A truly irresistible banana tart. Bananas paired with homemade vanilla custard, whipped cream and salted caramel sauce, all on a perfectly crisp shortcrust pastry base. Pure heaven! Loved by both adults and children.
Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:
- 200 g plain flour
- 90 g butter, cold and diced
- 30 g lard*, cold and diced
- 60 g icing sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 2 – 3 tablespoons cold water
Sift the flour, add the butter and lard, and rub in quickly (or pulse in a food processor) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, salt and water, and quickly bring the dough together. Shape into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour.
Grease and lightly flour a 24 cm tart tin. Roll out the chilled dough to about 3 mm thick and line the tin. Chill again for 30 minutes. Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans (or rice).
Preheat the oven to 220°C, then reduce to 200°C. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 5–8 minutes until golden. Cool completely.
Ingredients for the vanilla custard:
- 400 ml milk
- seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- 4 large egg yolks
- 70 g sugar
- 25 g plain flour
- 25 g cornflour
Bring the milk with vanilla to the boil, then remove from the heat.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Add the flour and cornflour and mix to a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in about 100 ml of the hot milk. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Simmer for about 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Cover the surface with cling film (touching the custard) and leave to cool completely. Do not stir while cooling.
Ingredients for the salted caramel sauce:
- 28 g butter
- 55 g light brown sugar
- 90 ml double cream
- a generous pinch of salt
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar, stir and bring to the boil. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the sugar dissolves and turns deep amber. Slowly add the cream, stir in the salt and simmer for about 3 minutes until slightly thickened. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
Ingredients for the whipped cream:
- 300 ml double cream, chilled
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Whip all ingredients until soft peaks form.
Additionally:
- 3 bananas
- juice of ½ small lemon
- Slice the bananas and toss with lemon juice to prevent browning.
Assembly:
Spread the cooled custard over the pastry base (using a piping bag makes this easier). Arrange the banana slices on top, gently pressing them into the custard. Top with whipped cream and drizzle generously with salted caramel sauce.
Store in the fridge for up to 3 days (remove about 1 hour before serving to allow the pastry to soften slightly).
*Lard makes the pastry extra crumbly, but can be replaced with additional butter.
Enjoy!
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