Wimbledon Tart!

Today, in honor of my FAVORITE tennis tournament of the year, I made a green and purple tart! I realize I should've done some kind of take on strawberries and cream...but that will have to come later. I used a recipe for lime squares with pistachio graham crust that I found online but baked it in a tart part, and to add a purple element, I covered it in a fresh blackberry glaze (I found the recipe as part of a cheesecake recipe). Anyway, here it is in all its grand slam glory!

Wimbledon Tart

for the crust:

1 c. graham cracker crumbs

2/3 c. shelled pistachios

5 tbsp. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

zest of 3 limes

for the lime filling:

1 14 oz. can fat-free condensed milk

2 egg yolks

1/2 c. fresh lime juice

zest of 1 lime

for the blackberry glaze:

1/2 lb. fresh blackberries

1/2 c. water

3 tbsp. cornstarch

1/3 c. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan (with removable bottom).
2. In a food processor, grind graham crackers into 1 c. graham cracker crumbs. Add pistachios, sugar, and zest to graham crackers and process until fine. Remove the food processor bowl and add melted butter, stirring until well-combined and roughly the consistency of damp sand.
3. Spread crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan, pressing it down to form a dense layer. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until it turns golden brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
4. While the crust is cooling, make the filling. Beat the egg yolks into the condensed milk until mixed through. Then add the lime juice and zest, and fold it in until the lime juice is thoroughly mixed into the condensed milk and egg yolk mixture.
5. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling is set. Let it cool for 30 minutes out of the oven, then transfer to the fridge (don't cover it...clingfilm will just stick to the filling).
6. When it has cooled in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, make the blackberry glaze. In a medium saucepan, mash the blackberries into the water. Heat this mixture over medium heat for 5 minutes, then put it through a strainer.
7. Mix together the cornstarch and sugar in a bowl.
8. Put the strained blackberries back into the medium saucepan (still on medium heat), and add the sugar-cornstarch mixture, and stir constantly until the mixture has thickened up.
9. Allow the glaze to cool a bit, then pour in over the top of the lime filling in the tart and spread it out into an even layer over the top.
10. Top it with fresh blackberries if you want (I halved mine and arranged them in the shape of the lines on a tennis ball) and serve (I'll hold off on any tennis puns)!

A slice on an appropriately british plate:

I was also thinking that it would taste good with a white chocolate ganache (maybe mixed with blackberry puree) drizzled over it, but some members of my family are not too keen on white chocolate, so I opted out. It was really good, though, and a really refreshing summer dessert!

Bon Appetit and Happy Wimbledon Spectating!

Biscotti for Breakfast

This is a recipe for some biscotti I made a little while ago that I really liked! They're super easy to make, and the recipe makes enough cookies to last for quite a few breakfasts, even in a house of 5!

Fig, Pistachio, Orange Biscotti

yield: around 20 biscotti

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. orange zest (zest of about 1/2 an orange)

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. shelled, salted pistachios, coarsely-chopped

2/3 c. dried figs, diced

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until smooth (about 2 minutes).
3. Add eggs, vanilla, and zest to butter mixture and beat for 2-3 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Remove bowl from mixer, and fold pistachios and figs into the batter.
6. Transfer dough to a baking sheet covered in either parchment paper or a silpat, form the dough into a wide log (about 1" high and 6" wide), and bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. Remove the pan from the oven to cool for about 10 minutes, and lower oven temperature to 275F.
8. Once the dough is cool, use a bread knife to cut the log into 1/2" thick slices.
9. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet, cut side up, and bake until golden on the top, then flip the biscotti over and bake until the other side is golden (about 20 minutes on each side).

I also used this recipe to make apple, raisin, pecan biscotti by substituting 2/3 c. diced dried apples and raisins for the figs and pecans for the pistachios. I also added 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg in place of the orange zest. The only problem with the apple/raisin/pecan biscotti was that the apple pieces I cut were a bit too big, which made the log difficult to slice, leaving me with a lot of broken biscotti! However, they were really tasty!

xoxo