Recipes
Meringue Berry Tart
June - 1 - 2017
8
Preparation: 30
Cooking: 20
Recipe by, Sahar Mreish - Food Blogger, Founder of Cooking for Five
8
Preparation: 30
Cooking: 20
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 400ml double cream
- Zest of 1 orange
- 600g mixed seasonal berries, such as blackberries, loganberries, blueberries, red and white currants, good gooseberries
- 4 store-bought meringue nests, broken into rough pieces
- Icing sugar, for dusting
For the pastry:
- 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50g icing sugar
- 125g unsalted cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 large egg, beaten
- A splash of milk
- Olive oil, for greasing the tart tin
Method
- You can make your pastry by hand, or in a food processor. Sieve your flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl.
- Using your fingertips, gently work the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg and milk, and gently work it together using your hands until you have a ball.
- Don’t work the pastry too much or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short.
- Sprinkle some flour over the dough and a clean work surface, and pat the ball into a thick, flat round.
- Sprinkle over a little more flour, then wrap the pastry in clingfilm, and pop it into the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
- Lightly oil the inside of a 25cm non-stick loose-bottomed tart tin.
- Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then carefully roll out your pastry, turning it every so often, until you’ve got a circle about 0.5cm thick.
- Roll the pastry over the rolling pin, then unroll it into the tin, making sure you push it into all the sides.
- Trim off any extra, and use it to patch any holes, then prick the base of the case all over with a fork, cover with clingfilm, and pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- Lay a large piece of greaseproof paper, then flatten it out, and use it to line your pastry case, pushing it right into the sides.
- Fill the case right up to the top with uncooked rice, and bake blind for 10 minutes in your hot oven.
- Take the case out, carefully remove the rice and greaseproof paper, and return the case to the oven to cook for a further 10 minutes, until it’s firm and almost biscuit-like.
- Leave to cool completely. Whisk 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl with the cream and most of the orange zest until you get a silky mixture that forms soft peaks.
- Put half your berries into another bowl, and use a fork to mash them up with the remaining tablespoon of vanilla sugar.
- Gently fold the mushed-up berries and the meringue pieces, into your cream.
- Tip the mixture into your cooled tart case, and gently shake it to help spread it out to the edges.
- Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly, then sprinkle the remaining berries all over the top.
- Scatter over your remaining orange zest and serve right away, with a dusting of icing sugar.
