It's certainly been a while!
Since I last updated I've been busy with assignments, skating, and eating (but not so much baking) delicious treats.
I also moved house, and now have the pleasure of being able to cook in a beautiful kitchen with a gas hub and oven. Even better than that, though, is that both of my flatmates are also crockery enthusiasts, so our kitchen is a mashup of Crown Lynn delights. More on that later.
For now, treacle tarts!
If by chance you managed to hide from all social networking and news media over the past fortnight and hadn't caught on, last night was Kate and Will's wedding. Apparently the wedding of our generation an incredible 2 billion odd tuned in to watch, and viewing parties popped up all over the place. I'm not usually one who buys into media hype or the royal family but I am most definitely a fan of British desserts, so when Amber from Code For Something invited me to her Royal Wedding TV Special I put on my best frock, some heels, and tried out Heston Blumenthal's treacle tart recipe for the occasion.
Heston Blumenthal is a freaking genius. Though I can't claim to have made the pastry cases myself (not enough hours in the day, it would seem) these turned out absolutely delicious. The recipe called for brown bread instead of white, and a considerable amount more golden syrup than other recipes I've found. I'm glad I ended up halving the recipe because even with half quantities I ended up with 12 mini tarts and 4 cupcake sized tarts (sans pastry).
Making a beurre noisette with the butter was absolutely worth it, and added both colour and a nutty flavour to the final product. I also sprinkled the pastry cases and cooked tarts with vanilla bean sugar, which is my new favourite thing. Yum!
Leftover tarts for my flatmates
Peak at the best kitchen ever!
xx CB
