Masa Quebrada

Even though putting the words ‘caramel’ and ‘salted’ together in the same phrase sounds weird, it’s a delicious combination that I tried for the first time thanks to French delicatessens. So as soon as I saw this recipe on La receta de la felicidad I couldn’t resist giving it a go, and I knew it’d be a guaranteed success. Even those weird beings who aren’t crazy about chocolate end up liking it, thanks to the crunchy bite of the crust and the creaminess of the filling. So what are you waiting for to try it?

What do we need?

For the special shortcrust pastry:

• 250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

• 30 g (1/4 cup) ground almonds

• 150 g (2/3 cup) butter

• 80 g (1/3 cup) sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 pinch of powdered vanilla

For the salted caramel sauce:

• 70 g (1/3 cup) sugar

• 70 ml (1/3 cup) heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon butter

• a pinch of salt

For the chocolate cream:

• 500 ml (2 cups) heavy cream

• 350 g (12 oz) dark chocolate

For the whipped cream:

• 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) heavy whipping cream, very cold (at least 35% fat)

• 2 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar

• Optional: cocoa powder for dusting on top

How do we make it?

• We start by preparing the crust. Mix the very cold butter, cut into small cubes, with the rest of the ingredients. You can use the dough attachment on your mixer or use a spoon and finish kneading by hand. It’ll come out crumbly and you’ll have to keep squeezing the butter with your hands to incorporate everything well, but don’t despair. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

• Meanwhile, prepare a 24 to 26 cm (9.5 to 10 in) springform tin by lightly greasing it and placing a sheet of baking paper on the bottom.

• Roll out the dough on a floured surface or between two sheets of baking paper or plastic wrap (so it doesn’t stick) until it’s about 3 mm (1/8 in) thick.

• Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the tin. Press it well into the tin, patching any gaps with bits of dough. Trim the edges by running the rolling pin over the top of the tin and pressing down.

• Put the tin with the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

• Cover the bottom of the tart with baking paper and fill with dried chickpeas (just like when making quiches — this keeps the dough from rising in the oven). Bake the crust for about 25 minutes.

• Take it out and once it’s cooled, unmold and place on a plate or tray.

• Now we’ll prepare the salted caramel sauce. Have the cream and butter ready beforehand. Put the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and wait without stirring until it turns into caramel (2 or 3 minutes). Once you have a golden caramel, lower the heat to minimum and add the butter, salt, and cream, stirring constantly until you get a smooth sauce. If any caramel lumps form, keep stirring vigorously over low-medium heat until they fully dissolve.

• Once it’s cooled a bit, pour the caramel over the tart base and put it in the fridge for half an hour.

• Next we make the chocolate cream. Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan while you chop the chocolate. When it boils, remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes and stir until you get a smooth cream. Once the chocolate cream has cooled a bit, pour it over the tart that you had reserved in the fridge and let it chill overnight.

• Finally, whip the cream. Beat the very cold cream with the sugar using a whisk until it reaches the desired consistency (be careful not to overdo it or it’ll turn into butter).

• Put the whipped cream into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe little mounds of cream over the tart. Using a sieve, dust with cocoa powder and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Tips:

• When whipping the cream you can use regular sugar, but store-bought powdered sugar will help keep the consistency longer since it usually contains a small amount of starch.

• If you don’t want to even turn on the oven, you can swap the shortcrust base for a cookie base. Crush digestive-type cookies, for example, and mix with melted butter. Cover the tin pressing down well so it’s nice and compact, let it chill before pouring the caramel and you’re done.

• If you don’t have a piping bag or tip, you can use a plastic bag (like a freezer bag) and snip a small hole in the corner.

[English version] CHOCOLATE AND SALTED CARAMEL TART* *

For the crust:

• *250 g all purpose flour *

• *30 g powdered almonds *

• *150 g butter, cold, cut into cubes *

• *80 g sugar *

• 1 egg

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 pinch powdered vanilla

For the salted caramel sauce:

• *70 g sugar *

• *70 ml heavy cream *

• 1 teaspoon butter

• pinch of salt

For the chocolate cream:

• *500 ml heavy cream *

• *350 g dark chocolate *

For the whipped cream:

• 300 ml heavy cream, very cold (1 cup aprox)

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• Optional: unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

* *

• Prepare the crust. Whizz all the ingredients in a food processor to a dough and finish by hand until getting a homogeneous dough. Wrap the dough and chill for 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry and line a deep 24-26 cm tart tin with it; patch any holes if crumbly. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 180 ºC. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork or use baking beans and bake about 25 minutes.

