D e l i s i o u c i t y

New Hijrah year of 1430 is here! Happy new year to Muslims everywhere! More importantly is the reason for our celebration: that Prophet Muhammad moved for changes to occur. I am brimful of contemplations of changes…resolutions and positive thoughts on many aspects of life such as work, family, and hobbies-turned-business. The past year has been chockful of events; many sad ones pertaining to the demise of my father, my mentor & friend (incidentally a father figure as well), a cousin, and recently, a very close friend. Never faced with death before this year, I’ve now been substantially moved to think of things larger than daily problems and worries… and more particularly, what will happen if tomorrow doesn’t come? It’s a question that doesn’t spark me to want to do things “while I can” or “while I’m young“; rather, it has brought me to deliberate much on “what role do I play in this world?” and “am I fulfilling all my responsibilities?” These are deep and value-loaded questions, and cannot plainly be answered with one act of generosity, or one delivery of duty… be it as a daughter, a wife, a sibling, or whatever it is I do at work that contributes to my sense of being a citizen. But…. aaahh~ many good things in life should never be taken for granted as well! I am eternally thankul with all the blessings and guidance from Allah ^_^

Enough about all that though, for this is a food blog. So on we shall with the dessert of the day then!

If you’ve traveled on Singapore Airlines, you would probably have tasted their banana crumble, which is, needless to say, quite delectable. I kept on reminding myself that I would attempt to make one, (rather than find one), because really, it’s a rarity to find crumbles of fruits other than apples. The search for the banana crumble recipe brought me over and over again to one that uses orange juice in it. Somehow I wasn’t sold on that. Believe you me, the search for this simple recipe took such a loooong while (especially because I am really picky). I also wanted a tart casing rather than a ‘bottom’less filling with the streusel on top. The following are step-by-step pictures of the tart casing, which is essentially a Pate Brisee (or Shortcrust Pastry), adopted from a book called Perfect Pastries. I also took on board a few tips from my gargantuan copy of The Cook’s Book, just because I wanted to ensure a nicely short, crusty and crisp pastry. (Which I attained by the way, ^_^ and so can you!)

You need 2 cups of all purpose flour, sifted; and you need butter, and most importantly ensure that it’s cold and cut into pieces. next, use your fingertips only and rub the butter into the flour. Make sure your fingers are kept cool. I made sure I mad emy fingertips cold by touching a piece of ice cube every now and then and drying my tips with kitchen paper.you also need 3 tbspns of water. now cut this into the mixture by using a cold knife. dont use fingers.

Now all you have to do is lightly roll the mixture into a ball of dough and make sure you do not overwork it. Wrap it in cling film and store it in the fridge for 2 hours. When you’re ready to use, roll out thinly with a rolling pin on a lightly flour-dusted board, and your pastry case is ready to be baked blind. This means, pricking your pastry with a fork, covering it with a layer of parchment, and baking it for about 10 minutes or (very) slightly golden.

Next, make the streusal topping, or better known as the infamous crumble layer. This needs to be kept refridgerated as well. When it’s chilled and you’re ready to bake, break up the dough into the streusal/crumble sizes that you desire. Then just layer the top…With filling ready, of course ^_^

Seriously yummy

I had an independent tester come over for dinner and taste these crumble tartlettes, and I’m happy to report that he was absolutely in love with it (also cos he’s a big fan of bananas). My hubby also went head over heels with the tartlettes, and had it for breakfast the nexy day as well!