity in the kitchen is what keep me sane. If I keep feeding us, we will be strong enough when the virus comes to get us.

    Your fruit tart is brilliant - just love the apple layer!

    Stay safe and well, d

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    1. thanks david. i think the apples gave it a slightly tart flavour -to the tart - tee hee - and the cranberries also added tang. a nice juxtaposition. cheers!

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    2. Nothing like a good tart tart! 😂

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    3. gotta love a sweet and fruity tarty tart:)

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  6. This looks delicious! I am not sure my husband would say yes if I offered to trim his hair!

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    1. hi marg
      thanks! i used to cut hubby's hair all the time, so this was nothing new. and he is very forbearing. thanks for dropping by.

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  7. Good to hear that you are feeling better - thank goodness we can still bake despite all the other things we can't do! It is a great comfort. I love the sound of your tart - I keep dreaming of making pies and then I don't. So I just will have to enjoy your tart vicariously!

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    1. hi johanna
      i am sorta feeling better - not quite there yet. i do find this social iso thing hard! hope you're keeping well!

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  8. I've sort of had the opposite experience. I had two months worth of blog posts scheduled, because I was supposed to have hand surgery monday. No surgery, of course, so now I'm wishing I had a lot of blog cooking to do now! Although groceries are hard to come by... Nothing much I can do! Love your freezer fruit tart, especially with the cream.

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    1. hi mimi
      we seem to be able to buy most of what we need/want grocery-wise, which is a relief. the great loo paper shortage was challenging for a bit. hope you're well!

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  9. Love fruit tarts - the frozen fruit I have is for smoothies or apples for eating. Flour seems to be at a premium so I am closely deciding what I use it for.

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    1. the apples i had were old and floury sadly. and i've had lots of different frozen fruits that needed using so it all worked out well. take care!

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  10. I love how you have made something (delicious) out of (almost) nothing! This sounds so yum and now I'm dying to try that Caramilk Phillly! I hope you're finding your Iso-groove and are feeling more like your Sherry self! Take care and stay safe x

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    1. thanks sammie. amazing what lurks in the depths of the kitchen:) i'm still mad but as Alice says, all the best people are! take care xx

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  11. Love that fruit compote Sherry and good to see your lovely artwork again - stay well lovely xx

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    1. thanks so much M! i am just a bit crazy! but otherwise well... take care xxx

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  12. First of all, I totally get where you're coming from with feeling down, Sherry. This thing is tough on everyone. I didn't realize how much I enjoy socializing with others until I wasn't allowed to. Add in the fact that every event/vacation/etc that we had scheduled has been cancelled, and it's tough. But things will get better! Things are getting better! We've been enjoying baking and finding fun recipes to cook in the kitchen - it helps mix up the otherwise identical days. Remember this - staying safe is boring, but you're safe!

    Speaking of cooking, this fruit tart sounds yummy! In fact, I think I might have all of the ingredients here. :-) I get the whole cooking/baking with what you've got, too. Well done!

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    1. thanks muchly david. i am starting to feel a little better, as my routine sorts itself out. but boy the days seem the same and i forget which day it is half the time:) take care.

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  13. It's a strange time. I feel like I'm not fully myself and neither are others. We're ok in that we aren't sick but our anxiety about the situation manifests in other ways and funny habits. This does look delicious though! :D

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    1. i feel sad, i feel angry, i feel upset and discombobulated a lot of the time. but hopefully it's all settling down. people are getting a bit stir crazy i think. at least this tart was tasty:)

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  14. Oooh! I hadn't heard of Caramilk. I'm so glad you shared. That pie looks tasty.

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  15. Didn’t know about caramilk but now I want it. Thank you for the fruity sugary goodness you’ve posted! Wish I lived next door, I have a mask so we could visit. I’ll bring coffee.

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    1. hi tina
      yes i was surprised to find caramilk philly at the shops. yep come on over!:-)

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  16. I like your style of quarantine cooking.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. thanks so much amalia. hope you are doing well during the crisis. cheers S

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  17. Baking is always so comforting, isn't it? And we all need comfort, and lots of it. Particularly delish looking comfort like this! Good stuff -- thanks.

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    1. thanks for dropping by KR. Yep i'm baking and cooking like a mad thing:)

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  18. Hang in there Sherry! The biggest lesson I've learnt from all this is that things go up and down - the downs are part of it too and nothing takes that away, but we can just keep swimming and soon it will be up again. Great looking fruit tart, I'd love a piece!

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    1. just keep swimming, just keep swimming...i can hear Dory singing that now... Thanks for the comment. lovely to have you drop by my post:)

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  19. We're doing the same here---cleaning out the freezer. I've got LOTS of frozen fruit. I love the topping on this tart! I've never heard of wild hibiscus sugar. Be well!

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    1. yes i had 3 or 4 different types of frozen fruit including cranberries from Christmas. the wild hibiscus sugar was a surprise to me too but i really like it!

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  20. Replies
    1. me too! nothing nicer than a fat, juicy berry squirting it all over you... thanks for dropping by my blog.

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