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Ruby Custard Tart with Amaretto
Nicole Sammut

Ruby Custard Tart with Amaretto

Whether you are in the company of a partner, friend or sibling, food is always a perfect way to celebrate an event! This recipe was altered from a previous summer tart recipe from the food blog, Cooking with Colour. You can choose any fruit topping for this tart, however, considering the theme of Valentines’ Day, I have chosen a variety of red fruits. I have also added amaretto liqueur to accentuate the dark chocolate shortbread crust.

For the alcohol pairing, I matched this dessert with a Belgian Dubbel to complement the rich custard filling and the dark chocolate crust. When pairing dessert with beer, it is usually best to choose a beer that is sweeter than the dessert in order to bring out the flavors of the dish.

Beer Pairing: Belgian Dubbel (Chimay Premiere)

Ingredients:

Shortbread Crust
1 c flour
1 pinch of salt
1/3 c icing sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter (cold)

1/4 c melted semi- sweet chocolate

Custard Filling
1 large egg
1 tbsp. sugar
2/3 c cream
1.5 tbsp. amaretto liqueur

Topping
2 cups of raspberries

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup apricot jam
2 tbsp. water

Square tart pan with removable bottom (7 x 11 inches)
Extra butter for tart pan

Directions:

Shortbread Crust

1. Lightly butter the tart pan with unsalted butter.
2. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a separate bowl. Cut butter into cubes and using your fingertips, integrate the butter into the dry ingredients until the batter is crumbly. Add the melted chocolate into the batter until it is well incorporated. The batter will be moist and doughy.
3. Next, place the batter into the buttered tart pan. Press the batter firmly on the bottom and along the sides of the pan to ensure the batter is evenly spread and pierce the crust with the prongs of a fork. Cover the crust with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for fifteen to twenty minutes. (Note: Chilling the crust before baking helps prevent the crust from shrinking).
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the shortbread crust from the freezer and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set aside to cool.

Dark Chocolate Shortbread Crust

Custard Filling

1. Reduce the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. To make the custard filling, whisk an egg and sugar in a separate bowl. Add cream and amaretto liqueur and set aside.

Topping

1. Rinse the raspberries and set them aside for later assembly. Slice a pomegranate in half and remove the seeds from the white flesh.
2. Gently pour the custard filling into the cooled, shortbread crust. Place the raspberries on top of the custard in any desired form or pattern. Use the pomegranate seeds to cover spaces left from the raspberries.

Place raspberries & pomegranate seeds on top of the custard tart

1. Once the custard is covered with fruit, bake the tart for 30-35 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit or until the custard has set.
2. Next, place the apricot jam and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Once the jam has a liquid consistency, remove from the stove top.
3. Remove the tart from the oven and immediately scatter the apricot glaze on top of the tart using a brush. Allow the tart to cool before serving.

Ruby Custard Tart

Are you my cup of tea?

Tea for thirst, tea for health, tea for friendship, tea for love…

You may think that if you’ve tried one tea you’ve tried them all, however that is certainly not the case. There’s a wide range of flavors within every type of tea and they come along with various health benefits, not to mention great taste and an excuse to get social.

There are over 50 different types of tea available at The Tea Shoppe located in Connections; The Campus Bookstore, all equipped with their own unique blend, taste and health benefits.

While there are more than 1500 varieties of tea available worldwide, all teas can be divided into three basic types: Black, Green and Oolong.

Black tea helps keep your breath smelling sweet, as it is full of polyphenols; powerful antioxidants that stop plaque from clinging to your teeth.

Green tea has many properties that can help keep you in tip-top health. It contains a phytonutrient called EGCG that gives you the feeling of being full or satisfied. The high EGCG content also makes an effective cancer fighter and may prevent the onset or slow the progression of dementia.

Oolong tea boosts metabolism, helping you burn fat faster. Its unique catechin (antioxidant) and caffeine combination ignites your bodies’ fat burning furnace and raises your metabolism for up to 22hrs after drinking it.

There is so much to learn about the benefits of tea, not just on our health but on our state of mind. Luckily for us Algonquin College offers a Tea Sommelier program that consists of 8 short courses where students learn the types of teas produced in a wide range of regions/countries in the world including China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Africa and Argentina.

Students learn the history of tea, processing methods, grading standards and industry terminology. They apply their knowledge of tea and food pairing to recommend and develop tea menus for retail and food service environments. They taste a wide variety of teas and learn to cup taste, blend and distinguish teas from around the world.

For those of us not yet educated in the art of tea here are a few hot tips from the tea connoisseurs at The Tea Shoppe.

Combine a 2:1 mix of Earl Grey De La Crème and Masala Chai respectively, order as a tea latte, add a touch of agave nectar and you’ll have yourself a near perfect ‘London Fog’

No matter the weather outside the Honeybush Raspberry tea is great anytime. Try it hot or cold, for a fresh fruity taste all year round

And lastly for this special time of year treat your Valentine to a Romantic Spirit tea; a seducing blend of rose hip shells and seeds, apple cubes, rooibos, hibiscus flowers, cassia bark, vanilla beans and sweet almonds; pair with a fruit and nut chocolate to complete the date.

Don’t forget, its always tea time somewhere…

Kate Baynes

What Does Your Work Space Say About You?

It’s amazing what you can learn about your colleagues at the College by checking out the space where they work. A visit to the quiet 2nd floor of A Building and the offices of the Developmental Services Worker Program (DSW) will bring you to the space that Rodney Walsh calls his home at work.

Rodney’s office is bright and utilitarian. A large window overlooks Woodroffe Avenue. There is a desk, a table, some chairs. A lovely Ben Babelowsky print and a number of photos of family and friends adorn the walls. All pretty ordinary until … one’s eye is drawn to a 3 foot “winged creature” perched atop a plastic stand, sitting on the window sill. She is dressed in clothes of varying shades of green; her head is wild with a mop of tangled hair. Is she a good luck charm? Is she a curse? Why is she in Rodney’s office??

Who she is is Scary Fairy. She came to Rodney via the Community Studies annual holiday bash at a local watering hole last December when employees within that group came together to fête the season and exchange mystery gifts. Rodney does not know from whom she came but he does know that the Scary Fairy etiquette means he must keep her in his office until the end of the year when he must give her away to another colleague.

Turns out there is quite a tradition behind Scary Fairy. She was introduced to the Community Studies gang about 4 years ago at the annual holiday gift exchange. But no one really knows where/from whom she originally came. What is known is that she re-appears every year, to be passed along to someone else who may, or may not, want her.

Rodney’s joy at being given the opportunity to house the Community Studies fairy is palpable. He swears that Scary Fairy sends him good vibes and he is convinced his luck has turned for the better in the 2 short months that she has been a fixture in his office. Most especially, Rodney reports that she is a source of comfort and companionship, serving as the office-mate he doesn’t have, she is someone to talk to during the quiet days in A Building. Indeed, anonymous sources admit a concern that Rodney has developed a “disorganized attachment” to Scary Fairy and there is a worry that he may not want to part with her at the end of this year, as tradition dictates.

So, next time you’re in the neighbourhood of the 2nd floor of A Building, check out office A206B, say hello to Rodney Walsh and ask him to introduce you to his Scary Fairy friend.

Rebecca Volk