Three Fruit Tart

My long lost cousins visited tonight. I hadn't planned to bake for a while yet, but in honour of the occasion, I dusted off my recipe books, pulled out Jane Price's 'Kitchen Classics: Pastries and Breads', found that old favourite and set to work. I am irrevocably in love with baking with chocolate, but I must admit this one has its charms, namely the undeniably colourful beauty of the three fruits, the chance to create the dreamiest custard from scratch, and finally the sweet and clear taste that is both gentle and subtly amazing.

Three Fruit Tart

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry

• 150g of Flour
• 2 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 90g of Unsalted Butter (chopped)
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 tablespoon of Iced Water

Custard Filling

• 250ml of Milk
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 55g Castor Sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Flour
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
• Strawberries, Kiwi and Blueberries, to decorate
• Apricot jam, to glaze

The arrangement of fruit was supposed to be random, like on the Summer Berry Tart,
but something inside of me just wouldn't let it happen...

Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and iced water. Mix to a dough with a flat bladed knife and a cutting action, and then gather it together in a ball. Press the dough evenly into a circular 23cm tart dish (a 10 × 34cm rectangular dish can be used). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Line the pastry-lined tin with baking paper and spread a layer of uncooked rice evenly over it. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and rice, and bake for another 20 minutes, or until cooked on the base and golden brown around the edge. Set aside to cool completely.

blue blueberries :)

Custard Filling

To make the filling, put the milk in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil. Set aside while quickly whisking the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl, until light and creamy. Whisk in the flour. Pour the hot milk slowly onto the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Wash out the pan, return the milk mixture to the pan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring with a wire whisk. Boil for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the vanilla essence, and leave to cool, stirring frequently to avoid a skin forming. When cooled to room temperature, cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. 

Cut the strawberries in half across what would be their equators and slice the kiwi. Spoon the cold custard into the cold pastry shell, then arrange all the fruit over the custard, pressing in slightly. Heat the jam in the microwave or in a small saucepan until liquid and sieve to remove any lumps. Using a pastry brush, glaze the fruit with the jam. Serve the tart on the same day, at room temperature.

Summer Berry Tart

I stole some free time during the study break to indulge the urge to bake that’s been simmering a while now. In a break from the chocolate tradition, I chose this Summer Berry Tart, similar to the Fruit Tart I’ve made in the past, both from Jane Price’s 'Pastries and Breads'. Without the cooling kiwi slices, this taste was more mellow and laid-back.

Summer Berry Tart

Ingredients

Pastry

• 145g Cake Flour (125g all purpose/plain flour)
• 90g chilled, unsalted Butter, cubed
• 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons of iced Water

Filling

• 3 Egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Corn flour (corn starch)
• 250ml of Milk
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
• 250g of Strawberries, halved
• 125g of Blueberries
• 125g of Raspberries (couldn't find these yet, so I compensated with the other two)
• 1-2 tablespoons of baby apple gel or apricot jam

Just blueberries (:

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Lightly grease a 20cm round fluted tart tin.
To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl. Using your fingertips, run in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar. Make a well in the centre and add almost all the water. Mix with a flat-bladed knife, using a cutting action, until the mixture comes together in beads. Add more water is the dough is too dry.

Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to fit the base and side of the tin, line the tin with the pastry and trim away any excess. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Line the tin with baking paper and spread a layer of baking beads of uncooked rise evenly over the paper. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beads and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden.

To make the filling, put the egg yolks, sugar and corn flour into a bowl and whisk until pale. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until almost boiling, then remove from the heat and add gradually to the egg mixture, beating constantly. Strain back into the pan. Stir constantly over low heat for 3 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Transfer to a bow, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.

Spread the filling in the pastry shell and top with the berries. Heat the apple gel or apricot jam in a heatproof bowl in a saucepan of simmering water, or in the microwave until it liquefies. Brush over the fruit with a pastry brush. Allow to set before cutting and serving.

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Linzertorte

One last bit of baking from ‘Chocolate’ before university started.

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Linzertorte

Ingredients

• 230g of Hazelnuts
• 110g of Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• 100g Icing Sugar (sifted)
• 3 large Egg yolks
• 200g of Plain Flour
• ½ teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons of Grated Nutmeg
• 25g of Cocoa Powder

Raspberry Filling

• 1½ tablespoons of Corn Flour
• 5 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 600g of fresh Raspberries

Method

Toast the hazelnuts in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes or until light golden brown. If the nuts still have their skin, put them in a clean dry dish cloth and rub them together to loosen the skins. Grind the skinned nuts to a fine powder in a food processor.

Put the butter into a mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat until creamy. Add the icing sugar and beat, slowly at first, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa onto the mixture and work in using a wooden spoon. Finally add the ground nuts and work in, using your hands to bring the pastry together.

Take three quarters of the pastry and crumble it into the prepared tin. Using your fingers, press the pastry over the base and up the sides to cover the inside of the tin completely and form a layer about 1 cm thick. Chill for 15 minutes. Put the remaining pastry onto a well floured surface and roll out, slightly thinner, to a rectangle about 23 × 14 cm. Cut into strips about 1 cm wide.

Sprinkle the cornflour and sugar over the raspberries and toss gently until almost mixed. Transfer the filling into the pastry case and spread it gently and evenly.

