There is something rather therapeutic about baking pastry. It’s the stages I think. Making the dough, chilling the dough, rolling out the dough and finally baking. The stages fit rather well with my running schedule. I’m running for Action Against Hunger in the 2016 Virgin London Marathon. I’ve started training now because I’m a slow and steady kinda runner vs a speed chaser. My pastry running schedule is as follows:
- I make the dough and then go for a run while it chills in the fridge. This is a minimum of 45 minutes.
- I roll it out, line the pastry tin and then pop it back in the fridge for another run around the block. Again another minimum of 45 minutes.
- I pop the oven on and while that warms up I do 15 minutes of skip jumps in the garden.
- I line the pastry tin with baking beads and then while that bakes I have a shower.
- I take the baking beans off and make a quick smoothie or milkshake while it browns off.
See!? It totally works!
Of course the downside of the pastry making is the pastry eating. Yes it is rather calorific but it is Friday after all AND I am running a marathon – a whole 26 miles – so I think a little pastry indulgence is totally called for. In fact it’s Friday so a little overindulgence is perfectly acceptable.
You see Friday is usually Haagen Dazs Cookies and Cream Day. The only day I indulge in a tub of ice cream. (Yes I did say a ‘tub’ of ice cream. Some people have their wine or beer on a Friday night. I have my ice cream). Today however I have a tub of Coffee Haagen Dazs. It’s a new flavour which combines Brazilian Coffee with a usual ingredients of cream, egg yolks, milk and sugar. It’s a wonderful delicate flavour which reminds me very much of my usual Single Shot Flat White.
I’ve paired it with these Chocolate and Hazelnut Tarts because these are the two undertones in my favourite coffee – Rave Signature Blend. Together the whole thing is just pure Friday night indulgence.
Chocolate and Hazelnut Tarts
Notes
To make them
Thank you to Haagen Dazs for commissioning this recipe and providing me with a lovely sample pot of the new coffee ice cream to try. Thanks to them also for giving me a new Nespresso coffee machine to raffle off for my marathon fundraising.
What is your Friday night indulgence?
Related articles
- Mocha chocolate brownie bowls (mostlyaboutchocolate.com)
- Affogato (mykitchenantics.blogspot.co.uk)
- Chocolate, coffee ice cream and peanut butter sandwiches (missminifer.co.uk)
- Chocolate cookie cups (maisoncupcake.com)