Tomato, basil and balsamic vinegar glaze tarts and a very busy week!

This past week has been so manic so I apologise for not posting the recipe for the Tomato, basil and balsamic vinegar glaze tarts sooner! This blog post will be a bit of a longer one full of pics from the 'busiest Deerly Beloved Bakery week on record' with the recipe at the end. Enjoy!

First up Mr Green tea cake turtle! Rest assured he went to a very kind home!

Me truffle making!

Cranberry and chocolate biscotti.

Lavender and lemon whoopie pies

Chocolate, raspberry and balsamic vinegar syrup cake

Chocolate, raspberry and balsamic vinegar syrup cake

Chocolate, olive oi and sea salt whoopie pies

Norwich Art Centre's Clutter City was on Saturday, and as I always am extremely busy at my little stall, so lots of truffles and cakes had to be made!

It was so busy and we sold out! Thankyou once again to everyone who came! It was especially great to be in the cafe area as I could see people sit down with their families and enjoy my cakes. There was such a great Christmas atmosphere and lots of great arts and craft stalls including my friend Laura Manfre who makes amazing illustrated prints and made these gorgeous necklaces and brooches! I had to treat myself and purchased a necklace (well it is Christmas!) You can get yours at http://www.etsy.com/shop/lauramanfre?ref=seller_info

And now to the recipe for Tomato, basil and balsamic vinegar glaze tarts!
Makes 4 tarts
Ingredients:
Home made puff pastry or ready roll vegan puff pastry.
8 Cherry tomatoes cut in half and a glug of olive oil to fry them in.
Cup of fresh basil
Half a cup of hazelnuts
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp of nutritional yeast
4 tbsp of olive oil
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup of good quality Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of agave
2 saucers one about an inch smaller than the other.

Roll out the pastry and cut round a the saucer to create the bases of your tarts. Then with the smaller saucer,  place in the middle of your cut circles, and gently score round the saucer not cutting all the way through. This will create an edge to your tart once cooked.
In a frying pan pop in a glug of oil and then your tomatoes facing cut side down, this will make for a really nice caramelised tomato and stop them from losing their shape. Fry for around 8 mins on a high heat, turning one over occasionally with a pallet knife to make sure they are not burning, but placing back cut side down once you have checked.. They will cook through and look like this....

Then in a processor add the basil, hazelnuts, garlic, yeast oil oil and salt to taste. Whizz it up into a wonderful pesto consistency (any that is left over will be great on potatoes or pasta!) Then spread this paste evenly on each pastry case, making sure to keep it inside the middle 'ring'.

Then place the tomatoes on top. In a pan add the balsamic and agave and boil rapidly till it goes into a thick syrup. Around 4 mins. Do not leave this unattended as it will boil dry quickly and will be extremely hot! The vinegar can make your nose sting while it evaporates, so I found it best to open a window and not stand directly over the pan! Once it has turned into a syrup carefully drizzle it over the tarts. *Washing up tip*The pan can be placed in hot water and left to soak to remove any syrup residue from it.

Then place them in a hot oven at 190c for 20 minutes until golden brown! Serve with salad with a nice lemon dressing.