Chocolate and Vanilla Tart

As chocolate plays an intricate part of romance and being wooed in general I thought that this was the perfect dessert for a romantic meal for two. Last year I posted this recipe and a vegetarian meal of Butternut Squash and Feta Filo Parcels as the main course. I thought that I should spruce up the photography for this decilate and fingerlicking of dessert in order to it justice. I think that no romantic meal is complete without chocolate and this is my pièce de résistance for any meal..... a dark chocolate and vanilla pie served with soft whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar....perfect!

Biscuit Base Lemon Meringue Pie

I have been working on my fitness the last couple of months, with getting older and all, I thought I should try and take a little time for myself and get fitter. 

I have tried many activities over the past ten years and as much as I love going out on my bicycle, it can be somewhat time consuming and with winter months closing in it can be a bit dangerous too. So I have found my newest love.....YOGA!!

Cherry Pie!

I remember the last really hot summer here in Ireland, it was in July of 2006. My abiding memory is sitting out on our decking early one morning eating our breakfast and watching the sun stream through the fencing. It was the start of what my mother calls an Indian Summer!! 

There is nothing like a good cliche to describe the weather here at the moment, I think it would be fair to say that the sun is splitting the rocks and that you could fry an egg on a stone (has anyone ever tried that here in Ireland?). 

I however, am not a creature who enjoys the sun, well that's not exactly true, I love the sun it just hates me! Instead of turning as brown as a nut (another favourite saying of my Mother) my fair Irish skin just sizzles...ouch! 

So, as a result I retreat indoors away from the midday heat and somewhat unwisely turn on the oven. So far this week I made a sumptuous Black Forest Gâteau and now continuing in that vein I decided this beautiful cherry pie would be my next worthy project. The recipe can be found on Zoom Yummy, a witty blogger who take some excellent photos, especially on how to create this lattice topping. Enjoy!

I did cheat and use 340g of shop bought pastry, but I did pick out the punnets (500g) of fresh cherries by myself!

 My daughter and I destoned the cherries by hand, a very satisfying job indeed.

A note on the original recipe, I recommend mixing the cornflour and sugar together before adding to the cooked cherries, this will save the cornflour going lumpy over the heat.

I left 2cms of pastry around the edge of the pie dish.

It's really important to let the filling cool before adding the lattice, my pastry disintegrated into the hot filling (I've no patients for stuff cooling!!) also, thicker and wider strips than I cut out would be easier to work with.

Zoom Yummy lattice tutorial is excellent, well worth pinning for again.

I folded the 2cm pastry over the tails of the lattice and pinched with my fingers and thumb.

Ready to go into the oven, I didn't brush my pie with an egg wash but I will the next time.

50 minutes later this beauty came out of the oven all bubbling and gooey. Allow to cool to room temperature before eating.

A tasty treat for a beautiful summer's evening.

Virgin Grasshopper Pie

This is my non alcoholic version of an American 1950's grasshopper pie, these original "Chiffon" pies mainly consisted of whipping cream, gelatin, sugar, eggs, and flavouring. They come in range of colours, from a dayglo oranges to vibrant reds. In the case of the grasshopper pie, common flavouring used was alcohol in the form of crème de menthe, and sometimes other alcohols like crème de cacao, but because I don't drink either of those, I used mint flavouring and green food colouring. The original inspiration for this pie must have been the grasshopper cocktail, which has been described as a liquid After 8 mint! 
I first saw this pie in Nigells Lawson's Kitchen cookbook, she uses melted marshmallows and goes the whole hog on the drinks front, I though that it might be too sweet, but you decide. In this pie, the mint isn't too overwhelming and the chocolate base is crunchy and sweet. Personally I love the colour combination and I find it very pleasing on the eye and on the palate!


Serves 8

Ingredients
275g Bourbon Creams biscuits
140g Butter, melted
230g Mascarpone cheese
100g Caster sugar
230g Whipping cream
1tsp Peppermint flavouring
Green food colouring
2 Dark chocolate squares

Method
Crush the biscuits, until they resemble fine breadcrumbs, I personally like the bash the living daylights out of them in a bag method (make sure your plastic bag is up to the challenge, otherwise crumbs all over the counter!) but you are free to use a food processor. Add the melted butter to the crushed biscuits and mix thoroughly.  Using a spoon, spread the mixture over the base of a 26cm loose bottomed tart tin. Chill in the freezer for 10 -15 minutes.




Meanwhile whip the mascarpone cheese and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved, using either a hand mixer or (my personal favourite) a stand mixer.

Pour the whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture and (slowly at first) whip for 4-5 minutes or until the soft peak stage. Add the peppermint flavouring and whip for 1 minute.





Add the green food colouring, I wanted a mint green shade so I used 5-6 drops, but you decide.



Whip the minty mixture until is at the stiff peak stage so it will set firm and slice better. Spread the minty mixture over the chilled base.


 

 

Level the mixture and gently tap the whole pie to remove any air bubbles.

 



 

 

Chill the pie for 2-3 hours or overnight if you can. Before serving, remove the pie from the loose bottomed tin. Place a bowl under the loose base and gentle ease the rim off. I don't remove the remainder of the base, it makes it easier to move the pie to the table and for cutting.

 

 



 

 

Using a potato or vegetable peeler, pare the chocolate squares, creating chocolate shavings, sprinkle over the pie.






Related Reading
Food.com: Nigella Lawson's Grasshopper Pie Recipe
Delish Blog: More inspiration for this particular recipe, a fellow blogger and excellent photographer.
Cocktail:uk: Grasshopper Cocktail recipe