• Transfer to a rack and let cool.

• Prepare the caramel sauce. Place sugar a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Look for the caramel to turn a rich amber colour, then lower the heat and whisk in butter and cream (the mixture will bubble up, so be careful!). Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate 1/2 hour.

• Prepare the chocolate cream. Chop the chocolate. Bring heavy cream to boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in the hot cream. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir until smooth. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate 24 hours .

• Before serving, prepare the whipped cream. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream with the sugar until firm. Pipe the whipped cream on top of the pie and dust with some cocoa powdered if desired.

Tips:**- If you use confectioners’ sugar when whipping the cream, you’ll get a firmer cream.

- If you don’t want even to switch on the oven you can prepare the crust with biscuits. Just smash the biscuits and mix with melted butter. Cover the tart mold with it, pressing well with your fingers.Refrigerate before pouring the caramel sauce.

- If you don’t have piping bag, you can use a plastic bag instead.

As part of the campaign “No newly-independent young adult shall go hungry, even if they don’t like cooking,” here’s another easy recipe — one of those that almost everyone knows, but just in case, I don’t want to hear that you’re not eating well just because you couldn’t be bothered to do a couple of little things in the kitchen.

What do we need?

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g (1 ⅔ cups) flour

• 100 g (7 tbsp) cold butter

• 1 egg

• A pinch of salt

• A pinch of sugar

For the filling:

• 200 g (7 oz) bacon

• 100 g (3.5 oz) emmental cheese

• 50 g (1.75 oz) mushrooms

• 200 ml (¾ cup) heavy cream

• 4 medium eggs

• Half an onion

• Salt and pepper.

How do we make it?

• As you know, for the shortcrust pastry you can check here.

• While we’re making the dough, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

• Once the dough is ready, place it in a baking pan and pop it in the oven for about fifteen minutes. Before putting it in the oven, prick it with a fork so it doesn’t puff up.

• With the pastry in the oven, heat a frying pan with a splash of oil. When it’s hot, add the onion and mushrooms, all sliced beforehand. Once they’ve softened a bit, add the bacon cut into strips and cook to your liking. Set aside.

• Beat the eggs in a large bowl and mix them with the cream. Season with salt and pepper.

• Add the sautéed ingredients to the bowl.

• When the pastry is partially cooked, take it out of the oven and pour in the mixture. Spread it evenly across the surface and sprinkle the cheese on top.

• Put it back in the oven and bake for around half an hour.

Tips:

• Just like we mentioned here, you can pick any kind of cheese you like or whatever you have at home.

• Shortcrust pastry isn’t hard to make, but if you’d rather, you can buy it pre-made at any supermarket. That way we make sure “No newly-independent young adult goes hungry, even if they don’t like cooking.”

[English version] QUICHE LORRAINE* Ingredients: *Shortbread pastry:

• 200 g flour

• 1oo g cold butter

• 1 egg

• A pinch of salt

• A pinch of sugar

Filling:

• 200 g bacon

• 100 g emmental cheese

• 50 g mushrooms

• 200 ml cream

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 onion

• Salt and pepper

• *Prepare the shortbread pastry. You can see here our recipe. *

• Preheat oven at 180º C.

• Roll out the pastry and place into a baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes. If we bake directly with the filling on it, the pastry will be underdone. To avoid the pastry to ‘grow’ in the oven, you can place a baking paper and fill up with baking beans. You can also pierce the pastry with a fork.

• While the pastry is baking in the oven, heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan. Chop onion and mushrooms and place them into the hot frying pan. After a few minutes, add the bacon cut into strips and keep stir frying for a few extra minutes. Take it out from heat and set aside.

• In a large bowl, beat eggs and cream together. Add salt and pepper.

• Add the stir fried ingredients and mix well.

• The pastry will be already slightly cooked, so take it out from oven and pour evenly the cream mix inside. Sprinkle with some cheese on the top.

• Bake into the oven for around 30 minutes.

Tips:

*- As we said before here you can choose any kind of cheese you like. *

- Shortbread pastry is not a difficult task but you can also buy it in any supermarket.

