Cherry and custard tart – by Samuel Clark

INGREDIENTS

(serves 12)

For the pastry

110g butter, cubed
175g plain flour
50g icing sugar
1½ egg yolks
700g cherries, destalked and rinsed
Anisette

For the custard
300ml milk
300ml cream
75g vanilla sugar
Zest of a lemon
4 egg yolks
1 egg

For the cherry syrup
Caster sugar, to taste
Juice of a lemon

METHOD

Make the pastry, then let it rest for one hour in the fridge. Place cherries in a small saucepan and cover halfway with anisette. Simmer until just soft. Remove and drain, reserving the juice. When cherries are cool enough, remove stones.

Place milk, cream, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan. Heat gently while whisking in egg and egg yolks until the mixture thickens. Do not boil. Remove and cool.

Roll out pastry into a 12in tart shell. Spread cherries, face down, over pastry then pour the custard over them until the shell is three-quarters full. Cook in oven at 180ºC for 35 minutes. Turn up temperature to 210ºC and cook for a further five minutes so that the tart is browned. Remove and cool.

Take the reserved anisette/cherry juice, add a handful of caster sugar and the juice of the lemon. Bring to a simmer. Reduce for a few minutes. Taste and add sugar if necessary - the syrup should be quite tart.

Samuel Clark