Fruity, filo tarts and meringues

I have thoroughly stuffed my face today. I blame the pie that I took out of the freezer yesterday. If only I had put pastry on it when I made it, way back in Dec 2012, I wouldn't have defrosted a pack of filo pastry. And I then wouldn't have had to make filo tart cases and then I wouldn't have made creme patissiere to go in them. And then I wouldn't have had to use the egg whites, that I didn't need, to make meringues... And then I would have been about 4lbs lighter. Hey ho!

This is what I made!

I cut the left over pastry into squares and placed them in a greased muffin tray. I buttered each sheet and lay them on top of each other, pressing down into the tray to create the right shape.  It took about 4 pieces in each to make a strong enough case.  I then oven cooked them at gas 5/ 190c for about 5-10 mins until they were golden and cooked.  I cooled them on a wire rack.

This morning, I took some strawberries and blueberries out the freezer to defrost and made some creme patissiere (a thick style custard that you use in tarts etc).

It's really easy, as long as you have a few mins spare so that you can keep your eye on the ball and a hand on a whisk.

This is how I make it:

Whisk 4 egg yolks (reserve the whites) with 100g caster sugar until it's really pale and nice and thick. Mix in 25g plain flour.

Slowly bring 350mls milk to the boil. If you have a vanilla pod, pop it in the milk too. As soon as the milk has come to the boil, remove the vanilla pod and pour the milk over the egg mixture. Whisk well until you have a lovely smooth custard. Return the mixture to the pan over a low heat and stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Keep stirring (whisk if there are any lumps) and when it is nicely thickened, remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. 

Lay a sheet of cling film directly onto the mixture and leave to cool.

When it had cooled, I put some in each pastry case and topped with some of the fruit.

While it was cooling, I used the egg whites to make some meringues for the freezer - 4 egg whites, whisked until form stiff peaks. 1 tbsp at a time, slowly add 100g caster sugar, whisking all the time. Then fold in 110g icing sugar, a tbsp at a time. Don't over-mix.

I spooned some of the mix on top of the filo tarts and popped them under the grill for a minute and made the rest into meringues for the freezer.

One I ate earlier (oops):

Pipe or spoon them onto a non-stick tray (I use a silicone sheet) and cook for about 2 hours at gas 1/2 or 120c.

Don't waste the vanilla pod - wash and dry it and put it in a pot of sugar for some vanilla infused sugar.

Think I'll do a 'ways with....eggs' next. Watch this space!