Mulled wine fruit tart
This rich fruit tart, with its festive flavours of mulled wine, can be served as dessert with cream or vanilla ice-cream, or in small slices alongside cheese after dinner. The recipe is long but worth it, I promise, and very manageable when the components are made ahead of time.
Ingredients
For the pastry
300g plain flour
90g icing sugar
¼ tsp salt
200g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 large egg yolk
20ml ice-cold water
For the filling
400ml port wine
3 bay leaves
2 circular orange slices, 2cm thick
3 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
5 cloves
70g dried sour cherries
70g dried cranberries
70g raisins
50g currants
120g plum (or cherry) jam
For the crumble topping
50g light brown sugar
75g plain flour
50g butter, cold, cut into cubes
⅛ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
30g walnuts, roughly chopped
Method
Step 1
For the pastry, sift together the flour, icing sugar and salt and place in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Lightly whisk together the egg yolk and water, and add this to the mix, pulsing just to combine.
Step 2
Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface – it will be quite wet and sticky. Dust your hands with flour, and pat to form a ball, then divide the pastry into two. Wrap each half loosely in cling film and press gently to form two flattish discs. The dough must be chilled for at least an hour (up to 3 days) before using. (You will be using only one disc for this recipe; freeze the other for another time.)
Step 3
For the filling, place the port wine, bay leaves, orange slices, star anise, cinnamon and cloves in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the liquid is reduced by half – about 10 minutes. Strain the liquid, discarding the solids, then pour it back into the saucepan. Add the cherries, cranberries, raisins and currants, and return the pan to a medium heat. Simmer until the mixture is thick and syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in the jam. Set aside.
Step 4
For the crumble, place all the ingredients except the walnuts in the food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Tip into a small bowl and stir in the walnuts, then set aside.
Step 5
Grease a 23-25cm fluted tart tin with a removable base. Rest the pastry at room temperature for 30 minutes. Tap it with a rolling pin to soften before rolling out until it is about 33cm wide and 4mm thick. Roll it up on the rolling pin and drape over the tin and unroll, pressing it into place. Trim the edges and chill for 30 minutes.
Step 6
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan-forced). Line the tart case with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice and bake for 20 minutes. Scoop out the beans or rice, remove the baking paper and return the tart case to the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven (but do not turn oven off) and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Step 7
Spread the mulled-wine filling into the tart case, sprinkle with the crumble and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before serving.
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Helen Goh is a chef and regular Good Weekend columnist.
