Results - Passionfruit Tart

I've had a terrible day, not the worst in my life, but definitely in the top ten. It kicked off with mega awful traffic, something that I've sadly become accustomed to, it just means theres more time for Daz and I to talk rubbish and perv at passers by.....my fav was when we spotted a short skirted very high heeled gorgeous babe who suddenly tripped over her heels and came very close to falling over. Sorry, I'll get back on track.

I took the day off today to take care of a few things for my mum, I decided that I desperately needed a coffee. But with no cash in my wallet I needed to go to the ATM. So in the pouring rain I found the ATM, or where the ATM once existed. You see it seems that the ATM had caught fired....either through foul play or spontaneous combustion and was not in any kind of working order. So my morning coffee ended up costing me an extra $2!! Stupid ATM fees. I decided to buy a berry/coconut muffin to perk my spirits and the muffin had almost no coconut in it!! More of an annoyance rather than bad luck. Then my car battery decided it had enough and died. I was stranded....the clincher is that we had recently bought a new battery and it was sitting at home in our garage. So what is a girl to do?, there was no one around to offer a jump start, I don't want to call the RACV for two reason really, I'm not a member and I had a perfectly working battery sitting in my garage. So I caught a taxi, retrieved the battery and changed it. Did I mention that it was pouring rain??

So back on track to do my errands. By this stage I was in a cranky mood and when I was faced with an arrogant sales assistant, I think I kinda cracked. He pretty much only spoke in grunts and was the most unhelpful person I have ever met. So I shoved his paper work back and told him I wasn't interested. I got back in my car and bango, one of my windscreen wiper blades decided to join the battery and ATM, all gone to hopefully better places.

I had a gladwrap accident where the gladwrap stuck to the top of the tart, hence the big gaping hole. Otherwise it was a very good looking tart...hehehe

So at the end of the day, I'm slightly damp, I have grease under my fingernails, cranky and lucky that I haven't been in a car accident due to limited visibility. So of course the perfect thing would be something to sweeten my day. What better way than with a sweet little tart. The tart turned out perfectly, well as perfectly as Neil Perry intended. I made it exactly as the recipe stated, and the result was a very soft wobbly custard, creamy with a perfect crumbly pastry. The passionfruit really came through and to my surprise the overnight resting did wonders!! The sugar in the mix slowly cooks the egg, so when you pour it into the tart shell it is almost custard like in texture.

I have two issues with this tart, firstly the custard was way too sweet for my liking. I'm not a massive fan of overly sugary desserts, so I would curb the quantity of sugar. Secondly, the recipe makes no mention as to what temperature the custard should be before it goes into the tart shell. Is it supposed to be straight out of the fridge? at room temperature? or what? So my cooking time was well off. I ended up cooking it for double the recommended time, and I had taken the custard out of the fridge an hour earlier. It wasn't quite fridge cold, but it was still relatively cool. In future, I will actually warm the mixture up over a double boiler so the cooking time will be quite short. I'm already planing to make a mango tart......just waiting for the mangoes to catch up with my craving.

Passionfruit Tart

Restaurant: Rockpool (NSW)

Recipe from Neil Perry (Originaly seen in Rockpool by Neil Perry)

2011 Rating: Number 2, 3 Stars

Sometimes a girl just feels like a tart. A little while ago I stumbled across a recipe for Passionfruit Tart by Neil Perry in my local paper, originally seen in Neil Perry's book - Rockpool. I thought I would give it a go, the fact that the filling needs to be made 24 hours in advance intrigued me. I noticed that the recipe that appeared in the paper didnt include the recipe for the shortcrust pastry, so I turned to the internet, hoping that I would stumble across the very Neil Perry recipe I was looking for. Luckily I found it at epicurious, and then quickly discovered that the recipe for the actual Passionfruit tart is all over the net. So here is my contributions to spreading it some more.

Will I still feel like a tart? Will the filling be eaten before it can be baked into a tart? Photos and results to follow soon!

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (found at epicurious)

INGREDIENTS

250 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour

75 g (2 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed

a pinch of sea salt

90 g (1 cup ) confectioner's sugar, sifted

55 ml (1/4 cup) milk

2 egg yolks

METHOD

Place the flour, butter, salt, and confectioner's sugar in a food processor and process for 20 seconds. Add the milk and egg yolks and process for a further 30 seconds until a mass forms.

Turn out to a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for a few moments. Flatten and form a disk. Wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin according to the recipe. Refrigerate until needed.

Passionfruit tart

Serves 8

Ingredients

9 x 55g eggs

350g castor sugar

300ml double cream (45 per cent butterfat)

350ml passionfruit juice, strained

plain flour for rolling

500g sweet shortcrust pastry

a little egg wash for glazing

icing sugar for serving

Method

Put the passionfruit mix together the day before you wish to bake the tart (resting it in the refrigerator helps avoid splitting).

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk.

Add the sugar and continue to whisk until well incorporated.

While stirring gently, pour in the cream. Add the passionfruit juice and continue to stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Spray a 26cm tart tin with Pure and Simple.

Lightly flour a bench and roll out the pastry until it is 2 cm wider than the tart case.

Roll the pastry over your rolling pin and gently ease into the tart case , pushing the sides in gently so that it takes the fluting. Rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350F).

Line the tart case with foil, place rice in the foil and bake blind for 20 minutes.

Remove the rice and foil, brush the tart shell with egg wash and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 140°C (290F). Return the tart case to the oven.

With the case sitting in the oven, carefully pour in the passionfruit custard.

Fill the tart right to the top with a cup or small dariole mould. Bake for 40 minutes.

