Lemon, pistachio and passion fruit tart

This year, Lu and I decided to stay in for New Year’s Eve.  I’m sure it’s a sign we’re getting old, but it was absolutely lovely to be at home, just the two of us, after all the hectic socialising over Christmas!  So we cooked a lovely meal for each other: Lu made Thai crab cakes to start, and for a main course we had sea bass with goose fat-roasted potatoes and I made an Asian mango salad to go with it.  This was the dessert – loosely based on a classic Tarte au Citron, I added toasted, ground pistachios to the filling and made a lemon and pistachio sweet pastry.  The whole thing was topped with lemon-infused whipped cream, passion fruit and ground caramelised pistachios.  This was a real show stopper of a dessert – and a very decadent breakfast on New Year’s Day before a walk in the sunshine to blow away the cobwebs! 

Summer fruit tart with Pimms, elderflower, rose and mint

This is a really quick easy tart that I made after work for dessert.  I added Pimms, elderflower cordial, rosewater and fresh mint to a handful of summer fruits and left them to macerate for a while, then strained the juices and added it to extra thick double cream to serve with the warm tart.  The fruit is simply sprinkled over some ready-made puff pastry with a few flaked almonds and a little sugar.  Stunningly simple and summery!

Salted caramel chocolate tart

I tasted salted caramel tart at a really good Italian restaurant recently, and it was so amazing I had to try and recreate it! This is incredibly indulgent - it uses a lot of butter in every stage - and it looks quite complicated as there are several components (pastry, caramel, chocolate filling, chocolate ganache)... but it's so worth it!

Mini plum amaretto tarts

This is a really quick invention to use up some plums that needed eating and to brighten up a wintry Tuesday evening after a stressful day at work!  (It's made extra quick by the use of ready made pastry - pre-rolled is even quicker and you don't need to flour a worktop...)  We ate them with friends to celebrate Kirsty's first job as a law graduate, congratulations K!

Apple and pomegranate Tarte Tatin

This is one of my favourite desserts and one of the easiest – I quite often make it as a mid-week pudding for after dinner on a hard day when I’m too tired and hungry for proper baking but need a cake fix!  This version adds pomegranate and cinnamon to the classic recipe.

Pear and Apple Tarte Fine

This is my version of a tarte fine aux pommes.  I made this recently after my dad gave me a bag of apples from his garden - fruit from the apple trees he planted when my little sister and I were born.  It's really quick to make and could be adapted for pretty much any fruit you've got lying around - nectarines and blueberries is a nice combination.  I like it served cold the next day, when you can eat it like a sweet version of left-over pizza - great to find in the fridge in the morning and take to work for elevenses!