Arrange the lattice strips over the filling, pressing any broken pastry back together. Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes, until the pastry darkens and is slightly firm. Let cool, remove from the pan and serve sprinkled with icing sugar.

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Gâteau forêt noire

Yes, this is only the humble Black Forest Cake. I refuse to partially translate to “Black Forest Gâteau”, as in Linda Collister’s book, and the full French just sounds so much better than Black Forest Cake... Before this, I had not eaten its kind before. The involvement of cherries, however, did make it a tempting prospect. According to Ms. Collister, her recipe is nothing like that used in commercial cakes, i.e. it’s the real thing. It also, unlike the commercial kind, does not contain flour.

Unfortunately, the cherries I used were sour, not sweet. I had no way of telling until it was time to use them, as the entirety of the bottle’s label was in German and I had no translator to hand. The end result was therefore not exactly the sweet cake I expected, but the contrast with the ultra sweetened cream made for an interesting taste.

Gâteau forêt noire

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge

• 9 Large Eggs (separated)
• 200g of Castor Sugar
• 90g of Cocoa Powder (sifted)

Cherry Filling

• 720g of Morello Cherries in (Kirsch) Syrup
• 425ml of Double of Whipping Cream
• 3 Tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• Milk Chocolate (grated, to decorate)

I LOVE grated chocolate. and cherries. and sweetened cream.

Method

Put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until very thick and mousse-like (when the whisk is lifted, it leaves a ribbon that falls slowly back). Sift the cocoa onto the mixture and fold gently in with a large spoon.

Put the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until stiff. Carefully fold into the yolk mixture in three batches. Divide the mixture between three greased and lined tins, then bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when gently pressed and have shrunk from the sides of the tins. Let them cool in the pans before turning them out onto a wire rack and removing the lining paper.

Mmm

Drain the cherries in a sieve and save the syrup; you will need about 7 tablespoons. When the cherries have been well drained, place them on kitchen paper. Reserve about twelve to decorate.

Set one of the cooled sponge on a serving plate, then sprinkle two tablespoons of syrup over the sponge.

My way to equally divide the batter. Notice the fine bubbles in the mixture.

Put the cream into a bowl and, using an electric whisk, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Sprinkle the sugar over the cream and whip until slightly thicker. Set aside half the cream to cover the cakes. Spread half of the remaining cream onto the bottom layer of sponge. Press half the cherries into the cream. Gently set the second sponge on top of the cherries and sprinkle with syrup as before. Spread the cream and press in the cherries as before. Top with the final sponge and sprinkle with the remaining syrup. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the cream, and then decorate with the reserved cherries and grated chocolate. Chill until ready to serve. Best eaten within 48 hours.

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Fruit Tart: Encore

My aunt is visiting us, and although I had promised to create something with apple, her favourite, mum overrode me, and commanded that I provide them with their new favourite treat: The Fruit Tart. The recipe is here.
Make no mistake, I was not unwilling :D And so I did.

As you can see, I went for a different, spiral arrangement of the fruit, reasoning that this would allow the most even distribution of each while still maintaining its aesthetics. I prefer it to the concentric fruit-circles of the first tart.

 
The jam glazing is a crafty idea and gorgeous to look at.

and that custard is quite something...

I get the feeling that this is not the last fruit tart I shall make.

Fruit Tart

I had not, in my memory, actually tasted fruit tart before my parents requested I attempt to make it for our guests At the risk of sounding biased, it was utterly mouth-wateringly delicious. Not only did I learn how to make the softest (if you know what I mean) custard from scratch, I also discovered the secret of getting the fruit atop the tart to glisten with such brilliance…
This recipe is taken from Jane Price’s ‘Kitchen Classics: Pastries and Breads’

For those who are metrically challenged, here's a helpful unit converter...

Fruit Tart

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry

• 150g of Flour
• 2 tablespoons of Castor Sugar
• 90g of Unsalted Butter (chopped)
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 tablespoon of Iced Water

Custard Filling

• 250ml of Milk
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 55g Castor Sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Flour
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
• Strawberries, Kiwi and Blueberries, to decorate
• Apricot jam, to glaze

Yep, to glaze.

Method

Shortcrust Pastry

Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and iced water. Mix to a dough with a flat bladed knife and a cutting action, and then gather it together in a ball. Press the dough evenly into a circular 23cm tart dish (a 10 × 34cm rectangular dish can be used). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Line the pastry-lined tin with baking paper and spread a layer of uncooked rice evenly over it. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and rice, and bake for another 20 minutes, or until cooked on the base and golden brown around the edge. Set aside to cool completely.

Custard Filling

To make the filling, put the milk in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil. Set aside while quickly whisking the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl, until light and creamy. Whisk in the flour. Pour the hot milk slowly onto the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Wash out the pan, return the milk mixture to the pan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring with a wire whisk. Boil for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the vanilla essence, and leave to cool, stirring frequently to avoid a skin forming. When cooled to room temperature, cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
Cut the strawberries in half across what would be their equators and slice the kiwi. Spoon the cold custard into the cold pastry shell, then arrange all the fruit over the custard, pressing in slightly. Heat the jam in the microwave or in a small saucepan until liquid and sieve to remove any lumps. Using a pastry brush, glaze the fruit with the jam. Serve the tart on the same day, at room temperature.

See more pictures on facebook.