October 21st
2005
O's persistence made this post possible and added a delicious tart to my cake repertoire. He had been raving about this tart for days - ever since he had it for the first time at Harry's coffee shop. Really the only way to make an end to his bugging, was to give in and attempt to recreate it. Even though I had never actually tried it, after hearing all the good things about it, I felt like I already have had a piece. On the other hand, anything baked by Kristin (Harry's better half), that I have tried, has been a wonderful treat and finally with the original recipe in our hands (O must have sweet-talked her) I had no reason to not comply.
The challenge was to find good, well to find red currants at all. But turns out that it was much easier than thought - in spite of them being already slightly out of season...
Shortcrust: Mix all ingredients, sieve the icing sugar and knead it together. Quite tricky, because the dough obviously doesn't want to stick together, that's why I stopped kneading the dough with the KitchenAid - it just didn't work. (I'm not very patient with "high-maintenance" dough, but this time the outcome was definitely worth the effort!) Things started to improve with hard manual labor. Form a ball, cover it with foil and let it rest in the fridge for about half an hour. Then roll it out about half a centimeter thick (dust board with flour as needed) and press into 12 cm (~5 inch) buttered flan tins (which I didn't have, so I used my Crème brûlée forms). Repeatedly poke a few holes across the bottom, line with parchment paper and add pie weights (I used rice, dry beans work, too) and prebake them in the oven at about 175°C (350°F) for about 10 minutes. Take the crusts out, remove the baking weights and let them cool down.
Filling: Remove red currants from the stems, wash them and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Arrange berries on the dough. Combine eggs with cream and sugar, beat until you have a homogeneous mixture and pour over the currants (about two thirds the height of the red currants, because the mixture will rise a bit).
Bake at 180°C (355°F) in the oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, remove and let chill. Dust with icing sugar, if desired. Best eaten still a little warm or on the next day...
The crust alone was sensational and every reason to do it again - despite the extra manual work it takes...
Red Currant Tart
Recipe source: Kristin, adaptation
Required time: prep. 20 min., baking 30 min., serves: 4-5
.
Ingredients for the shortcrust:
220g flour
110g cold butter
50g sieved icing sugar
1 egg yolk
a pinch of salt
.
Ingredients for the filling/topping:
400g red currants
2 eggs
4-5 tbsp brown sugar
100ml heavy cream
.
more icing sugar for decoration
I LOVE red currants - I've only had them once when I had the surprise of finding them from my favorite Farmer's market vendor. They're far out of season here, but I'm already stocking up on recipes for next year, and I'll definitely add this one to the mix! Thanks!
gorgeous! i can't get red currants here. i'll just have to admire yours. i can imagine these tarts are worth the rave.
What beautiful tarts! I don't think I've ever had red currants in anything baked, but it's a lovely idea. And I can just imagine how the brown sugar nicely contrasts with their tartness. Thanks for the inspiration!
What a beautiful looking tart. I don't see red currants that often around here but I believe this tart is good with no matter wich fruit (as long as it is red, of course)
The color of your tart is totally intriguing! I only tried black currants so far, do they taste similar? Keep up the great work!
[...] I adore anything involving currants, so I can’t wait for them to come into season so I can try out this red currant tart from delicious:days. I can’t stop eyeing the nougat semolina dumplings over there, either. [...]
I have a large bush of red currants in my garden in Amstelveen (Netherlands). Each year I cook jelly, but we can't eat so much. I'm very happy to find other recipe's on red currants.
I have just 3 redcurrant bushes, but get more redcurrants than I know what to do with every year. This year we are awash with the things and I still have most of last years in the freezer! Thanks for the recipe it sound great.
Does "sieved" icing sugar mean "sifted" in US English? ie - shaken through a strainer? And I'm guessing this is confectioner's/powdered sugar?
This tart sounds delicious - I picked a bunch of red currants today and would love to try it!
thanks!
EDIT: Yes and Yes ;)
Thanks! I'm going to try it! :)
Does anyone know of a good process for drying red currants to store them... and then how do you use them?? Thank you so much for the recipe on the tarts. I have buckets full of currants this year, and if I can tolerate the 100 degree heat we're having here in Minnesota, they will all get harvested.
Will of course use them as an accent in our tea!!
Pam
In Chile "Zarzaparrilla" is called, but is not very common but it is possible to be found him in "old" orchards. Also I know of a syrup and jam.
En Chile, la conocemos como "Zarzaparrilla" no es muy común pero se le puede encontrar en huertas "antiguas". También sé de un jarabe y mermelada.
I tasted red currant when I was a kid.
I now live in Montana, and planted a red currant in my yard last year, this spring it is loaded with berries. I love tart fruit and will make good use of them
Wes
[...] night: currant tartlets! I got some tartlet forms for Christmas and modified this recipe to make [...]
Johannisbeeren! When I was in high school, I spent a summer in Germany and Austria as an exchange student. My host family had a few red currant bushes outside their front door. One morning, we picked the bushes clean. I had never tasted the sweet-tart berries before that day. We ate them in a big bowl, sprinkled with sugar and topped with a generous dollop of quark, then stirred the whole mess together. Yum!