Dried Fig and Marsala Tart

Dried Fig and Marsala Tart
Dried Fig and Marsala Tart
There are two tricky moments in the preparation of any sort of upside-down tart and both involve the caramel. First the making of the sugar and butter sauce without burning or crystallizing it, and second, restraining said hot sauce from pouring out over your fingers as you upend the tart on to its serving plate. The caramel is something I have been playing with, on and off, for years. I have finally decided not to make it in the traditional manner. It is far easier, I find, to make one from sugar and a little sweet wine (in this case Marsala), then drop cubes of butter into it and let everything come together in the oven. The fruit helpfully soaks up most of the caramel, leaving just the right amount of buttery stickiness. Use a tarte Tatin mould or a metal-handled frying pan, or, as I do, a shallow-sided tart tin.
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HarperCollins Dessert Christmas Tart Fig Raisin Marsala Wine Fortified Wine Bake Butterscotch/Caramel Pastry English British Winter Christmas Eve
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 500g dried figs
  • 50g golden raisins
  • 100ml dry marsala
  • 100g natural raw granulated sugar
  • 50g butter
  • 175g cold butter
  • 225g all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp natural raw granulated sugar
  • heavy cream, ice cream, or crã¨me fraã®che
  • you will also need a 24cm round tatin tin or shallow, non-stick cake tin with a fixed base.
  • Carbohydrate 41 g(14%)
  • Cholesterol 57 mg(19%)
  • Fat 13 g(20%)
  • Fiber 3 g(12%)
  • Protein 3 g(6%)
  • Saturated Fat 8 g(40%)
  • Sodium 7 mg(0%)
  • Calories 291

Preparation Set the oven at 400°F/200°C/Gas 6. Put the figs and raisins into a mixing bowl, pour over the Marsala and leave to stand for forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally. Make the pastry: Cut the cold butter into small cubes and rub into the flour, either with your fingertips or using a food processor. Work until you have what looks like coarse, fresh breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Add the egg yolks to the butter and flour. Mix together until you have a soft dough, then turn out on to a floured board and knead briefly, for just a minute. Shape the dough into a smooth, fat cylinder. Wrap it in greaseproof paper or clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for thirty minutes. Make the caramel: Place the Tatin mould or a frying pan over a moderate heat. (If you will be baking the tart in a cake tin, use a frying pan to make the caramel, otherwise you will damage your tin.) Add the Marsala from the dried fruit, leaving the fruit behind in the bowl, then add the sugar. Bring to the boil and leave to form a thin caramel. If you are using a Tatin mould, remove from the heat. If you are using a cake tin, pour the caramel from the frying pan into the tin. Assemble the tart: Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter it over the caramel. Place the plumped-up figs on the base of the tin in a single layer (neatly or not, as you wish), then scatter over the raisins, pushing them into any gaps. Roll out the pastry a little larger than the Tatin mould or cake tin. With the help of the rolling pin—it is very fragile—lift the pastry into the mould or tin, pressing it gently into place over the figs. Tuck in any overhanging pastry. Bake in the preheated oven for about thirty minutes, until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to settle for ten to fifteen minutes. Place a large serving plate on top of the tart, then, using oven gloves, hold the tin and plate firmly and carefully turn them over, leaving the tart to slide out on to the plate. Serve warm with cream, ice cream or crème fraîche. From The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories & 100 Essential Recipes for Winter © 2018 by Nigel Slater. Reprinted by permission of Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.

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