NECTARINE BLUEBERRY TART
In my opinion, this is quite simply the best dessert I have ever invented. It is light and fresh, packed with the fruity flavours of summer. Rich and nubbly with the soft buttery texture of the short crust, and sweet and juicy with a hit of acidity that cleanses your palate and wakes up your tastebuds.
If you take anything home from this recipe — this dessert needs time! Not in terms of actual working time, but in terms of sitting and waiting. Just like all of us, it needs time to rest, relax and reflect. And once it has had this time, you will see how amazingly wonderful it can be. IT IS WORTH IT. Trust me, the only regret you will have is that you should have made two. In fact, make two and then after your dinner party, you can have one all to yourself.
There are three key waiting times: 1) resting the dough once it’s brought together, 2) resting the dough again in its spring-form pan, and, finally, 3) letting the cooked tart completely cool. Note: the last waiting time; the cooling bit, is the most important part of the whole thing.
As with any tart, you will need to blind-bake it. But other than the wait times and the blind-baking, all you are doing is bringing a dough together, pressing it into a form and mixing up some fruits in a bowl. If you are doing this for a dinner party, I would recommend making the dough the night before and letting it do its first rest overnight. The next morning you can do all the other steps, allowing it to cool completely in time for dessert. Or if you want it ready for a lunch or brunch then make it the day before and cool the tart overnight in a safe place.
But seriously, make it. And if you need ideas to while away the waiting times: put on a series, do the laundry, tidy your apartment, make bolognaise on the stove and meditate to the sounds of singing bowls on a mindfulness App. Do all these things and you will find yourself, not only with a much tidier apartment and feeling of zen, but, more importantly, with the most delicious tart you have ever tasted. If your dinner guests weren’t in love with you before, they will be now.
(Block out time. This can take a whole day. Approximately: 10.5 hours including wait/cooling times).
Serves 8
Ingredients
Pastry
125g fridge cold butter
200g flour
65g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon ice-cold water
Filling
350g blueberries
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons corn flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice
3 ripe yellow nectarines
Method
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1. Put the water in the fridge/freezer to get cold.
2. Cut the fridge cold butter into tiny cubes.
3. Add the flour and sugar, and, with your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and sugar until you have no lumps of butter left. You should have a mixture of crumbs and flat shaggy flakes. You want to do this step quite quickly to avoid the butter getting warm. Warm butter will give you a chewy pastry.
4. Whisk up the egg yolk and ice-cold water. Make a well in the middle of the flour, sugar and butter mixture and add the whisked egg and water.
5. With a metal spoon, bring the sides of the dry ingredients into the middle until you have something that looks lumpy and crumbly. It will not form a smooth wet dough, but you want it this way.
6. Bring the dough together with your hands and resist the urge to mix or knead. Overworking the dough will develop the gluten in the flour and make the dough tough and chewy. You may need a splash more water. But do not be tempted to over hydrate the dough. It will come together in the next step.
7. Put the lump of dough and its crumbs in the middle of a large sheet of plastic wrap/cling film and quickly wrap it up, bringing all the dough and crumbs together. Press it into a tight fat disc and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours until hard and cold. You could also leave the dough in the fridge overnight.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
9. Rub softened butter all over the base and sides of a 23cm spring-form pan (9 inch) and line the bottom with a circle of baking paper.
10. Take out the dough from the fridge and, breaking off pieces of the dough, press approximately half to two thirds of the dough into the sides of the pan, pushing firmly into the corners. Keep the sides thin. You want a crisp edge. Once the sides have been built up, add the rest to the base and press firmly into the bottom. Use a glass, cup measure or other small flat sided vessel to keep an even thickness and give yourself 90° angles in the corners of your tart. Again, work quickly here to avoid the butter melting.
11. Prick the base with a fork and place it back into the fridge for at least 1 hour.
12. Remove the base from the fridge and prepare for blind-baking. You can line the pastry with baking paper and baking beans or place a few ramekin dishes on top of the pastry to fill out the space and weigh it down. Blind-bake the pastry for 25 minutes until golden. I used some metal pudding molds, which created a delightful smiley face after blind-baking.
13. Whilst the dough is blind-baking, mix the blueberries, vanilla extract, corn flour and sugar in a bowl, stirring gently. You want them to retain their shape so that the final tart has a good texture. Leave them to marinate for approximately 15 minutes.
14. Remove the pan from the oven, once golden. If the dough has puffed up, don’t worry! Whilst still hot, you can gently press it down with the base of a ramekin dish or flat-bottomed dish and bake it again for another 2–3 minutes to dry out the bottom.
15. Let the blind-baked tart sit for 5–10 minutes whilst you destone the nectarines and slice them into crescent shapes. Add them to the marinated blueberries and mix gently.
16. Pack the fruits into the base of the tart, lightly pressing down so that the top of the fruit mixture is flat and are not above the edges of the pastry.
17. Line a flat sheet pan with aluminum and place the spring-form pan on top. This makes it easy to take the tart in and out of the oven and, if there is a leak, will catch any juices. I also bring up the edges of the foil around the spring-form pan for extra security.
18. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes until golden and the top layer of fruit looks slightly golden brown (not black). Check on the tart every 20 minutes. If not golden yet, you can continue baking for another 5–10 minutes, but don’t let the pastry edges burn.
19. IMPORTANT!! Take the tart out of the oven and leave to cool completely still within its spring-form pan. If not, the filling will fall out and you will cry. Once cooled, carefully remove the spring-form, slice into big wedges and serve. Keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days.
