In Britain we have a show called MasterChef (I've also seen some episodes of the USA & Aus versions) where ordinary folks fulfil cooking challenges to win a prize.
We also have a version called MasterChef: The Professionals, where the contestants work in the food industry. Some are self taught, some have been to culinary schools, some work in restaurants others as private or corporate chefs, one winner taught in a cooking in a college.
Of the two versions of the show I prefer the second as it's been the one I've learnt most from.
One of the aspects of the show is the judges challenge. The judging chefs (Marcus Wareing & Monica Galetti on the last series) take turns to present a dish, which the contestants then have to replicate.
The chefs are given the ingredients & basic details of the dish, and a time limit.
Many series ago one of the judges was the wonderful Michel Roux jr. His challenge was a raspberry ganache tart.
I immediately pegged this as something I could try. I even made some tweaks! I added almond to the pastry to make it sweet almond.
Anyway, I hadn't made it in some time but Thursday were having some folks round for coffee. There was an unused, store bought, pastry case in the cupboard. I made the tart. It was much appreciated and requested for today (after our meeting on a Sunday we have tea & cake).
I hadn't considered scaling up to a tray bake size before, but challenge accepted!
As you can just see, I didn't judge the quantities quite right, so couldn't use the full tray.
Anyway, this morning I portioned it up and, apart from looking good, it tastes terrific - though for some reason the picture of a slice is refusing to load.
