Baking Through Fika: Mazarin Tarts

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Confession time: I ate all but two of these.  Myself.  In a week.  One night I ate 3 in one sitting.  These are evil.  And oh so delicious.

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Really there was no choice but for them to be tasty.  Butter pastry and sweet almond filling are two of the best things in the food world I think.  At least in the sweet food world, because there’s bacon and goat cheese to consider…

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I would like to make these again, and not simply with the intention of devouring them.  This was my first time using these tins and I don’t yet know the best way to prep them or to remove the final product.  In the Fika book they are perfect rounds, which is darling and seems easier to remove than a fluted tin.  I didn’t start out greasing them, but after I’d done a few I thought I’d better do it so that if the ungreased tins did stick I wouldn’t have ruined them all.  I think greasing helped, but it was still tricky to get them out fully intact.  That could also have something to do with the delicate-ness of the crust itself, though.

Mazarin Tarts

The filling was more than I needed for the dozen tart shells I prepared.  I think that the crust was a bit thick on some of them, so I could’ve probably stretched the dough for the crusts a bit and made at least 3 more than the dozen I made.  The filling does cook up so don’t fill them too much or it will run up and over the crust.

To finish these off, you can either give them a nice dusting of powdered sugar or a simple powdered sugar glaze.  I love the look of both, but chose the glaze since it added another texture to the tart.

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This isn’t a dessert you make on a Wednesday just ’cause.  Or maybe it is!  I think they’d be a great addition to a dessert spread and perfect for a little tea or coffee party.  They keep very well in the fridge for a few days, just let them sit at room temp to warm up a bit.  Enjoy!  Hopefully this is all you will want to leave behind of these sweet tarts.

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Mazarin Tarts

From Fika

Ingredients

Tart Shells

  • 3 1/2 ounces of butter, cold and cut into chunks
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 egg yolk
  • pinch of salt

Filling

  • 1 3/4 ounces butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 1/2 ounces of blanched almonds, ground
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Glaze

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Tart Shells

  1. Combine flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until mixture looks like coarse sand.
  2. Add in the egg and mix until dough comes together.
  3. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
  4. Grease 12-16 tart tins.  If you have small tins you will use more, bigger tins you’ll need fewer.

Filling

  1. Whisk together all filling ingredients.

Assemble and Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Divide dough into as many pieces as you have tins.  Press a piece of dough into the tin and up the sides making it as even as possible.  Repeat for all the tins and place on a baking sheet.
  3. Fill the tarts about 2/3 full with the almond filling.  Err on the side of less filling since it could spill over the edge of the tart.
  4. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tarts begin to turn golden.
  5. Cool tarts completely and remove from the tins before whisking together glaze ingredients and pouring a thin layer over the filling of the tart.  You can also dust them with powdered sugar or leave them plain.

 

Baking Through Fika: Radio Cake

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With any cookbook you are going to encounter some duds and some stand outs.  I’ve made a couple of duds from Fika that I don’t see myself ever making again.  But then there are the stand outs, and there are two types of stand out recipes.  Some are delicious but take so much work that you’re unlikely to repeat them.  Other stand outs are delicious and not overly complicated which makes them much easier and enjoyable to make again.

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This radio cake didn’t seem like it would fall into either stand out category, really.  It just seemed safe.  It looked easy (a big plus for me!) and like it would be ok in the flavor department.  Turns out this is a true stand out that I can easily see myself repeating since it is simple to prepare, delicious, and lovely to look at.  It’s also unique, something I’d never made or eaten before.

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You can keep this simple or dress it up.  A plain slice of this would be fine to enjoy as an afternoon treat by yourself.  Or you can add some whipped cream and cookie crumbs and serve it to your dinner guests.  Speaking of dinner guests, you can make this hours before if not a full day before you need to serve it, making it an even better choice to serve guests for dessert.

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This is pretty rich and can be changed based on the type and quality of chocolate you use.  I used Ghiradelli bars, one 60% and one 70% cacao.  It was rich, a thin slice was plenty for me.

The recipe calls for Marie butter cookies.  I couldn’t find those, so I used a digestive biscuit cookie that I hadn’t tried before.  I finished the package I bought for the cookies and went back and bought two more just for snacking.  It has an almost graham cracker-like taste with a hearty texture that pairs well with the chocolate and cream (if you’re wise enough to add a dollop).  These cookies were too big to fit three in a row in my loaf pan on the bottom layer, so I broke them in half to fit.

