SECRET CUTIE PIE
Hello my little butter hearts!
I hope you had a sunny weekend... As for me, I took the opportunity to spend some time with my little mom, and she confided in me a family secret, that of the magic tart dough... Yes, I'm sure you have sweet childhood memories of sumptuous apricot tarts, incredible tartes Tatin... Well, I don't know if it's because my wedding's coming up, but I wanted to recapture a little piece of my childhood (no pun intended)... After a quick trip to the market, I thought Reine-Claude would be perfect to try out, if my mother was telling the truth! Without further ado, here's the secret to a successful pastry, for all your fruit tarts!
For the pastry you'll need:
- - 250g cold butter,
- - 500g flour,
- - 75g powdered sugar,
- - 1 tsp fine salt,
- - 8 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon cider vinegar.
and for the garnish (plums in this case, but it works with any ripe fruit! )
- - 1 kilo Reine Claude plums,
- - 1 half lemon juice,
- - 100g brown sugar,
- - 1 sachet vanilla sugar,
- - 1 whole egg,
- - 4 tablespoons fine semolina.
First of all, my little cats, you're going to cut the cold butter into tiny cubes. Then, in a bowl, sand your butter with a fork or food processor, adding all the dry ingredients (flour, salt and powdered sugar). Then add the tablespoons and vinegar while continuing to mix. You'll have a smooth, homogenous dough. Wrap the dough in cellophane and leave to rest for at least 45 minutes in the fridge.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven and get to work on the filling! Cut your fruit into quarters and mix with the brown sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon juice. Put the mixture in a hot, generously buttered frying pan and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Once the plums are lightly browned and caramelized, remove from the heat, drain and set aside.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry by 0.5cm on a floured surface and place in the tart dish, leaving about 2cm overhang. Place baking balls in the bottom of the pastry and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and cool. Separate the egg white and yolk in two small bowls. Now comes the family secret... Brush the tart base with egg white, and sprinkle the fine semolina over the whole tart base. The semolina will absorb the fruit juices and prevent the bottom of your tart from getting soggy, and with a bit of luck, it'll even be crisp! Garnish the tart with the fruit. You can decorate the top of your tart with a weave of strips of pastry dough, but I advise you to do this directly on the fruit only if it has cooled well beforehand! Otherwise your pastry will become unworkable very quickly! Bake for 25 minutes and enjoy!
To read this post in English, click here!