One of my fondest memories of working as an apprentice is the intense smell of the blackcurrants and passion fruit when the mousses were being made. The aromas and flavours were incredible. While the mousses were setting in their rings, I couldn’t help running my fingertips around the mixing bowls and licking my fingers.
MAKES 1 × 23CM MOUSSE
1 quantity genoise sponge (see here)
50ml crème de cassis
FOR THE MOUSSE:
6 gelatine leaves
400g blackcurrants (fresh or frozen) plus a few extra for decoration
1 quantity Italian meringue (see here)
150ml double cream
FOR THE GLAZE:
2 gelatine leaves
50g caster sugar
150ml crème de cassis
For the mousse, soak the gelatine leaves briefly in cold water to soften, then squeeze out the excess water.
In a blender, purée the blackcurrants and push through a fine sieve to remove the skin and any stems.
Heat a quarter of the purée in a pan (don’t let it boil) then take off the heat and stir in the gelatine, then stir in the rest of the purée. Leave until completely cold then fold into the Italian meringue.
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks (just enough to hold), and then fold this into the meringue mixture.
You need a pastry ring (about 23cm in diameter and 6cm deep). Use this as a guide to cut out a circle of genoise sponge.
Place the ring on a round cake board and put the sponge into the base. Brush with the crème de cassis. Pour the mousse mixture on top and spread out gently so that it is level. You need to stop about 1mm below the rim of the ring, to allow space for a layer of glaze on top. Lift one corner of the cake board very slightly with a palette knife, and tap it very gently up and down just to remove any large pockets of air from the mousse. Put in the fridge for at least an hour until set and cold.
To make the glaze, soak the gelatine in cold water to soften, then squeeze out the excess water. Put the sugar and crème de cassis in a pan and warm until the sugar has dissolved.
Take off the heat, add the gelatine and stir until dissolved. Leave until cool but not set.
Dip the currants for decoration into the glaze to coat them, and keep to one side.
Take the mousse from the fridge, pour a thin layer of glaze over the top. Decorate the top with reserved blackcurrants and put back into the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, or preferably overnight, to set.
To remove the ring, loosen it first around the edge of the mousse with a very slim bendy blade, or warm the ring with a blow torch very briefly from a distance, then slide off.
I first made this in the eighties when passion fruit were all the rage in France, and it is still one of my favourite fruit mousses. Ideally use fresh passion fruit – but be aware that you need around twenty! Alternatively, there are some good ready-made frozen purées out there.
MAKES 1 × 23CM MOUSSE
6 gelatine leaves
50g caster sugar
8 medium egg yolks
around 20 ripe passion fruit (enough to give 250g pulp) or 250g ready-made frozen purée, defrosted
550ml double cream
80ml milk
1 vanilla pod
½ quantity Italian meringue (see here)
1 quantity genoise sponge (see here)
FOR THE SUGAR SYRUP:
100g sugar
100ml water
2 tablespoons rum or Malibu
FOR THE GLAZE:
2 gelatine leaves
50g caster sugar
250ml apple juice
seeds from three or four of the passion fruit
Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften, then squeeze out the excess water.
To make the syrup, put the sugar in a pan with the water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and you have a colourless syrup. Take off the heat and stir in the rum or Malibu and allow to cool.
Whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until the mixture has become pale.
If using fresh passion fruit, cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and scrape the pulp into a pan (keep the seeds from three or four of the fruit to one side to use for the glaze later), or use purée. Add 50ml of the cream and all of the milk to the pan, with the vanilla pod (cut in half and seeds scraped in), and bring to a simmer. Take off the heat and slowly pour onto the sugar and egg mixture, whisking all the time.
Return the mixture to the pan and simmer gently, stirring, until you have a custard thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly. Remove the vanilla pod, then stir in the gelatine until it dissolves. Leave to cool completely. Fold in the Italian meringue.
In a separate bowl, whisk the rest of the double cream until thick enough for the whisk to leave a ribbon trail when you lift it up, then fold this into the custard and meringue mixture.
You need a pastry ring (about 23cm in diameter and 6cm deep). Use this as a guide to cut out a circle of genoise sponge.
Place the ring on a round cake board and put the sponge into the base. Brush liberally with the syrup. Pour the mousse mixture on top and spread out gently so that it is level. You need to stop about 1mm below the rim of the ring, to allow space for a layer of glaze on top. Lift one corner of the cake board very slightly with a palette knife, and tap it very gently up and down just to remove any large pockets of air from the mousse. Put in the fridge for at least an hour until set and cold.
