Tart Filling: Strawberries, chocolate

• Strawberry
•  250g cream cheese, softened/ 8 ounces
•  1/2 cup sour cream
•  1/2 cup icing sugar
•  1 teaspoon rum
•  500g small strawberries, hulled
•  1/4 cup strawberry jam, warmed

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sour cream, icing sugar and rum until smooth. Spread mixture in cold pastry case. Top with strawberries. Brush with warm jam. Cover. Refrigerate overnight. Serve.



Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel

• 220g frozen sweet flan pastry case
•  380g can caramel Top 'n' Fill
•  1/4 teaspoon sea salt flakes
•  180g dark chocolate, chopped
•  1/2 cup pure cream
•  Cocoa powder, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Place pastry case, in foil tin, onto a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes.
2. Step 2
   Spread caramel over base of pastry. Bake for 20 minutes or until caramel is golden. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Step 3
   Meanwhile, combine chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50%) for 1 minute or until smooth, stirring with a metal spoon after 30 seconds. Pour over caramel. Refrigerate overnight. Serve dusted with cocoa powder.

Lemon Tart

•  185g Marie or Nice biscuits, processed to fine crumbs
•  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•  1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•  90g butter, melted
•  Pure icing sugar, to serve

Lemon curd (like class, butter goes in last after it's off the heat, egg/sugar/lemon cannot boil)

•  3 lemons
•  4 eggs
•  1 cup caster sugar
•  125g butter, chopped ( 1 stick plus a 1/2 pat more)

1. Lightly grease a 2cm-deep, 24cm (base) loose-based round flan pan. Combine biscuit crumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter in a bowl. Press into base and sides of prepaed pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Step 2
   Make lemon curd: Finely grate rind of 1 lemon. Juice all lemons. Whisk eggs and sugar together in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Add lemon rind and 2/3 cup lemon juice, whisking constantly until well combined. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not allow base to touch water). Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 20 to 25 minutes or until thick and custard-like. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
3. Step 3
   Pour lemon curd into chilled tart case. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

upside down Banana tart with puff pastry

• 30g butter, finely chopped
•  2 tablespoons brown sugar
•  Pinch of ground cinnamon
•  2 small bananas, peeled, cut into 1cm-thick slices
•  1 sheet (25 x 25cm) ready-rolled frozen butter puff pastry, just thawed
•  Vanilla ice-cream, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 210°C. Divide the butter among four 250ml (1-cup) capacity ramekins. Sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon. Arrange the banana, overlapping, over the sugar mixture.
2. Step 2
   Use a round 10cm-diameter pastry cutter to cut 4 discs from the pastry. Place the discs over the banana. Fold over edges to enclose filling. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Turn out onto serving plates. Serve with ice-cream.

upside down apple tart with puff pastry

• 50g unsalted butter
•  4 medium green apples, peeled, cored, quartered
•  1/2 cup brown sugar
•  1 sheet frozen puff pastry, partially thawed
•  Double cream, to serve

1. 
   Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm (base) round cake pan. Line base with baking paper.
2. Step 2
   Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add apple. Cook, turning, for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Add sugar and 2 tablespoons cold water. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Step 3
   Arrange apple in prepared pan. Spoon over sugar mixture. Cut a 22cm round from pastry. Place pastry over apple, tucking in at edge. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden and puffed. Stand in pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto a plate. Serve with cream.

Chocolate Filling recipe below

For the filling:
4 cups whole milk
¾ cup sugar
5 extra-large egg yolks
¹⁄³ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
7 ounces good bittersweet chocolate, such as Lindt, broken
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon Kahlúa liqueur
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder, such as Nescafé Clásico
Sweetened whipped cream (see note)
Shaved bittersweet chocolate, for garnish

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until almost simmering. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the milk into the bowl. (I pour the hot milk into a large measuring cup first to reduce spills.) Pour the mixture into a large saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is very thick.

Off the heat, add the chocolate, butter, Kahlúa, and coffee. Beat with a whisk until smooth and pour into the cooled crust. Place plastic wrap directly on the chocolate filling and chill the tart for 6 hours, until cold. Decorate with whipped cream and shaved chocolate and serve cold.

Note: To make sweetened whipped cream, place 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until it forms firm peaks.