Prune And Custard Tart Food

PRUNE AND CUSTARD TART

Steps:

• Make pastry. Process flour, sugar, ground almonds and butter until crumbly. Add egg yolk and enough of the water to process until ingredients come together. Enclose in plastic wrap, refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Grease 26cm (10½-inch) round loose-based fluted flan tin. Roll pastry between sheets of baking paper until large enough to line tin. Lift pastry into tin, ease into base and side, trim edge, prick base all over with fork. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced).
• Place tin on oven tray. Line pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice. Bake 10 minutes. Remove paper and beans, bake about 5 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven to 150°C (130°C fan forced).
• Blend or process prunes and brandy until combined, spread into pastry case.
• Bring cream to the boil in small saucepan, remove from heat. Whisk eggs, sugar and extract in small bowl, whisk in hot cream. Pour custard into pastry case.
• Bake tart about 20 minutes or until custard sets. Stand 10 minutes before serving.

PRUNE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring wine, orange juice, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat; add prunes, and let steep 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer prunes to a bowl. Return liquid to a boil; cook until slightly reduced and thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, roll out puff pastry into a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and orange zest; sprinkle evenly over pastry. Arrange prunes in rows over pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and cream; brush mixture on edges of pastry.
• Bake until crust is golden, about 20 minutes, rotating pan and brushing tart with reserved cooking liquid halfway through. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. Serve warm.

HOT PRUNES AND CUSTARD

Steps:

• place prunes in a saucepan, (you may need to do this in batches).
• cover with water 3/4 of the way up.
• heat through until prunes are plump.
• while they are heating through, heat your custard.
• pour the prunes and juice into four serving bowls.
• pour hot custard over and enjoy.

PRUNE & NUT TART

Steps:

• If you want to make the pastry by hand, beat the butter until it is smooth then mix in the icing sugar, one of the eggs and then add the flour. Or, put all the pastry ingredients (again 1 egg only) in the food processor with 2 tsp water and process just until they form a dough. Wrap the pastry in cling film and put in the fridge for half an hour or so to firm up. (You can freeze the pastry now for up to a month.)
• You need to bake the pastry case blind before adding the filling. The best and easiest way to roll the pastry is between 2 floured pieces of cling film. Line a loose-bottomed 23cm tart tin with the pastry, then line this with a piece of greaseproof paper. Put your baking beans on the paper then put the pastry case in the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5/fan 170C.When the pastry case is rock solid (after about 1⁄2-1 hour), put it in the oven on a baking sheet. After 15 minutes, lift out the paper and beans very carefully and glaze the inside with your second egg, beaten first (this makes sure you have no leaks later). Put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
• For the filling, melt the butter and leave it to cool a little.While this is happening, beat the eggs, then stir in the sugar and cooled butter. Scatter half the almonds in the base of the tart, then spread the prunes around. Pour the filling over evenly.
• Scatter the rest of the almonds over the top and bake for 20-30 minutes until firm. Take it out, dust over some icing sugar and serve hot, cold or warm with crème fraîche or cream.

PRUNE CUSTARD TART

Steps:

• Two days before preparing the flan, toss the prunes with Armagnac or Cognac, cover securely and set aside to marinate. (If time is limited, you can skip the marinade and simply toss the prunes with the spirits, although the two-day marinade will offer a richer, more flavorful dessert.)
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Butter and flour a 10 1/2-inch straight-sided ceramic baking dish.
• Add one tablespoon of sugar to the marinated prunes and toss. Place them on the bottom of the prepared baking dish, forming a single, tight layer that thoroughly covers the bottom of the dish.
• Place the eggs and three tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl and, using a whisk or electric mixer, beat until well blended. Add the flour and mix well. Add the milk and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake until bubbly and brown, about 45 minutes.
• Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature. This is just as delicious the next day.