"The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere, they're in each other all along" ~ Rumi
Once upon a time a boy from Ireland and a girl from England happened to pick the same class at university. The boy from Ireland didn't say a lot, but when he did it was always something interesting and profound, and that (along with his very sexy Irish accent) drew the girl's attention. They soon became friends, and then became something more.
Their love began to grow...
They knew they wanted to be together forever...
Years prior to meeting, the girl had imagined the most romantic proposal and the only person she'd ever told was her best friend. So can you believe that one day, on Valentines Day 2009, her fantasy became real! The boy handed her a single rose and folded inside the petals was an engagement ring...
The girl was delighted! Of course she said yes - here was the man of her dreams for sure!
Now, enough with the soppy, let's crack on with the recipe!
What you will need:
50g butter
100ml milk
2 tblsp honey
1 free-range egg yolk
2 tsp arrowroot powder
200g soft dried figs
75g golden linseed
1 small beetroot
200g fine wholewheat flour
100g butter
3 tblsp water
Method:
Put the butter, milk, honey and egg yolk into a saucepan and heat on low until the butter has melted. Mix the arrowroot powder with a little milk or water and add to the pan. Whisk continuously until the caramel thickens and becomes like thick custard. Remove from heat.
Finely chop the figs, and then mash well using a fork.
Add the mashed figs and golden linseed to the caramel and mix well. Set aside to cool.
Peel and finely dice the beetroot. Put into a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water and simmer on low heat until the beetroot softens. Puree using a stick blender or food processor.
In a large bowl add the butter to the flour and rub in using your fingertips, until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the pureed beetroot and water to the bowl and mix/knead with your hand to form a firm (and pink!) dough.
Roll out on a large sheet of greaseproof paper to about 0.2cm thick.
Spread the fig caramel mixture on the pastry, using a wet spoon to smooth it out evenly.
Fold the pastry in half using the greaseproof paper to help you.
Cut out heart shapes using a pastry cutter, and then place onto a baking tray.
Bake in a preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch. Allow to cool before removing from the tray.
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Many thanks.
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All photos in this post are my own original.
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