This lovely tart recipe is the perfect way to celebrate beautifully ripe summer stone-fruit – or any ripe fruit, really!
A buttery, crumbly shortcrust pastry base is cooked till perfectly brown and crisp, which is the only step that requires any sort of real effort, and can be prepared days in advance. The cooked, slightly-sweet pastry is then filled with a honey-sweetened vanilla Labneh, then topped with whatever seasonal ripe fresh fruit your heart desires. Think; stone-fruit, berries, mango, or even roast quince or bananas! Here is where you could go nuts and get creative with your fruit arrangement, to make it as intricate or as rustic as you want.
You could either leave it as is, or do like I did at my event at Makar Farms a few weeks ago; drizzle it with a little extra honey for shine and a little added sweetness. If you want to go super-fancy, you could totally brush the fruit with a loosened apricot preserve for some major shine. In any case, it is a great little customisable dessert to have up your sleeve for when you are having guests over, or just for tea as a celebration of whichever fruit happens to be in season!
You can read more about the event and find more recipes from the day here.
Sweet Vanilla Labneh & Summer Stone-Fruit Tarts
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTRY:
- 250 g plain flour
- 60 g sugar
- 1/4 tbsp salt
- 125 g unsalted butter cut into 1-2cm cubes and very cold
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp cold water
FOR THE FILLING:
- 250 g labneh find recipe below
- 1.5 tbsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- honey to taste
- fresh ripe stone-fruit, or any other seasonal ripe fruit
Instructions
- MAKE THE PASTRY: Place the flour, sugar & salt in a food processor and process till evenly mixed. Add the cold butter (I like to keep mine in the freezer after cutting it, until right before I need to use it) and process until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg yolk and water together in a small bowl. With the motor running, add the yolk mixture and process for a few short seconds, just until the dough begins to form around the blade.
- Tip the dough out onto some plastic wrap, flatten into a round disk and wrap it tightly, then refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. At this point, you could store it in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months; just defrost in the fridge overnight before using.
- Have a 25-28cm tart tin ready nearby. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured bench; you may need to bang it a few times with your rolling pin if it is a bit too hard. Roll the dough out into a roughly round shape until it is about 3mm thick (you want it about 5 cm larger than your tart tin), sprinkling with flour as needed. Try to work quickly to avoid the pastry getting too soft, especially if the weather is warm. Transfer the pastry using your rolling pin to the tart tin, and gently tuck it into the tin so that it sits comfortably into the corners and covers the entire base. Don’t worry if it tears; you can use scraps of dough to patch it up. Cover the whole tart tin with plastic wrap & refrigerate (or preferably freeze if you have space in your freezer) for 15-20 minutes.
- COOK THE PASTRY: Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390F). Take out your tart tin from the fridge/freezer and trim the edges with a knife (or use your rolling pin!). Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, then line it with baking paper and fill with baking weights. You could use any dried beans or legumes or grains as baking weights. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the baking weights and baking paper, and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until pastry is evenly golden brown. Set aside to cool completely, then use right away or wrap with plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- ASSEMBLE THE TART: Once cooled, prepare your filling by whisking the labneh with the vanilla and add honey to taste. Spread the filling into the pastry base right before you want to serve it, then arrange your fruit on top. Drizzle with a little extra honey if you like, and serve immediately.
Notes
- You could also brush the fruit with a loosened warm apricot preserve for some extra shine.
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You could replace the labneh with mascarpone cheese if you want, or if you cannot find/don’t want to make labneh.
Nutrition
