September Tart
Recipe and Photography by Lindsay’s Feast
The perfect tart for a September pudding. Seasonal fruits are the star of the show. Here, we’ve opted for figs, blackberries and blueberries.
Ingredients
For the pastry
200g plain flour
A pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter
40g icing sugar
1 medium egg yolk
2 tbsp ice-cold water
2tsp lemon juice
For the Crème Patissiere
480ml whole milk
100g sugar
1 vanilla bean pod (these are expensive so you could also use vanilla bean paste)
5 large eggs
3 tbsp cornflour or plain flour
1 tbsp unsalted butter
For the Topping
approx. 400g of fresh seasonal fruit such as figs, blackberries and blueberries.
Instructions
To make the pastry, put the flour, salt and butter into a large bowl and using your hands, rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and mix well. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and add the egg yolk, ice-cold water and lemon juice. Mix together using a palette knife until the pastry starts to clump together.
Use your hands to gather it together and knead very gently for about 10 seconds until smooth. Shape into a disc, wrap in clingfilm or beeswax paper and chill for at least 2 hours, but I like to leave it overnight.
When you’re ready to bake your tart shell, remove the dough from the fridge and let it come to room temperature so that it’s easier to work with. Flour a surface and rolling pin and roll the dough into a circle so that it’s big enough to line a 23cm-25cm tart case. Make sure you turn the dough as you roll so that it doesn’t stick to the surface. Use the rolling pin to lay the dough over the tart case and then carefully push it into the corners using your fingers. Make sure you push the dough into all the grooves.
Chill the tart shell for 30 minutes, meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C. line the tart shell with foil, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking beans and foil and continue to bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the shell is golden. Keep an eye on it as it can brown quite quickly.
To make the crème patissiere, Put the sugar and egg yolks into a large bowl and whisk until thick and pale. Put the milk in a medium sauce pan. Split the vanilla pod and add the seeds and whole pod to the pan. Heat over a medium heat until the milk is just about to boil.
Remove the vanilla pod from the warmed milk and slowly pour a tiny bit of milk over the egg and sugar mixture, whisking all the time. Gradually, add the rest of the milk in a slow and steady stream, continuing to whisk.
Put the mixture into a large clean sauce pan, and heat gently, whisking all the time. The mixture should slowly start to thicken. Once it lets out one bubble, remove it from the heat continuing to whisk it. Be careful not to overcook it as it can easily curdle.
Pour the mixture in a bowl and whisk in the butter. Put clingfilm directly on the surface of the crème pâtissiere to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for about 2 hours until set.
When you’re ready to assemble your tart, spoon the crème patissiere into the baked tart shell, levelling with a palette knife. You could pipe this in if you find that easier.
Tumble the fruit over the top and serve straight away.
