One thing I have wanted to do this year, is challenge myself a little more in the kitchen and more importantly, I wanted to start to get a few good recipes under my belt that I could really fine tune and keep as a staple. I already make a pretty good Thai red curry soup, and so I wanted to expand my range a little further and try something new. My latest trial being dessert!I have become a little obsessed with these beautiful fruit tarts that are sold at a bakery in Liverpool- Gran Caffe. They are these small and indulgent treats, that are borderline addictive. So I wanted to try making one for myself. I’ve never really been one for pastry making, I much prefer a cake. But to be able to make a gorgeous fruit tart at the drop of a hat… amazing! (And slightly dangerous).
This is my first attempt at the fruit tart, and I followed a recipe from the website – Not Quite Nigella. This was actually a lot simpler than I expected, which is just what I want for a recipe, simple to execute, but with a great taste at the end. The two main elements of the fruit tart can be prepared the day before if needed, but I actually did it all the same day, and it was fine. As the pastry needs time in the fridge/ freezer, and the custard needs time to cool down, you get to have a little break in between the stages of putting this together.
As mentioned, I am much more comfortable baking cakes than working with pastry, so that was the part I was a little nervous about. However, despite rolling it a little too thick, overall the pastry turned out great. It had a lovely sweet taste to it and it was a solid base for the custard.
For me, when I purchase the fruit tart in the cafe, my favourite part is the delicious custard filling. I’ve never been a huge fan of custard desserts really, but the fruit tart seems to be the exception to this.
The secret to this amazing custard seems to be adding vanilla, who knew! Again, I wasn’t actually expecting such an easy recipe for the custard element either. A lot of egg yolks! But other than that, it’s quite simple. I definitely feel as though I’d much prefer to make my own custard going forward. It required caster sugar, egg yolks, as well as thickened cream and milk, and of course vanilla.
I will say, my custard was a little thin for being in a tart, but it was really delicious. So I have a few things I’d like to improve on with the next attempt, but I’m quite happy with this first go.
Overall, I’m really happy with how this first attempt turned out. It’s a nice reminder that you can challenge yourself in the kitchen a little more. In doing so, you might just discover a new favourite recipe to create!
