Decorated and ready to eat
Introducing: The Red Velvet Tart made from leftover crumbs.
Yes, I said Red Velvet Tart. In a house with lots of cake making and carving there are also a lot of cake crumbs. It takes so much time and effort to make cakes bigger than the average Grey Nomads’ camper-van, so I wanted to use the off cuts rather than throw them away. If I had a proper teenager who ate things I could possibly sling the bits his way but, alas ……no….
The Red Velvet Tart
So what do you do with cake crumbs?. I do have a few ideas. The most obvious one would be cake pops, and I love cake pops……. I even had a cake pops book shipped in via Amazon, but I just can’t commit to that King of miniature cakes, the time , oh the time that it takes to make them….
Something that will always turn my head is a tart or a pie. I know that for some this seems like your own commitment snag, but for me it is heavens simplicity. I can whip up a batch of pastry in the food processor before you can make any protests at all. My first cake crumb tart resembled more of a straight forward treacle tart. I had crumbs left from this skittles cake.
Treacle tart with plain crumbs
That’s when it dawned on me that you can make a tart out of any crumbs, any at all. A chocolate based crumb tart would be nice, and would benefit from being served with some raspberries and some crunchy hazelnuts, but given that red velvet cake is quite popular, and I had a mountain of crumbs, it seemed to do the maths all by itself.
The crumbs
The Red Velvet Tart
Ingredients
- 250 gm butter unsalted chopped (8oz)
- 500 gm plain flour 1lb
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 50 gm pure icing sugar 5 tablespoons
- 1 whole egg, beaten
- 60 ml milk or enough to make up just under 125 ml when the liquids added to the beaten egg
Red Velvet Fillling
- 250 gm cake crumbs 2
- 4 whole eggs I use 3 very large or 4 smaller large free range
- 500 ml cream 2 cups
- 250 ml treacle agave or maple syrup
- 40 ml lemon juice 2 T
- 1 teaspoon fine grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon red decorators food colouring
Icing
- 250 gm unsalted butter softened, 8oz
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 250 gm cream cheese softened, 8oz
- 40 ml lemon Juice 2 Tablespoons
- 1 cup sifted pure icing sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180 C/ 350 F . Use a tart case with a removable bottom. I used a deep one 6cm x 24 cm width (10in x 2in)
- For the pastry: Put the butter, icing sugar , salt and flour in a food processor and pulse till the lot is well combined, stop the machine. Mix the beaten egg and milk well and add all of it except a Tablespoon into the processor and blitz till the pastry is coming together. Turn out onto a bench a push together using the extra liquid if the pastry seems too dry. Push into a disc and chill 30 min.
- Mean while For the filling: Put the cake, eggs,cream, treacle and lemon zest and juice into the processor and blitz till smooth. (taste for lemon and salt). Set aside
- Roll out the pastry on a bench using a little extra flour. Line the tin and chill again. Bake till golden. take out of the oven and set aside while you prepare the filling. Then turn the oven down to 170C / 325F
- Now pour the filling custard into the case and bake for approx 60 minutes. Test by pressing the centre of the tart. It should be soft but set ( no liquid)
- Cream Cheese Topping: Soften the butter and beat till very light almost white in colour and fluffy. Add the soft cream cheese and keep beating. Add icing sugar, lemon and salt and beat till beautiful and light.
- Spread onto the cooled tart and decorate with strawberries if you like.
Notes
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- After the case is golden add the custard
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- Bake till set
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- Decorate with cream cheese icing and crumbs
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- The beautiful inside
Beating the butter for the frosting
I think you have absolutely invented something new, and what a something new at that! I’m just besotted with the colour (although I’m sure it tastes fabulous too!).
AHHHHH THIS IS TOO COOL
A wonderful creation! This tart looks divine.
Cheers,
Rosa
Now, that’s creativity! This is some tart that you’ve prepared, Tania, and to think you made it with cake crumbs. Fantastic!
OMG you ARE the red velvet tart! 🙂 What a clever, clever idea. I’m definitely going to make this as soon as I have crumbs. I love it.
Oh you clever thing Tania! So much better than wasting it all, and so very pretty too xox
I love the idea of giving a second life to things. Yours sounds and looks fantastic!
An excellent and creative idea, Tania. It looks really beautiful.
This is excellent. I will pin it. Like you, I make a lot of sculpted cakes and it upsets me that there’s always so much waste. Sometimes it goes to the office for starving workers to snack on but other times, it’s binned! And I feel like a criminal for being so wasteful. So this is very helpful and I think your red velvet cake crumbs look very pretty around the edge of the tart xx
Oh Tania what a brilliant idea! I have so many bags of cake crumbs in my freezer and all I ever think of is cake pops too.
I am speechless at your genius!!!
Genius! I’ve certainly never seen anything like this before, but it sounds like a perfect way to put cake crumbs to very good use. Far more appealing than cake pops 🙂
What an original idea. I think this is a “must make” recipe.
Red velvet tart sounds delicious! What a great idea!