Prue Leiths Maids Of Honour Recipes

MAIDS OF HONOUR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) Roll pastry carefully in both directions until about 1/4-inch (7 millimeters) thick, cut in circles about 3-inches (75 millimeters) in diameter and allow to rest. Mix cheese, sugar, lemon rind, and almonds, then add egg and mix until combined. Press pastry into mini muffin pans. It is important that it is thin on the base and thick on the sides. Fill about 2/3 full with mixture and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

PRUE LEITH'S MAIDS OF HONOUR

Steps:

• For the curd cheese, pour the milk into a large pan and add the salt. Bring to a very gentle boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Leave to stand without stirring for 5 minutes, until the curds separate from the whey.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared sieve and leave to drain into the bowl for at least 30 minutes, until cool. Tip the curd cheese into a separate bowl. You should have just over 200g of curd cheese.
• For the rough puff pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add 5-7 tablespoons of water to form a dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a rectangle measuring 30 x 12cm. Grate half of the frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as if you were folding a letter. Rotate the dough through 90 degrees and roll it again into a 30 x 12cm rectangle.
• Grate the remaining frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as if you were folding a letter. Rotate the dough through 90 degrees. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Repeat the rolling and folding of the pastry twice more, each time wrapping in cling film and leaving to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• For the lemon curd, put the lemon zest and juice and the sugar and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted, then whisk in the beaten egg. Gently whisk the mixture over the heat for about 10 minutes, until thickened like custard. Pour the cooked curd through a sieve into a clean bowl to remove the zest, then leave to cool and set.
• Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/Gas 7. Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick and, using a 10cm round cutter, cut out 12 rounds. Use these to line the 12-hole muffin tray, then line each with a square of baking paper. Fill with baking beans and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and set aside.
• For the filling, reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. Place the curd cheese, lemon zest, sugar, flour and eggs into a bowl and whisk together until smooth.
• Place 1 teaspoon of lemon curd into the base of each pastry case, then pour the filling into the cases until they are full, but not overflowing. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set, then transfer the tray to a wire rack and allow the tarts to cool.
• Hold the stencil over a tart and dust with icing sugar to create a rose motif. Repeat for the remaining tarts.

MAIDS-OF-HONOR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup flour and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut in 1/4 cup butter until smaller than peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of milk at a time over the dough until moistened. Form dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2 inch circles using a cookie or biscuit cutter. Press circles into the bottom and up the sides of ungreased mini muffin cups. set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream together 2 tablespoons butter, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon flour. Beat in the eggs and sherry, then stir in the ground almonds. Place 1/4 teaspoon of jam into the bottom of the lined cups. Cover with 1 tablespoon of the almond mixture.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are lightly browned. Allow to cool slightly before removing from muffin tins to cool on wire racks.