Sunday, July 05, 2009

Strawberry and marzipan tartlets



Am back from holidaying in Tuscany and Lake Annecy in France. We had a wonderful time though it sounds like the weather was much better here than in chilly, windy and frankly rather damp Tuscany! I'd love to be showing you photos of the fantastic scenery and, more importantly, the superb food we enjoyed but alas, we fell prey to some rather greedy burglars who broke into our apartment one night and stole (amongst other things) both our cameras from our bedroom whilst we slept!

Despite this somewhat traumatic incident, we had a cracking couple of weeks. Much of it was spent either in the cucina or at the table, feasting on the best of Italian produce and indulging in some superb French restaurants. I'm stuffed!

Sadly, the incident means that it may be a short while before I'm back up and posting regularly. We've the insurance to sort out and then the purchase of a new camera. We hope to get a point-and-shoot to tide us over before hopefully investing in a proper grown-up SLR. I'd be interested in any recommendations!


In the meantime, here is a simple yet tasty summer tart that I made before we left. The night, in fact, that the flower-sender proposed.

It hardly warrants a full recipe as it is so simple. Basically, all you do, is buy some ready-made puff pastry. Roll it out and cut into little squares or rectangles. One per person. Using a knife, lightly score a line around half an inch in from the edge all the way around. Prick the pastry lightly with a fork.

Roll out some marzipan and lay a slice over the centre of each tart. Arrange sliced strawberries on top, then brush the lot with melted butter. Sprinkle with caster sugar and then bake at 200C for around 25 minutes.

Lovely served with ice cream, or just regular cream.

11 comments:

Jules said...

Sorry to hear about your camera being stolen. I love the sound of this recipe and considering I have some marzipan that needs using up, it would be perfect.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Sorry to hear about the theft Antonia, but they can't take away your wonderful memories of vacation time well spent. All the best:D

Anna said...

Oh no over the loss of the cameras! I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't have mine to hand constantly. I recommend going for an SLR though (I have a Nikon D40, it's the love of my life). Good luck getting everything sorted.

These tarts sound delicious by the way... perfect to make you feel better!

♥Rosie♥ said...

Antonia, welcome back!! Gosh I am sorry to read about your cameras that really hits the pits and I hope you get things sorted out soon with your insurance company!!

Love the sound of these tartlets :0)

Katie said...

Marzipan is one of my favourite things, but I've never tired it with strawberries before but it sounds wonderful. Can't wait to try it. Your tarts look fab

Nic said...

That sucks about the camera, people are so ghastly :(
Tarts look very nice though!

the twins said...

that looks great, thanks for the recipe! sorry to hear about your camera though.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

What a great little 'recipe'. Good to have shout-out for marzipan, too - I think it too often gets overlooked these days.

Maria♥ said...

Oh no, that's awful about your camera being stolen!

These tarts look and sounds delish.

Maria
x

Maggie said...

How traumatic! I would be really scared thinking I had intruders in my bedroom whilst I slept.
The strawberry and marzipan tartlets look wonderful.

David Hall said...

Hi antonia - strawbs and marzipan, would never have thought of that, sounds divine!

Cheers
David