Sunday, June 16, 2013

Just Desserts!

  The Final Product: Beautiful Blueberry Tart!


Pate Sucree, Gluten Free

Pâte Sucrée, Gluten Free

1 1/2 Cups my GF flour Combo (see below)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp guar gum
1 tsp xantham gum

For the flour mix I used the same combination I usually use for regular pastry. This combo makes too much for this recipe, so combine and then store the leftovers for next time:
  1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
  1/2 cup Cornstarch
  1 cup Sweet Rice flour (also called Glutinous flour, but don't worry, it is flour made from Sushi rice!)
  1/4 cup Potato starch (NOT potato flour)

Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add lightly beaten eggs- bit by bit-and continue mixing until well incorporated.  Measure out your 1 1/2 cups of flour in separate bowl, and add salt, guar gum and xantham gum. Mix well.  Add flour mixture all at once to butter mixture and mix until dough forms a ball. Place on sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a disc, wrap well and place in fridge to chill (30 minutes).

Now, being a Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Pastry), you can just press this dough into your prepared pan.
I wanted to see if it could be rolled for mini tarts, and it does work, but you must wait for the dough to warm a bit.
Roll out on lightly floured (I use sweet rice flour) plastic wrap, as best you can. Don't worry if it breaks- it will!  Simply press back together. Use a 1 cup measure to press the dough into all corners and fluted edges. Trim the top if need be. Prick the base all over gently with a fork to prevent/minimize puffing. Refrigerate, covered loosely, for minimum 30 minutes to reduce pastry shrinkage.
Bake at 400* for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for another 15 minutes.
Let cool in pan before removing.
* I also gave the tarts a light egg-white wash to prevent the pastry from getting soggy once filled: beat one egg white until frothy, and brush on to pastry when just out of the oven.



Pate Sucree Success! Recipe to follow

Just sampled the first of the pastry: a small tart shell cradling goat cheese, crumbled bacon and a sunny-side up egg. A special treat for Father's Day.  
Success!!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Baking Saturday

Today is the day to bake.
I was going to bake a beautiful Blueberry pie for my Mum, but I "inherited" some fantastic tart tins that I have yet to use, so blueberry tart it is!
Initially I was going to just use my tried and true pastry recipe, but as I searched for inspiration on the Web, I realized I had to find a "Pate Sucree", or shortcrust recipe.
I found one that looked great, but alas I have not (yet) converted to measuring my ingredients by weight.. Solution: a hybrid.  I used the instructions from one, the measurements from another, and  my own flour combo mix (that I use for pie pastry).  The pastry is now resting in the fridge, and my fingers are crossed!