Queen of Tarts

 

For a while now I have had this 'thing' about tarts! Making beautiful tarts, that inspire eating! I think it all came from this book that I saw at a very trendy new shop in our local Mall. It is simply titled TARTS! I had pawed over it for a few minutes at a time, many times - but because of snooty sales people, you know what the sales assistants are like  in these trendy shops..... if you don't buy  immediately they hover behind you making a person feel quite uncomfortable(and poor), however worst than  that , is how  many of the book shops and trendy stores  simply wrap recipe books in plastic now! It is very annoying! I get that people with camera phone take pictures of just one recipe, but what about us honest peeps who just want to see that there is not just one good recipe..... But I digress.....

 

 

I had wanted to buy it, but never quiet got round to it, so my delight was immense when I walked into shop and found the book at half price on a sale - JOY! Now to be honest I think that I only wanted this book because I had a hankering for APPLE pie! There is nothing like a good apple pie, and the recipe in this book looked delish! So with purchase in hand, I sat down at a coffee shop to check that I had everything I needed. What a beautiful book, the instructions are simple and the pictures mouth watering. It is divided into seasons, each season is then divided into savoury and sweet tarts. Names of beautiful tarts  that make you want to bake and more importantly.... eat.. Asparagus and Pea tart, Blueberry Butter tart, Summer Breakfast tarts, Chocolate Ganache and Strawberry tarts, Wild Mushroom, Bacon and Parmesan tart, Chocolate Brownie and Cheesecake tart, oh-my-gosh the list goes on and on.

  

Before I had turned to the last page I had already decided what was for supper, and what would be for supper over the next few nights, I had also visually put on a vast amount of calories!

The savoury tart that caught my eye  was in the summer section - a Balsamic Roasted Tomato and Gorgonzola tart. I LOVE tomatoes and I LOVE gorgonzola. I had beautiful home grown tomatoes that would be perfect. I will not bore you with the recipe, suffice to say that although it was a long recipe, blind baking a shell, roasting tomatoes and then putting it all together, it was easy. 

 

Home Grown Tomatoes

 


 

 

It was a yummy and delicious tart! The pastry was crispy and buttery( even though I did not have baking beans - I made a plan, see the middle picture )the tomatoes were sweet and this was complimented by the sour gorgonzola. By the end of the evening it was gone..... 

 

My apple pie had to wait until a few nights later..... Apple and Caramel Tart! The picture was a enough of a visual to send me to apple pie heaven!

 

Instead of using whole apples I used tin, sometimes a girl just has to do what is easy, and in this case tinned apples were the way to go. It was a biscuit crust so no rocket science was needed. The caramel sauce which the apples get baked in was a doddle and soon I was smelling my hearts desire.

 



 

NO custard or cream was needed, and to be honest although it was not your average traditional apple pie, it was warm, decadent and rich. It didn't even make it to the bowls, we ate it straight out of the baking dish. 

I would highly recommend  this book. I have a system in my kitchen bookshelf, my most used and beloved books go onto the top shelf, so Nigella's books and The Primrose Hill Bakery books have pride of place on the top... next comes Jamie and his mates, and so on.  'Tarts' by Tina Bester went straight onto the top shelf. Nigella, my beloved, my darling........ meet Tina - Queen of Tarts ........xxx