Chef Bukola’s easy-to-make indulgent fruit tart
Summer’s calling and it’s bringing with it fresh, colorful and sweet fruits. Chef Bukola Falodum, co-founder of Chef Prodigies shares her favourite fruit tart recipe with Review readers.
POLOKWANE – It is an easy to follow recipe that one can prepare with the children over the weekend or the holiday.
Ingredients:
• Three and a half kilogram (3½kg) of shortcrust pastry dough (about half of a batch).
• One and a half cup (1½) of apricot jam (or any jam you like).
• Two cups of vanilla pastry cream
• Three cups of fresh fruit (e.g. cherries, berries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, peeled kiwi, banana, apples, pineapple etc).
“You can buy a ready-made-pastry-dough at any bakery or store if you can’t make it. And you can basically choose to have your own kinds of fruits, depending on what you like and according to your taste buds,” Chef Bukola added.
How to make the pastry filled with fruit tarts:
• Make sure that you switch your oven on so that it preheats to 400 degrees (this depends on how how hot your oven it).
• Pour some flour on a flat surface on the table, spreading it out as you sprinkle it on the table.
• Roll out the pastry dough to a thickness of about a quarter of an inch, make sure all sides are even. (Do not roll the dough for too long because it will harden if you overwork it).
• Cut the dough into circles that are not too big nor too small. (For example if you want to make tarts for four people, then cut out four circles, about four and a half (4½) inches across).
• Press the circles of the dough into the tart tin (tray), as you want to get a tight fit against the bottom and sides, then cut or trim off any excess dough by running your rolling pin over the tops of the tart tins.
• Line the shells with parchment paper (baking paper to prevent the dough from sticking) and fill them with uncooked rice or pie weights, to prevent the crust from raising or puffing up when you place it in the oven.
• Bake them until the shells turn into a golden-brown colour (for about 15 minutes).
• Remove the pie weights or rice, and the baking paper, and let the shells cool off all the way before removing them from the tins, otherwise they will break.
• Allow them to cool off, then heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan, along with some water(about a tablespoon), until it liquefies.
• Pour the glaze through a wire-mesh-strainer and into a small bowl to remove any pieces of fruit.
• Then start piping the shells half-full of pastry cream, using a spoon or a piper.
• Lastly, chop your fruits, place them on top of the pastry cream, about a half-cup per tart, then finally, brush each one with the apricot glaze.
“Refrigerate the tarts for at least an hour, until it’s time to serve them. Enjoy the delight with your family,” she added.
