Cherry and Marzipan Tarts
Ingredients
- Sweet short pastry:
- 175 g plain flour
- 50 g butter, softened and chopped
- 50 g icing sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1 egg yolk
- Or use 325 g bought sweet short pastry
- Filling:
- 350 g fresh, ripe cherries, pitted (use a cherry stoner)
- 75 g almond marzipan
- 2 tsp custard powder
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 300 ml red fruits juice such as cherry, raspberry, etc.
- 1 tbsp fruit brandy (such as kirsch) or other fruit eau-de-vie
- To serve:
- vanilla custard, yogurt or crème fraîche (optional)
Directions
Have the oven preheated to 220ºC, 425ºF, Gas 7 and have ready 6 x 10 cm diameter metal flan tins (loose-based) or one large 23 cm diameter metal flan tin with a loose base. Put 150 g of the flour into a food processor with the butter, icing sugar, egg and egg yolk. Whiz, in brief bursts to make a soft, dense biscuity mass. Remove it from the processor. Work in the remaining 25 g flour by hand to make a firm, sweet dough. Plastic wrap it and chill for 30 minutes. Now divide the marzipan into eight equal portions. Cut each of these into 8 giving 64 pieces. Roll them into little balls. Push one inside each pitted cherry or else mix marzipan balls with the whole cherries, if they are unpitted. Unwrap the dough. Divide it into 6 equal portions and pat each into a circle. Roll into circles a little bigger than each flan tin. Lift and place the pastry circles into each flan tin; pastry is very soft, so if necessary, repair any tears by pushing the dough together. Push the dough to line them evenly. Prick all over with a fork. If using one large flan tin, line it with the pastry in the same way. Bake the pastry blind (no weights or foil are needed) for 15 minutes.
Add the cherries and the marzipan. Bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the cherries are soft and juicy. Now mix the sugar and custard powder together and whisk into the cherry juice. Heat over high heat, stirring to make a glossy glaze.
Cool slightly. Stir in the alcohol. Spoon or pour the glaze over the cherries. Serve hot, warm or cool with the accompaniment of your choice.
Tip: If using defrosted or bottle cherries, drain them well. Use any juice as the glaze liquid. If no eau-de-vie is available, substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla essence.
