An Unexpected… Pudding

It was a nice sunny day in the summer holidays. We had said our good-byes a few days before to our child from Belarus that had been staying with us for a few weeks healthy respite. So it was just Us and our Kids. Time to chill out and relax.

Blackberry Frangipane

Our Kids had been eager to get their bikes out and have a ride around the local park. And that’s exactly what we did!

Off we set along with a bag of stale bread to throw to the ducks.

Our Kids had a good ride, plenty of exercise and fresh air on their bikes and the ducks were well stuffed.

On the way back home we decided to do a bit of foraging. On the way into the heart of the park we had noticed a patch of brambles with a few Blackberries peeking out that maybe warranted further investigation. And I am glad we did. After 30 minutes of scrambling about in the bushes and us shouting the kids “Don’t pick the ones near the ground… a dog may have peed on them!”, we returned home with just short of a kilo of plump, juicy blackberries.

 

Blackberries

Blackberry crumble seemed like a good idea but then I remembered I had a bit of leftover shortcrust pastry in the fridge but only enough for a base. Hmmm, what to do?

I’m pretty sure someone (Kit!…She has all the good ideas….) mentioned ” Bakewell tart but with blackberries” and there it was. Decision made.

 

 

I can’t call it Blackberry Bakewell tart though because to be honest it bears no resemblance to a Bakewell Tart!

 

So here is my recipe for:-

 

Blackberry Frangipane Tart.

 

Ingredients for 1 large or 2 smaller tarts

 

Shortcrust pastry (500g/1lb) Click the link for a recipe.Tart Case

Strawberry Jam (enough to coat the bottom of your tart… Ooo er!)

Blackberries (700 – 800g)

Caster sugar for sprinkling over the tart.

 

 

For the Frangipane:

100g/4oz butter at room temperature

100g/4oz caster sugar

2 medium eggs, beatenBlackberry Frangipane

100g/4oz ground almonds

30g/1oz self raising flour (a traditional frangipane uses plain but I wanted mine to rise into the blackberries)

 

To Make

Roll out your pastry to about 1/4″ thick and line a well greased flan tin/dish with it.

Slap on a good dollop of strawberry jam and spread to cover the base of the tart.

Blackberry Frangipane

To make the frangipane cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and then stir in the ground almonds and flour.

Spread the frangipane on top of the jam.Blackberry Frangipane

cover the frangipane with the blackberries and sprinkle with caster sugar.

 

Blackberry Frangipane 7Blackberry Frangipane

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C/gas mark 6 for 40 – 50 minutes.

 

Let the tart cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. We had ours with some ‘Ome Made vanilla and Strawberry ripple ice cream. The leftover tart was nice cold, straight from the fridge.

 

Blackberry Frangipane

 

I’m writing this and It’s making me realise… we are very, very lucky in this country.

Sometimes I don’t think we realise just how lucky we are?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crispy Cornflake Tart… For An Old Fart!

Most people I know seem to remember this from their schooldays… I don’t! What a deprived childhood I must have had!

It’s one of Kits favourites. I remember her telling me about it and I was just looking at her with a vacant “what are you on about?” look on my face.

Then Kit turns up with a slice from a little buttie shop up the road “see! Cornflake Tart!”.

OK, I have to admit, looks like I was missing out.

Kits’ workplace has a thing about colleagues bringing something in on their Birthday so when Kits came round I suggested a Cornflake Tart… (Hence the title of the Blog… not that I’m saying Kits old, or a tart… can someone pass me a shovel please!)

This really is the easiest thing in the world to make. If you have Kids they’ll love it! However I don’t see why kids should have all the fun! Everybody loves a bit of retro these days, and when it tastes this good!

Recipe

Shortcrust Pastry

225g plain flour

100g cold diced butter

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp icing sugar

Mix the dry ingredients and then rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add 2 – 3 tbsp iced cold water to bring the mixture together. Leave to rest in a cool (not a fridge) place for 30 minutes.

Roll the pastry out to about 3mm thickness and use to line a greased flan/quiche tin or shallow baking dish. Prick (snigger!) the base all over with a fork.

Place some baking paper in the tin followed by some tin foil and then fill with some baking beans. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes take out of the oven and remove the baking beans, foil and paper. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes or so until the pastry is cooked and beginning to colour then take out of the oven.

Warm 150g – 200g of jam (Strawberry is traditional but I used raspberry for that nice hint of tartness against the sweetness of the topping) once the jam has loosened up pour into the pastry case and carefully spread out to cover the bottom evenly.

Cornflake Topping

120g golden syrup

75g butter

30g caster sugar

120g cornflakes

Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar together in a pan. Once melted and bubbling take off the heat and add the cornflakes. Gently but thoroughly mix so all the cornflakes are coated then spoon onto the jam filled tart case. Gently spread the topping out so it is even then pop back into the oven for 5 minutes or so to set and firm up. Remove from the oven.

The tart is best eaten warm with a good dollop of custard but is equally as nice cold on it’s own. Just don’t try and sneak some when nobody’s looking as you may find yourself in detention!