Lemon Tart

For the Shortcrust Pastry:                                                  For the Lemon Filling:

180 grams of unsalted butter                                                        Six eggs

240 grams of plain flour                                                  250 grams of castor sugar

A pinch of salt                                                        The grated zest and juice of three lemon

1/4 cup of icy cold water                                                          200ml cream

Two teaspoons of baking powder                                      Icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

For the pastry, place flour, salt and butter on a clean, cold bench. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour to create a breadcrumb-like consistency. Create a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the water. Still using your fingertips, form the mixture into a dough. Be sure not to overwork it, as this will create a tough dough and change the texture of the pastry. 

Glad wrap the dough and place into the fridge for half an hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius. After refrigerating, roll out the dough and place into a lightly greased tart dish, trimming the edges. Bake blind for 20 minutes. 

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Then, combine the eggs and sugar before adding the zest and juice. Lastly, add the cream and mix well before pouring into the pastry case and baking for a further 35-45 minutes or until set. 

Leave to cool and serve with a dusting of icing sugar and a spoonful of cream. 

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Hobart Mornings: Pollen Tea Room

We took a stroll through the quaint little suburb of Battery Point, where the Georgian-style houses, flourishing gardens and bakeries lie.

Nestled within this gorgeous suburb is The Pollen Tea Room. With its petit charm and delightful atmosphere,  the earthy tones of the Tea Room's interior match perfectly with the display of their very own range of teas and crockery. Their menu is boasting in wholesome, seasonal, but most of all delicious food and beverages. Most of which are gluten and dairy free; all of which are made in their very own kitchen. 

Sit by the window with a warm cup of chocolate chai, a pot of house-made tea, or an almond milk latte- sipping as you watch the happenings of Hampden Road go by. 

Alternatively, order yourself a deliciously wholesome breakfast or one of the treats on display... I have to say, their "power balls" look like they contain the ability within them to make you conquer the world. It would be hard to go wrong with one of them.

This was my breakfast of banana bread granola, activated buckwheat, and house-made coconut yoghurt, alongside Robbie's breakfast of baked eggs with avocado, dukkah, fresh coriander, and sourdough. What better way to start a sunny Saturday in Hobart?

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Rhubarb and Custard Tea Cake

With a healthy looking bunch of rhubarb growing in our garden and the memories of myself as a little girl chopping it into chunks for my dad's stewed rhubarb and ice cream, I was inspired to make this cake.

For the Cake:                                                           For the Custard:

200 grams of butter                                                Two tbsp of custard powder

110 grams of brown sugar                                                  1/4 cup of caster sugar

Two eggs                                                                 1 cup of milk

1 1/4 cups of Plain Flour                                             1 tablespoon of butter

Two teaspoons of baking powder                           Two teaspoons of vanilla extract

                                1/3 cup of custard powder

                                Two fresh rhubarb stalks

                                  Sugar, for sprinkling

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

For the custard, mix the custard powder and sugar with a small amount of the milk to make a smooth paste. Ensuring there are no lumps, add the paste and the rest of the milk to a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until thickened. Removing the saucepan from the heat, mix in the butter and vanilla extract.

For the cake, cream the butter and sugar until light- both in colour and in texture. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and add the flour and custard powder. The batter will be quite thick. 

To assemble the cake, put half the cake mixture into a round, greased cake tin; pour on the custard, and then place the rest of the mixture on top. Cut the fresh rhubarb stalks into roughly four centimetre lengths, and then cut in half lengthways. Arrange the rhubarb onto the cake as shown in the above picture, and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. 

Place into the oven and cook for roughly an hour, or until golden and cooked through. 

Enjoy! 

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A Trip to Mount Field

Only at a place like Mount Field can you wake up warm and cosy in your sleeping bag before stepping out onto the cold, wooden floor and quickly covering yourself in as many layers as you can find. All before looking out a tiny, fogged-up window to see that overnight, a layer of crisp, white snow covered the frozen lake and trees.

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Sometimes it is very nice to know that today, your only responsibilities include breathing in the fresh air, exploring the lakes and the mountains, and ensuring that fire keeps on burning.

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Dessert Wine and Vanilla Bean Poached Pears

With winter comes two of my favourite things: spices and warm fruit. 

While this recipe is simply four ingredients, it can easily be altered to suit the longings of your taste buds. The wine may be substituted for chai tea, the pears may be subsituted for apples or quince. You could add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, honey; go crazy.

Here is my take on Poached Pear, with a little help from Donna Hay. 

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Ingredients:

Four Pears, peeled and sliced in two

1 1/2 cups of castor sugar

One vanilla bean

1 1/2 cups of white dessert wine

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

Place the halved pears in a baking tray large enough for them to fit nicely. Add the dessert wine and sugar. Then, slice the vanilla bean lengthways down the centre, scrape out the seeds with a knife and add them to the pears and wine. 

Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and place into the oven for approximately an hour and a half. 

Enjoy warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or double cream and syrup from the baking tray.

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Four Reasons why this Blog Exists

Firstly,

My Family and Friends. So cliché, but so true. For years I've had the idea of starting a blog, but my tendency towards perfectionism has allowed to me to procrastinate and procrastinate. The thought of it not being exactly the way I wanted it to be scared me, but I now know- thanks to some extremely wonderful people in my life- that with projects like this, you simply have to start. So that is exactly what I'm doing. 

Secondly,

I LOVE Hobart. Predominately the food, but the icing sugar-dusted mountain, colourful markets, blossoming flowers and old houses that look like something out of a storybook are pretty decent too. I want people to fall in love with Hobart the way I have, so this blog will be filled with all my most favourite places to visit and eat. 

Thirdly,

I also love cooking, fashion, interior design, lovely gardens, and architecture. So expect to see a lot of that too. 

Finally,

I'm a Journalist in training. When I started my Bachelor of Arts at Utas I wanted the best of both worlds- to become a qualified teacher (the long way), and to stay in beautiful Hobart. While I am only half-way through my degree and even further away from being 100% set on what I want to do at the end of all this, the combination of creativity + career is looking mighty appealing, and the idea of journalism is slowly stealing my heart. So why does this blog exist, you ask? It's my landfill, journal, photo album, recipe book, and portfolio, all mushed into one.