As you can see in these photos, I didn’t do a great job of putting the plastic wrap in the loaf pan.  There are all kinds of creases in the chocolate.  In my defense, plastic wrap is a pain to keep smooth so I was lucky to get it in there at all!  I placed one sheet horizontally and a second vertically.  I guess there’s a way to smooth the top after you’ve inverted  it on to a platter, but I’m not sure what that is.  I’d probably make it look worse if I tried to make it better, though, so leaving it alone was a better choice for me!

To slice this I thought at first of using a large chef’s knife, but then thought that a bench scraper would be a better choice to make one nice clean cut.  I warmed it underneath hot water, dried it, then cut straight down on the cake for a nice clean slice.  Not a beautiful serving tool, but a functional one.

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Now.  Those eggs.  I’m not sure if they’re warmed enough by the addition of the melted butter/chocolate mixture.  To be safe they need to be warmed to 160°F.  I did not check that they were.  Bad.  I know.  Grab a thermometer and check them after mixing.  If it’s not warmed enough you could set it over simmering water and whisk away until it does.  I escaped without any issues, but will check next time for sure.

I loved that the wonderfulness of this “cake” was such a surprise!  I just thought I was checking off another Fika recipe, and it wound up being terrific.  Looking forward to seeing what the next recipe holds.  Here’s hoping it’s another pleasant surprise!

Radio Cake

From Fika

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces butter
  • 8 ounces dark chocolate (roughly chopped)
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon good cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • Marie cookies (about 25) or large digestive cookies (12-18) extra cookies crushed for garnish
  • sweetened whipped cream for garnish

Directions

  1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside.
  2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl either in a double boiler or in the microwave in 30-45 second increments stirring in between until melted and smooth.
  3. In another bowl beat eggs, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla until light.  Add in the melted chocolate mixture and beat to fully combine.
  4. Spread a layer of chocolate in the pan, then lay cookies down in a row on top.  Cover with chocolate, then cookie, repeat until you have 3-4 cookie layers and end with chocolate.
  5. Chill for at least an hour.
  6. Invert on to a platter and peel off the plastic wrap.
  7. Slice and serve with whipped cream if desired.

Almond Joy Popcorn

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One of the great things about cooking and baking is that there is never a point at which you know it all.  There are flavors and foods you haven’t tried or methods that are new to you.  With this recipe I learned how so very easy it is to pop your own popcorn on the stove-top!
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For some reason the thought of popping it on the stove has always seemed like it would take too much time and effort.  But it’s actually very simple and fun, too!  My kids thought it was amazing.  You also get the added benefit of being able to control fat and salt.  When I pop popcorn in the microwave I either burn it or have a bunch of un-popped kernels.  With this method it was just about perfect, very few un-popped and no burnt pieces.

This is a Fine Cooking recipe from the Dec/Jan issue.  They give you the basic popping method, and then there are 7 popcorn recipes from cinnamon toast (can’t wait to try!) to pepperoni pizza.  I chose this chocolate and coconut one and added some sliced almonds.

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This is best eaten the same day as it’s made, but it still ok the next day.  Not sure beyond that.  Like a salad with lots of stuff in it, the good stuff tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl, so be sure to scoop from the bottom.

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Almond Joy Popcorn

From Fine Cooking

Basic Popcorn

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil (for the coconut popcorn use 3 tablespoons of coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels

Directions

  1. Put the oil and 2 or 3 popcorn kernels in a heavy-duty 4-1/2- to 5-1/2-quart pot. Partially cover and heat over medium-high heat until the kernels pop.
  2. Add the rest of the popcorn kernels.
  3. Cover the pot most of the way and shake the pot back and forth constantly once the heavy popping starts.  It helps to have two pot holders or heavy kitchen towels at this point.
  4. After about 3 minutes, the popping should slow down; when you can count to 5 without a pop, it’s done. Remove from the heat, and give the pot a final shake. Transfer to a large bowl and season as you like.

Almond Joy Popcorn

Ingredients

  • One recipe basic popcorn  (unprepared)
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped fine
  • 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped fine
  • fine sea salt

Directions

  1. Toast the coconut by spreading it out onto a rimmed baking sheet and baking in a 300°F oven for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Toast until golden brown and fragrant.  Set aside.
  2. Pop popcorn according to the recipe above.
  3. Immediately after popping pour into an over-sized bowl and toss with the chocolate, coconut, almonds and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Once it’s evenly coated refrigerate for 5 minutes, then gently toss again breaking up any large chunks.  Season with more salt if desired.