Meanwhile, make the glaze. Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften, then squeeze out the excess water. Put the sugar, fruit juice and passion fruit seeds, if you have them, in a pan and warm through. Take off the heat and stir in the gelatine. Leave until cool but not set.
Take the mousse from the fridge, pour a thin layer of glaze over the top and put back into the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, or preferably overnight, to set.
To remove the ring, loosen it first around the edge of the mousse with a very slim bendy blade, or warm the ring with a blow torch very briefly from a distance, then slide off.
This is a take on the classic café liegeois, which is made with coffee ice cream and cream. We use chocolate sponge and Chantilly cream – and no ice cream.
MAKES AROUND 8 SLICES
1 quantity chocolate genoise sponge (see here)
1 quantity crème Chantilly (see here)
cocoa powder, for dusting
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
400ml double cream
50ml liquid glucose
500g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
100g butter
FOR THE SYRUP:
100g sugar
100ml water
2 tablespoons strong coffee
FOR THE GLAZE:
200g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
50ml vegetable oil
Cut the sponge into three strips lengthways.
To make the ganache, heat the cream and glucose in a pan until just below the boil, pour onto the dark chocolate and whisk or use a hand blender to emulsify everything together. Allow to cool for 5–10 minutes then whisk in the butter.
To make the syrup, put the sugar in a pan with the water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and you have a colourless syrup. Take off the heat and stir in the coffee.
To assemble, beat the chocolate ganache just before using, as this helps to lighten it. Lay the first layer of sponge on a rectangular cake board and brush liberally with the syrup until well soaked, then spread with three quarters of the Chantilly cream. Add the next layer of sponge and brush with syrup as before. Spread with the ganache.
Top with the final layer of sponge and brush with syrup again. Spread with the remaining Chantilly cream and put into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. Meanwhile, to make the glaze, break the chocolate into chunks and put into a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base doesn’t touch the water – you don’t want to get any heat or steam in the bowl, which would make the chocolate stiffen and become dull.
Let the chocolate melt gently, stirring, then stir in the oil with a whisk and allow to cool to a spreading consistency.
Take the cake out of the fridge and pour the glaze over the top. Don’t worry if it drizzles over the side a little. Put back into the fridge for another 2 hours, then if you want to neaten it up you can trim the sides where the glaze has drizzled, with a knife dipped first into hot water. Then slice crossways into around eight slices, depending on how wide you like them.
Dust each slice with cocoa through a fine sieve. If you like you can cover half of the top with baking paper diagonally as you do this. When you lift it off you will have a sharp line between matt and shiny chocolate.
This famous cake is actually very similar to the Chocolat Liegeois here, in that it is constructed with layers of chocolate sponge and cream, but of course it has cherries added – preferably use the big syrupy Italian Amarena ones, if you can find them.
MAKES 1 × 30CM CAKE
200g cherries in syrup
about 4 tablespoons kirsch
1 quantity chocolate genoise sponge (see here)
1 quantity crème Chantilly (see here)
cocoa powder, for dusting (optional)
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
400ml double cream
50ml liquid glucose
500g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
100g butter
Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup, and mix this with the kirsch.
Cut the cherries in half if they are large.
Line a 30cm-long terrine or bread tin with clingfilm to overhang the edges.
Cut the sponge into three strips that will fit inside the mould. Lay the first strip in place and brush liberally with the kirsch syrup so that it is well soaked.
Spread with half of the Chantilly cream. Push in half of the cherries as evenly as you can. Lay the next layer of sponge on top and brush with syrup as before.
Spread with the rest of the Chantilly cream and push in the rest of the cherries. Finish with the remaining layer of sponge and press down gently. Fold the clingfilm over the top.
Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours to set.
Meanwhile, to make the ganache, heat the cream and glucose in a pan until just below the boil, pour onto the dark chocolate and whisk or use a hand blender to emulsify all together. Allow to cool for 5–10 minutes then whisk in the butter.
Take the gâteau from the fridge and open the clingfilm. To turn out, place a cake board on top of the terrine or bread tin and, using both hands, firmly grip both and turn over together. Remove the clingfilm.
