As per usual I have left my Great Blogger Bake Off attempt till the last-minute, which sometimes is fine but if this week is anything to go by it can be a bit of a nightmare!
After watching Great British Bake Off last week the only recipe I thought I had any chance of getting to work would be the horns, simply because my puff pastry skills are ok.
So having a think about what recipe I could do I decided to go with a bit of a twist on a family favourite, lemon meringue however minus the meringue and replacing it with vanilla cream. I used the same lemon curd that I do in my meringue recipe on these if you want to give that a go head over and have a look here.
I would like to say it went to plan but I had a little mare with over whipping my cream so I had to make an emergency dash to the shop and getting my horns to stay together was a bit tricky however thankfully there was a few that came out (plus as I was short on time I only made 5!).
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 250g strong flour
- 225g butter
- 150 ml cold water
- pinch of salt
For the lemon curd
- 3 tbs cornflour
- 150 ml cold water
- 2 large unwaxed lemons (if your lemons are small you will need approx. 5)
- 75g Caster Sugar
- 25g butter
- 2 large egg yolks
For the vanilla cream
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 200ml double cream
Instructions
To make the puff pastry
- In the food processer blend the flour, adding the water slowing until combined (this may not need all the water)
- Once combined wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 20 minutes
- With the butter roll it out between sheets of baking paper until soft to work with but still cold, this then needs to be rolled into a postcard size square.
- Roll out the pastry until its about 10mm thick and place the butter in the middle.
- Fold over the sides and top.
- Fold into half and then roll out to a rectangular shape.
- Fold twice, top folds down and the bottom folds up, seal down the edges with the rolling pin.
- Turn the pastry 90 degrees and roll out again.
- Repeat the fold action above then wrap and put in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- You then need to repeat the roll and fold actions (followed by time in the fridge) a further 2 times.
- Once done and chilled roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is approx. 5mm thick.
- Cut into long thin strips.
- This needs to be wrapped around the horn shape, if you are like me and don't have these, ice cream cones wrapped in foil will work just as well.
- Wash with beaten egg
- Place in the over to cook for 16-18 minutes at gas mark 6 or until golden brown and risen.
To make the lemon curd
- Mix the cornflower and water together in a saucepan
- Grate the zest from the lemons (only use 2 lemons for the zest)
- Squeeze the juice into a jug until you have approximately 1/4 pint of juice (this is where you may need more than 2 lemons if yours are small)
- Add the lemon juice and zest to a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, keep stirring with a spoon. Simmer (still stirring) until the mixture thickens.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and butter.
- Let the mixture cool slightly then beat in the egg yolk.
- Pour into the pastry case
- At this point you can let the filling cool.
For the vanilla cream
- Mix together the cream and vanilla essence until it thickens (don't do what I did and over whip!)
Assembly
- Add a little bit of lemon curd to your horn then pipe in the cream and enjoy!
