Monday 2 September 2013

Blackberry & Vanilla Ricotta Tart



Can we talk about things that are totally impractical?


Cinderella's glass slippers. No wonder she lost one of them at midnight. They would have killed her feet.

Serving sizes on packets of junk food. You're right. I'm only going to eat 30gr of M&Ms and then I'll put the bag down. Behave.

Red lipstick. It only has one goal. That is to get everywhere else, except for your lips. That's mainly your teeth.



Handbags so small that you can't actually fit anything into.  I fell in love with a bag that was shaped like an owl, shame it couldn't contain more than a bank card and a lip balm...

Serving dishes that you can't get a whole bag of Kettle Chips in. No one ever sets out to serve just 94% of a sharing bag of crisps. 

Freezer bags when you are collecting blackberries. First, your berries get squished. Second, you know that bag is going to split open and spill your carefully plucked wares all over the floor or down your jeans...


This tart is a sweet reward for all your stained and bramble scratched fingers. 
Ingredients

Pastry

200gr plain flour
Pinch of salt
45gr caster sugar
110 gr cold butter
1 egg
Ice cold water

Ricotta Filling

500gr ricotta
1 egg
1/2 vanilla pod (seeds only) 
50gr caster sugar (plus 2tbsp for the topping)
300gr blackberries


 Method

1, Make the pastry first by sifting the flour with the salt and sugar. Rub in the butter until you have a coarse breadcrumb texture. Using two knives, mix in the egg and bring it into ball. If its a bit dry and not coming together, use a tiny splash of ice cold water.
2, Shape the dough into a fat disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3, Preheat your oven to 180o/c and roll out your dough to a thickness of around just under half a centimetre. Line a 9inch tart tin with your pastry and trim off any excess. Add a scrunched layer of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. 
4, Chill the tart crust for another 10mins before baking for 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the pastry are just starting to golden. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake for another five minutes to crisp up the base. Leave this to cool completely before filling. 


5, Beat the ricotta filling with the egg, sugar and vanilla until completely smooth.  
6, Fill the tart with the ricotta filling and scatter the blackberries over the top. Gently press them into the filling but don’t submerge them completely. Scatter the remaining 2tbsp of caster sugar over the top and bake for 20 minutes or until the ricotta filling is set and slightly springy to the touch. 
7, If you don’t feel like making one big tart, try making mini tarts.  I made these with a Wilton mini muffin pan using the same method. 


17 comments:

  1. Love the teeny tarts- they are adorable. I agree with all of the above; especially the bit about M&Ms. I'm almost halfway through a bag I only opened this evening, but I reckon they're the idiots because everyone knows one bag of anything = one portion. xx

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    1. Thank you :) I think the smaller tarts were so much sweeter than the big one

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  2. WOW beautiful! I haven't been blackberry picking, mainly because I am super clumsy and would probably fall in a bramble patch!

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    1. Thank you Stephanie. When we went blackberry picking, it had been raining all night and was so slippery. We came back covered in mud and insect bites! Still worth it for tart though :)

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  3. I don't know much about handbags and lipstick, but I totally agree with you on freezer bags for blackberries. I've had some incidents. I recently collected some in an empty water bottle, which was fine until it came to getting them out. However you collect your berries, though, this looks an absolutely lovely tart. I love those colours.

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    1. Thank you Phil, maybe a wide mouthed bottle would have worked but I'm not a fan of the freezer bag technique. We went equipped with glass mixing bowls as our blackberry hunting ground was just in the park near our house. Last year, I had to throw away a pair of jean thanks to a split...

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  4. this looks stunning Hannah and I am sure must be absolutely delicious

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    1. Thank you Nazima, I think it was a big bit for just too people but we powered through!

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  5. This looks delicious, the perfect end of summer fruit tart :-) x

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    1. Thank you - I agree that blackberries signal the end of summer for me. Looking forward to a lot of autumnal fruit now!

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  6. Haha! I agree with all of those things. This tart looks lovely and what a nice way to use some carefully picked fruit.

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    1. Thank you Caroline. We came back scratched and bitten but it was worth it for the blackberries!

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  7. No to freezer bags and blackberries - I try and use a bowl or plastic tub. Mind you that doesn't mean I don't trip up and lose the lot - ha! Your tart looks super delicious and such a good colour.

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    1. Thank you Choclette, I learnt the hard way last year with a pair of stained jeans and a sad face!

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  8. love your list :-) but really love that tart! ricotta filling - delish! and just rememebred i have berries in the freezer!
    will stop using so may !!s now.

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    1. Thank you E, I know some people arent keen on ricotta fillings because of the consistency but I just cant get enough of them at the moment!

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  9. Blackberry picking is a dangerous activity! You have made a gorgeous tart :)

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