Goat Cheese Tarts, Lemon Tarts, and Summer Happiness

Wow so I have done a terrible job keeping this blog up to date. Jake and I have been extremely busy this summer and have only been able to spend one weekend in DC since our trip to Mexico in May! That combined with our shotty internet at home completes my totally valid excuse :)

Don't feel too bad for us though...

 At the tequila shot bar in our hotel in Mexico for our one year anniversary!

 Jake's favorite beach bar ever...

 Weekend trip to Charlottesville, VA

 Home to Richmond for Jake's sister's engagement party and....

 to see high school friends.

 Family trip to Chicago to see my sister who totally is wearing/stole my shirt

 And finally to NY to meet Ms. Molly Murphy (My cousin's first kid!)

And now for the food part of this post..

Since we've been gone every weekend, getting the motivation to go grocery shopping and cooking well balanced meals for the 4 nights we are in town has been non existent. Jake has not been complaining with the addition of Noodles and Co., Chipotle, and various happy hour deals to our weekly dinner rotation... However, I did get in one fancy home made item in in the past 3 months.... Father's Day Lemon Tarts and Goat Cheese tarts. I love tarts during the summer - simple, refreshing, and can be topped with all of the pretty summer fruits.

Note: The goat cheese tarts are only for those with a serious love of goat cheese... While some of my family members loved them, I think I could have swallowed a gym sock with a less disgusted look on my face... I've always hated goat cheese so I don't know why I thought this would have gone better... Next time I'll use cream cheese instead.

Shortbread Tart Crust: (From Joy of Baking)

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/3 cup (35 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Butter or lightly spray with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray, an 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom. 

In your food processor, place the flour, sugar, and salt and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the pastry starts to come together and form clumps. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Can use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry.) Pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. (This will prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.) Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. 

When the pastry is completely chilled, place the tart pan on a larger baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Lemon Curd:

I used the same recipe as my lime curd, just used lemons instead :)

Goat Cheese Mousse: (From Tartelette)

200 ml heavy cream, cold
4 oz (120gr) goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (25gr) to 1/4 cup (50gr) sugar, depending on your preference
Juice and zest of half a lemon


In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to medium stiff peaks and reserve it in the refrigerator while you prepare the mousse.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the goat cheese and sugar with a spatula (if the goat cheese is soft enough there is no need to put your mixer to use on that one). Add the lemon zest and juice and mix thoroughly until incorporated.
Carefully fold the reserved whipped cream into the goat cheese base by placing your spatula in the center of the bowl, scooping the bottom over the top. Give your bowl a 45 degree turn and repeat until the batter is smooth. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and divide it evenly among all tart cooled tart shells.

Top tarts with your favorite berries and serve slightly chilled.

We have some more busy weekends ahead of us but this coming weekend I will be doing Ashley's cupcake tasting (followed up by a recap on here hopefully) and then headed off for our family beach week :) Summer does not suck.

Tart Love - Lime Curd Tarts

I needed a break from cupcakes.. this may or may not have been due to my compulsive habit of eating batter and giving myself tummy aches... And in comes my new love of tarts :) These bite sized babies are light, refreshing, and help with your fruit intake for the day. I decided to try out my tart making skills with a lime tart recipe which turned out pretty delicious.

 First thing - the dough. I was pretty scared of this since I suck at anything dough related. I found this recipe and went full speed ahead. I ended up adding some extra ice water to make the dough not as crumbly. My dough did not turn out as planned looks wise but the taste did work well with the lime curd.

Dough Recipe from Tartelette

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small slices
3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water

Prepare the dough:
Mix together the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the flour mixture and toss with fork until moistened. Repeat with the remaining water, one tablespoon at a time and gather the dough into a ball with your hand. Do not handle the dough too long. Wrap into a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and make it easier to roll, keeping it from becoming tough. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface, applying pressure from the center to the edges until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out six 6- inch circles onto the dough and press them into the tartlet molds or rings (or one 9 inch pan if making a larger tart). Place the rings or molds on a baking sheet. Prick the dough with a fork, apply a piece of parchment paper inside the molds and fill with dry beans or pie weights. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F and when ready, bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely and remove the pie weights and paper. Keep the oven at 350F.

Second thing- the lime curd. I've never made curd before so this was almost as scary as the dough.. I tried making it in a home made double boiler but the temperature wasn't getting high enough for the mix to curd (<- right term?). I did get a pretty hard core arm work out trying though. I moved the mixture to a sauce pan over medium low heat and whisked away until I had the right consistency. 

Curd Recipe from  Joy of Baking (I used limes instead of lemons)

 

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh (not bottled) lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon (4 grams) lemon zest(The yellow outer skin of the lemon

Lemon Curd:  In a stainless steel bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. 

Cook, whisking or stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes pale in color and quite thick (like a hollandaise sauce or sour cream) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C on a thermometer). This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and let cool to room temperature before filling the pastry crust. Can be made and stored in the refrigerator for about a week.

  

The Curd:

After the curd cools, spoon into tart shells and top with fruit. You might want to chill the tarts in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving so it give the curd a chance to firm up. I've also just decided the word "curd" is not appealing and should be changed.