Weekend tea party

We had some guests over the weekend for tea so we made peach trifle and chicken patties, along with some other snacks.

Peach Trifle

Things that need to be prepared are custard and jelly primarily, the rest is mere assembling.

There are some amazing technical tips for custard preparation and cooling that can be seen in the video for Mango Trifle (by chef Rahat) here. The idea of adding fresh cream to custard is simply awesome!

First lay down cake slices. Any plain sponge or butter cake will do. My mom says chocolate cake is the best choice as it gives a superb taste when combined with peaches in the trifle.

Soak the cake slices with fruit cocktail syrup or orange juice, for a few minutes.

Next lay down the peaches, finely chopped. (either fresh or canned)

Slightly beat the prepared jelly with fork and spread it over the fruit.

Lastly spread the cooled custard and decorate with fresh cream (beaten) or peach slices.

Chicken Patties

I used ready made puff pastry. The recipe for the filling is by chef Rahat.

For the filling

1 cup boneless chicken, finely chopped and fully boiled

2 pinches salt

1/4th teaspoon red chilli powder

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Saute onion with 1 tablespoon butter and mix it with the above ingredients.

Place about 1 tablespoon filling in each puff pastry square. Fold and bake.

Filling makes around 15 patties.

Orange tarts... On an autumn's day

Autumn is here at last! And a pleasant one it is so far. The wind is blowing without any traces of dust. This change in weather is making us all the more hungrier than ever before.

I had bought butter and cream cheese to make these tarts but instead I used the butter to make the Peach Upside Down cake first.

I had to shoot the tarts in an emergency once again, as we couldn't keep our hands off of them when they came out of the oven.

They have an extremely delicious taste owing to the cream cheese. The recipe I used is from here. The pastry is very soft and delicate. It melts in your mouth when you take a bite.

A tart for breakfast or one after lunch is just heavenly!

For the Pastry

1/2 cup (113 grams approximately) butter, softened

1/3rd cup sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1/4th teaspoon vanilla essence

1/4th teaspoon salt

1 and 1/3rd cups flour


For the Filling

8 ounces (220 grams approximately) cream cheese, softened

1/4th cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

2 teaspoons orange juice

Beat all pastry ingredients except for flour.

Add flour. Mix to form dough.

Divide the dough equally in 12 portions to be placed in a 12-cup muffin/cupcake tray. The tray does not need to be greased.

Press pastry on the bottom and sides of the cup with finger tips.

Preheat oven to 375ºF/ 190ºC.

In a bowl beat all filling ingredients. Using a spoon place the filling over the pastry in each cup.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Pastry should be light brown around the edges.

Cool completely and refrigerate.

French delight

This sour cream dish can be a main course for lunch. It can also be had at tea-time or brunch.

Bake it in a 12 regular sized muffin/cupcake tray to serve it as an appetizer.

This recipe I got from my neighbor.

I baked it for lunch time. We were eager to have it straight away so I had to get a picture of it in quite an emergency.

Quiche

200 grams Puff Pastry

200 grams sour cream

2 eggs

1/4th teaspoon salt

1/4th teaspoon back pepper

1/4th teaspoon red chilli powder

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomatoes, finely chopped

Roll out pastry and fix in baking pan.

Beat all ingredients except mushrooms and tomatoes.

Add mushrooms and tomatoes. Mix well.

Other options for the topping are some finely chopped capsicum or spring onion.

Pour mixture over the puff pastry.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 175°C. Broil or bake from top for 3 minutes for a light brown color.

Serve warm.