Can I just say one thing, I absolutely loved this shoot.
'Not always eye to eye, but always heart to heart'
Mothers, mummy, mama, moeder or mum. Whatever you call them we all have a mum. I love my mum, although it may be hard to show. I don't even want to imagine life without my beautiful mum. She's my rock!
I know all of you will do something to show you appreciate your mum! Some may write a card, buy chocolates, flowers, do the dishes or my favourite make breakfast in bed! That is what I always did for my mum on mothers day.
I think about all the things my mum has done for me over the past years, I can't even begin to repay her. Mum's are the ones that will be there to watch you grow, be there to hold your hand, be there to catch you when you fall, be there for a shoulder to cry on and be there to watch you fail. I think mothers a pretty special!
Sometimes I think to myself, why is it that the 11th of May is the day we show our mums how much they mean to us? I think its a reminder when we get caught up in our busy routined lives. I think the 11th of May, is a day for us to stop and really appreciate all our mother does for us. I think we take our mothers for granted and mothers day is a gentle reminder to help us to be thankfull for our mothers.
I think this tart is very special, all the thinly sliced apples twirled into dozens of roses. Just looking at the tart shows how much effort you have put into this tart.
And that great thing about this tart, is that it is very easy to create! It looks like a chef has created it, but you don't need to be a chef to produce a masterpiece like this. All you need is a bit of perseverence, some touch of creativity and a bit of love.
My mum has been a mum for 25 years, and wow what an amazing job she has done! She's mothered and nurtured all my siblings through the tough times. She's taught us her morals, her values, her beliefs. I think she is one incredible woman! It's not easy bringing up a family of boys!
I used apples from my orchard, but if you don't have an apple tree, I suggest using organic apples. I also suggest getting really red apples, so when you make the roses they really stand out.
This is a really good, composed shot to show you the whole tart. This probably has to be my favourite photoshoot, it's so rustic and country looking I love it!!
If you don't have a big whanau to feed this tart, you can make individual mini tartlets with just one rose and it will just be as effective.
What's an apple tart without vanilla ice cream! I'm sorry to say this though, it is not homemade ice cream. I have made ice cream before and it's so good you can just eat it on it's own!
I love this composed photo, you have a slice of apple tart and then a scoop of generous ice cream on top gently melting down the sides. Does that make you hungry or what?
I love summertime because it means there are trees laden with fruit just waiting to be harvested. We have lots of apple trees and to preserve the apples we make batches and batches of steward apple. I love steward apple so much, it's the perfect thing if you are sick because there are no strong flavours.
I hope you all spoilt your mums on mothers day because you don't realise what you've got, till it's gone. So give your mums a big hug from me (:
Now let's learn how to make this delictable treat!
You can find the photo tutorial for the sweet shortcrust pastry on this blog entry,
Pick your apples from your orchard.
Slice the apples in half and begin slicing even thin slices of apple. Prepare your simple syrup for stewing the apple slices.
Pour the apple slices into the syrup and heat them gently for 2 mins. Just until the apple is soft, but not transparent.
To give the tart a neat finish, slice horizontally, and resting your knife on the tart pan. Add your frangipane (filling)
Spread the frangipane out evenly, and begin forming your roses and laying them around the tart. Bake the frangipane and apples for 25 minutes in a 180- degree oven or until the frangipane is golden.
There you are!
Recipe
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 cups flour
zest of a lemon
pinch salt
4 egg yolks (I needed 6)
250g cold butter cubed.
Frangipane Filling Recipe
125g butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g ground almonds
1 Tablespoon flour
Stewing Apples Syrup
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on your palete)
5 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 lemon slices
Method:
Place your flour and cubed cold butter in a blender or food processor and blitz till it resembles coarse sand.
Place the mixture onto a bench and dump the powdered sugar on top.
Make a well with your hands and add the zest and the salt to the mixture.
Add 4 egg yolks to the well and begin to mix with your hands until you form a smooth dough.
Wrap the dough in glad wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Fraingpane Method:
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Gradually beat in one egg and a time until its well combined.
Fold in the ground almonds and the flour. Add vanilla for flavouring if you would like.
Stewing Syrup
Place all ingredients in a pot and heat the water mixture until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes)
Simmer the syrup when you add the apples. After the apples are soft place in a pasta strainer and allow to cool before handling.
To shape the roses just begin rolling them together, treat each piece of apple slice like a petal.
That's it! I hope you all spoilt your mothers on mothers day, weather it was cleaning, cooking, flowers, chocolates. And I hope all those mothers out there had a beautiful day.
Until next time lovellie....
