A treasure trove

Baked French Chocolate Tart by Simon Wright. Photo / Supplied

Some of New Zealand's top chefs and food writers have shared their favourite recipes for a new book, A Treasury of New Zealand Baking. The book aims to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, features 105 classic baking recipes. Here are eight of our favourites:

BAKED FRENCH CHOCOLATE TART

Makes a 22cm tart.

Sweet pastry

175g butter
120g icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp lemon juice
300g standard flour, sifted

Chocolate filling

600g dark Valrhona chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids)
675ml cream
225ml milk
100g sugar
2 eggs

Vanilla icecream, to serve

To make the pastry, place the butter and icing sugar in a food processor and cream them. Add the egg and lemon juice, mix until fully combined, then add the flour and pulse the machine until the flour is only just incorporated. Tip the pastry out of the food processor on to a work surface and knead until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease a 22cm diameter tart tin with a removable base with butter, and dust with flour. Remove the pastry from the fridge and knead gently to make the dough pliable. Lightly flour the work surface and roll the dough out to about 3mm in thickness. Roll the pastry on to the rolling pin and drape over the tin. Using a small ball of excess dough, gently ease the dough into the tin. (This allows you to press the dough into the tin without tearing it; the heat from your hands can make the pastry delicate.) Trim some of the excess pastry from the tart case but leave a good 5cm overlap. (This will help prevent shrinkage when baking blind.)

Place the prepared tart case on to a baking tray, line it with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Place the tart case in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges have started to colour. Remove from the oven, trim the excess pastry from around the edges and lift out the baking paper with the beans. Return the tart case to the oven to cook for a further 10-15 minutes, or until it is lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Turn the oven down to 110C. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Bring the cream, milk and sugar to the boil, pour on to the chocolate and stir until the mixture becomes dark and glossy (about 5 minutes). Whisk the eggs together, stir into the chocolate mixture and pass through a chinois or your finest sieve. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared tart case. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the tart has set around the outside but still has a slight wobble in the centre. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool for about two hours before cutting and serving.

Serve with vanilla icecream.

* Simon Wright.


CARAMEL MERINGUE SLICE

Slices into 16-20 pieces.

Base

150g butter, softened
2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups standard flour
1 tsp baking powder

Filling

395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp golden syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 1/2 Tbsp standard flour

Meringue

3 egg whites
6 Tbsp caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 20 x 30 cm slice or sponge roll tin with baking paper. To make the base, cream the butter and sugar until pale, then beat in the egg. Sift the flour and baking powder together and stir in, mixing well. Press into the tin. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool in the tin. Leave the oven at 180C for the meringue.

To make the filling, combine the condensed milk, butter, golden syrup, sugar, yolks and vanilla in a saucepan, stirring over a gentle heat until smooth. Add the flour to combine. Cool, then spoon the filling over the base.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites until stiff. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the meringue is glossy. Spoon this over the filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the meringue is golden. Leave to cool before slicing into squares with a hot knife. Store in an airtight container. This slice will keep for 3-4 days.

* Amanda Laird.


TAMARILLO FRIANDS

Makes 6

1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/3 cup ground almonds
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
2 tsp ground cinnamon
125g butter, melted
4 egg whites
1-2 red or gold tamarillos, peeled and sliced

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly butter a 6-hole friand pan. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. Whisk the egg whites with a fork. Fold into the butter mixture until well mixed. Pour the mixture into the friand holes to 2/3 full. Place a slice of tamarillo on the top of each. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm to the touch. Run a knife around the edge and tip out while still hot. These friands are best eaten within 24 hours but also freeze well. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* Jan Bilton

DATE AND ORANGE MUFFINS

Makes 24 muffins.

2 whole oranges
2 large eggs
200g butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup pitted dates, roughly chopped
400g natural yoghurt
A little lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
3 cups standard flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease two 12-hole muffin pans. Blend the whole oranges in the food processor — skin, seeds, everything. Add the eggs and melted butter. Whirl the mixture around, but do not over-process. Place it in a large bowl with the dates. Mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and sugar together in a bowl. Sift the dry ingredients into another bowl. Add the yoghurt mixture and the dry ingredients to the orange mixture, alternating small amounts of each. Just blend with the lightest movement — do not over-mix. Place 2 tablespoons of batter in each hole of the prepared muffin pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the muffins comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then cool on a wire rack. The muffins keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container. These muffins also freeze well.

VARIATION: To decorate before baking, you can place a small orange segment on top of each muffin.

* Annabelle White


SWEET ORANGE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Makes an 18cm cake.

3/4 cup egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
200g sugar
70g standard flour, sifted
Zest of 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Icing sugar, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C. Whip the egg whites until foamy, adding the cream of tartar and salt as soon as the whites start to rise. Continue whipping until soft peaks form. With the whisk still going, add 2/3 of the sugar in a thin stream and continue to whip until satiny and stiff. Sift the remaining sugar and the already sifted flour together three times to aerate. Then, 1/3 at a time, quickly fold them into the egg whites. Fold in the zest and vanilla. Gently spoon the mixture into an ungreased 18cm angel food or round cake tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully slide a knife around the edge, between the tin and the cake, to remove it from the tin. Dust with icing sugar.

* Martin Bosley

GREEK YOGHURT & HONEY CAKE WITH RAISIN LEMON SYRUP

Makes a 24cm round cake; serves 8-10.

240g unsalted butter, softened
120g caster sugar
3 Tbsp liquid honey
Zest of 2 lemons
4 eggs, separated
240g standard flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
240g unsweetened Greek-style yoghurt
120g caster sugar
2 tbsp liquid honey
120g raisins
1 tsp fennel seeds
Juice of 2 lemons
180 ml water
Unsweetened Greek-style yoghurt, extra

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 24cm springform cake tin and line it with baking paper. To make the cake, beat the butter with the sugar, honey and lemon until light and creamy, then beat in the yolks one by one. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together. Add spoonfuls of flour mixture and yoghurt to the egg yolk mixture, alternating between the two. Put the egg whites in a large clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Carefully fold the whites into the cake mixture and spoon into the prepared tin. Bake for 65 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool in its tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put all the remaining ingredients, except the yoghurt, in a small pan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, bring the syrup to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat but keep warm. Place a plate underneath the cake to catch any syrup. Spoon warm syrup over the cake, spreading the plump raisins evenly. Serve warm or cold, with large dollops of yoghurt.

* Celia Harvey

FRUITY ANZAC BISCUITS

Makes 18.

140g butter
60g golden syrup
80g rolled oats
70g sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
50g sultanas
60g dried figs, stems discarded, cut into 8-10 pieces
75g chopped dried apricots
65g long-thread coconut (substitute ordinary desiccated coconut if necessary)
125g standard flour
90g brown sugar
5g baking soda
2 Tbsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan. Place all the remaining ingredients, except the baking soda and the water, in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Place the baking soda in a jug and pour the boiling water over it, stirring well to dissolve. Add to the butter and golden syrup mixture, then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Place large tablespoonfuls of the dough on to the prepared baking tray. Flatten each to a circle of about 6-7cm, leaving at least 2cm between each one. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the biscuits have risen, spread slightly and turned golden brown. Rotate trays halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool slightly before placing them on a wire rack. These biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They also freeze well — thaw at room temperature before eating.

*Dean Brettschneider

* Recipes are extracted from A Treasury of New Zealand Baking: 105 classic baking recipes, edited by Lauraine Jacobs and photographs by Aaron McLean (Random House, $55). All royalties from sales of the book go to the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand.