-PASTRY-
140 g Plain flour (5 oz)
1 ts Baking powder
60 g Unsalted butter (2 1/4 oz)
1 ds Salt
1/2 ts Sugar
3 tb Milk
Butter and flour for the
– tart tin
FILLING
120 g Caster sugar (4 oz)
1 ts Ground cinnamon
10 g Plain flour (1/4 oz)
100 ml Good dry white wine (scant
– 1/4 pint)
15 g Butter (approx. 1/2 oz)
This a recipe from the Swiss district “Vaud”: both the pastry and the
filling are local specialities.
Pre-heat the oven to 260 oC/500 oF. Lightly butter a tart tin with a
removable base 20 cm (8 in) in diameter.
Pastry: put the flour, baking powder and softened butter together in a
large bowl. Add the salt and sugar. Rub all the ingredients together
with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse semolina. Add
the milk and mix it in lightly and rapidly with your fingers, without
exerting any pressure. Form the pastry into a ball, using it to
collect all the loose flour. If need be, add another drop or two of
milk.
Do not let the pastry rest, but roll it out straight away to fit the
prepared tart tin. The pastry should be only 3 mm (1/8 in) thick and
should extend well beyond the rim. Ease the pastry into the base of
the tin by pressing gently into the corners with a small ball of
dough, but arrange for the spare pastry at the top of the tin to
project as a little horizontal fold or lip about 1 cm (3/8 in) wide
and 1 cm deep inside the tin. There is now much less spare pastry all
round the outside of the tin. Press the pastry down on top of the rim
with your thumb and trim it off neatly by rolling the pin across the
tin.
Press the fold of pastry inside the tin upwards (the rolling pin
should have passed over it without touching it at all). Work fast,
with your fingers inside the rim. You now have a border standing up
all round the top of the tin, with the lower, outside edge firmly
attached to the rim. Pinch this border between your finger and thumb
with tweaking movements, at intervals of 1 cm (3/8 in) to make a
little fluted edge all round the top of the tart.
Mix the sugar, cinnamon and flour together. Strew this mixture all
over the bottom of the tart. (This is a liquid filling so the bottom
of the tart is not pricked with a fork). Pour the wine over the sugar
mixture and mix it with your fingertips. Dot the surface with the
butter, in flakes.
Cook the tart in the bottom of the pre-heated oven for 15 … 20
minutes, turning it from time to time to equalise the heat and to
prevent bubbles forming.
Leave the tart to cool before taking it out of the tin.
(
Yields
6 Servings