Fruit Tarts Recipe

Hello!
We have had a gloriously sunny bank holiday weekend and the weather has put me in such a good mood! I feel more motivated with my revision and have been able to enjoy some nice breaks outside in the sunshine. My first big exam is tomorrow so I think I will have to neglect this blog over the next month or so but before I disappear for a while, I have a recipe to share. Since it was so sunny, we decided to have a barbecue outside so I made some fruit tarts to have for dessert and they were delicious! I also enjoyed playing badminton outside in the sun with my sister. It was a perfect day for badminton as there was no wind whatsoever!




The tarts I made had a simple but delicious sweet shortcrust pastry that is easy to make if you know the tricks to good pastry. Something that helps when making pastry, particularly on a hot day, is to use the fridge to your advantage! Whenever you handle the pastry, whether this is during mixing or rolling out the dough, you develop gluten in the dough and this is something you want to try to avoid as the pastry will become rubbery. Pop the dough in the fridge after it has formed and again after you have rolled it out to let it rest. I would also really recommend rolling the pastry out between two sheets of cling film, as this avoids you having to touch it, it stops it sticking to the table and it also means you don't have to add excess flour, which can lead to the pastry becoming dry.

I based my tarts on a recipe by James Morton, who placed 3rd in the Great British Bake Off a few years ago. My sister bought his book 'How Baking Works' for me and it was such an interesting book to read. Morton takes baking back to basics and gives you simple recipes for baking staples, such as the perfect shortcrust pastry. What I found interesting was that the book is full of explanations about why each step is important and what each ingredient does. I feel like I know a lot more about baking after reading his book! His recipe calls for berries but I decided to be creative and use a mango because that happened to be the fruit that we had that needed eating. Although mango and crème pâtissière isn't your classic combination, I thought it still tasted great!

Any fresh fruit would work fine and if you are after that classic glazed appearance, brush with a little apricot jam to make it shine. The crème pâtissière sets to be quite firm and jelly-like, probably due to the cornflour, so if you are looking for a slightly less firm custard, don't add so much cornflour. Apart from that, there's not really much that you can do wrong with this recipe! If you are a chocolate fan, try adding some cocoa powder to the crème pâtissière egg mixture when you add the cornflour. To make one big tart, double the quantities and bake the pastry for a little longer, but keep an eye on it as you don't want it to burn!

Fruit Tarts
Ingredients- makes 4 small tarts
For the pastry:

  • 60g salted butter, softened
  • 35g icing sugar
  • 1/2 a beaten egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250g plain flour

For the crème pâtissière:

  • 250g whole milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 20g cornflour
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 25g unsalted butter

To decorate:

  • Fruit of your choice
Method
  1. To make the pastry, start by beating the butter and icing sugar until soft and smooth. Then add the beaten egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth
  2. Fold in the flour and bring the pastry together, using your hands when necessary. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
  3. Carefully roll out the pastry between two sheets of cling film until it is evenly thin and about the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out round discs of pastry that are bigger than the tart cases and carefully transfer into the cases. Gently ease the pastry into the cases and trim any excess pastry. Prick the base with a fork and chill for another 15 minutes
  4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Cover each pastry case with some greaseproof paper and weigh it down with baking beans. Blind bake for 10 minutes and then remove the beans before baking for another 5 minutes. Watch the pastry and check that it doesn't burn. You are aiming for an even golden brown colour
  5. To make the crème pâtissière, heat the milk in a pan on a medium heat until it is just starting to simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the cornflour, vanilla extract and caster sugar until completely smooth
  6. When the milk is hot, slowly pour half of it into the egg mixture while whisking to combine. Then pour this mixture back into the pan and whisk to combine with the remaining milk
  7. Keep heating the mixture at a medium heat and keep stirring with a wooden spoon ALL THE TIME to stop the custard from sticking to the bottom of the pan. It will thicken quickly but keep heating for a further 30 seconds to cook off the starchy flavour of the cornflour
  8. When it is thick, remove from the hear and keep stirring while it cools slightly. After 30 seconds or so, add the butter and stir until smooth
  9. Pour the crème pâtissière into the cases, or leave to cool in a bowl covered in cling film and pipe into the cases later on. Try to smooth the custard down but don't worry about it too much as it will be covered by the fruit
  10. Peel and cut your chosen fruit before arranging on top of the tarts
I hope you will try this recipe. It requires a bit of effort but the final product is delicious!

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