Nic and Ricco: Tropical fruit and custard tarts
Tropical fruit and custard tarts
- Preparation time: 1 hour 30 mins
-
Cooking time:
40 mins
Serves: 12
Ingredients
Chocolate mint leaves, to decorate
Pastry
150g plain flour
55g caster sugar
60g chilled butter, chopped
2 egg yolks
2 tsp iced water, approximately
Custard (pastry cream)
580ml milk
300ml thickened cream
2 tsp vanilla essence
110g caster sugar
75g cornflour
60g custard powder
2 egg yolks
30g butter
Passion fruit sauce
1 tsp powdered gelatine
1 tbs boiling water
Pulp of 2 passion fruit, strained to remove seeds
Glaze
1 tbs caster sugar
1 tsp powdered gelatine
1 tbs boiling water
Fruit
12 strawberries, hulled, sliced
12 raspberries
1 mango, sliced thinly
3 kiwifruit, peeled, sliced thinly
1 punnet blueberries
Method
1. To make pastry, process flour, sugar and butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. Add egg yolks and enough water until ingredients come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently. Cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease twelve 8cm round flan tins with removable bases.
4. Roll pastry between two sheets of baking paper until 2mm thick. Cut out twelve 10cm rounds from pastry. Line prepared tins with pastry rounds. Trim edges and prick bases. Line with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice.
5. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove baking beads and cook for further 10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool. Remove tart shells from tins. Brush insides with melted chocolate.
6. To make the custard, heat milk, cream and vanilla in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat, without boiling, until hot. Remove from heat.
7. Whisk sugar, cornflour, custard powder, egg yolks and 60ml of the milk mixture in a medium bowl to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in remaining milk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until it thickens. Stir in butter. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cold.
8. To make passion fruit sauce, stir gelatine into the water until dissolved. Stir into passion fruit pulp. Refrigerate until required.9. To make the glaze, stir sugar and gelatine into the water until dissolved.
10. To assemble, spoon or pipe custard into tart shells. Top with fruit. Brush with glaze. Decorate with chocolate mint leaves. Serve with sauce.
Tips:
- To make chocolate leaves, brush one side of a washed, dried, organic leaf (such as bay, mint or rose) with melted chocolate. Place leaf, chocolate-side up, on a baking paper lined tray, to dry. Brush a second time with chocolate and allow to dry. Peel away leaf.- For a quick glaze alternative, try using strained, warmed apricot jam.
- Tart cases can be made a day in advance. Store in an airtight container.
Note:This recipe has not been tested
