plain flour

Recette facile.  Superbe avec les poires, mais egalement les abricots, pruneaux, cerises, pommes, ou les framboises.

• 1 quantité de pate sucrée / sweet pastry
• Fruits, par exemple 4-5 poires, 3-4 pommes.  Pour les poires et les pommes, les éplucher, couper en deux, saupoudrer de sucre et carameliser à la poêle avec une noix de beurre pendant 10 minutes.
• Fruits ie 4-5 small pears, 3-4 apples, raspberries, prunes, apricots, whatever’s available.  If using apples/ pears, peel, cut in half, roll in sugar and caramelise in a frying pan with a knob of butter.
• Moule tarte 25cm / 25 cm tart tin
• ‘Frangipane’ facile/ Easy frangipane -

1. 2 x oeufs / eggs
2. 100g beurre / butter
3. 175g sucre / sugar
4. 40g farine/ flour
5. 180g amandes en poudre / ground almonds
6. 90ml de creme fraiche ou de creme liquide / creme fraiche or pouring cream
7. 2 cuil. à soupe d’Amaretto/ 2 tbsp amaretto
8. 1 c.à café de cannelle (facultatif) / 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
9. zeste d’un citron rapé (facultatif) / grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)

• Cuisson à blanc de la pate sucrée / Bake the pastry blind.
• Melangez les oeufs, le beurre et le sucre avec un batteur electrique pendant 2 minutes.  Rajoutez tous les autres ingredients et melangez pendant 3 minutes.  Etalez sur la pâte frangipane au fond et posez les fruits dessus en appuyant legerement.
• Beat together the eggs, butter and sugar for 2 minutes with an electric mixer.  Add all the other ingredients and mix for 3 minutes.  Spread over the base and place the fruits on top, pressing lightly.
• Mettez dans un four prechauffé à 170℃ pendant 30-40 minutes.  Bake in a preheated oven at 170℃ for 30-40 minutes.

Sweet shortcrust pastry is the delicious base to any fruit tart you can imagine. Whether pears are in season, or plums – they’ll all taste delicious baked as a tart with this shortcrust pastry underneath.

Makes 500g (enough for 2 good-sized tarts)

1. 250g plain flour
2. 50g icing sugar
3. 125g butter
4. 1 lemon
5. 1 egg, beaten

Put the flour in a large bowl and cut off chunks of butter straight into the bowl.

Rub the butter into the flour with the tips of your fingers until you have a mixture which looks like breadcrumbs and has no large chunks of butter.

Grate in half of the zest of a lemon.

Sieve in the icing sugar.

Add the beaten egg

Bring the mixture together by needing, taking care not to over-work the pastry.

Add very small amounts of cold water as needed to make a good ball of pastry.

Pat into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

Your pastry is ready to be used straight from the fridge.