Tarte Fraise Mascarpone

It's a rare occasion when I make an impulse purchase. But the moment I spotted Laduree: Sucre the Recipes on the Black Pearl Epicure counter I knew I had to have it. There was something so attractive about its tactile mint green cover and gold edged pages so I enquired for more information. Well the book was sold quicker than the helpful staff member informing me that the book was 35% off. My cousin Jacqui was coming over for dinner so I decided to find a lighter style dessert to balance the robust main and I settled on the Tarte Fraise Mascarpone, which a fancy term for a strawberry tart with mascarpone cream.

I started by making the Sweet Almond Pastry the day before. I whipped 120g cold butter (chopped into small cubes) with a stand mixer before adding the following ingredients one by one: 1/2 cup of icing sugar, 1/4 cup ground almonds, 1 pinch of sea salt, a few drops of vanilla extract, 1 egg, 1 cup plain flour and 2/3 cup corn flour. I then cling wrapped the dough and rested it overnight. The next day I rolled out the dough to 2mm, pressed it gently into a 24cm tart pan, cling wrapped again and rested it in the fridge for another hour. When the tart was ready, I preheated the oven to 170°C, pricked the pastry with a fork, lined the case with baking paper and pie weights before baking for 20 minutes or until lightly coloured. Allow it to cool completely before lining the time with melted white chocolate (I got lazy and brushed the case with egg while and baked it again).

While the tart case is in the oven you can start on the mascarpone cream. Cut up 2 gold strength gelatin sheets and soak them in a bowl of cold water. Then take a saucepan and add 60ml double cream, 125g caster sugar and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, incorporate the drained gelatin and allow the mixture to cool completely.

Using a wooden spoon mix 500g mascarpone until smooth and slowly incorporate the cream mixture. Pop the glossy cream in the fridge until it begins to firm.

I then filled the tart case with the mascarpone cream, sliced two punnets of strawberries and arranged them in a floral formation. Though this tart needs plenty of resting time, it is extremely easy and results are well worth it. Serve with vanilla icecream.

Strawberry Fields

There are few luxuries when you are a poor university student but if I had to open the store on a dark Winter's morning, I would always pop down to the Eagle Street Markets and pick up a big punnet of fresh strawberries. That would be my breakfast, lunch and occasionally dinner for the day and I was happy.

But the only thing that beats eating fresh strawberries is actually going out to a farm and picking them yourself. So on the way home from Maleny, we made the snap decision to stop off at Batavia Berries (9 Kings Road, Glasshouse Mountains) and pick up a couple of kilos. The cost is $10 a kilo which is cheaper than current market price and you know every berry is perfect. There is also a beautiful sense of satisfaction you get from picking your own as you breathe in the cool air and enjoying the sound of dry leaves and red dirt under foot.

The Queensland strawberry season is currently at its peak and runs until October, so now is the time to explore one of the two hundred strawberry farms across the state. If you can't get to Batavia Berries, then this handy directory offers some alternative locations.

Ah my nemesis, we meet again

Everyone has a nemesis - Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader, Dr Who/the Master, Queen Elizabeth/Mary, Queen of Scots and the list goes on. My culinary nemesis is the crepe as the result is too thick, too thin and/or stuck. However, I'm determined to get it right and have been using this basic crepe recipe to practice.

My favourite crepe filling has always been chocolate and strawberries. Here is a simple chocolate ganache I made from 1/3 cup of cream and 250g of 70% dark chocolate.

Plentiful amounts of sliced fresh strawberries are a must.

Towards the end of my epic crepe battle, I started to produce something vaguely resembling a crepe. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get the upper hand on this dastardly villain:

• Crepes should be cooked on medium heat.
  
• Have a small dish of soften butter and a pastry brush on hand to slightly oil the pan before you ladle the crepe batter into the pan.
  
• Only flip the crepe when it is cooked. You will know it is cooked as the edges will curl slightly and like pancakes, small bubbles will appear.
  
• As I continued to make the crepes, I found the batter was thicker at the bottom of the bowl. I would suggest adding a little milk to keep the batter viscous.

Hopefully these tips will assist you to produce beautiful crepes and minimise the amount that look like this: