Claire’s Recipe
Claire is a FoodCycle Cambridge volunteer.
Spring is in the air and looking at the apples and figs sitting in my fruit bowl, I came up with this recipe. It is for me a nice way to celebrate fruits which will come to their peak between now and the end of Summer/early Autumn.
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry:
- 250g plain flour
- 100g cold unsalted butter diced
- 25g caster sugar
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of very cold tap water
Toffee sauce:
- 50g light muscovado sugar
- 40 ml single cream
- 10 g salted butter or unsalted butter and add 1/2tsp of flaked salt
Caramelised fruits:
- 20gr butter
- 30gr light muscovado sugar
- 3 apples (Braeburn or Cox apples)
- 4 fresh Figs
- Ground cinnamon
You will need a 9inch tart tin
Method
Step 1: Prepare the shortcrust pastry
This step can also be done in advance. You can freeze the dough until you need it. Ensure it is thawed before using it.
Option a = using your hands
In a mixing bowl pour the flour with the cold butter diced and the caster sugar.
Rub the butter into the flour/sugar mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. The idea is to coat all the pieces of hard butter in flour by lifting the mixture out of the bowl as you rub in the fat to get as much as air into the pastry as possible.
Add your egg lightly beaten with 1 tbsp of cold water and with your hand stir together until the dough comes together and the side of the bowl is clean.
Option b = using a food processor
Add altogether the flour, the sugar and the diced butter. Blitz with the pulse button until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the egg/cold water and run the processor until the mixture starts to come together and is beginning to form a ball.
Remove the dough from the food processor and finish gathering it with your hand.
For both options, roll your dough on a floured worktop and place it in a tart tin.
Chill the pastry in the tin for at least 1hr.
Turn your oven to 190C
Once chilled blind baked the pastry by placing a baking sheet on top covered with some dried beans.
Blind bake for 15 mins. Remove from the oven and let it cool while you are preparing the caramelised fruits and the toffee sauce.
Step 2: Caramelised your fruits
Here I used apples and fresh figs; but you can also use apples only.
Wash your fruits.
Cut the apples in eighth and remove the core
Cut the Figues in quarter
In a frying pan, heat the butter with the sugar and add your fruits.
Turn down the heat and caramelise the fruits for 5 minutes by turning them carefully halfway through. Make sure the fruits do not become mushy.
Remove from the heat and let it cool
Step 3: Toffee sauce
Put together the cream, the butter and the sugar in a saucepan on medium heat.
Melt together, bubbled and stirring until toffee-coloured and saucy. Add the flaked salt if you have used unsalted butter.
Step 4: Assemble your tart
Turn the oven at 190C
Brush some toffee sauce in the bottom and sides of your blind-baked pastry.
Lay your caramelised fruits and pour over the rest of the Toffee sauce.
Sprinkle some ground cinnamon
Cook for 10/15 minutes until the toffee sauce is bubbling.
Serve warm with ice cream or Yoghurt.
