The Best Grape Tart Ever
May 21, 2007 at 10:14 AM
by Ashleigh
When I was a little girl learning to cook, I always used Robert Carrier's Cooking for You as my inspiration.
Of course, being little and a girl all I ever wanted to cook (and eat) were cakes and tarts.
The 'Cakes, Sweets and Desserts' section has been very well used, judging by the flour and cake batter splodges all over the pages. I've made nearly all the recipes in this section at one time or another. One of my favourites is the Petit Pots de Vanille, which my mom used to make, topped with Bourneville chocolate, for very special occasions.
The next section in the book, 'Pies, Tarts, Flans and Pastry' which contains another favourite, and one I've made at intervals throughout my married life, both with Brad and with the ex, is Robert Carrier's French Grape Tart.
It's really simple, like the very best desserts usually are, and consists of peeled, pitted grapes macerated in a sugar and alcohol mixture and baked in an egg custard inside a shortcrust or pate brisee tart case.
Start a day before and peel the grapes while you watch tv. In the case of this tart, life is definitely not too short to peel a grape.
Robert Carrier's French Grape Tart
You need one quantity of shortcrust pastry (easiest method: half the weight of butter to flour, pinch of salt, use either lemon juice, cold water, or an egg yolk to combine). Bake your tart shell blind in an 7 inch (18cm) tin. I've started doing like the tv-chefs and avoiding pastry case shrinkage by not trimming my pastry case beforehand but instead cut it to the height of the pan after I've baked it. I didn't make a very pretty pastry case this time, but that was due to impatience - I didn't want to chill my dough after making it. If you want pretty pastry it's best to pop the dough in the fridge for as long as possible before rolling it out.
For the filling you need:
675g white grapes
2 tablespoons calvados (I don't usually put this in but I'm sure it tastes nice with it)
50g castor sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour (Maizena)
4 tablespoons double cream (I use cream fraiche)
1 egg
1 - 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Place the pre-baked pastry shell in its tin on a baking sheet.
- Peel and pit the grapes over a bowl to catch the juice. Drop the grapes into the bowl as you go.
- Add the calvados and sugar, toss to mix thoroughly and leave for an hour. I leave them overnight.
- Preheat oven to 170C.
- In another bowl the same size, blend the cornflour smoothly with the cream. Beat in the egg. Add the grapes together with their juices and mix well, take care not to crush the grapes. Flavour with lemon juice to taste.
- Pour the filling into the shell and arrange the grapes with a fork into a nice pattern.
- Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until set and lightly coloured.
Comments
The cake looks delicious, but what a lot of work to peel all those grapes!!
Wow! That looks delicious. I admire your patience and grape peeling skills.
Must try this soon.
I would never have thought of putting grapes into a tart but this looks fab and I will try it soon. Thanks for sharing.
Sara from farmingfriends in the UK
After looking through the net, I have found your wonderfull recipe for the grape tart. Mine are already seeded and peeled and resting in the fridge with sugar and rum (my choice since I do not have Calvados).
I will fix the tart tomorrow and I will let you know how it gets.
Thanks a lot.
Best regards from Mallorca, Spain.
Aha, the mystery of the kilo of peeled grapes! :D This looks utterly delicious.
May 21, 2007 4:37 PM