Mini Tarts with White Chocolate Ganache

Here’s a super simple recipe that I just prepared for NYE that is bound to be an instant hit with your guests or just a treat for yourself to bid farewell to 2017!

Makes 12

Ingredients:

– 12 Mini Tart Shells

– 200g White Cooking Chocolate

– 90mL light Sour Cream

– Apricot & Coconut Balls (or anything else you want to top the tarts with)

– (Optional: 2-3 Tbs Cinnamon for taste and texture)

Step 1

Prepare a large heatproof bowl and place it on a saucepan of simmering water ensuring the bowl does not touch the water. Place the chocolate in the bowl and stir gently at first.

Step 2

When the chocolate is smooth and completely melted, take the bowl off the saucepan and stand for 1 minute, stirring it occasionally. Add the sour cream to the chocolate and mix them together with a spoon until well combined. The mixture should thicken. Add the cinnamon if you would like. It’s more delicious this way I find.

Step 3

Once cooled, use a spoon to put the mixture into the mini tart shells and top with the apricot balls or anything else you’d like to decorate them with.

Step 4

Put in the fridge until they’re ready to serve!

The Result

This simple recipe is quick and delicious. You could almost call it a simplified version of a cupcake! Happy New Year to you all!

Recipe: French Macarons

Each time I’ve made French Macarons with this simple recipe they managed to turn out quite well. Before finding this recipe in the pages of Woman’s Day magazine, I tried MANY other recipes and failed each time. I don’t know what it is about this recipe, but the “webbing” always works! Honestly, the one thing that I still haven’t mastered is the smooth top, but with a bit more practice that too will work one day, I’m sure.

So here’s that magic recipe with which I baked these macarons for my sister’s birthday tomorrow. Enjoy!

MAKES: 20   PREP: 1 Hour (Plus resting & cooling)   COOK: 15-20mins

INGREDIENTS:

• Icing sugar – 2 cups, firmly packed
• Almond meal – 1.5 cups, firmly packed
• Egg-whites – 4
• Caster sugar – 1/3 cup
• Food colouring – a few drops (personal preference on colour!)

STEP 1 – Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. In a medium- sized bowl, sift icing sugar and almond meal together.

STEP 2 – In a large bowl, beat egg-whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, beating between each addition, until sugar dissolves.

STEP 3 – Using a large metal spoon, carefully fold in icing sugar mixture and food colouring to the egg white mixture. The consistency should be like lava, flowing and not runny. Try not to over do it (maximum of 50 folds should be fine)

STEP 4 – Transfer mixture into a large piping bag, cut the tip off or fit with plain nozzle, and pipe straight down to create 4 cm rounds, 2.5 cm apart on the baking paper. (As you can see, I’m using a macaron template for greater ease). Lightly tap trays once on bench. Set aside for 30 minutes in a cool dry place, allowing a skin to develop over the top.

STEP 5 – Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on trays.

STEP 6 – Prepare the ganache. I love to melt some white chocolate and combine it with sour cream. Google has heaps of recipes you can try! Pipe the ganache on one shell and prepare an identical sized shell to partner it with.

STEP 7 – Voila! Your macarons are complete. I enjoy them more after they’ve been in the fridge for a few hours!

If anyone has tips on making the tops smooth and not pointy, please let me know! I tapped the tray and tried smoothing them down with a spoon but obviously they’re still not quite perfect. Oh well, practice makes perfect.