Comments

yolanda del pozo (2013-04-19 09:44:08):

All the recipes on this site are easy, cheap, quick and tasty — what more could you ask for? And the photos are amazing too, just looking at them makes you want to make the dish and, above all, eat it. Congrats, great work!

silvia (2015-01-14 20:34:14):

The other day I bought shortcrust pastry by mistake… so checking out this great website, I’m bookmarking this recipe.

Just one question: what’s that about pricking the pastry before baking… do you have to pierce it? And what kind of pan works best? Like a non-stick one?

Kisses

I’m sure you’ve all tried — and many of you have made — the classic quiche lorraine (we’ve got ours ready and we’ll be posting it soon). Today we’re sharing a variation we absolutely loved, easy to make and seriously tasty.

What do we need?

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g (1 ⅔ cups) flour

• 100 g (7 tbsp) cold butter

• 1 egg

• A pinch of salt

• A pinch of sugar

For the filling:

• A dozen cherry tomatoes

• 100 g (3.5 oz) emmental cheese

• 50 g (1.75 oz) goat cheese log

• 200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) heavy cream

• 4 medium eggs

• Oregano, salt and pepper.

How do we make it?

• First, make the shortcrust pastry. Here you can see how we did it.

• While the pastry is resting, preheat the oven to 180-200°C (355-390°F).

• Once the dough is ready, roll it out, place it in a tart pan and bake for about 15 minutes. We do this before adding the filling so the base doesn’t end up raw. To stop it from puffing up, prick it with a fork or weigh it down with dried chickpeas.

• Cut the tomatoes in half, chop the emmental and slice the goat cheese log into rounds.

• Beat the eggs and mix with the cream. Add salt and pepper.

• Stir in the emmental and the oregano.

• When the pastry is partly baked, take it out of the oven and pour in the mixture. Spread it evenly across the pan.

• Add the halved cherry tomatoes and the goat cheese on top.

• Put it back in the oven and bake for another 30 minutes or so.

Tips:

• You can use any kind of cheese for the filling.

• If you’re feeling lazy and don’t fancy making the shortcrust pastry, you can buy it at any supermarket, either refrigerated or frozen. If you go for frozen, take it out about 15 minutes before you want to use it so you can work with it — otherwise it’ll crack.

Comments

silvia (2012-11-29 22:13:25):

man… I wish I had an oven so I could follow these recipes… well, the no-bake ones except for the sweet ones, you already know I’m a fan, like that pineapple salad… yum yum

On one of my regular visits to the La Receta de la Felicidad blog, I came across this recipe for express cookies. In my case they weren’t quite so express since I decided to make the shortcrust pastry myself instead of buying it. In any case, the idea of the woven cookies is striking for how simple it is and how pretty they look, so you have no excuse not to try them.

What do we need?

•   1 sheet of shortcrust pastry*
  

•   1 tablespoon of butter
  

•   Sugar and cinnamon
  

*If instead of buying it you’d rather make the shortcrust pastry yourselves, you’ll also need:

•   200 g (1.5 cups) of flour
  

•   100 g (7 tbsp) of cold butter
  

•   1 egg
  

•   A pinch of salt
  

•   A pinch of sugar
  

How do we make it?

Shortcrust pastry:

• Put all the ingredients in a bowl. The butter has to be very cold and cut into small pieces.

• Start kneading with your hands until you have a smooth dough, shape it into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for an hour.

• Once the waiting time is up, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it’s quite thin (about 5 mm / 1/4 inch). You can do this with the help of a couple of sheets of baking paper or even plastic wrap.

Cookies:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

• With the dough rolled out, cut strips of 1 cm (about 1/2 inch) with a sharp knife.

• Now we weave the dough. To do this, place half of the strips together in a vertical position. Then place the other strips one by one horizontally, passing them through the vertical strips alternating over and under (since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at the photo).

• With a round cookie cutter (or any shape you like), cut out the cookies from the freshly woven dough.

• Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (don’t be shy with the amount, since shortcrust pastry isn’t sweet).

• Place the cookies on a tray lined with baking paper and bake them for 10 minutes.

Tips:

• You can add any spice or flavoring you like. In my case I used a powdered sugar flavored with cinnamon and apple.
• So they don’t lose their shape too much, the shortcrust pastry has to be very cold and you should handle it as little as possible (in this case, it’s easier with store-bought shortcrust pastry).
• If you make them a bit bigger than a coffee cup, you can serve them in the original way that @SandeeA does.