Journalism of Courage
Fresh fruit tarts are the preferred dessert of the season. Think mango,kiwi,orange and more
Tiny,crunchy troughs that crumble in your mouth along with a delicious filling of cream and fresh fruits – that is what makes fruit tarts magical. They are light and fun to experiment with,reason why a lot of people are growing fond of this rather quaint dessert.
A tart is basically a baked trough made of flour and butter,baked till it’s brown,followed by a cream or chocolate filling. Meeta Makhacha,Chef at The Flour Works,Kalyani Nagar,believes that the perfect fruit tart is simple to achieve if you use the right ingredients. “The key to getting a tart just right is the baked trough. You should use butter with flour to get the authentic taste,don’t use substitutes like margarine. The baking needs a little practice because it should be fully baked till it acquires a golden-brown colour,but it shouldn’t become hard,instead it should crumble in the mouth. Even with the cream,it is better to use pastry cream rather than whipped cream and top it up with fresh fruits. I think that’s the best way,instead of using flavouring agents,” she says.
Tarts have been around since Shakespearean times,as the recipe appeared in La Varenne’s Cuisiner Francaise in 1651. The apple tart was a favourite of those times,while the orange tart was a treat only reserved for royals as orange was an exotic fruit in Europe back then.
Richie’s Cake Shop,Bavdhan,also serves a variety of seasonal fruit tarts. Richard Borges,managing partner of the joint,provides an insight of what the tart-making process is like in larger quantities. “The tart shells or troughs are baked in advance. Once that is done,you can experiment with the fillings – fruits,sponge,cream,chocolate fillings,they can all be made using the same base”.
Pune Baking Company,the bakery in Mariott Hotel and Convention Centre,has a large array of tarts starting from blueberry,kiwi,lemon,chocolate filled and many more. The pastry executive chef,Ajmal Salim,feels that people prefer seasonal fruits when it comes to tarts. “A few of the regular tarts on the menu are also popular but in this season the current favourite is the mango tart,” says he.
