Pie / Tart Dough

When you're too lazy to do things the long way, and would love to have an easy way out in making dough for your tarts... I found this simple recipe for a tart dough from David Lebovitz, but adapted it to suit my cooking / baking style. (I really try to avoid the oven to do too many things - except for baking)

I used the same recipe to make a pie - beef pie. It worked... though the dough was a little crumbly.

This recipe has been used for sweet and savoury dishes.

One recipe can do a base for an 8 inch pan. Or I have used the same recipe to make the base for mini tarts as well. Just watch the baking time - once the base turns brown, remove from oven. Did this through trial and error, so I don't quite have the timings for this.

In a sauce pan, melt and bring to boil:

100g Butter
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 Tbsp Water
1/8 tsp Salt

When mixture boils, remove from heat and add in:

150g All Purpose / Plain Flour

Stir flour in quickly until it becomes a ball of dough.

Transfer the dough to your pie / tart tin and spread this out with a spatula (beware of hot dough!!) or with your hands (if the dough has cooled down enough)

Prick the bottom with a fork (about 10-15 times)

Bake the pie / tart base for 15 minutes at 210 deg C (410 deg F) or until the base has turned brown.

You can use pile the pie / tart base with whatever filling you wish.

Simple Chocolate Banana Cake

This recipe is from Sam Tan's webpage... I've just cut the amount of sugar (by quite a fair bit), and added a bit more chocolate.

You can make the batter in less than 10 mins, and whilst you're having dinner, pop this into the oven, and just after you're done with dinner, desserts will be ready!! Best have this cake piping hot from the oven.

This recipe makes an 8" round cake or a similar size square dish for a brownie type serving.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt and use a hand whisk to mix:

125g Chocolate (or 100g for a less dense cake)
100g Butter
50g Sugar

Do not let the above mixture boil.

Mix in the following in order:

2 eggs
1 ripe banana (large) or 2 small ripe bananas
Some Roughly Chopped Nuts or dried fruits as desired
(I love dried cranberries in the cake. They bloat up after baking and goes very well with chocolate)

Separately, sift the following together:

50g self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Fold in the sifted ingredients into the chocolate mixture and transfer to a baking tin (or if your whole saucepan can go into the oven, then you don't have to wash an additional equipment.

Bake at 175 deg C (350 deg F) for approximately 25-30 minutes.