United Cakedom: evaporated milk

I just realised that my title could be taken the wrong way … if you are inclined to think that way. Something that I’ve learned is that it’s actually how a lot of people think. Being one of the small percentage of people who don’t always get innuendo I say a lot of things that get laughed at. I would relay some of the these instances, but we don’t have all day. Just take my word for it.

It’s not the first time I shared a Gypsy Tart on United Cakedom, but I thought I would try something different this time. Then it didn’t turn out so well and I hadn’t accounted for a couple of things. With a little improvising and adjusting I sorted it out and ended up with two different way to make a gypsy tart!

The filling is the same, it’s the base that changes. First I made mini tarts with a sweet shortcrust pastry. Then when I was stuck with a lot of extra filling because I didn’t think to half the recipe or something I made a quick cookie/biscuit base to bake the rest of the filling over with successful results!

Just like the title of this post could be taken two ways this gypsy tart can be made two ways...here's how:

Gypsy Tart

filling

(makes enough for 24 mini tarts or 12 mini tarts and 7inch Gypsy Tart)

451ml (1 can) of evaporated milk
300g muscovado sugar

Whip them together for 15 minutes until light, fluffy, and tripled in size.

Mini Gypsy Tarts:

sweet shortcrust pastry

300g plain flour
4 tablespoons of golden caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk the flour and sugar together before rubbing the cubed butter into the flour/sugar until it resembles bread crumbs. Add all the other ingredients and bring together with a spatula or your hands until it makes a smooth dough. Make into a ball and squish a little to make a fat disk like shape, wrap in cling film and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough and cut out 12 circles to line each muffin hole. Gently press down into the corners, use a fork to put holes in the base of each pastry case before leaving in the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes. The follow the instructions below for blind baking.

blind-bake

Pre-heat the oven 200C - Line each pastry case with a square of baking paper and fill with ceramic beans. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove ceramic beans and bake for a further 10 minutes until pastry turns a light brown.

to finish

Fill each pastry case with the gypsy filling and bake for 5-10 minutes. Do not bake for 15 minutes as I did and had them collapse on me. Which I then whipped up some whipped cream and drizzled raspberry sauce on top!

Cookie Base Gypsy Tart

cookies base

213g chocolate chip hobnobs
50g melted butter

Blitz the cookies in a food processor, then add the butter and pulse a couple of times. Line a 7inch circle cake tin with the cookie mixture.

to finish

Pour the remaining gypsy filling into the tin and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the fridge for 2 hours before slicing and enjoying!

notes: Gypsy Tart is a pretty basic recipe, but this one was adapted from Eric Lanlard's Tart it Up! I wrote about it here the first time I made it. This is my #thepastrychallenge entry which I host with Jen at Jen's Food. There is still time to link up here!

I love my girl’s nights in with my girls! Every time we get together I usually always volunteer for the dessert as it gives me an excuse to experiment with things my husband usually wouldn't like. My friends are basically open to anything! But, if it doesn't have chocolate my husband usually has a polite piece and that’s it.

My friend, Kim, had expressed to me once in passing how much she loved Gypsy Tart. I had never heard of it before. It was a real light bulb moment when I saw a recipe for it nestled in the pages of Eric Lanlard’s Tart it Up!. I had it booked marked for our next night in.

We finally managed to arrange a night in last week, where I finally got to make and try Gypsy Tart! It was lovely!! A very simple dessert with lots of depth! All the gypsy tart recipes I found online were very similar to this one. All it is is 1 can of evaporated milk whisked together with 300g dark muscovado sugar then poured into a sweet shortcrust pastry case.If you aren't making the pastry case yourself it’s a matter of minutes to get the pie sorted then a couple hours to chill. Channel 4 website has a recipe for a similar Gypsy Tarts recipe by Eric Lanlard (currently unavailable).

I'm showing this to you as it was the first time my crust has
turned out so well. Pastry hasn't been my friend really.

Gypsy Tart was created in Kent: the story being a lady wanted to feed gypsy children that played in the fields near her home and all she had was a pie crust, evaporated milk and sugar. Who really knows? I do love the quote from Brave: “Legends are lessons; they rhyme with truth.” ~ Queen Elinor. I think it’s true for the stories of how certain food recipes have come about. Since I didn't grow up here, in England, I missed Gypsy Tart being on my school lunch menu. I read it was a regular on school dinner menus!!

What do you think of Gypsy Tart? Have you had it before? Made it your self? What’s the difference? I can’t compare, as the first time I've had it was when I made it!

notes: you still don’t own a copy of Tart it Up! The BookPeople still have it at an amazing price. Or check it out on Amazon UK & USA; my review of Tart it Up! Wikipedia