Katie's delicious Raspberries Tart

The pastry Ingredients

- Preheat oven to 180

- 1 cup (150g) plain flour

- 1/3 cup (55g) sugar

- 90 gram butter

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 tablespoon cold milk or water, approximately

Blend or process flour, sugar and butter until combined. Add egg yolk and enough of the water to make the ingredients just come together. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth. Cover, refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Roll pastry between sheets of baking paper until large enough to line prepared tin. Ease pastry into prepared tin, press into side; trim edge. Cover pastry case with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice; place on an oven tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove paper and rice or beans.

Bake uncovered, for a further 15 minutes or until pastry base is browned. Cool completely.

Crème Pâtissière or Thick Custard Ingredients

- 2 cups milk (475ml)

- 6 tbsp sugar

- Pinch of salt

- 2 ½ tbsp cornstarch (cornflour) (3 tbsp / 30 g for a stiffer pastry cream)

- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean pod

- 3 large egg yolks

Make crème pâtissière or custard

1. In a pot place milk and bring to boil mix sugar and vanilla bean or tsp of vanilla essence

to the corn starch in a medium bowl. Whisk the 3 egg yolks in a large bowl then whisk in

the sifted cornflour.

2. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the egg mixture to the milk once boiled.

3. Return the mixture to the pot and stir over a medium heat until the mixture boils and

thickens. Remove from the heat.

4. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Place in fridge for

30min.

5. Place the custard in a mixing bowl stir or whisk the crème patissiére (custard) until

softened. Spoon into pastry case; smooth the top.

6. Arrange raspberries over custard then add pistachio nuts and icing sugar.

TIPS:

For a thicker and richer vanilla creme pâtissière, you can substitute the whole egg with 3 egg yolks (6 egg yolks in total).

For a dairy-free version, substitute the milk and butter with a plant-based milk like almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk or even soy milk and a plant-based butter.

Katie's journey to becoming a professional Pastry Chef

Katie Charles showcases her unique and extravagant cakes on her facebook page KatiesSweetCake and Instagram. From the comfort of her kitchen, Katie transforms your dreams into beautiful creations for all your special occasions!

It was not until she moved to France in 2010 that she discovered her love and talent for baking. Before becoming a baker, Katie worked as project manager with a research organisation. When she reached what she described as an impasse in her career due to the rigid French system, Katie took a leap of faith and decided to go to school to study patisserie.

She earned a certification in patisserie “Certificat d'Aptitudes Professionnelles” (CAP). “Going to school to learn the basics of patisserie was important to me. “I wanted to learn different techniques and the right hygiene aspects to apply”.

During her training she had the opportunity to intern for world famous patisserie chef Pierre Hermé. From that experience she says she learned to be bold and try new flavours and manage her time. She also learned to always keep calm and in control when baking. She remembers an incident when she almost spoiled the “crème anglaise” (light custard) recipe that she had over cooked, but quickly blended to avoid ruining it completely. “School teaches you to organise your work and to work under pressure”.

We asked Katie to recommend a fool proof patisserie recipe; she said,” all depends on how you follow the recipe, this is really the key”.

With her experience and mastery in pastry, Katie organises workshops once a year in Zambia and South Africa to share her knowledge and tips with fellow baking enthusiasts on basic french patisserie and methods. She reveals some of the secrets to making the crunchiest croissants, succulent brioches and tarts and creamiest mousses.

Katie's favourite cakes to make are mousse based cakes; she loves specially to try out different flavours. Katie finds macarons to be the most difficult patisserie to make. “You can easily over mix them”, she cautioned.

Katie has over the years been creating elaborate and jaw dropping designs that could be mistaken for works of art for the community. A cake for Independence Day? Baby shower? Birthday? She has you covered. And for that, we thank you and keep baking.

Katie was born and raised in Kitwe Zambia. She lives in Paris with her husband and their three daughters. 

Macarons by Katie © Photo credit: Katie sweet cakes

by Connie Bellonie and Joelle Ozoux

for ZFFA