RECIPES
Chocolate, quince and almond tart
By Maggie Beer
1 hour
Prep time
3 hours. 25 minutes
Cooking time
12 servings
INGREDIENTS
Pot roasted quince
750g quinces, peeled, cored and cut into large wedges
Squeeze of lemon juice
300ml water
200ml verjuice
165g castor sugar
Chocolate and almond cream
120g unsalted butter, softened
150g castor sugar
200g ground almond meal
2 free-range eggs
1 free-range egg yolk
80ml vino cotto
50g cocoa, dark
Sour cream pastry
200g chilled unsalted butter, small diced
250g plain flour
125ml sour cream
METHOD
Pot roasted quince
- Pre-heat the oven on Intensive Bake at 170°C.
- Once you have peeled and cored the quince, place in pot of water with a squeeze of lemon and set aside to help stop oxidising.
- Place the quinces, water, verjuice and sugar into a medium sized pot, then cover with a lid and place into the oven on a wire rack on shelf position 1, cook for 1 hour.
- Remove the pot from the oven and remove the lid. Give the quince pieces a light toss, being careful not the break up the wedges. Return to the oven and continue to cook for a further 1-1½ hours, checking regularly to ensure the quince wedges do not burn on the bottom, you can add extra verjuice to the pan if necessary.
- When fully cooked, the quince will take on a beautiful ruby red colour and there should be a small amount of syrup remaining in the pan. Transfer the quince wedges to a plate or tray to cool. Reserve the syrup for later use.
Sour Cream Pastry
- Add the butter and flour to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine, resembling fine bread crumbs. Add ¾ of the sour cream and pulse to incorporate then add the remaining sour cream and continue pulsing until the dough just starts to combine.
- Tip the pastry out onto a clean work bench and bring together by hand, forming it into a rough rectangle, approximately 2cm thick. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 10–20 minutes to rest.
Final Preperation
- Pre-heat the oven on Intensive Bake at 160°C with a wire rack positioned on shelf 1.
- Roll the sour cream pastry into a sheet approximately 3mm thick, then line a greased flan tin (23cm x 2.5cm) allow the edge of the pastry to come above the tin by 5mm. Dock the pastry evenly with a fork then place into the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
Almond cream
- Add the butter and caster sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium–high speed until pale and light.
- Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time followed by the cocoa and vino cotto, then mix for a further minute.
- Add the almond meal and mix until well combined.
To assemble
- Remove the tart shell from the refrigerator and place half of the almond cream into the base of the tart shell. Top with cooked quince wedges, followed by the remaining almond cream.
- Place into the oven on the wire rack and bake for 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature with crème fraiche.
Hints and tips
- Pear can be substituted for times when quince is unavailable for the pot roasted fruit.
- After the initial forming of the sour cream pastry, the dough can rest in the refrigerator for up to a day. Any longer than this and the flour will begin to oxidise and turn grey. If you want make the pastry in advance it can be frozen at this stage, simply defrost in the refrigerator the day before it is needed.
APPLIANCE / FUNCTION
Maggie Beer
Maggie’s career spans farming, food production, as well as television presenting and food writing. Maggie’s appearance on the hit ABC programme The Cook & The Chef cemented her place as one of Australia’s most well known food personalities, and her line of products is arguably the most highly esteemed and much loved range for Australian gourmets
