It seems that while I’ve been consumed by packing boxes and suitcases the world has gone a little bit mad. Liz Taylor is dead; the West is enacting an assault on Libya; and Japan is bravely recovering from a catastrophic earthquake. It certainly makes one pause.
But my week hasn’t been doom and gloom—on the contrary, I got my ass down to London with as few clothes as possible and availed myself of my parents’ hospitality. The sun is shinning; the boy is loving his new job; and I got to meet my new colleagues. On Monday I return to the usual working day, and since I doubt I’ll be rising at 5am just to make pastry, I thought I’d take advantage of my final days of freedom for a long run and some late morning pastry action.
Making pastry
The joy of pastry-making for me lies in the butter; smooth, creamy and, in the quantities I use, ever so naughty. It’s very therapeutic creaming the flour, sugar and butter with your fingertips. But perhaps not for the impatient type—making pastry does take time.
Cubed: 225g butter
Different cooks used different cheats to ensure their pastry is well-textured. Tamsin Day-Lewis uses cream, or sometimes a tablespoon or two of iced water. I’ve enjoyed success with flakes of frozen butter to ensure the mixture doesn’t become too soft. Today, I was being guided by an Angela Hartnett recipe so opted for an egg and three tablespoons of iced water.
Gently mix
Too much mixing and you can overwork the dough; Hartnett cautions against this by instructing gentle mixing and kneading. If the dough feels a little wet add some flour; knead it, and wrap in cling film. The dough should chill for at least and hour – soft dough just makes hard work when it comes to rolling out.
Chilled
It’s at this point I made my big mistake. Hartnett makes no mention of blind baking the pastry, but I was convinced this was essential to my tart. Little did I know the pastry walls would collapse, leaving a smaller area for my almond and sugar mix to fill. Onwards and upwards, I say. Using the leftover pasty scraps, I pasted the cracks, and ploughed on.
More butter, more sugar
Another 200g of butter to cream with the sugar. Conversely, this stage does not benefit from overly chilled butter, it’s much harder to cream. Two eggs, and 200g of ground almonds follow. The final paste is thick, creamy and extremely tasty.
Mix: egg, butter, sugar and almonds
The end stage is assembly. Originally, I had wanted to make a plum or apricot frangipane, but neither are in season; the shops are flooded with crazy deals on berries at the moment, and the weather is behaving much like summer, so summer fruits replaced autumnal ones. I filled the tart case with frangipane and covered with assorted berries.
Berried
As always timings depend on oven and tart size. Bake for 30-40 minutes (15-25 minutes for the tartlets), or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown and the fruit looks tender. Allow to cool, drizzle with cream and enjoy.
Baked and ready to eat
Recipe, adapted from the BBC
Ingredients
For the pastry
375g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
15g sugar
225g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 free-range egg
4 tbsp ice-cold water
For the frangipane
200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
200g ground almonds
4 tbsp ice-cold water
For the tart topping
2-3 punnets of berries of your choice
To serve
whipped cream or crème fraîche
Method
For the pastry, sieve the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Tip the cubed butter into the bowl. Rub the butter and the flour between your thumb and fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. In a jug or small bowl, beat the egg together with four tablespoons of ice-cold water. Pour into the flour mixture.
Slowly bring the ingredients together with your hands to form a dough, being careful not to overwork it. Knead the dough lightly on a clean, floured work surface, then wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour. (You can also freeze pastry for up to a month.)
For the frangipane, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Crack the eggs into the bowl one at a time, beating well to incorporate. Add the ground almonds and mix well until
combined.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Dust your work surface with flour and roll the chilled dough out thinly. Use it to line one large 10in tart ring or 6-8 individual tartlet rings. Use a knife to carefully trim off the excess pastry.
Spoon the frangipane into the tart case so that it comes about halfway up the sides. Smooth over the surface with a spatula and cover with berries. Bake for 30-40 minutes (15-25 minutes for the tartlets). Remove and leave to cool. Serve with cream or whatever your preference.
What a perfect tart. Your photos of the assembly are really wonderful. I am new to your blog and have enjoyed browsing through your earlier entries. You feature beautiful food and wonderful recipes here. I’ll definitely be back. I hope you have a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
Love the before and after pictures of how the berries fall in. This looks delicious- one of my favorite combos!
Wow, well it looks like it turned out famously when all was said and done. Definitely a way to a brighter day :D Sounds wonderful and I just love your photos.
Looks delicious! Aren’t frangipane tarts just the best? They’ll take whatever fruit you throw at them, I’m planning a rhubarb one for easter. I love how berry-y your tart is, often almond-berry tarts are too stingy on the berries, yours is bursting with them.
And isn’t the weather just glorious at the moment? Hopefully it’ll stay this warm!
Oh my! I think I would just eat that up with a spoon! Yum! Thanks for stopping by my blog! Let me know if you end up trying the Jelly Bean Cookies – they are SO easy!! ♥- Katrina
Although I find myself rushing around this week…I certainly didn’t want to miss out on coming for a quick visit and to show my appreciation for your latest comment on my culinary journey.
My browsing around your place has convinced me on many more visits indeed. Beautiful place for dedicated foodies ;o)
Ciao for now,
Claudia
This looks lovely. I have been meaning to make a frangipane for so long. We’re still very cold right now so I’ll have to wait a few months to try this, but am looking forward to it!
Beautiful photography. Hmm, for some reason I have an inexplicable desire to now go out and eat a stick of butter…
I think you definitely made great use of your last few days of freedom – a long run and this gorgeous pastry? Sounds like something that I would do. Although I’m not very good at pastry…think I need to practice by recreating this fabulous fragipane that you’ve prepared!
That looks tart looks absolutely fabulous. I also enjoyed your musing on party making…. I still find the process of making tart crust to be a magical mystery!
-E
ohhh beautiful shots of the berries! the good thing about making your own pastry is that u know how much butter you put in there (so you’d try to not over indulge!)
im hungry for a slice right now :)
beautiful blog you have here :)
You got up at 5 am. to make that??? Oh man…that’s amazing!!! And it looks wonderful!!!! Looking at the picture makes my mouth water!
That looks absolutely amazing. I love the colors!!
This is so lovely. And so beautifully photographed. ♥