My role in yesterday’s New Years Day lunch was dessert, I have my usuals that I do (I make a mean pain au chocolat ‘bread and butter’ pudding!) but I wanted to try something different. There were 9 of us for dinner, so I decided to make 2, Clementine and Prosecco Jelly and an Apple, Amaretto and Physalis Frangipane Tart.

Apple, Amaretto and Physalis Frangipane Tart (From issue 1 of Making Cakes and Bakes Magazine)

Ingredients

1 packet of All Butter Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (or you can make your own!)
100g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
2 medium eggs
1 tbsp. Amaretto
100g Ground Almonds
25g Plain Flour

For the Topping

2 Red Skinned Eating Apples (I used Gala)
8 Physalis
Caster Sugar for Sprinkling
50g Apricot Jam

Method

• Preheat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan / Gas Mark 5
• Grease a 3.5cm deep 18x27cm baking tin (or a 24cm diameter tin)
• Roll out the pastry until big enough to fit the tin. Ease gently into the tin.
• Put the tin into the fridge to chill while you make the filling
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one
• Add the Amaretto, then stir in the grounds almonds and flour
• Spoon the frangipane into the pastry base and level the top
• Quarter the apples vertically and core them but leaving the skins on.  Cut into thin slices and arrange slightly overlapping on top of the frangipane
• Bake for 30mins until the frangipane has set.
• Remove from the oven and scatter the physalis halves on top of the tart.
• Sprinkle over with caster sugar and return to the oven to bake for a further 10 –15 mins
• Leave to cool in the tin
• Warm the apricot jam and brush over the top of the tart to glaze the fruit.

Next up was the Clementine and Prosecco Jelly which came from the BBC Good Food website.  You will note that the picture on the website is a lot better than the one below, there was no easy way to photograph it – it does look like a giant egg yolk! However, it tasted great (even if I do say so myself!)

Clementine and Prosecco Jelly

Ingredients

7 leaves gelatine
600ml clementine juice (from about 14 clementines or I cheated and bought a bottle!)
300ml Prosecco

Method

• Put the gelatine sheets into a bowl of cold water to soften for a few mins.
• Put 100ml clementine juice into a small pan and gently heat.
• When the gelatine feels soft and the juice is just simmering, remove the juice from the heat and squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine sheets. Drop the sheets into the hot juice and swirl to melt. Make sure there are no visible lumps of gelatine before you move onto the next stage.
• Stir the hot juice into the rest of the juice with the prosecco, then transfer to a jug.
• Pour between 6 small glasses or 1 large bowl.
• Sit the jellies in a small tray or dish, cover with a sheet of cling film and chill for at least 4 hrs. (or up to 48 hrs.) until set.

They seemed to go down well (well there was nothing left of them!) So I think these 2 recipes are definitely winners and will be added to my ‘go-to’ dessert list!