Blue Cayenne

Simple Strawberry Tart

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Ingredients

For the Rye Crust
• 2/3 C. all-purpose flour
• 2/3 C. rye flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 t. apple cider vinegar
• 9 T. very cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1 large egg (lightly beaten--for egg wash)
• For the Tart
• 1 C. mascarpone (at room temperature)
• 3 T. granulated sugar
• 1 pound small, sweet strawberries
• 3 T. high-quality strawberry jam

Instructions

1. To make the crust, whisk all-purpose and rye flours together with the salt.
2. Add cold butter to flour mixture and mix in your food processor until the flour butter mixture looks like coarse meal with some pea-sized lumps of butter.
3. Mix apple cider vinegar with 5 T. ice water. Sprinkle 3 T. of the cold vinegar-water mixture over the flour mixture and pulse in your food processor until the dough begins to come together. If your flour mixture is too dry, add in more of the cold water-vinegar mixture. (I did.) Your dough is finished when you can squeeze it together in your hand and it doesn't fall apart. My dough actually began to form a ball in my food processor.
4. Form the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Using a lightly-floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough into an oval shape that measures about 15 inches by 6 inches and is 1/4-inch thick. Trim the edges of the dough with a knife to make a rectangle with straight sides. Place the dough (still on the parchment paper) on a rimless baking sheet. Dock the crust with a fork and brush the dough with the egg wash.
7. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.. Check the dough halfway through baking to see if it has formed any bubbles on the surface of the dough. If it has, use a spatula to press them flat. Cool the crust completely in the pan. When the crust is completely cool, ease it out of the pan and off the parchment paper onto a serving plate.
8. To prepare the tart, combine the mascarpone and 2 T. sugar. Mascarpone should be at room temperature so that it mixes and spreads easily. Spread the mascarpone on top of the cooled crust. Put strawberry jam on top of the mascarpone and spread the jam across the mascarpone with a spatula. Top the mascarpone/jam layer with a layer of sliced strawberries. Arrange the strawberries in a decorative pattern with the edges of the strawberries slightly overlapping. Sprinkle the remaining 1 T. sugar on top of the strawberries.
9. Slice and serve. This tart is best when eaten shortly after assembling.

Serves 10

Flan

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Ingredients

• 3/4 C. sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 5 large eggs
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1 t. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare the caramelized sugar by putting the sugar into a heavy saucepan heated over medium-low heat. Stir. Once the sugar begins to dissolve, DO NOT stir it any further. To do so will ruin your caramel. Instead, tilt the saucepan to move the sugar syrup around in the pan as you watch the sugar change to a dark amber color. You can use a brush dipped into water to brush around the sides of the saucepan to dissolve any sugar crystals that begin to form while your caramel is cooking. It will take from 10-15 minutes for the sugar to caramelize. Be sure to watch the sugar carefully and constantly during this process. You can burn the sugar in an instant. When the sugar is an amber color, take the saucepan off the heat and pour it into the un-greased pan or dish in which you plan to bake your flan. (I used a glass loaf pan.) As you pour the caramelized sugar into the pan, tilt the plan to distribute the caramelized sugar over the bottom of the dish. Let the sugar mixture sit for about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix your cream cheese until it is smooth. I used my stand mixer. Then, add the eggs one at a time--beating after each addition. Add the sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk, and the vanilla to the mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour this mixture over the caramelized sugar in the pan you have prepared.
4. Set this pan inside a larger baking dish. (I used a large glass lasagna pan.) Boil some water and pour it into the larger pan until it reaches a depth of about 1 inch.
5. Bake your flan in the water bath at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes. Your flan is done when the mixture is set (the center of the flan should jiggle).
6. Remove the flan from the larger pan and cool on a wire rack for about an hour. Refrigerate overnight.
7. When you are ready to serve the flan, remove it from the refrigerator and run a knife around the edges of the flan. Cover the flan with a large plate. Invert the flan over the dish. Enjoy. Be sure to spoon a lot of the amber sugar sauce over each person's portion of flan.

Nutrition

Calories

331 cal

Fat

10 g

Carbs

42 g

Protein

7 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

Tortuga Rum Cake

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Ingredients

Cake Batter
• 1 3/4 C. almond flour
• 1/2 C. all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 3/4 C. unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 C. granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 T. Myers's Original Dark Rum
Rum Simple Syrup
• 1/4 C. granulated sugar
• 1/4 C. water
• 1 T. Myers's Original Dark Rum
Vanilla Icing
• 2 T. whole milk
• 1 t. vanilla bean paste
• 1 1/2 C. powdered sugar (sifted)

Instructions

To bake the cake
1. Preheat oven to 325 Degrees F. Generously grease your baking pan with butter and dust lightly with all-purpose flour or, alternatively, spray pan carefully with oil/flour spray.
2. Whisk almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set mixture aside.
3. Put room-temperature butter in the bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with paddle attachment). Beat butter on medium-high speed until the butter is fluffy and light-colored. This will take about 3 minutes. Slowly add granulated sugar to the mixer bowl beating until the mixture is light-colored and fluffy. This will take about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add eggs one at a time to the bowl, mixing thoroughly after the addition of each egg. Do not overmix your batter.
4. At a medium low speed, add flour mixture to the butter mixture adding about one-third of the flour at a time. Beat for about 15 seconds after each addition of flour and scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition so that you are sure the flour is fully incorporated into your batter.
5. Take 1/2 C. of your batter out of the mixing bowl and, in a small bowl, mix the batter with 2 T. rum. (Be sure to taste the rum at this point to be sure you are using a quality rum. 🙂 Re-taste until you are absolutely sure.) Add the batter with the rum back into the large mixer bowl of batter and mix to combine. Your batter will not be smooth at this point but that is OK. You don't want to overmix it.
6. Spoon/pour batter into your prepared baking pan. Tap your filled pan on your counter to settle the batter into the pan. Bake your cake at 325 degrees F. for 42-45 minutes. Your cake is done when you can insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and the toothpick comes out clean.
7. When the cake is done, remove it from your oven and set it on a rack to cool. Set the rack over a pan so that you will catch the excess liquid you are about to pour over the cake. While the cake is cooling, pour 3 T. rum simple syrup over the cake. After 10-15 minutes, invert the cake onto a rack and brush with the remaining syrup. Let your cake cool completely. This will take about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The Rum Simple Syrup
8. While your cake is baking, put granulated sugar and water into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil until the sugar is dissolved. Take your saucepan off the heat and add 1 T. rum. Return your pan to the heat and keep warm.
Vanilla Icing
9. Put sifted powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Whisk milk and vanilla bean paste in a small bowl and then whisk the milk mixture into the powdered sugar. If your icing is too thick, add a bit more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
10. Pour the vanilla icing over your cake and serve.