My Lemon, Coconut and Mascarpone Tart

Girls (or maybe just me) often have a very specific idea of what they expect from their Man as proofs of their love to them.
Flowers, surprise dinners, boxes of chocolate, secret love messages hidden in a drawer ...all of these are in the Universal Repertory of Proofs of Love.
As some boys don't seem to have been given a copy of the Repertory and are not so keen on following any rules but their own anyway, they don't do any of this and get regularly into trouble.

"We've been together for a year and you still haven't offered me flowers?!"

Until one day, out of nowhere and god knows why (probably thanks to some kind of divine intervention), girls realise that proofs of love are all around, just not where they look for them.

Does he always carry your grocery bags (and all your bags for that matter) for you?
Does he serve you breakfast in bed even though you know he's phobic of crumbs in bed?
Does he spend time repairing your broken bike without you even asking for it? 
Does he clean the mess you leave behind you at his place without ever even mentioning it?

Sometimes, you're actually happier and luckier than you think, you just have to look in the right direction.

Lemon, coconut and mascarpone Tart

This tart is very fresh and creamy. It is so easy to make, and so delicious. 
A great new take on lemon tart!

Ingredients: 
Finely grated zest and juice of 4 lemons
2 handfuls of dissacated coconut
4 eggs and 4 yolks (you can keep the whites to make a meringue)
200 g mascarpone
250 runny honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
1 shortcrust pastry ( I used lighter shortcrust pastry from Sainsbury's)
Unrifined sugar (or light muscovado sugar), for dusting

Make the lemon and coconut tart: 

1/ Take all the ingredients out of the fridge so they come to room temperature. 
 
2/ Preheat the oven to 150deg C

3/ Prepare your lemon zests and juices and place in a small bowl with the coconut. Leave to soak for 5min

4/ In a large bowl, beat the eggs and yolks with a whisk or an electric mixer until light and pale (this will take 3 to 5 mins)

5/ In a third bowl, beat the mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Add it to the eggs mixture, add the honey, mix, then add the lemon zests and juices and coconut, and mix until combined and smooth.

6/ Line a pie dish with the shortcrust pastry, and bake at 150deg C for 40-50 min. Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. Ice with sugar and serve.

 

"You're so fine, and you're mine..."

Double coconut rice pudding

Usual Saturday morning (3pm), it's 2002, my friends and I are sitting in the ugly burger place in Grenoble central station for our traditional "party debrief", trying to drown our hangover and shame of last night in litres of frying oil and mayonnaise.
We call it the "Hangover Burger"

(Dear mum and dad, I'd be much grateful if you could forget to read my blog this week)

My student card entitles us to a second burger for free (Yeah!), we order diet cokes to wash them down (well, real coke is full of sugar, really bad for you, you know?!)

"Hangover calories don't count"
"Calories eaten out of someone else's plate only half count"
"Cakes don't count either if they are homemade"

Dishonnesty doesn't taste bad at all, you just need to cover it up with whipped cream and caramel sauce! 

Double coconut rice pudding

Rice pudding made with vegetable milk doesn't count either ;-)

Ingredients: 

1 can coconut milk, well shaken (approx 400ml)
1 small glass of pudding rice or risotto rice
4 to 5 tbsp caster sugar (I used Sweet Freedom for baking)
2 heaped tbsp shredded coconut

Make the rice pudding: 

1/ Rince your pudding rice under running cold water and drain
2/ In a medium saucepan : pour coconut milk, sugar, rice, and cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes (until the rice is cooked), mixing from time to time
3/ Once cooked, add the shredded coconut, add some sugar to taste if need be, and store in a airtight container (or a jam pot) for up to a week in the fridge

Option : You can serve it with a splash of dulce de leche, or chocolate sauce, or why not a tsp of Malibu

What's on the Drinks Menu Alex?
On the wine side: 
- Beaumes de Venise, 
- Muscat de rivesaltes,
- Cabernet d'anjou rosé 

Soft drinks: 
- vanilla soja milk
- coconut water
- and for a pinacolada spirit : a pineapple juice

Thanks Alex!