Mandarin and cherry tart with cinnamon
and vanilla custard
These are easy to bake and the rustic
look is perfect for those who are a little nervous when it comes to baking
tarts. The more rustic it looks, the better!
The flavour combinations custard – makes
1L
·
500ml (2 cups) fresh cream
·
500ml (2 cups) milk
·
4 egg yolks
·
100g (½ cup) brown sugar
·
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod
·
7,5ml (1½ tsp) ground cinnamon
Mandarin
and cherry tart with cinnamon and vanilla custard
Tart
·
300g (2½ cups) cake flour
·
50g (¼ cup) castor sugar
·
2,5ml (½ tsp) fine salt
·
170g butter, cold and cubed
·
45ml (3 tbsp) buttermilk
·
80ml (1/3 cup) ice water
·
330g (1 cup) cherry jam
·
4 mandarins, peeled and sliced into rounds
·
1 x 425g tin pitted cherries, drained
·
15ml (1 tbsp) milk
·
30ml (2 tbsp) sugar
·
Fresh mint, to garnish
How to do it
1. For the custard, heat the cream and milk until warm to the touch. Remove
from heat before it starts to boil.
2. Whisk the yolks, brown sugar, vanilla seeds and cinnamon in a mixing
bowl. Slowly add the warm cream mixture and whisk to combine. Transfer the
mixture back to the pot. Stir over very low heat until the custard thickens and
you can no longer taste raw egg, 10 –15 minutes. Remove from heat and cover the
surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
3. For the tart, combine the flour, castor sugar and salt in a mixing
bowl. Add the cubed butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the
flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and
water, and use your hands to bring the dough together. Form the dough into a ball,
cover it with plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge, about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
5. When the pastry has rested, divide it into 2 balls and lightly roll each
one out on a floured work surface to 0,5cm thick. Two smaller tarts are easier to
handle but you could also bake one large tart.
6. Transfer the pastry sheets to the lined baking trays and return to
the fridge, 10 minutes.
7. Spread the jam onto the pastry, leaving a 3 – 4cm border all the way
around.
8. Arrange the mandarins over the jam and scatter cherries on top.
Loosely fold the border of the pastry over the fruit and pinch any holes together
to prevent liquid from escaping. Brush the border with milk and scatter sugar on
top.
9. Bake until golden, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before
serving. Garnish the tart with mint and serve with the cinnamon custard.