Pour half of the ganache over the top and sides of the gâteau and smooth it a little with a palette knife. Put into the fridge to set for at least half an hour, then take out and pour over the rest of the ganache, smoothing it well with a palette knife so that it is even. Put back into the fridge and chill for a further 2 hours at least before serving. Dust with cocoa powder, if desired.
This cool drink recipe comes courtesy of La Fontaine d’Ampus, a lovely restaurant in a courtyard in the pretty little hillside village of Ampus, France, near my wife Jo’s family holiday home in Provence. It is brilliant on a summer’s evening with a wedge of Tarte Tropezienne. In France you can buy ‘l’alcool pour fruit’ in the supermarket, but I suggest you use vodka. You do need space for a big tupperware box in the bottom of the fridge (or you could halve the quantity) – and you need patience, as you have to wait 40 days for it to be ready!
Quarter 8 oranges and 2 lemons, leaving the skin on. Put in a large tupperware box (that has a lid) along with 5 litres of rosé wine, 1 litre vodka, 850g sugar, a bayleaf, 3 cloves and a stick of cinnamon. Put on the lid and leave in the bottom of the fridge for 40 days, then filter, bottle and keep chilled.
This is a traditional tarte in and around St Tropez. My friend Thierry Pezzuli, who runs a bakery in nearby Les Arcs sur Argens, makes great big tartes, and when we are there on holiday, he always brings one when he comes around for an aperitif. This recipe is inspired by his version.
It isn’t a classic tart as we think of them in the UK; it is more like a Victoria sponge, but made with a light, sweet dough. Although it will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, it is best eaten fresh at room temperature with a glass of rosé or, even better, vin d’orange, the local tipple.
The dough is difficult to make in small quantities, so I suggest you either freeze half of the dough for another time, or use it to make tiny doughnuts (see here). The easiest way to make it is using a food mixer, otherwise you need to follow my special stretch-and-fold technique for dough.
MAKES 2 × 23CM TARTES
a little butter for greasing and flour for dusting, if using a baking ring
FOR THE FERMENT:
125ml full-fat milk
½ teaspoon fresh yeast
125g strong bread flour
FOR THE DOUGH:
375g strong bread flour
10g fresh yeast
35g caster sugar
10g salt
1 medium egg
60g butter
125ml full-fat milk
Warm the milk for the ferment until just tepid then pour into the bowl of a food mixer. Crumble the yeast into the flour, add to the milk and whisk until you have a mixture like a thick porridge. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for a minimum of 2 hours at room temperature.
Add all the dough ingredients to the ferment and mix for 3–4 minutes on a slow speed, then about 10 minutes at medium speed until the dough comes away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
Lightly flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Fold it over on itself a few times then form it into a tight ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for at least an hour in a draught-free place.
FOR THE FILLING (FOR 1 TARTE):
a few drops of orange flower essence
1 quantity crème légère (see here)
TO DECORATE:
1 medium egg, beaten with a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons flaked almonds
a little icing sugar, for dusting
Divide into two balls. Freeze one at this point, or use it for doughnuts (see here). Roll the remaining ball into a circle, roughly 23cm in diameter and about 5mm thick.
You can either lay the dough straight onto a non-stick baking tray, or if you want a neater edge, place a ring, about 23cm and lightly buttered and floured, on top of the tray, and lift the circle of dough into it. Cover again with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5, and ideally put a baking stone or upturned baking tray on the middle shelf to heat up – when you place your tray of dough on it, this will help to direct the heat quickly to the base of the tart.
Brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg. Scatter with flaked almonds. Place the baking tray on top of your baking stone or upturned tray in the oven for about 20–25 minutes until dark golden brown on the top. If you lift an edge of the base with a palette knife, it should be light brown and firm underneath.
Take out of the oven, lift off the ring if using, and leave the tarte to cool on a rack.
Mix the orange flower essence into the crème légère and when the tarte is cool, slice in half horizontally and sandwich with the cream. Dust the almonds with icing sugar.
St Honoré is the patron saint of the boulanger, and this construction of choux pastry, cream and caramel was created as a kind of tribute to him. Honoré was also the name of my first boss, which I found very amusing at the time.
MAKES 2 SMALL GÂTEAUX
1 quantity choux pastry mixture (see here)
double quantity crème Chantilly (see here)
4 tablespoons flaked almonds (optional)
FOR THE CARAMEL:
200g caster sugar
2 tablespoons water
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5. Lightly grease a non-stick baking tray or have ready a silicone mat.