Check the tart, it should be halfway set but still quite wobbly in the middle. If you take it out too soon it will not set and run when you cut it; if you leave it in too long it will set too firmly ad lose its elegance. Through experience you'll find the optimum set for the tart in your oven.

Remove the tart from the oven, balance on a cup and remove the sides. Put on a cake rack and, with a palette knife, slide the base off the tart tin.

This will allow the tart to cool and the pastry to crisp up rather than sweat.

Invert the pastry ring back onto the tart to help hold the sides in as it cools and sets. Allow to cool for 1 hour.

Carefully cut with a serrated knife and place in the middle of large white plates.

Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Results - Fig and Raspberry Crostata

Fig and Raspberry Crostata

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Crostata's are a traditional Italian tart usually made with jam filling and folded over edges, in this recipe Rockpool has put a nice summery twist to it. I both love and hate this recipe, it was really easy to make and was very tasty, but it didn't turn out exactly as planned, mine ended up fold-less. But, that's half of the fun of cooking, you try something and it might not turn out exactly as you planned. My theory is, if it tastes good, regardless of what it looks like - its a success!

Figs in situ

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One of the things that I really like about figs is the colourful filling of the little fruit. From the outside they look quite ordinary, with their pale green flesh, but once you peal that outer packing away it reveals a creamy white flesh pack full of pink seeds. Every bite is heaven, and I can't help but be taken back to my childhood every time I bite into a fresh fig. I particularly like hot figs that have been warmed by the summer sun, the juiciness of fig is increased and it almost tastes like fresh fig jam, but not quite as sweet. I guess its a perk of having a a fig tree in your very own backyard.

Chopped up figs, ready to go onto the pastry/frangipane base

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So, back to the Crostata. There is nothing really to report on the actual making of the tart, it was extremely easy, almost no skill required at all....or so I thought. I assembled the crostata exactly as explained in the recipe. I even went to the point of pulling out a ruler and measuring the size of the pastry, just to make sure it measured up. I really, really wanted it to be perfect. And before it went into the oven, it really did look perfect. 

Perfectly looking Crostata...right?

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Somehow, during the cooking process my crostata went from this, to this.....FIG PIZZA!!

Ta da....Fig Pizza!

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To say I was heart broken is an understatement. The smell emanating from the oven while it was cooking would have knocked out Martha Stewart herself. I was salivating way before the pastry even starting cooking, it really smelt delicious. When I opened the oven to sprinkle the raspberries ontop, I saw that the pastry had unravelled itself. In the end when I pulled the Crostata out, cut it up and served it with some creme fraiche, I didn't care that the sides were not folded over...it had no impact on the taste and consistency of the tart at all. The pastry was crumbly, the frangipane was smooth creamy and gooey, the figs had almost caramelized and taken on a whole new flavour which went well with the tartness of the warmed raspberries. The combination of all the flavours were very well thought out, the only set back to the dessert was my presentation.

Maybe I didn't fold the top over enough, maybe I needed to leave a longer piece of pastry to fold over, maybe I didn't pleat the pastry firmly enough, maybe my oven was too hot when I first put the crostata in. I really don't know what happened. If anyone has any idea I would be truly grateful. But I do know one thing, this recipe is way too good to not try again. All I need are some figs. Here figgy fig fig. 

Seconds always taste better than the original, especially when you add icing sugar

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Fig and Raspberry Crostata

Restaurant: Rockpool (NSW)

Recipe from Chef Catherine Adams  (appears on Gourmet Traveller website)

2009 Rating: 3rd, 3 Stars

Before we went away to Queensland my mum had HEAPS of ripe juicy figs on her tree. When I was a kid I didn't quite understand the joy's of eating a perfectly sun ripened fig, now in my older age I can certainly appreciate it. So I collected a real bounty of the little parcels of softness, once I got them home I realised I needed to do something with them...and quick. And then I saw this recipe, and boy was I excited! So, following tradition, here is the recipe and of course...the results are to come.

Serves 8 

Cooking Time Prep time 20 mins, cook 50 mins (plus chilling) 

INGREDIENTS

10 figs, halved or quartered, depending on size

1 tbsp vanilla sugar (see note)

120 gm raspberries (about 1 punnet), plus extra to serve

To serve: crème fraîche

Sweet pastry

200 gm flour

150 gm cold butter, coarsely chopped

100 gm caster sugar

40 gm egg (about ¾ egg), lightly whisked

Frangipane

50 gm butter

50 gm pure icing sugar

50 gm almond meal

1 tsp plain flour

1 egg, lightly whisked

20 ml dark rum

 

METHOD

1. For sweet pastry, place flour and butter in the bowl of a food processor and freeze until well chilled (30-35 minutes). Meanwhile, combine sugar, egg and 1 tsp salt in a bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until required. Process flour and butter in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Gradually add chilled egg mixture, pulsing to combine. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface, bring pastry together with the heel of your hand, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (1½-2 hours). Roll pastry out between 2 sheets of baking paper to a 30cm-diameter circle and place on a baking paper-lined oven tray. Refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 170C. For frangipane, beat butter in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Combine icing sugar, almond meal and flour in a separate bowl and, with motor running, gradually add to butter until completely combined. Add egg, beating well to combine, then slowly beat in dark rum.

3. Spread frangipane over prepared pastry, leaving a 3cm border. Lay figs on top, cut-side up, fold in pastry border, pleating as you go, then scatter with vanilla sugar. Bake until light golden (25-30 minutes). Reduce oven to 160C, scatter with raspberries and bake until golden (15-20 minutes). Serve with extra raspberries and crème fraîche.

Note Vanilla sugar is available in the baking section of most supermarkets.