Berry Tarts

White Chocolate and Gooseberry Tart

This is another super recipe from my Donna Hay recipe book.  Donna makes it as a white chocolate and raspberry tart.  I have, over the past few years, made several different versions there-of: White chocolate and gooseberry, dark chocolate and pear, milk chocolate and strawberry etc etc!  This is such a fantastically simple recipe, so the next time that you have to make a dessert for a special occasion, give it a try!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Tartlets

White Chocolate Tart


375 g sweet short crust pastry (recipe to follow)
225 g raspberries (or any other berries
300 g white (or dark or milk) chocolate
500 ml cream
4 egg yolks


Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.


On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out until approximately 3 mm thick.  Carefully place the pastry in a 25 cm tart tin.  Prick with a fork and cover with baking paper.  Fill with rice or beans and bake blind for 5 minutes.  Remove the beans/rice and bake for another 5 minutes or until the pastry is a lovely golden colour.


To make the filling:  Heat the chocolate and cream together, until the chocolate has melted.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks.  Pour the mixture into your tart shell and bake at 140 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes or until the tart has just set.


Refrigerate until cold and firm. Decorate with fruit or berries of your choice. 


Et voila!

My New Toy!!

I actually wanted to post this blog in November, but i wanted to have some pics to go with it.  I am a firm believer that we eat with our eyes and how better to tempt you to try the recipes that i have tried than with a few well-taken photographs.  Anyway, this ice-cream (semi freddo, actually) that i made didn't last long enough for me take any good photo's... So here is the post sans photo's...


On Friday, i celebrated my birthday!!  My fiancé spoilt me and i became the proud owner an ice-cream maker!!  I was so excited to put this fantastic gadget to use, that i did so on Sunday.  I made the Raspberry Ripple Semifreddo featured on the cover of the November edition of the Food & Home Entertaining magazine.  Using berries from my own garden!  My sister has made this recipe without the use of an ice-cream maker, so for those of you who don't have one, don't despair!  It works just as well made the old fashioned way.


Raspberry Ripple Semifreddo


4 large eggs
2 egg yolks
60 ml vanilla extract (i used vanilla sugar, so left the extract out)
210 g castor sugar
500 ml fresh cream
130 g fresh or frozen raspberries


1.  Combine the eggs, vanilla and sugar in a heatproof bowl.  Place over a pot of simmering water and beat with a handheld mixer for 20 min.  (I only had the patience to beat for 10 min!)  
2.  Once the mixture is thick and pale, remove from the heat and carry on beating for another 20 min (once again, a lack of patience on my part) until the mixture has cooled.
3.  In a separate bowl, beat the cream until stiff.
4.  Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture.
5.  Pour into a 2-litre container.
6. Process half of the berries in a blender.  Add these as well as the whole berries to the semifreddo and stir gently.
7.  If using an ice-cream maker, place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.
8.  Old-school style: place in the freezer and whisk the mixture every two or so hours to prevent large ice-crystals from forming.