If decorating with almonds, toast these lightly in a dry frying pan until pale golden. Take off the heat and keep to one side.
Snip off the corner of a piping bag, if using a disposable one, insert a plain nozzle about 1cm in diameter and fill with the choux pastry mixture.
Pipe two spiral bases about 15–18cm in diameter onto the baking tray or mat (start piping from the centre and work outwards in circles). Then pipe twelve dots (about the size of a £1 coin in diameter) – make sure they are spaced well apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes until golden and puffed up. For the last 4 minutes of baking, leave the oven door slightly ajar to allow the steam to escape and help the drying process. Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool.
Make a hole in the base of each bun. Fill a new piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle with the Chantilly cream and pipe a little into each bun – keep about half of the cream back for decorating the gâteaux.
Make the caramel by putting the sugar in a pan with the water, bring to the boil and continue to boil until golden brown (if you have a sugar thermometer, the temperature will be 140°C). It will be really hot, so be careful.
To assemble, carefully dip the base of each bun into the caramel and stick six of them around the edge of each spiral.
Pipe the rest of the Chantilly cream in the centre and in the gaps around the buns.
Take a spoon or fork, dip it into the caramel and swirl it around the top of the gâteaux in thin strands to decorate. Finish, if you like, with toasted almonds scattered over.
This always looks impressive, and so people think it must be difficult to make, but it isn’t. It just takes a bit of time and planning … and it is well worth the effort.
It is made with a bavarois – a light cream, made with custard and meringue – mixed with caramelised apples, encased in slim, light, puffy biscuits à la cuillère (the long, thin biscuits that go around the side of a cake are often called ‘ladyfingers’). You want some apples with a bit of character and sharpness for this, such as Cox or Braeburn or a good local variety. You could also use pears.
I like to decorate the charlotte with wafer-thin slices of dried apple scattered over the top, which gives it an autumnal look.
MAKES AROUND 8 SLICES
FOR THE APPLE BAVAROIS:
50g butter
2 tablespoons sugar
4 eating apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 tablespoons Calvados or Somerset Cider Brandy
4 gelatine leaves
80g caster sugar
3 medium egg yolks
150ml apple juice
1 vanilla pod
250ml double cream
1 quantity Italian meringue (see here)
FOR THE BISCUITS À LA CUILLÈRE:
3 medium eggs, separated
90g caster sugar
90g plain flour, sifted
TO DUST THE BISCUITS:
60g icing sugar
FOR THE SUGAR SYRUP:
100g sugar
1 tablespoon Calvados or Somerset Cider Brandy
100ml water
TO DECORATE:
Dried apples (see here)
You need a number 3 (2-pint) pudding bowl. Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3.
To caramelise the apples for the bavarois, melt the butter and sugar in a pan until light golden, put in the apples and stir well. Add the Calvados and toss the apples around, until tender and lightly caramelised, then take off the heat and keep to one side.
To make the sugar syrup, put the sugar in a pan with the Calvados and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and you have a colourless syrup. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
To make the biscuits à la cuillère, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then add 60g of the sugar and continue to whisk until you have a meringue that is thick enough to hold onto the whisk.
In a separate bowl, whisk the rest of the sugar with the egg yolks until pale and creamy.
Mix the meringue into the egg yolk mix with a wooden spoon, then fold in the flour – the mixture will now be very thick and creamy.
Have ready a non-stick baking tray, or preferably a silicone mat. Snip off the corner of a piping bag, if using a disposable one, insert a 1cm plain nozzle, fill with the biscuits mixture and pipe fourteen fingers, each around 11cm long. Next you need to pipe three spirals (start piping from the centre and work outwards in circles). The first, for the base of the bowl, should be around 8cm; the second, which will go in the middle of the bowl, should be around 10cm; and the largest, which will be for the top, needs to be around 12cm.
Sprinkle the icing sugar over the top using a small sieve.
Put the tray or mat into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes until the biscuits colour very lightly, expand and are spongy to the touch. Take out of the oven and leave to cool.
For the bavarois, soak the gelatine in cold water to soften, then squeeze out the excess water.
Whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until pale.
Put the apple juice in a pan with the vanilla pod (halved and seeds scraped in) and bring to a simmer. Take off the heat and slowly pour onto the sugar and egg mixture, whisking all the time.
Return this apple custard to the pan and simmer gently, stirring, until thickened slightly.
