My Sister-In-Law has started a new family tradition of having a BBQ to mark the day, so I needed to make a very special dessert for this very special occasion.
I'll be honest, I think I'm quite a good cook... desserts however are my weak spot. My favourite summer dessert has always been a fruit tart, piled high with fresh fruit sitting on a creamy sweet pillow of creme patissiere. I've always been too scared to make it. In fact I've always been too scared to make pastry or any kind of custard.
I'm not sure why I came up with the idea of making what I thought would be such a high stress dessert, for such a special occasion, but I think it was my way of showing that I care. Fortunately it turned out to be pretty easy and (even if I do say so myself) it was the best fruit tart I have ever eaten, even when served a day later following a 3 hour car journey. I just wish I'd made two so I could have had more.
I pinched the recipe from www.joyofbaking.com, but I've made some changes because I'm lazy. They also have a video you can watch, but I prefer reading instructions. I like the way they've split the recipe into different parts, so I'm going to stick to that as it's really helpful.
Sweet Pastry (can be made the day before)
200g plain flour
pinch of salt
50g sugar (caster or granulated)
110g unsalted butter (softened)
1 egg
1. Whizz butter and sugar with together until fluffy (if better equipped than I am use a electric mixer, I used a handheld whisk).
2. Beat in the egg until it is just incorperated.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix until it forms a bowl - don't be tempted to over mix!
4. Flour a surface, roll it into a ball and then squish it into a disk. At this point mine was a bit cracked in places but this didn't matter.
5. Cover with cling film and pop into the fridge for 30 mins.
6. Butter and flour a tart tin. The recipe recommends 20-23cm. I used a 25cm tin and it worked just fine.
7. Use your fingers to push the pastry into the tin and up the edges nice and evenly. (I imagine that you could roll it out, but this was so simple).
8. Cover with cling film again and pop into the fridge for another 30 mins. You can use this time to heat the oven to 200 degrees C.
9. Remove cling film and prick the bottom of the case with a fork lots of times.
10. Bake tart crust for 5 mins at 200 degrees C and then a further 10-15 mins at 180 degrees C until golden brown. You don't need to use baking beans or anything like that.
11. Cool completely before filling
Creme Patissiere (can be made 2-3 days before)
300ml semi-skimmed milk
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
50g granulated or caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
3 large egg yolks
20g plain flour
20g corn flour
1. In a heatproof bowl mix the sugar and egg yolks.
2. Add plain flour and corn flour to mixture until you get a smooth paste.
3. Heat milk and vanilla pod until they just start to foam & remove from heat. Add this slowly to the egg, sugar and flour paste while stirring constantly (best done with a glamorous assistant). It will thicken up quickly so keep whisking, but shouldn't curdle.
4. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out seeds into mix or add vanilla extract.
5. Pour the whole thing back into the saucepan and cook until boiling mixing constantly. Keep mixing and cooking for a further minute. It will get quite thick.
6. Store in a clean bowl covered with cling film to stop a skin forming. Cool to use, this can be stored in a fridge for a few days.
Fruit Tart
1 x tart crust as above
1 x quantity of creme patissiere as above
All the fruits you fancy (If you're making this for my Dad remember, no Kiwis!)
Apricot jam
1. Melt apricot jam in a pan.
2. Glaze inside of tart crust with apricot jam to avoid a soggy bottom.
3. Pile in creme patissiere.
4. Slice fruit how you want it and arrange artfully on top.
5. Glaze with more apricot jam (do this very quickly if any of the fruit is likely to discolour).
6. Allow glaze to set.
7. Share the yummy tart with lots of loved ones (or eat it all yourself!).
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