Fruit tarts are such lovely treats to have around, especially on a tea party during the hot seasons. This recipe contributed by Han Lin is a work of art - exquisitely decorated mango slices set upon delicious pastry cream, encased in a crumbly wall of homemade pastry shell. This is set to impress your friends. Allergic to mangoes? Fret not. Simply replace the mangoes with your favourite fruits, say strawberries, raspberries, kiwi and what's not. Sprinkle mint leaves on it and do your own customisation, just have a take on this.
The perfect recipe for summer time.
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Difficulty: Medium
Yields 1 9-in Mango Tart
Ingredients
(tart shell)
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups flour
(pastry cream)
1 1/2 cups whole milk or half-and-half
4 large egg yolks
1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want it
1/4 - 1/3 cup flour, depending on how thick you want it
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
(deco)
2 ripe mangoes
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Steps (Tart shell)
1. Preheat over to 170C
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Let it cook, stirring constantly, until the butter browns.
3. In a bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
4. Add all the sugar in one addition and stir well.
5. Add all the flour in one addition and stir till a dough forms.
6. Pat the dough into a 9-in tart pan. Let the dough “dry” for 20 minutes (this helps the baked tart to be more crunchy).
7. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Chill before filling.
Steps (Pastry cream)
1. Heat the milk in the saucepan over medium-high heat until it's barely simmering. Set it aside until it's cool enough to touch, but still warm.
2. In one of the mixing bowls, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth and thick. Whisk in the flour and salt.
3. Slowly pour in the warm milk in a thin stream down the side of the bowl, while whisking the egg-sugar mixture constantly. Make sure the eggs do not scramble. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan.
4. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with your spoon so the bottom doesn't scorch. It will quickly start to thicken to the consistency of pudding. When large steamy bubbles start to pop through the liquid, the pastry cream is nearly done.
5. Continue stirring for 1-2 minutes longer. Set the strainer over a clean bowl and strain the pastry cream to get out any lumps. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.
Original recipe for Pastry cream here.
Assembly
1. Slice mangoes into thin slices.
2. Beginning with the longest slices, line the edges of the tart with these slices of mango, overlapping from one slice to the next.
3. When you have completed one full round, start a new ring closer to the centre. Form increasingly smaller rings of overlapping mango slices, working inwards in concentric circles. The mango slices should overlap each other within the same ring, as well as the previous ring before. This is to prevent any pastry cream from being visible when the tart is complete.
4. When you reach the centre, with a space of about 4-5cm in diameter, form a mango rose and place it there. (To form a rose centre, take a strip of mango and roll it up. This is the very centre. Place shorter strips – long enough to go half to 3/4s around the centre, around the centre, overlapping each other)
Notes
You can use the pastry cream recipe as a good base for any other flavors you might want to add. You can infuse any number of ingredients into the milk while it's heating in the first step. Try cinnamon sticks, dried lavender, or coffee beans. You can also use any other extract besides (or in addition to) vanilla to add flavouring. To make a chocolate pastry cream, melt a handful of chocolate (about 2 ounces) into the pastry cream in the last minute of cooking.