Take off the heat, remove the vanilla pod, then leave to cool slightly and stir in the gelatine until it dissolves. Leave to cool completely.
In a large bowl whisk the double cream until thick enough for the whisk to leave a ribbon trail when you lift it up. Now fold in the Italian meringue, caramelised apple, and apple custard.
To assemble the charlotte, line your pudding basin with clingfilm and put the smallest spiral of biscuit into the base, with the sugary side facing downwards. Arrange the fingers of biscuit vertically around the basin, with the sugary side facing outwards, and overlapping slightly – make sure there are no gaps – then brush the insides of all the biscuits liberally with the reserved sugar syrup – they will soak it up well, so be generous.
Spoon in the apple bavarois mixture to come halfway up the basin.
Place the medium-sized spiral of biscuit on top – again this should go in sugared side downwards – and brush with syrup.
Spoon in the rest of the bavarois mixture. You are going to put the final biscuit on top, with the sugared side upwards this time, so before you do so, brush the smooth underside with the rest of the syrup.
Place the biscuit gently on top. Don’t worry about the fingers sticking up beyond the final spiral of biscuit at this point, as once the charlotte is set you will trim them. If you have any mixture left over, put it into a freezer box and let it set – apple ice cream!
Put the bowl into the fridge for 4–5 hours, ideally overnight, to set. When ready to serve, trim the tops of the sponge fingers so that they are level with the top spiral.
To turn out, place a serving plate on top of the basin and, using both hands, firmly grip the plate and basin and turn both over together. The charlotte should slide easily onto the plate. Decorate with slices of dried apple – they will stick wherever you put them.
This is a play on the classic fondant pudding – soft and melting inside – combined with Italian meringue. Sometimes I embed nuggets of chocolate salted caramel into the chocolate filling before baking – if you want to do this the recipe for the caramels is here. With or without them it is a serious hit of rich sweetness: you have been warned!
MAKES 1 × 30CM TART
1 quantity Italian meringue (see here)
FOR THE CHOCOLATE FILLING:
50g caster sugar
2 large eggs, plus 3 medium yolks
200g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
150g unsalted butter
80g plain flour
TO DECORATE:
Long, thin chocolate pencils (see here), optional
Preheat the oven to 90°C/gas ¼.
To pipe the meringue for the tart case, cut the corner of a piping bag, if using a disposable one, and insert a 1cm star nozzle. Fill with half of the meringue and, beginning in the centre, pipe it round and round in a spiral until you have a circle of about 24–25cm in diameter, which will be the base of your tart case. Next pipe an edge about 2cm high – you can either do this by going around twice, or just once, lifting the nozzle up and down as you go, in a wave motion (see picture here).
Put into the preheated oven for about 4 hours until dried out and solid to the touch but not coloured. Remove and keep to one side.
Turn up the oven to 160°C/gas 3.
For the chocolate filling, whisk the sugar and the whole eggs and yolks until they turn a pale straw colour and creamy.
Break the chocolate into chunks and put into a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base doesn’t touch the water – you don’t want to get any heat or steam in the bowl, which would make the chocolate stiffen and become dull.
Let the chocolate melt gently, stirring, then add the butter and continue to stir until this too has melted.
Take off the heat and stir into the sugar and egg mixture, until it is all incorporated. Gently fold in the flour.
Spoon into the meringue case and smooth the top, then put into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes until the mixture is springy to the touch. Don’t be tempted to leave it in any longer as the centre should be soft and gooey when you cut into the tart.
Leave to cool and then decorate, if you like, with the chocolate pencils.
Blood oranges have an almost grapefruity flavour, but when they are not in season, you can use bought blood orange juice, plus the zest of three ordinary oranges.
You could dust the top of the tart with icing sugar after baking, and caramelise it with a blow torch, however it looks quite special if you decorate it with slices of caramelised oranges. If you like, you can make more than you need and pot them while still hot into sterilised jars (see here), where they will keep for several months.
MAKES 1 × 20CM TART
1 quantity sweet pastry (see here)
butter or baking spray, for greasing the tart tin
a little flour, for rolling
6 medium eggs, plus 1 medium egg beaten with a pinch of salt
zest and juice from around 3 blood oranges (you need 250ml of juice)
400g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon cornflour
FOR THE CARAMELISED ORANGE DECORATION:
100g sugar
200 ml water
1 blood orange or ordinary orange, cut crossways into thin rounds (about 5mm)
Lightly grease a 20cm loose-bottomed tart tin with butter or baking spray.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then roll out the pastry into a circle 5mm thick and large enough to fit into the tin, leaving an overhang of about 2.5cm.
