A Spectacular and Luxurious Summer Fruit Tart: for that Very Special Occassion

This tart just 'screams' summer.  That special dinner party where you want to impress.  The sun setting, bees buzzing, butterflies hovering around the buddleia, aromas from the roses and night scenting stocks.....can you see the picture in your mind's eye?  Well this is the perfect dish to serve and 'round off' that very special meal.

As you can imagine, there are steps involved in the making of this tart.  Although not difficult really, steps which must be followed to achieve that perfect dish.  My aim is to educate and introduce you to techniques you may not have used before, but don't worry, I have, and will lead you each step of the way.

Let me first of all say that baking is not difficult.  Ignore the rubbish 'pontificated' by the 'so called' professionals.  You do not need cold hands and a marble slab to make the perfect pastry, you just require knowledge of the technique and a fridge to chill the pastry; your fridge is your cold hands, your work surface, the marble slab!  There are three distinct stages in the making of this tart - pastry, a set custard, and the fruit topping.  This is actually a rich custard tart topped with masses of soft, luscious prepared summer fruits.

Lets take pastry first.

Equipment Required:

Bowl for making the pastry in – I use a cheap plastic bowl from the supermarket.

Wooden spoon or hand electric mixer with whisk attachments, if you want to be lazy!

Metal spoon

Rolling Pin

8” flan ring, or pie tin with a loose bottom base for ease in tart removal; the higher the sides, the deeper your tart will be.

Measuring equipment - scales or cups/spoons

Oven for baking the tart, set medium high (400F, 200C, Gas Mark 6).

Greaseproof paper and beans for baking blind the pastry case. You could also use old coins (washed of course and kept specially for the purpose), they transfer heat beautifully and make the base of the pasty completely flat!

Pastry Ingredients:

8 ozs (240g, 2c) Plain (General Purpose) Flour, plus extra for dusting

¼ tsp salt

4 ozs (110g, 1/2c) butter, if vegan, use white shortening instead although you will lose out on the wonderful buttery flavor. However, you can substitute a little of the flour for ground almonds to improve the pastry flavour; ratio 2:1 ground almonds to substituted flour, yummy!

2 ozs (50g, 1/4c) white sugar

2 egg yolks – freeze the whites for later use in meringues, they whisk up better when chemically changed through freezing or ageing.

Method:

This is a completely different way of making pastry, very easy, the results though are fantastic.  It is made through the ‘creaming’ method not ‘rubbing in’ method.  It can only be used with sweet pastry; the rubbing in method is used for savory pastry. This technique gives a crisp base and is quite stable, very suitable for holding the quantity of filling required with this tart.

1. Soften the butter slightly.  This can be done by either leaving the butter in a warm place for a couple of hours; or, pulsing in the microwave 10 seconds at a time until when you touch the butter your finger will indent.  The plastic bowl is useful here as it can be placed into the microwave and then used to cream the sugar; why make washing up!

2. Add the sugar to the butter and beat the two together until combined and beginning to lighten.  You are not making a sponge cake so do not over beat or the pastry will be ‘cakey’ instead of crisp.  Use an electric hand whisk for ease or just beat with a wooden spoon.  I use my clean hand to beat with because you have more control than using mechanical equipment, and will not over beat.

3. Add the egg yolks and beat in until combined, both yolks in together.

4. Place a sieve over your butter mixture and put in the flour and salt; sieve into the bowl.

5. Use a metal spoon and using the edge, sideways on, cut through the mixture, turning the bowl as you go.  Magically, the flour and butter mixture will combine into a soft pastry.  

6. Bring the mass together, cover with plastic film and place in the fridge for half an hour to firm up.

7. Pin out into a large circle about the width of a coin (1/4”/2mm), and wider than the flan ring and sides, plus a little extra as overhang. Make sure you flour your surface and rolling pin well to ensure the pastry does not stick.  

