I recently found myself with an abundance of lemons and thought I can’t possible drink that many gin and tonics (although I gave it a very good crack)!

So in my search for a solution to my overflowing fruit bowl I found the perfect recipe for lemon tart, a Stephanie Alexander classic. Very tasty and super easy especially if you cheat (like I did!!) and buy the pastry!

Lemon Tart

1 quantity of shortcrust pastry (or two sheets of pre made pastry)

3 large lemons

6 eggs

250grm castor sugar

200ml of cream

Icing sugar to dust

Method

Line a 24cm loose-bottomed deep flan tin with pastry, then bake blind at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes. Reset oven to 160 degrees C.

Zest and juice the lemons. Combine eggs and sugar until well amalgamated, then add zest and juice and stir well. Add cream and mix well using a balloon whisk. Pour into just baked pastry case and bake for 35-45 minutes until almost set. Cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Serve dusted with icing sugar and lashing of thick cream!

My tip for the perfect lemon tart is be careful not to overcook the tart keep an eye on the tart in the last  10-15 minutes to make sure you pull it out when it is just set.

To cool off in the sweltering heat we all love a beer on the beach but why not try this deliciously refreshing salad and cocktail for a change. 

Watermelon and Feta Salad

¼ of a watermelon chopped into bite size chunks

150 grms of salty feta

A handful of pitted kalamatta olives

1/2 a red onion thinly sliced into half moons

Fresh mint chopped

Juice of one lime

Extra virgin olive oil

Put watermelon on a large plate squeeze lime juice over, crumble the feta over and dot with olives mint and onion and drizzle with olive oil. For a different version and extra bite add thinly sliced radishes (in season in January) instead of red onion and scatter over the top.

Mojito

High ball glass

45ml white rum

½ lime cut into wedges

1 tbs brown sugar

8 mint leaves

Soda Water to fill glass

Ice

Place mint limes and sugar in the bottom of a glass and with a muddle stick if you have one or rolling pin, muddle the ingredients squeezing all the juice from the limes. Then fill the glass almost to the top with ice pour the rum over the ice and top up with soda. This drink takes me right back to the beach in Barcelona….Heavenly refreshing!

Made by our very own Alex Kelly for staff at Caroline Serviced Apartments! Best tasting x'mas present!

Look no further why not put your hand to a little baking and give a homemade gift.

Try these delicious Choc- chunk cookies or Ginger bread men.  Make them impressive with funky gift wrapping ideas. By making the Choc-chip cookies large you can use paper CD cases to hold the cookies bundling them together in twos or threes and wrapping them in Christmas ribbons.

Ginger bread men look great in clear plastic bags tied with Christmas ribbons. And for that extra Christmas touch use a couple of different sized cookie cutters and make a whole ginger bread family!

Choc-Chunk cookies

250grms butter (soft)

2/3 cup Brown sugar

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs beaten

3 cups plain flour

1tsp bi-carb soda

500grms chocolate chips (great with a mix of dark, milk and white choc!)

Vanilla essence

Method

Pre Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line baking trays with grease proof paper.

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and smooth. Add egg gradually once combined add flour and bi-carb and mix until combined. Then mix through choc chips with a spoon.

Spoon out a large tablespoon of mixture roll into balls, flatten slightly and place on already lined trays leaving enough space for biscuits to spread. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Should make 12 large cookies

Ginger bread men

¼ cup brown sugar

2 ½ cups plain flour, sifted

2tsp ground ginger sifted

1tsp bi-carb soda

125grm butter, chopped

2/3 cup of golden syrup

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Mix dry ingredients together and place in the bowl of a food processor with butter and golden syrup.  Process until a smooth dough forms. Divide the dough into two pieces and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Roll out between two sheets of greaseproof paper until it is 4mm thick. Using a ginger bread man cookie cutter or any shape you like cut out the shapes and place them on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on an airing rack before packaging as gifts!

Watch this space for more exciting recipes from our resident chef Alex : )