Plum tart, coconut pastry, fresh ricotta and caramelised white chocolate
I always try to use seasonal produce as much as I can so when asked to do a demo at the Balham food festival a British plum tart was a no brainer.
Twinned with a new coconut flaky pastry that I have been perfecting this tart is quick and easy to make. As a bonus if you are vegan then this tart is perfect and to be honest the texture of the coconut pasrty is actually better than with butter.
Give it a go whilst the beautiful British plum is still at it's best.
Ingredients:
Pastry: (Makes approx 6-8 tarts)
150g plain flour
2tsp caster sugar
pinch salt
6 dessert spoons of ice cold water
10 Victoria ripe plums or similar
1 jar of plum jam
2 dessert spoons of demerera
Method:
. Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees
. In a food processor blitz the flour, sugar and salt together for around 10 seconds just to mix.
. Add the coconut oil to the blender and blitz until all the coconut has been mixed into the flour. The mix will look a bit like breadcrumbs.
. Add the iced water and blitz until the pastry starts to come together.
. Remove from food processor and form into a ball on a lightly floured bench but do not work it too much.
. Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking parchment to around 2mm.
. Allow to rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes in the fridge.
. Remove from the fridge and using a cutter or pre-cut template, cut a rectangle of the pastry and place on a lined baking tray.
. Place in the oven for 10 minutes to blind bake the pastry then take out.
. Cut the cheeks off the plums and slice thinly and lay over the pastry.
. Sprinkle with demerera sugar and bake for a further 10-15 minutes
. Lightly heat some jam in a pan to glaze the tart
. Remove from oven and brush the tart with the jam glaze and serve
Ricotta cream Ingredients:
240g full fat milk
12og double cream
pinch salt
2 dessert spoons white wine vinegar
200g cream
3 dessert spoons ricotta
1 dessert spoon icing sugar
1 vanilla pod split
Method:
. Place cream, milk and salt and bring to the boil.
. As it boils remove from heat and add the vinegar and mix.
. Leave to start to seperate.
. After a couple of minutes pour into a sieve lined with a blue kitchen cloth over a bowl.
. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours to dry out and drain
. Remove the ricotta from the fridge and take 3 dessert spoons and place in a bowl.
. Lightly whip the 200g of cream and then fold in the seeds from the vanilla pod and sieved icing sugar.
. Serve a spoon of the cream with the warm tart.
. For the caramelised white chocolate just bake on a lined baking sheet for 4-5 minutes at 180 degrees. Until the chocolate is a dark brown then serve with the tart.
