How BEAUTIFUL are these figs! Seriously! They have got to be amongst the biggest hidden gems of all fruits in my opinion. You would never think that hiding inside their dark purple, fussy, uninviting exterior, that at their centre lies a stunning, crimson hued, soft, seeded interior. Their internal and external textures and colourings are so contrasting yet so complimentary. Before even eating it, I get giddy about cutting it open to see the depth of colour on the inside. I have never been fortunate enough to grow figs in my back yard so when I see them at the grocer, I just have to buy them. Given that they are not one of the cheapest fruits to buy, they are a perfect treat to cook with and share. They don’t last long once picked so be sure to use them ASAP. Although that’s hardly a struggle in our house. 😉 They don’t need much fuss to prepare in a dish as they come with their own unique beauty and flavour. When bought from a good source and well-ripened, they are perfectly sweet, not too much, but just right and their skin has a slight tartness to it too. I decided to use them in this lovely tart, however, my most favorite of favorite ways to eat them is stuffed with blue cheese and then wrapped in salty prosciutto! Now that is a flavour combination I cannot get enough of!
Below are a few step by step photos I took whilst making the pastry base. In all honesty, making pastry completely scares me! I have never made it successfully or if I have, it just hasn’t had much flavour or the texture isn’t what I wanted. In a surprise to me, this one was super easy and sturdy to roll. It held together wonderfully when I transferred it to the tin and didn’t fall apart once cooked. It ticked all the boxes where, previously, I had failed. So please give it a try. Dont be scared. They key I have discovered is to not over work the butter in the dough if you can and seeing small chunks of it when you roll it out, is perfect.
I think this tart will make a super impression at a dinner party or for a special woman in your life. I would have loved to share this with my mum! It’s just so pretty I couldn’t stop taking photos….hence why I have posted so many. I hope you don’t mind! 😉 Whilst it may look complicated to make, it isn’t! Once the base is made, the rest of the filling and toppings are incredibly easy to assemble.
I am going to confess that whilst I have suggested to share this beauty, my family of five consumed 8 pieces in one evening and the remaining two pieces…well…I had to beg my husband to relinquish his grasp on them so I could share the love with my neighbour! 😉 Yes! Totally indulgent but since it is packed with fruit and yoghurt in the filling, hubby rates it as a ‘healthy’ dessert. I love when he asks me, ‘Is this a healthy cake?’ and I say ‘well….it’s got sugar and butter and mascarpone and yoghurt and….’, he stops me there and says, ‘well it’s got yoghurt so it’s healthy then!’ and proceeds to devour it with a giggle and a cheeky smile. I love his fun and child like spirit towards food. He makes me laugh. It’s always a pleasure and heartfelt joy to see people enjoy something I’ve made. It gets me really excited.:)
You could say that we are slightly obsessed with mascarpone cheese in my house. You can check out my Blood Orange and Mascarpone Crepes or my Granola with Pears and Mascarpone Yoghurt recipe for more delicious ways to enjoy this versatile and delicious ingredient.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we clearly did! I’d love to hear your feedback. Many thanks to the talented Becky Sue at Baking the Goods for this inspiration. It’s a keeper!
Enjoy! xxx
- *For the pastry*
- A 9.5 x 1 inch round tart tin with removable base
- 1 large egg yolk – room temp
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup butter – cold and cubed
- 11/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup icing sugar – sifted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- *For the filling*
- 1 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- 3 tbsp runny honey
- 1 vanilla bean pod – seeds only
- 1 capful of dessert wine – optional
- *Topping*
- 5 Fresh figs
- 1 cup raspberries
- Icing sugar – to dust
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- In a small bowl, combine the whole milk, egg yolk and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, almond meal, icing sugar and salt. Using a whisk, give it a good mix.
- In a food processor, add the flour mixture and the cold butter cubes. Pulse it only a few times until there are large finger nail sized flakes of floury butter still visible. You dont want a smooth dough. Seeing pieces of butter is what you want.
- While pulsing a couple more times, add the liquid milk mixture till the dough half clumps together into a ball.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands to form a flat oval shape (see picture above). Try not to knead it or over work it too much as you want to try keep the butter as cold and flakey as possible.
- Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
- To prepare the filling, place the mascarpone, yoghurt, vanilla bean seeds and runny honey in a large bowl and mix till well combined. At this point you can add the optional capful of dessert wine too. Place this mixture in the fridge.
- Once the dough has chilled for at least an hour, heat the oven to 200℃ and place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll out the dough until it is about 0.5cm thick or until it will stretch over the baking tin without too much waste. However you will need about 2cm of dough to over hang the tin.
- Carefully lay the rolled out pastry in the tin. Dont worry if it breaks. Just patch it up in the tin with left over bits of dough. Fold the over hanging pastry back into the tin and press it against the edge, thus forming a thicker tart edge. (see picture above)
- Using your rolling pin, roll it over the top of the tin so the edges are smoothed over evenly and excess dough is cut off. This gives the tart a clean and well finished look (see picture above).
- Line the tart base with foil and place pie weights on-top of the foil to blind bake the tart.
- Place the tart in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges turn golden in colour (see picture above). Remove the foil and pie weights and bake for a further 5 minutes until the base is cooked and is lightly golden and the edges turn a deep golden colour (see picture above).
- Remove the base from the oven and set aside to completely cool.
- Once cooled, carefully pour in the filling mixture and spread it out evenly.
- Decorate the top of the tart with the figs and raspberries as you choose.
- Place it in the fridge to chill and set for at least 2 hours. The filling should not be wobbling.
- Serve the tart cold, with a sprinkle of icing sugar and with a drizzle of honey over the top! x
