Categories
SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

Marachino cherries and marzipan tarts

If this recipe yields too many tarts for one sitting, it is better to half the recipe as they are at their best when still slightly warm. But it should be no problem. They are delicious and small enough to have more than one, two, three ….

Makes 30

CHERRY MARZIPAN

45 pitted Marachino cherries, drained thoroughly on kitchen paper (it is available in jars at any supermarket)
150 g/ 5 oz marzipan (make your own)
2 sheets puff pastry (use bought pastry but see recipe to make your own)
½ cup/125 ml almonds, finely chopped
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Roll out the puff pastry to 5 mm/0.2 in thick. Use a 5 cm/2½ in pastry cutter and punch 30 rounds from the rolled pastry. Carefully place each round on the two prepared baking trays and prick each one all over with a fork. Cover them with another sheet of parchment paper, then two more baking trays on top of each baking tray. (If you don’t have enough baking trays, do this in two sessions.) This is to weigh the pastry down preventing them from rising during the cooking. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven. Lift off the extra trays and parchment paper and leave the pastry to cool.  

Roll out the marzipan to about 2 mm/0.7 in and punch 30 rounds with pastry cutters slightly smaller than 5 mm/0.2 in and place on top of the cooled pastry discs. Cut each cherry in half and place 5 halves on top of each marzipan disc. Put the trays back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and when they have cooled down slightly, sprinkle over the icing sugar and the chopped almonds.

 

STELLA's avatar

By STELLA

I have had no formal chef’s training. Classical piano was my parents’ choice, and that took care of the first 20 years of my life. Journalism and radio followed (my own choices, this time), and these opened many doors for me into different countries, people, cultures — and, of course, foods. In a six week series on radio I used it as a platform for my love of food and shared lots of interesting recipes and food news with listeners.
My earliest memories of food come from the family kitchen at home; I can still remember the wonderful smells of the dishes my mother prepared. I became aware of the flavors of her creations at an early age. Some I enjoyed and preferred, while others depressed me with their lack of interesting flavors. My mother was a good cook, but not a gourmet, and sadly this often showed. What I did appreciate was that she always involved me in the preparation, sharing her knowledge of nutrition, flavor, color, and the harmonies of each plate she dished up. She was also a genius with leftovers and quick meals when unexpected guests arrived. This is one of the things that stands out in my mind, and it inspired me to create wonderful dishes from leftover foods myself.

I carried on with the tradition of carefully planning meals to combine nutrition, color and flavor, while at the same time offering variety and elegant presentation. In the process, I developed a passion for seeking out the best available products, adhering to each season’s offerings, and treating it with the respect it deserves, which eventually became part of my daily culinary life and travels. I did these things not because I wanted to become a chef, but to satisfy myself, family and friends with creations of gorgeous food and exciting flavors. All of which, I hope, is reflected in this blog.