8. Using the rolling pin as a lifting aid, pick up the circle of pastry carefully by rolling it loosely around the pin. Place it over the buttered tin and gently ease it into the edges.  I use a little ball of the pastry to do this as you are less likely to make a hole with your finger tips. If you do make a hole don’t worry, just dab some of the egg white over the hole and patch with a little bit of the raw pastry.  If a flan ring is being used this will be placed onto a butter baking tray before the pastry circle is added.

9. Allow the excess pastry to overhang the tin; you will cut it off with a sharp knife when the pastry is cooked and cool.  It also helps with shrinkage when baking blind. Place a large circle of greaseproof paper over the raw pastry and add dried beans to hold it down during baking. Place in the fridge for half an hour to chill.  This helps stop shrinkage during baking.

10. Place in a pre-heated medium hot oven and bake until the sides of the pastry begin to color – about 10 – 15 minutes.  Take the tin out of the oven carefully and remove the greaseproof paper and beans.  

11. Replace in the oven and continue to bake until the pastry case is cooked through.  About a further 10 minutes.

12. Leave your pastry case on one side in the tin.  When cool use a sharp knife with a sawing action to trim off the excess pastry.

Part 2 of this tart is the set custard filling.  It has to be set as the custard must hold a considerable amount of fruit.

Equipment required:

Small heavy bottomed saucepan

Measuring Jug

Sieve and bowl, to strain the cooked custard through

Medium sized bowl to whisk the eggs and sugar together.

Small whisk

Wooden Spoon

Ingredients:

1 pint (620ml, 2 1/2c) of single cream (half and half). If you just have double (heavy) cream use half milk to half cream.

*4 egg yolks – freeze the whites for future use.

2 ozs (50g, 1/4c) of white sugar

2 leaves of gelatin pre soaked in cold water until soft, or, 1 sachet of dried gelatin in a little water to soften.

Vanilla extract to taste.  You can use a split vanilla pod which will leave the lovely dark seeds running through your set custard.

*4 eggs/yolks to 1 pint is always the ratio you use for any custard or even mayonnaise.  You can use more in a very rich custard but why bother?  They are there for flavour yes, but mostly as the setting agent and 4 is all that is necessary.

Method:

1. Put the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk together until they begin to lighten a little and increase in volume slightly.

2. Pre-soak the gelatin ready to add to the custard once made.

3. Put the cream into a pan and put on the stove to get hot.  Add the split vanilla pod at this stage, if preferred to vanilla extract.

4. When the cream is reaching boiling point but not boiling, pour it over the whisked eggs and continue to whisk until the mass is well combined.  Return the milk and egg mixture to the pan.

5. On a medium heat and using a wooden spoon, stir continuously until the mixture begins to change appearance slightly and thicken.  You will also see this thickening by running your finger across the back of the spoon; if the trail left stays, the mixture is cooked.  On no account bring the custard to the boil or you will split your custard, just let it thicken slightly.

6. As soon as it does this take off the heat and add the gelatin, stir until melted.

7. Pour the custard immediately through the sieve into the bowl. This will remove any bits of egg and gelatin not combined, and leave you with smooth custard.

8. Pour the custard into the prepared pastry case and leave in the fridge to set.  You can do this the day before so that the custard filling is completely set, but make sure it is left in the fridge.

All that is left to do is top with the fruit of your choice.  I have used here:

Strawberries

Raspberries

Blueberries

Kiwi fruit 

Orange segments

You can use any soft summer fruits, just make the assortment colorful; just 'pile 'm high'!  To complete the picture, either dust with icing sugar through a sieve, or, as I have done, glaze with apricot jam.

Apricot glaze:

2 tablspoons of apricot jam

2 tablespoons of cold water

1. Place in a pan and bring to the boil stirring until combined.

2. Pass through a sieve to remove apricot bits, then brush over the fruit carefully with the glaze – actually, dabbing might be better!

There you have it, an absolutely wonderful ‘Queen of Summer’ Tarts, ready for those special guests to enjoy and be wowed by.

Until the next time, adios Amigos

From sunny Almeria Province, Spain. X