Dark
Chocolate Irish Cream Tart
5-1/4
tbsp. butter
2-3/5 oz. granulated sugar
2-3/5 oz. ground almonds
1/2 c. all purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 tbsp. ice water (or more)
1-1/3 c. whipping cream
8 oz. good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
3-1/2 tbsp. butter, chopped
2 tbsp. Irish Cream Liqueur
To
make pastry, mix butter, sugar, almonds, flour and
salt in a food processor until smooth. With motor running,
add water a spoonful at a time, until pastry clumps
into a ball. Press into the base of an 8 inch tart
pan, working from the center out, to cover base and
up sides. Trim edges and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Heat
oven to 350F. Line tart with foil and weigh down with
beans or pastry weights. Bake for 15 minutes, carefully
remove beans and foil, then bake for a further 5 - 10
minutes until lightly golden. Cool.
To
make filling, heat cream until just before boiling point,
when it "trembles". Place chocolate in a heatproof
bowl. Add cream, leave for 1 minute, then mix well with
a spatula. Add butter and stir until smooth. Stir in
Irish Cream and pour into tart crust. Leave in a level
place to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.
The Story of Michaelmas
Michaelmas, in the Roman Catholic Church,
is the Feast of SS. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the
archangels. In the Anglican Church, its proper name is
the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. September 29th
is the date that it is celebrated in Ireland, although
other countries celebrate it on many different dates.
The cult of St. Michael began in the Eastern
Church in the 4th century and spread to Western Christianity
by the 5th century. Because of St. Michael's traditional
position as leader of the heavenly armies, veneration
of all angels was eventually incorporated into this cult.
During medieval times, Michaelmas was
a great religious feast and many popular traditions grew
up around the day, which coincided with the harvest in
much of Western Europe. The traditional Celtic feast
consisted of eating goose, harvest vegetables, apples
and blackberries. Traditionally, in Ireland, finding
a ring hidden in a Michaelmas pie meant that one would
soon be married.
Irish Michaelmas Pie
12 oz. all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 oz. vegetable shortening
3 oz. chilled butter, diced
3 fl. oz. chilled water
pinch of salt
2 lbs. cooking apples
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
12 oz. blackberries
1 egg, beaten
Oven
350F
Prepare
the pastry. Place the flour in a large bowl and stir
in the cinnamon and salt. Rub in the butter
and
shortening with your fingertips until the mixture
resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center and add the chilled
water. Bring the mixture together using a round-bladed
knife. Once it has come together,
knead for a brief moment and place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30
minutes.
Peel
and core the apples. Cut into large chunks and place
them in a saucepan with the sugar, cloves
and nutmeg. Cover with a lid and gently cook
for 5 minutes
or until the apples have softened. Fold in the blackberries and remove
the saucepan from the heat. Cool completely.
Remove
the pastry from the fridge and roll out 2/3 on a lightly
floured surface. Line an 8 inch metal pie plate. Prick
the base of pastry with
a fork. Strain
the fruit, reserving the juices and spoon the fruit mixture into the
crust. Roll out remaining pastry and lay over the fruit.
Lift
back the edge and brush the
base with a little egg and seal the edge. Trim and crimp the pastry
edges. Brush the surface with the remaining egg and
make a couple of slits in
the top. Scatter
a little more sugar over the pastry and bake for 35 minutes. Serve
hot or cold with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
Irish Apple Tart
Filling:
7-1/2 oz. golden raisins or sultanas
3-1/2 fl. oz. Irish whiskey, plus a splash for the
apples
8-4/5 oz. demerara sugar (raw sugar)
3-1/3 lbs. cooking apples, peeled and cored
1 tbsp. butter
1 cinnamon stick, slightly crushed
9-3/5 fl. oz. whipping cream
1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk
Pastry:
2-1/5 c. all purpose flour
1-1/10 c. butter
3-2/5 oz. sugar
2 eggs
Spiced Sugar:
7/10 c. muscavado sugar (dark brown sugar)
7 tbsp. sea salt
zest of 3 lemons
To
make spiced sugar, heat oven to 275F. Scatter the muscavado
sugar, sea salt and lemon zest over
a baking sheet, then leave in the oven for 15
minutes to
dry out. Leave to cool, then place in a food processor on high. Use
a sieve
or strainer to remove any large lumps, then set aside.
For
the pastry, pulse the flour and butter together in
a food processor until you have the texture of breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and eggs
and pulse until
everything comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill.
Place
the raisins into a small saucepan with the whiskey,
and add 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Bring to a simmer,
then set aside.
Cut
the apples into large wedges and melt the butter in
a heavy saucepan. Toss the apples in the butter, then
add half the demerara
sugar,
the cinnamon stick
and a healthy splash of whiskey. Cook the apples for 3 - 4
minutes until colored, then place in a sieve to drain
away excess juices.
Turn
oven up to 325F. Grease and flour an 11 inch tart pan.
Roll 2/3 of the pastry thinly to 1/8 inch and line the tart
pan. Chill
for at
least 20 minutes.
Prick
pastry with a fork, then bake blind in the oven for around
10 minutes. Brush with beaten egg, then return to the oven
for 5
minutes. Repeat
this process
again, cooking for another 5 minutes - this will keep the
pastry crisp. Leave to cool,
then add the apple and raisin mixtures, reserving any whiskey
that has not been absorbed by the raisins. Roll a lid for
the tart with
the remaining
pastry and
place on top of the tart, egg washing to secure edges. Prick
the top to release
steam, egg wash the top of the pastry and sprinkle with the
remaining demerara sugar. Turn oven to 350F and cook for
20 minutes, until
top is golden.
Put
the apple tart on a large tray. Lightly whip the cream
and add the raisin whiskey to taste. Serve the spiced sugar
in a
bowl on
the side
to sprinkle
over the top.
Irish
Rhubarb and Raspberry Pie
12
oz. all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 oz. vegetable shortening
3 oz. chilled butter, diced
3 fl. oz. chilled water
pinch salt
4 c. chopped rhubarb
2 c. raspberries
3 tbsp. honey
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. whiskey
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
Oven
350F
Prepare
the pastry. Place the flour in a large bowl and stir
in the cinnamon and salt. Rub in the
butter and shortening with your fingertips until
the
mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center
and add the chilled water.
Bring the mixture together using a round-bladed knife. Once it
has come together, knead for a brief moment and
place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30
minutes.
In
a medium saucepan, add the rhubarb, raspberries, honey,
sugar and whiskey. Cook gently over medium heat until
the rhubarb is
tender but
not mushy. Put
into a sieve to drain off the liquid. Cool.
Preheat
oven to 350F. Roll out 2/3 of the pastry on a lightly
floured surface; line an 8-inch pie pan. Add the cooled fruit
mixture.
Roll out the remaining
pastry for the top. Lift back the edges and apply egg wash
to bottom edge. Fold the edges over, trim and crimp. Apply
egg wash
to the
top crust and
dust with
sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