Roll the pastry around your rolling pin so that you can lift it up without stretching it, then drape it over the tin and let it fall inside.
Ease the pastry carefully into the base and sides of the tin without stretching it, and leave it overhanging the edges. Tap the tin lightly against your work surface to settle it in. Prick the base of the pastry all over with a fork to stop it from trying to rise up when in the oven (even though it will be held down by baking beans, it can sometimes lift a little).
You can use a large sheet of baking paper for lining your tart case, however I prefer to use clingfilm (the kind that is safe for use in the oven or microwave) as it is softer than paper and won’t leave indents in the pastry.
Place three sheets of clingfilm (or one sheet of baking paper) over the top of the pastry case, then tip in your baking beans and spread them out so that they completely cover the base. Don’t trim the pastry yet. Put the case into the fridge for at least an hour (or the freezer for 15 minutes) to relax it.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5.
Remove the pastry case from the fridge and put into the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the base has dried out and is very lightly coloured, like parchment.
Remove from the oven and lift out the clingfilm (or baking paper) and beans. Don’t worry if the overhanging edges are quite brown, as you will be trimming these away after you have finished baking your tart.
Brush the inside of the pastry case with the beaten egg and put it back into the oven for another 10 minutes. The inside of the pastry, and particularly the base, will now be quite golden brown and shiny from the egg glaze, which will act as a barrier so that the pastry will stay crisp when you put in the filling.
Let the pastry case cool down and then you can trim away the overhanging edges.
Turn down the oven heat to 120°C/gas ½.
To make the filling, whisk together the orange zest and juice, the eggs, sugar, butter and cornflour in a bowl, then place over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t actually touch the water. Whisk constantly over a low heat, moving the mixture around the bowl well, so that none sticks to the sides.
Once it starts to become a little thicker than double cream, continue to whisk for one more minute then take off the heat. To test that it is ready, scoop a little bit of mixture with a teaspoon and push it against the inside of the bowl towards the top. It should stay where it is without dripping. If it doesn’t, put it back over the heat and whisk briefly for another minute at a time, until it passes the test.
Pour into the pastry case and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the filling is set.
Leave to cool for a couple of hours to room temperature before eating.
Meanwhile, for the caramelised oranges, make a syrup by putting the sugar in a pan with the water and bringing it to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and you have a colourless syrup. Turn the heat as low as possible.
Put in the orange slices and let them poach very gently in the syrup for a good hour at least. Take off the heat, cool and drain off the syrup before arranging on the top of the tart.
This is the tart that you see in patisseries all over France (the equivalent of a custard tart). It is often made in a long slab that can be sliced as a treat at any time of the day, but especially for children coming home from school.
MAKES 1 × 20CM FLAN
1 quantity sweet pastry (see here)
a little butter or baking spray, for greasing the tin
a little flour, for rolling
FOR THE FILLING:
200ml full-fat milk
200ml double cream
1 vanilla pod
1 medium egg, plus 1 medium yolk
100g caster sugar
40g cornflour
20g butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5.
Lightly grease a 20cm loose-bottomed tart tin with butter or baking spray.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then roll out the pastry into a circle 5mm thick and large enough to fit into the tin, leaving an overhang of about 2.5cm.
Roll the pastry around your rolling pin so that you can lift it up without stretching it, then drape it over the tin and let it fall inside. Bake blind according to the instructions here–here.
Turn down the oven to 180°C/gas 4.
To make the filling, put the milk, cream and vanilla pod (split and seeds scraped in) in a pan, bring to a simmer (be careful not to let the mixture boil), then take off the heat and leave to infuse for at least an hour. Remove the vanilla pod.
In a bowl, mix the egg, yolk and sugar until pale and creamy, and then whisk in the cornflour. Stir in the melted butter.
Put the pan containing the milk and cream mixture back on the heat and bring slowly to the boil, whisking all the time, then turn down to a simmer for 1 minute, still whisking all the time. Take off the heat and pour onto the egg and sugar mixture, stirring well.
Pour the mixture into the tart case and bake for around 45 minutes, until the filling is firm to the touch and a deep, dark golden on top – like the top of a crème brûlée. Take out of the oven, slide off the tin, and cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
