Fresh fruit vol-au-vent ........

I had been crazy making homemade puff pastry during last month and it results in plenty of frozen puff pastry right now.

To me , sweet vol-au-vent is a better alternative than fruit tart when time is an essence.

I love how light and crispy it is.

It also works well as a ceterpiece on the party table.

Different kinds of fresh fruits add an interesting colors as well as the flavour. I'm sure this little piece of dessert can speak louder than its size. I used what I had in the fridge--apple,strawberry and cape gooseberry. I used lemon curd for the filling today, but any kind of filling or whipped cream would be nice too.

If you love to try it at home, here is the recipe for rough puff pastry. Enjoy .........

Lemon macarons.

Once again that I baked macarons. I know that they are still far from perfection....I'm working on it.

I accidentally cut down the lime tree while cutting the grass in my garden. The citrus smell of lime leaves inspired me to bake something lemony. Finally I ended up with lemon macarons

Adding lemon zest in both macaron shell and filling really creates an intense citrus smell to this macaron. I baked them without drying the skin. Baking luck was with me, my macarons have feet. I confirm that making macarons in a rainy day or at night is doable. It's raining outside while these macarons were in the oven. The filling is made of creamcheese, lemon juice and lemon zest.

I can make macaron 30 days in a roll with different flavours...before finishing this combination, I already had the next combination in my wish list.

No wonder why many persons are in love with macarons making. It's a challenge!
My quality control department is ready for his job...that's right, Huggie will be in charge.

Sweet shell and very tart filling are such a perfect combination.

Apple Fragipane Tart

Apple fragipane tart that even diabetic persons can enjoy.

I have a few persons around me who are diabetic. I would like them to enjoy the desserts with me, so I choose to make this apple fragipane tart whenever they requested for apple tart. This tart is a low-sugar version with wholewheat crust.
I used to eat apple pie by digging up the filling and discarded the crust until I tried this recipe......hope you like it.

The crust is light and flaky. For sugar-friendly persons, they enjoy this tart with ice cream but those diabetic friends enjoy them with a little apricot galze on top of the apple.

I adpated the recipe from Joy of Baking to suit our needs but let me tell you that the original recipe yields a very good result .

Frangipane (Almond Cream):

25 g granulated white sugar
30 g unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
40 g almond meal
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):

110 g all-purpose flour
65 g wholewheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 g sugar
113 g unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
30 - 60 ml ice water

Frangipane: Cream the sugar and butter using electric mixer. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the almond meal and flour and beat until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Pate Brisee: Place the flour, salt, and sugar in food processor and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds).Pour 30 ml water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube until the pastry just holds together when pinched. Add remaining water, if necessary. Do not process more than about 30 seconds. Turn the pastry out onto your work surface, gather it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.

Once the pastry has chilled sufficiently, remove from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured silpat or silicone baking mat (You can send them to the oven later without transfering to the baking tray which is a mess). Roll the pastry into a 13 inch circle or any desired shape. If it gets too soft and starts to fall apart when rolling, put dough back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up. Cover with plastic wrap, and return it to the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

Then remove the chilled pastry from the refrigerator and spread the frangipane evenly over the dough, leaving a 2 inch border. Cover and return to the refrigerator while you prepare the apples.

Assemble Tart:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven.

Arrange the apple slices evenly over the frangipane layer. Fold the 2 inch border of pastry up and over the apples and brush the pastry crust with the melted butter. Sprinkle some sugar over the crust and apples if desired.

Bake the tart for 50 to 60 minutes or until the apples are cooked and the crust is golden brown.

Serve warm as it is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, enjoy!