I like cooking and eating sweet things as much (or maybe even a little more) as the next person. A little morsel of un-adulterated sin in ones mouth will cheer you up no matter what the mood. Unfortunately I have one issue. I have no finesse in the field of baking. It’s as if a sledge hammer is a cooking utensil. I can make things that taste great but I can’t make things that are visually appealing. All my desserts look kind of weird and deformed. As a result I have a serious case of dessert-envy-itis.
The symptoms of Dessert-envy-itis manifest themselves in many different ways in a somewhat random and sporadic manner. These include:
- An unhealthy obsession with anything in the window of Adriano Zumbo;
- Every attempt at macarons resulting in failure;
- Severe jealousy over bloggers sweet creations;
- Cookies that look and taste like ice hockey pucks; and
- Acute onset of anxiety when cooking anything with copious quantities of sugar.
Indeed you could say I am in some kind of “funk” when it comes to sweet things. That is why my blog mainly addresses the savoury. However I am not that easily beaten (unlike egg whites). I will conquer this food Everest. My cuisine will reign supreme.
So once again I trundled into my kitchen to attack something sweet. Unlike Icarus I was determined not to fly too close to the sun in my attempt to escape from pastry exile. I would like to consider this recipe an original even though I stole little bits from all over the place to create the final product. These tarts turned out really well. I am not scared of pastry however I usually never get it exactly right. This time was different. I used the reliable Maggie Beer sour cream pastry as usual but today it worked. The crumb was amazing the crust had a great buttery flavour. I decided to pair the frangipane with the slow cooked quinces from Steph’s blog. I loved the colour and wanted to try something a bit different.
Although Dr House originally started treating me for Lupus it turns out he was wrong and it was actually a severe case of Dessert-envy-itis. After treatment with this recipe my prognosis is good. However I have been warned that too much food porn and blogging may result it result in a relapse. Oh dear!
Following creating these tarts and deciding to make another batch Mark successfully disabled his oven in a cloud of blue electrical smoke. This means no baking for a while 
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Quince and Almond Tarts |
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| Adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes, Maggie’s Harvest and Australian Gourmet Traveller
Makes 9 Ingredients |
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| Pastry | ||
| 150g | Chilled unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces | |
| 190g | Plain flour | |
| 90g | Sour Cream | |
| Slow Cooked Quince | ||
| 250g | Castor Sugar | |
| 250g | Water | |
| 1 | Quince, peeled, cored and quartered | |
| 1 | Cinnamon quill | |
| 2 | Pepper corns | |
| 3 | Star Anise | |
| Almond Frangipane | ||
| 200g | Castor Sugar | |
| 200g | Unsalted Butter | |
| 200g | Almond meal | |
| 1tbsp | Brandy | |
| 2 | Eggs | |
| 2 tbsp | Milk | |
Method |
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Psst Mark, it’s Adriano Zumbo, not Antonio
Lol, how embarrassing I totally knew that
. I’m totally going to blame spell check for that one. Thanks for visiting
Suffice to say your oven went out with a bang? (bad joke etc *boom, tish!*) At least you tamed your baking demons before the oven decided to die on you. And until the oven is repaired, you’ll have some time to plan your next sweet baking adventure =)
I think the challenge is for me to find many recipes that don’t require an oven.
Aw your tarts don’t look that bad Mark, shame about the oven though!
Oh dear… hope your oven get fixed soon! Look forward to more bakings on your blog. These tarts looks great
Macarons are ridiculous to bake. Who needs silly feet on their dessert anyway *sulks*
Anyhoo, your tarts look great! Pity about the oven being disarmed just as you find your baking groove.
Hey – I sympathise! I have fear of sugar in recipes too. Though, I wouldn’t guess that you have that fear from the look of these tarts!
bahaha i loved that its not lupis ep on house! do i detect 4 references to tv shows? house, glee, iron chef and masterchef? lol sorry to hear you killed your oven but look forward to more of ya baking recipes!
Hey great work Mark!
Oh, your poor oven! I hope it doesn’t take too long to fix! And these tarts look great, I think you’re on your way to climbing that desserts mountain!
Oh dear, I feel your oven pain! My oven has not been the same after it had a conniption a few weeks ago
Never mind, here’s a tip: a thick layer of whipped cream (even from a can) hides all faults!
Yuumm these look greattt! I think I have dessert-envy-itis 24/7… heh and oh noes about oven!
i love quinces ; this is no more the seson here in france but I keep the recipe !! cheers Pierre de Paris
“Dessert-envy-itis” hehehe, I think you did a great job here! I could do with a nice tart right about now, but it’s only Monday! =( Might have to either get my hands on a nice tart on the weekend or bake myself some. And I can’t believe House is almost at the end of another season =( It’s only one of a few non food shows I watch. Hope you can get your oven fixed!
I’ve been intrigued by Maggie’s pastry crust since I saw her cook in on masterchef… I must give it a try! And kudos to you – your desserts actually look fantastic.
Psst Mark, it’s still spelt incorrectly
Epic fail for Mark! Thanks Lorraine
Looks great! I just made some quince jam. this recipe comes in handy
Well done! I hope the electrical smoke smell has dissipated from your house, that stuff is nasty – especially when you can’t cover the smell with freshly baked goods
Your tarts look great to me ^_^ I’d eat one if i could pull one off the screen. nom nom nom nom nommm. Aww your poor oven! Hope it doesn’t take too long to fix
It’s called rustic! Lol. I wouldn’t worry about presentation. As long as food is made with love, it’s all good. Besides, sounds like the pastry was a huge success. My oven has also died so i feel your pain!
LOL! I agree with Helen, I think you’ll get away with calling your baking style, rustic!
Even if it doesn’t look like you’d expect, it must be delicious! I love quince and was never disappointed!
The quince tarts look great. I’ve been wanting to try Maggies Pastry. It seems interesting with the sour cream. I slow baked quinces recently in butter and honey. Will try your method next time.
Your tarts look great, your quinces got some great colour! And I totally empathise with you about being in a baking funk
That sucks that your oven is out of commission now too!
Aw mark, this looks good to me! I’m sorry about your oven though.
oh no – no oven? I would be so very unhappy if that happened to me!!!!
The tarts look wonderful… Hopefully the oven gets fixed soon.
sounds like an awesome flavour combo!
Oh no! Poor oven
I hope it gets fixed pronto.
This was such a funny post, it’s ok if your desserts don’t look flash fab just as long as they taste good (and I’m sure they do) then that’s all that matters. I haven’t had quince yet, so I’m keen to see what they taste like