Redcurrant tart

Redcurrants take me straight back to childhood visits to my uncle’s allotment and the hot redcurrant juice flowing from the steam juicer, which would later “magically” turn into jelly… We’re keeping the tradition alive – every year we go to a fruit farm and pick little seasonal berries with the children. I don’t make juice anymore, but I do bake cakes, make compote and freeze some of the fruit for winter, ready for smoothies or yeast buns. Here’s a crisp shortcrust tart filled with a deliciously sharp redcurrant filling :).

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

Additionally:

Sift the flour, add the butter and lard, then quickly chop with a knife until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar, salt and cold water and quickly bring the dough together (you can also make it in a food processor). Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it slightly, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 60 minutes.

Grease a 25 cm tart tin with butter and dust with plain flour, shaking off any excess.

Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and divide it into two portions: ⅔ and ⅓. Roll out the larger portion to approximately 3 mm thick and use it to line the base and sides of the tin. Sprinkle the base with breadcrumbs or ground almonds. Spread over the redcurrant filling (recipe below). Roll out the remaining dough to approximately 3 mm thick and cut into strips. Arrange the strips over the filling to create a lattice, then press them into the pastry around the edges of the tart.

Bake at 180°C for approximately 45–50 minutes. If your oven has this option, it’s worth switching to bottom heat only for the final 7 minutes to finish baking the base. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. It can also be served warm. The redcurrant tart is delicious once completely cooled too.

Ingredients for the redcurrant filling:

Mix all the ingredients together.

*Lard makes the pastry extra crisp, but you can replace it with additional butter.

Enjoy!