Fruity Freezer Tart - Quarantine Baking

At the start of the virus crisis, my mojo went on holidays - without me:-)  I have struggled to do much except cook and bake and clean - and eat!  I was supposed to be writing short stories for competitions - nah, didn't happen.  Blog posts? - nope, my brain was/is a no-go zone.  But the car is soooo clean, and Mr P.'s hair is veeerrry short.  It's just so soothing to clip away all that fuzz from his (somewhat balding) head.

So, anyways, my fridge and freezer are looking good, and lots of funny little bags of whatever have been used.  I found some frozen pastry in the downstairs freezer (I never look there!); I found several different kinds of frozen fruit, and I had some cream about to expire.  Frozen fruit tart it was then.  You can make your own pastry if you wish, (if you can find flour) and use fresh fruit, but blah blah blah.  Come on, this is quarantine cooking, my friends.  Use whatever you have.  Oh, that's right, I had three floury apples about to head South, so I puréed them up too.

decorated and ready to eat

ingredients:


1 sheet of frozen shortcrust pastry


Apple purée:

3 medium-sized apples

60 mL (1/4 cup) water

a big knob of butter - say, 1 tbs 

2-3 tbs caster sugar


Fruit compote:

250-300g. frozen fruit (any sort, your choice) - I had cherries and berries (mixed) and cranberries - placed on a baking tray to thaw

1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

2 tbs caster sugar

2 tsp cornflour

1½ tbs water


Creamy topping:


1 tub (250g.) Philly Caramilk cream cheese, or plain Philly cheese

180 mL (3/4 cup) thickened cream

1 tbs caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste (optional)


rose powder and/or dried rose petals to decorate (optional)


Method:


First, lightly butter your pie dish, place the frozen sheet of pastry on top, then gently push it into place when it starts to thaw

Then push it firmly into the tin, trim the edges, cover with a piece of baking paper and some pie weights, and bake at 185C for 15 minutes

Take off the weights (and baking paper), and back it goes into the oven to crisp up for another 5 or so minutes, till golden

Put aside to get completely cool

Now the apples:

Meanwhile, roughly peel, core and slice the apples, tip into a medium saucepan over a low heat, and add the water

Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes till tender

Add the butter and sugar, and simmer for a few more minutes

Put aside to cool, then mash roughly - it's quarantine cooking, we don't care about any lumps, do we? :-)

Now for the fruit compote:

Tip the thawed fruit into a medium saucepan with the vanilla and sugar

Watch it carefully, and stir regularly while it simmers away for 5-8 minutes

Mix the cornflour and water together in a teacup to make a slurry; pour into the fruit, stir well and cook it out for a couple of minutes - you will end up with a beautiful, darkly-pink, slightly-thickened compote

Cool it, of course  - that's the compote, not you - unless you need to...

And now for the creamy topping:

Spoon the caramilk (or plain) Philly cheese into a mixing bowl, grab your electric beaters (or hand beater) and beat for 3-4 minutes

Add the cream, sugar and vanilla, and beat for several more minutes - you want this to be fluffy and airy

Now the fun part, putting it all together:

Spoon the apple purée over the base of the tart, then on goes the fruity compote

Then the creamy, cheesy topping gets spread evenly over the compote

Cast on the bling, if using 

Let it settle for a couple of hours in the fridge, and eat!


Notes: 

I didn't weigh the fruit - use more or less, as you please.  Use whatever frozen fruit you have, but I think the cranberries were almost essential to the sweet/sour flavours of this tart

I used some wild hibiscus sugar for this dish; it adds the most beautiful colour and flavour


Thanks to those kind readers who wished me well recently.  I have been really down these past few weeks, and I hope I'm now starting to come out of the dumps!  All the best to you, too!

apple purée covering the baked tart crust - (I know I know, it looks murky, but there was some skin involved)

fruit compote on top of the apple purée

in goes the sugar (I used wild hibiscus sugar for added flavour)

Philly topping whipped till light and airy

sorry - blurry:)  Too much social isolation drinking - tee hee!

rosy bling thrown over the top - powder AND petals

fruity and creamy on crisp pastry 

here it is, in case you don't know what I'm talking about

fruity artwork © Sherry's Pickings

cranberries © Sherry's Pickings