Plum tart with almond flour crust1/21/2024 I would recommend brushing some of the remaining plum syrup over the tarts as they come out of the oven for a glossy finish, and then heating it up to spoon warm over the tarts (with vanilla bean ice cream, yogurt or mascarpone!).Be aware that the cooking time will be slightly longer though, so you may have to keep checking (probably 25-35min). I made 6x mini tarts (8-9cm diameter) here, but you could also use a rectangular tart tin if you prefer.Desserts like this cure all ills, at least for a while. Served slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, you really can’t go wrong. The plums are cooked twice: once with star anise and vanilla bean, deepening their flavour and adding a syrupy spice, and then again in the tart, almost caramelising at the edges. Instead, I went with a crumbly, flaky chocolate biscuit tart base with a deep chocolate frangipane, where almond meal balances the chocolate flavour, different from the overwhelming intensity and richness of chocolate ganache or a cream based filling. The initial plan was a pistachio frangipane, but I realised I had done that here and here (probably because it is so GOOD), and also pistachios are insanely expensive when you have to buy them yourself. Summer still seems to be hanging around (35☌ this week!) and stonefruit remains freely available, so I couldn’t go past it. These roasted plum & chocolate frangipane tarts more than made up for the week. This must be the start of the stereotypical illegible doctor’s handwriting! Instead, us third years just stumble around thinking – what’s that? Another acronym? But what’s that? And why did you do that? Another drug? Scrawling down messy bits of words to look up later, adding to the mental file of how much there is to learn. Everything is easier to remember when you talk about it in relation to an actual person, rather than hearing words that don’t make much sense read off a powerpoint screen by a tired, bored lecturer. It IS better than lecture style learning, though. I’m sure next week’s post will come from a sharper frame of mind – every new environment, new life change requires much more energy and attention that those that are familiar. At least in the latter you can sit down all day, rather than speed-crutching around hospitals to keep up with doctors, interns and older medical students. My only explanation is the mental exertion of realising just how much we don’t know in hospitals is much greater than the spoon-fed, easy going nature of school, or even regular uni. It isn’t as if I haven’t gotten up early in the past: I spent years rising in the dark for 530am swim training before school. Even now, my smudged laptop screen keeps blurring out in front of my face, and it requires sheer force of will bring my mind back in focus, to concentrate. I don’t think I can remember being quite as tired as I have been this weekend. I hope I can get used to this new routine – because at the moment it is EXHAUSTING. A tired drive home with the air conditioning and radio blasting, dinner, work if I can be bothered – then a collapse into bed. Ward rounds, tutorials, the odd lecture, and talking to patients follow. A much-needed coffee is grabbed on the way to the hospital – yes, I am now the horribly environmentally-unfriendly commuter, joining the thousands of single occupant cars trudging along the Melbourne motorways (although, in my defense, public transport takes twice as long and costs more than petrol!). A quiet but hurried pack, breakfast preparation and sleepy drive to spin class or the pool (due to the weight-bearing restrictions of late). Roasted plum & chocolate frangipane tarts: a buttery, flaky chocolate pastry, rich chocolate-almond paste and lightly vanilla spiced plums.
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