Summer Harvest Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Peel, core, and chop coarse apple and pear. In a large heavy saucepan combine dried and fresh fruits with water to cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes. Drain fruit in a sieve, discarding liquid, and chop coarse. Return fruit to pan and add remaining filling ingredients. Simmer filling, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thickened. Transfer filling to a heat-proof bowl and cool.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out about two thirds dough into a 12-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit into a 10-inch tart or pie pan with a removable fluted rim. Chill shell 30 minutes. Gather dough scraps together with remaining dough and on a lightly floured surface roll out into a 10-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Cut round into 1/2-inch-wide strips and chill on a baking sheet 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spread filling in shell, smoothing top, and weave dough strips in a lattice pattern over pie, trimming lattice edges flush with rim of pan and brushing dough lightly with egg wash. Bake tart in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until crust is pale golden. Cool tart in pan on a rack 15 minutes and remove side of pan.
• Serve tart at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream.

Steps:

• Mix water and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.
• Stir 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture forms fine crumbs. Do not overmix, or pastry will be tough. Stir in enough vanilla water to pull dough together. Chill for 15 minutes.
• Roll dough out into a 12-inch circle. Gently transfer to an 11-inch tart pan. Pat dough into place, cutting off edges and aligning pastry along the edges of the pan. Freeze pastry shell until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bake pastry shell in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Prick any large bubbles with the tip of a knife. Allow to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat cream in a chilled glass or metal bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until smooth. Fold in whipped cream.
• Spread filling into the cooled tart shell, smoothing out to reach the edges. Arrange mandarin oranges, strawberries, kiwi slices, and berries over the top, covering as much of the filling as possible. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• The morning before you want to make the tart, remember to put the butter in the freezer - try wrapping it in foil first (it will keep it colder when you hold it to grate later).
• To make the pastry, mix the flour in a big bowl with a good pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of the sugar. Using a coarse cheese grater, grate in the butter, trying to hold it as little as possible so that it doesn't warm up too much, and stirring it in with a cutlery knife as you go. When all the butter is in, give it a final good stir with the knife to make sure all strands of butter are coated in the flour, then quickly stir in 150-175ml of very cold water. Lightly bring the pastry together with your hands, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• Layer all the fruit in another bowl, sprinkling over the sugar and cornflour as you go. Add the orange zest and give everything a light mix. Set aside until your pastry is ready.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 with a baking sheet in it. Lightly dust another baking sheet with flour and roll out the pastry onto it in a rough circle until the pastry is about 0.5cm thick. If you want, use a small, sharp knife to cut a pattern around the edge of the pastry.
• Give the fruit another mix, then pile into the middle of the pastry, leaving a 7cm border of clear pastry all around the edge. Fold the pastry border up and over the fruit filling, pinching bits together to keep it neat and in place. Whisk the egg white until very frothy. Using a pastry brush, brush the froth all over the pastry. Dredge over the remaining granulated sugar, and sprinkle a little more over the fruit. Lift onto the heated sheet and bake for 35 mins until the pastry is golden brown and crispy. Serve straight from the oven with lashings of custard or, if you're feeling really wicked, some Cornish clotted cream.