GLUTEN-FREE BALLYMALOE TARTS
Anyone familiar with our Sweet Revenge cookbook might remember we included there the recipe for these little Ballymaloe Tarts.
These simple but delicious almond toffee tarts were famously made by the Irish culinary legend Myrtle Allen, in the 1980s at Ballymaloe House, County Cork.
Apparently, they were so popular it was essential to order them at the beginning of a meal to avoid missing out when it was time for dessert.
We have to report that they are still as popular as ever with us, and the recipe here has a few more details than we had room for in Sweet Revenge for ease of baking.
Do enjoy them.
Jan
BALLYMALOE TARTS
Makes 24 Tartlets
These simple but delicious tarts were famously made by the Irish culinary legend Myrtle Allen, in the 1980s at Ballymaloe House, County Cork. Apparently, they were so popular it was essential to order them at the beginning of a meal to avoid missing out when it was time for dessert.
110 gm unsalted butter, well-softened
110 gm ground almonds
110 gm caster sugar
140 ml thickened cream
1 tablespoon gluten-free icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla paste
2 punnets of raspberries
Small mint leaves
First, have 2 x 12 cup non-stick mini-muffin tins, or equivalent, on hand, clean and dry.
Place the softened butter in a bowl and whisk it with a fork until it moves very freely.
Add the almonds and sugar and bring together to make a dough. (Use a food processor for this task if you prefer.)
Using 2 spoons add about a teaspoon of the mixture into each of the 24 cups in the mini-muffin tins. (The mixture will spread of its own accord during the baking.)
Refrigerate the dough in the tins for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Bake for about 10 minutes. If the heat in your oven is uneven, turn the tins around, then cook for another couple of minutes until you have 24 golden-brown saucer-shaped tartlets. Keep a keen eye on them towards the end and remove from the oven.
At this point you can use a little spatula or spoon to neaten any edges that have gone astray.
Cool the tartlets in the tins for a couple of minutes, but when they’re cool enough to handle, twist them gently round in their cups to keep them loose, then remove them to a rack before they stick to the tins.
If you have trouble picking them up, insert a fine skewer into the centre of each tart and lift it gently onto the rack.
If for some reason the tartlets have cooled too much and stuck to the tin, return them to the oven for a minute or two. Twist each tartlet in its cup again and lift it out, with a skewer if you need. Or place a flat tray on top of each muffin tin, turn both together upside down and give the base of the muffin-tin a good bang to release the tartlets onto the tray. Let them cool.
Before serving whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla and drop a blob in each tartlet. Add some tiny mint leaves and arrange the raspberries on top.
You could also use blueberries if you prefer.