Persimmon And Grape Tart

Grape and Persimmon Tart

Ingredients
Sweet short crust pastry
230g plain flour
125g unsalted butter – chilled and diced
50g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste – optional
1 medium egg – yolk only
2 tbsp milk
1 medium egg – yolk only - for egg wash

Frangipane
150g unsalted butter – room temperature
150g caster sugar
150g eggs (shelled and weighed) beaten
150g ground almonds

Fruit
3 medium sized persimmons
20 black seedless grapes
1 apple - optional

Directions:
First make the pastry. Add the flour and the butter to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and gently beat until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar and the vanilla - if using and mix through. Add the egg yolk and the milk and mix until the dough only just comes together (over working the dough will result in a tough pastry). As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop the machine, turn out on to a work surface and bring the pastry together with your hands to form a ball. Push down and flattening out to around a 1 cm thickness (this will ease the rolling out process later on), wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least an hour but preferably longer. Roll out between to sheets of baking paper and line your tart tin, pushing the pastry right to the very edges. Leave an over- hanging edge then trim away the excess – saving this for decorative flourishes. Return to the fridge for a minimum for 30 minutes.

To blind bake the pastry case, line the pastry with baking paper and top with plenty of baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes at 180oc / 350f fan then remove from the oven, carefully spoon out the beans and gently lift off the paper. The pastry will still look a little raw at this point, so return it to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until it has changed in appearance but is not yet golden. If any cracks have appeared now is the time to fill them with some of the left- over pastry, then using an egg yolk mixed with a few drops of boiling water, brush the insides of the case, making sure to go up the sides too. Return to the oven for the final time, baking for approximately 15 until a lovely deep golden colour has been taken. Don’t worry if the over hanging edge is looking over cooked during this time as this will be removed later.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before trimming away the overhanging edge. Allow to cool while you make the frangipane.

Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment, placing the butter and sugar in to the bowl.

Cream together until they are completely smooth and combined. With the mixer running add a little of the beaten egg and then a spoonful of the almonds. Repeat this sequence until all of the eggs and almonds have been added, giving a final mix until everything has blended together. Fill the baked tart shell to ¾ with frangipane, reserving any left over for another use.

Prepare the persimmons by cutting each in half vertically, then slice each half on the horizontal using a mandolin set to 1mm. Use the slices the decorate the tart in an eye- catching manner and then add the grapes, slicing or halving them as desired. An apple can also be sliced and used to fill in any gaps if you so wish.

Use the left-over pastry to add final decorative touches to the tart, cutting out with a leaf cutter or similar and perhaps rolling some in to small ball shapes. Lay them in and around the tart then egg wash all of the pastry pieces.

Bake in an oven set to 160oc / 320f fan oven for 45-60 minutes or until the frangipane has set and cooked through. It may help to cover the top of the tart with tin foil during the latter stage of baking to prevent any of the toppings burning.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing. Can be eaten warm from the oven or cold if preferred,