yes, it really is a post about my dog's birthday, and I do know that's a bit sad (JG observed that I "get all fuckin' weird around dogs", it's true), but she's my baby and there is a recipe attached, it's all perfectly ok.tiny orange and lemon tarts seemed like a good choice for a doggie birthday, because they're small and somewhat twee in keeping with the nature of the event, and it seems slightly less wrong than presenting the dog with a slice of cake (I personally have no problem with that but some people find it strange...) Sylvie Destructor (so named after her childhood flatmate the yabby - L. Cherax destructor - although in her case the term was an adjective, not species epithet) is a big chocolate fan, and although she's survived many chocolate indulgences in her five years I thought the folks might have me committed or arrested for feeding her chocolate (next time Sylv, when they're not looking). also she does quite like a bit of citrus, especially orange and mandarin peelings (I've never starved her, honest, she's just genetically predisposed to indiscriminate gluttony), and she's been known to substitute lemons for tennis balls without any fuss. but the lemon curd filling initially wasn't too well received:
but no self-respecting gluttonous canine could resist the lure of sweet orange pastry (I had to turn it pastry side up to quell her suspicion of the lemon curd, then she was all for it).
orange and lemon tarts
makes 12 tarts using a regular 12-hole muffin tray or small single-use foil cases
for the pastry
120g plain flour
60g butter
60g icing sugar
finely grated zest of half an orange
a few squeezes of orange juice
for the filling
about 3/4 cup of lemon curd
rub the flour, butter and sugar together until the mixture is like sand.
mix in the orange zest, then add just enough orange juice to form a dough.
knead a little until smooth (this is a short dough and won't become elastic).
cut paper bases for the muffin holes (if using).
the pastry can't be rolled, so start with a small ball, flatten it between your palms to form a disc and then lay this in the tray or case and work the pastry from the centre up the sides until you have a tart shell about 1.5cm deep (the pastry may shrink a little during baking).
place a small bit of foil on the base of each one and use a few dried beans or something as a weight to ensure the pastry doesn't puff up.
bake at 170°c
cool slightly then remove from tray or case (the good thing about using a muffin pan for shallow tarts is that you can turn it upside down and bash it until they come out, which doesn't usually work for muffins- I am completely inept at all things muffin and friand and would probably invest in those weird flexible rubbery tin things if I was into that sort of baking).
allow the pastry tart shells to cool completely and then fill each one with a tablespoon of lemon curd.
