Passion Fruit Curd & Peach Tart

Having made more Passion Fruit curd I decided to make a tart using it.  For that I needed shortcrust pastry and some fruit.  I decided on an easy recipe and used tinned peaches.

Shortcrust pastry is delicious and this recipe uses a combination of butter and lard, to make it even shorter, with just a little sugar to sweeten it.

You could easily make the pastry in a food processor, but it is also very simple to make in a bowl, by hand.  The important thing is not to add too much ice cold water as that would make the pastry too wet and rather than crisp it would become hard when baked.

My tart case turned out very well and it was a simple thing to spread the curd in and then place the sliced peaches on top.  I also grated some nutmeg over to give that extra bit of flavour.

Before serving it is necessary to chill the tart, so that the passion fruit curd can firm up again.

If you cant buy passion fruit curd you can make your own, as I did, using the recipe found here: http://geoffsbakingblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/passion-fruit-curd-cupcakes.html .  You could also use a different flavoured curd if you wish.

                        Passion Fruit Curd & Peach Tart – Video

Ingredients:

• 255g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 80g cold butter, cubed
• 47g cold lard, cubed
• 3-4 tablespoons of ice cold water
• 2 x 410g tins of sliced peaches
• 1 half peach, from another tin, if you wish to make a centre circle.
• 227g passion fruit curd
• Nutmeg for grating over the top, if desired

Method:

1. In a large bow places the flour and salt and mix together.
2. Add the butter and lard and gently coat the cubes in flour.
3. Then rub the butter and lard into the flour using your fingertips and thumbs, until you have a breadcrumb like texture.
4. Gradually add the water, a tablespoon at a time, and stir in using a knife until you have little balls of dough forming. 
5. You may not need all the water, stop when the balls are beginning to clump together.
6. Use your hands to pull the dough together into a large ball and flatten to a disc.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
8. Roll the pastry out, on a lightly floured surface,into a circle large enough to line a 9-10 inch tart tin, overlapping the sides.
9. The pastry make crack, that is fine, just patch it.
10. Cut off the excess and chill again for 30 minutes.
11. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/350F.
12. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, ready for blind baking.
13. Line the pastry with parchment paper, of foil, and fill with baking beans(or rice, dried beans etc),
14. Bake for 15 minutes.
15. Remove from the oven and take out the baking beans and paper.
16. Bake for a further 5 minutes then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
17. Take some of the curd, I used four heaped dessert spoons full, and spread evenly over the base of the tart case.
18. Arrange the peach slices as you wish onto the curd.
19. Grate the nutmeg over the top if you wish.
20. Refrigerate until fully chilled before serving.