Pandan & Pomegrante Christmas Tart
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time:
For pastry:
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- 3/4 cup white spelt flour (can use plain flour for this)
- 100g/3.5ozs. butter, cold, cubed
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon pandan essence*
- 4-6 tablespoons cold water
For filling:
- 300ml/10.6flozs. cream
- 1/2 cup caster or superfine sugar
- 1/4 cup raspberry puree (sieved)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3 egg yolks, room temperature
- Pink food colouring
To decorate:
- 1 pomegranate, raspberries, cherries, redcurrants, mint leaves, crushed pistachios
Pandan essence can be found at Asian grocery stores
Step 1 - Grease a 23cm/9.2inch loose bottomed tart tin. Place the flours and sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Stir the pandan essence into 4 tablespoons of water and then add to the flour mixture and pulse until just combined.
Step 2 - Knead on a clean surface. I find that gluten in spelt flour means that it doesn't become too tough to roll which is why I like using it in pastry. I roll it out straight away and then place it in the pie tin and press down the edges. Leave a bit of overhang and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 3 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Trim the edges off the tart and dock with a fork (I made jam filled tarts topped with fruit with the extra pastry). Bake for 20 minutes or until the base is cooked through. Cool and reduce temperature to 120C/248F.
Step 4 - Whisk the cream, sugar, puree, eggs, egg yolks and colouring together. Pour into the cooked base and skim off all the bubbles. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set. Cool.
Step 5 - Cut the pomegranate open and decorate with pomegranate clusters, red currants, cherries, raspberries, fresh mint leaves and crushed pistachios.
How to Cut Open a Pomegranate
Make a circular cu across the top and bottom of the pomegranate as shown.
Remove the top and base of the pomegranate
You can now see the segments of arils. Cut along the white part vertically at one point.
Then pull apart the pomegranate. The arils will stay mostly intact and will be less messy to deal with.