Gypsy Tart Recipe

Another recipe from my mother - this time for Gypsy Tart.  A very, very sweet dessert, made with brown sugar and evaporated milk.

This recipe calls for some pretty energetic whisking, so if you have a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer, use it.  It saves aching arm muscles the following day!

Note - For this recipe, you need to use the darkest brown sugar you can.  If you can only get a light brown sugar, then you will need to add a good tablespoon of molasses to the mix, otherwise your filling won't set.

Gypsy Tart

Ingredients:
1 x 7" pastry case, baked blind (or, for ease, purchase a pastry case)
1 small tin evaporated milk (about 170ml)
10oz (280g) soft brown sugar (plus a good tablespoon of molasses, if required - see note above)

Method:
Heat oven to 177C fan (190C/428F/gas mark 7)  Make the pastry case and (using greaseproof/parchment paper and baking beans, if possible) bake blind in the oven for 10-12 mins.  Remove paper and baking beans, and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes until the pastry case is a light golden brown.

Whisk the sugar and the milk together (and the molasses, if using), very well, until the mixture is fluffy, light in colour, and thick.  This will take around 15 mins.

Pour the mixture into the pastry case, and bake for a further 10-15 mins.  The surface should feel slightly sticky, and the filling will continue to set as it cools.  Leave in the tin until cold.

Cool completely before serving.

My mother's recipe actually suggests that, after completely cooking the pastry case, you should turn off the oven, make the filling, and then return the filled tart to the slightly warm oven "to set".  I have tried this method more than once, but have never been able to make the filling set this way.  

Mock Cream Recipe (School Dinners in the UK)

Did you have school dinners in the UK?

If so, do you remember the 'mock cream' we were given on/with desserts?  Well, I've just found the recipe for this that my mother gave me years ago.   It tastes exactly as I remember.  The recipe does call for overnight refrigeration, so bear this in mind if you decide to have a go at it.

Mock Cream

Ingredients:
8oz (200g) dried skimmed milk powder
Half pint (250ml) water
2oz (50g) caster sugar
Half teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
In a heatproof bowl, mix the milk powder into the water, and cook over a saucepan of boiling water until thick, stirring now and again (15-20 mins after the water comes to the boil).

Keep in the refrigerator overnight, covering the surface closely with damp parchment (or greaseproof) paper to prevent a skin forming.

Next day, whisk the cream with the caster sugar until thick and creamy.  Add the vanilla extract.