Apple and blueberry tart

 

Apple and blueberry is such a beautiful combination in look and taste.  This tart looks quite fancy but is very easy to make.  It’s a twist on a bakewell tart really if you think about it – pastry, fruit, frangipane.  The main difference being that the fruit is fresh and sits on top of the frangipane rather than underneath in the form of jam.

It’s deceptive, but that’s really just one apple covering the top of the tart.  The trick is to slice it thinly.  I found the trickiest artistic decision placing the blueberries and making sure they were evenly distributed!  It took a steady hand to transfer the tart to the oven without making the blueberries roll all over the place!

I suppose this tart is more autumn than spring but who cares?  I fancied something comforting and fruit and almonds always hit the mark with me.  As with anything laden with almonds, the tart keeps well and actually improves with age.

Sometimes, you make a pastry and the whole time you’re making it you’re thinking “this is going to be such a nightmare to roll out”.  This was such a pastry.  When I bought it together to form a ball of dough my heart sunk.  It was so sticky.  It looked and felt like marzipan and I couldn’t see how this was going to become a lovely tart case.  The key is refrigeration:

After two hours in the fridge it rolled like a dream – I didn’t use any flour to roll it out (I don’t like changing the texture of the pastry by adding more flour), it didn’t crack or tear and I didn’t have to patch it in the tin.  Oh, and did I mention how delicious it is?  The almond gives it an almost shortbread like texture and flavour.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g golden caster sugar
1 egg
250g plain flour
30g ground almonds

For the filling:

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g golden caster sugar
150g ground almonds
2 tablespoons plain flour
3 eggs
1 dessert apple – I used pink lady but any apple such as golden delicious, granny smith, gala, braeburn etc would work
125g blueberries

Optional: icing sugar for dusting
To serve: cream

Method

Start by making the pastry: place the butter and sugar into a food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy.

Add the egg and blitz again.

Add the flour and almonds and blitz until a dough just starts to form.

Tip out onto a sheet of clingfilm and, using your hands, bring to a sticky ball of pastry.  Don’t worry that it is so sticky – it should feel more like marzipan than pastry at this stage.

Shape into a fat disc and wrap in clingfilm.

Refrigerate for approximately 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Roll out the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm until it is big enough to line a 23cm loose bottomed flan tin.  No need to grease the flan tin – the pastry is buttery enough that it won’t stick.

Line the pastry case with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove the paper and beans then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

Now make the filling: beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.  It won’t turn pale and fluffy because of the ratios and the fact it’s golden caster sugar.

Add the ground almonds and flour and beat again.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until you have a smooth cream.

Peel and core the apple, before cutting it into thin slices.  I cut the apple into quarters and aimed for at least four slices from each quarter.

Pour the almond mixture into the pastry case and spread out until it is even.

Place the apples on top.

Scatter the blueberries over the apple and almond.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until it looks golden, risen and set in the middle.

Leave to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack.

If desired, dust with icing sugar.

Either serve warm with ice cream for dessert, or at room temperature with cream for afternoon tea.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.