A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Sunday 30 June 2013

44. Glazed Lemon Tart

I asked the husband which bake from my current list I should make for the barbecue we were having with friends and this was what he chose. I have to admit to sighing a bit; it looked fiddly, with lots of processes and opportunities for it to go horribly wrong. But I knew I'd have to bake it one day, and this occasion seemed a good excuse to tackle it. I started the whole thing by reading through the recipe very carefully. Having noticed that the lemon slices for the decoration needed to be soaked in syrup for two hours, I decided to tackle that bit first. Some of these things seem straightforward enough on paper, but I always get nervous when doing things with sugar on the hob, and I didn't quite get this right. I'd thought the sugar had dissolved, so started boiling it, but then noticed some of it hadn't, so took it off the boil and let it simmer for a bit longer before boiling it again. This had me worried that I'd burn it somehow, but it seemed alright, and I knew that if the worst happened, the lemon slices could be picked off!
 It was actually quite tricky slicing the lemons thinly, but I was fairly pleased with my efforts. Taking the pips out made them a bit ragged-looking, but everything can be labelled 'rustic' and got away with! Anyway, they were deposited into the syrup and set aside for two hours. The next hurdle was the pate sucre (sweet pastry), more intimidating because it was given its French label! This included sugar and eggs, and softened butter, so was quite a soft, greasy mixture. It needed 30 minutes in the fridge, but when I took it out, it still didn't feel particularly 'solid' like pastry normally does. I'd not paid attention to the instruction to line the tin, chill it and then make the filling, so I'd already made the filling by the time I rolled the pastry out. Well, what are you supposed to do when you're used to multi-tasking like mad? Anyway, I popped the pastry-filled tin back in the fridge for a little while. The filling was hard work - I had to grate 4 lemons and juice 2 - but was a pleasing texture and smelt lovely. It went into the oven with fingers crossed that it would set properly.
The recipe said to remove it when it was golden, and I wasn't wholly convinced by the colour, although it had started to turn darker at the edges. I was worried about the pastry over-baking, so I made the decision to take it out (not before the suggested time, though). I'd expected it to come out with quite a wobbly texture, but it was definitely firm to the touch, as the recipe dictated. There was no advice to leave it to cool before adding the lemon slices, so I got the apricot jam glaze prepared and then put them on. I was pleased with how the finished tart looked, although the pastry could've been neater. It was hard to work with though, so I did my best.
Baker's verdict: a lot of processes, but well worth the effort. An impressive-looking and very tasty tart which baked really well. I need to employ a bit more finesse next time, but there was certainly nothing amiss taste wise! The skin of the lemons on top was a bit tough though.
Husband rating: 9/10 - the tastiest thing made so far. Lovely, strong sweet and sharp lemon flavour. The lemons on top were pleasant to taste but a bit chewy. Wouldn't want it without them though, just needed to be softer to eat.
"It feels like an honest interpretation of a lemon" - husband after drinking beer for some hours...

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