Picking wild fruits has always been one of my favourite activities.
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a family house near Lyon (France), next to which there was a cherry orchard. Every year, during the cherry season, we'd drive the 350km separating us from the house to spend a long weekend there with the whole family (uncles, aunts, cousins and all). My grandpa and grandma would have arrived a few days early to get the house ready and repair their two best ladders. By the time we'd get there, grandpa would have set his ladders against the two bigger trees in the orchard, declaring the cherry picking open.
For three days, my cousins and I would spend most of our time in the orchard, eating and picking cherries, splitting each tree between the lower branches, to be taken care of by the little kids, and the higher by the taller kids (I was a very little kid, so I mostly stood below the ladder and waited for my older cousins to drop cherries onto my palm). We'd proudly bring back a hamper full of the big dark red cherries to my grandma, who would turn them into the most delicious cherry clafoutis, that we'd eat at every meal for 3 days.
These days belong to the happiest memories of my childhood.
Today, there is no cherry orchard next to my parents house, but my dad has kept up the family tradition and every time I go visit them during the blackberry season, I join my dad, my little nieces and nephews for a wild blackberry picking session and I'm pretty sure that, like me, these moments will also be engraved in their memories for a long time.
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a family house near Lyon (France), next to which there was a cherry orchard. Every year, during the cherry season, we'd drive the 350km separating us from the house to spend a long weekend there with the whole family (uncles, aunts, cousins and all). My grandpa and grandma would have arrived a few days early to get the house ready and repair their two best ladders. By the time we'd get there, grandpa would have set his ladders against the two bigger trees in the orchard, declaring the cherry picking open.
For three days, my cousins and I would spend most of our time in the orchard, eating and picking cherries, splitting each tree between the lower branches, to be taken care of by the little kids, and the higher by the taller kids (I was a very little kid, so I mostly stood below the ladder and waited for my older cousins to drop cherries onto my palm). We'd proudly bring back a hamper full of the big dark red cherries to my grandma, who would turn them into the most delicious cherry clafoutis, that we'd eat at every meal for 3 days.
These days belong to the happiest memories of my childhood.
Today, there is no cherry orchard next to my parents house, but my dad has kept up the family tradition and every time I go visit them during the blackberry season, I join my dad, my little nieces and nephews for a wild blackberry picking session and I'm pretty sure that, like me, these moments will also be engraved in their memories for a long time.
Wild blackberry and almond tart
We picked these blackberries about 10 days ago in the six miles of bushes that along the cycle path going from Canterbury to Whitstable.
Blackberries and almond work wonders together, but a classic almond frangipane can easily over-power the blackberries.
I made an almond base without butter spread it relatively thin on the pastry case, so it would not bubble up into the blackberries, taste quite subtle, soak up just enough the juices of the blackberries to ensure the pastry would remain crisp.
I find the result perfect, and this tart is a real celebration of our local wild blackberries.
Ingredients
For the sweet pastry:
250 g flour
100g butter, cubed and slightly softened
100g confectioners'/icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
For the almond base:
2 eggs
40g demerara sugar
100g ground almonds
For the blackberry topping:
Approx 500g of blackberries
4tbsp demerara sugar
Sliced almonds, for decoration
Instructions
Make the pastry:
Pastry recipe adapted from Michel Roux's pâte sucrée by The Messy Baker
For the sweet pastry:
250 g flour
100g butter, cubed and slightly softened
100g confectioners'/icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
For the almond base:
2 eggs
40g demerara sugar
100g ground almonds
For the blackberry topping:
Approx 500g of blackberries
4tbsp demerara sugar
Sliced almonds, for decoration
Instructions
Make the pastry:
1/ Put the flour in a mound on a counter and make a well.
Put in the butter, confectioners'/icing sugar, and salt and mix together with your
finger tips.
2/ Gradually draw in the flour into the centre and mix with your finger tips until the dough becomes slightly grainy.
3/ Again, make a well and add the eggs. Work them into the flour mixture, using your fingertips, until the dough begins to hold together.
4/ When the dough is well amalgamated, knead it a few times with the palm of your hand until smooth. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and rest in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before using.
5/ 15min before the end of the pastry's resting period, preheat the oven at 170deg C and prepare the almond base: in a bowl, whisk the eggs with a fork. Add the sugar and ground almonds, and whisk until well combined.
6/ When the dough is rested and you are ready to use it, unwrap and roll out on a lightly floured counter to a 2 - 3 mm thickness (depending in how thick you like it. This pastry is quite solid, so you can roll it out thin if you like).
7/ Line a tart dish with the pastry, cut out the pieces hanging over, cover the pastry with baking parchment and dried beans or baking beans, and bake blind for 10mins. Remove the baking beans and parchment, and bake for further 5mins until lightly golden. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10-15min.
8/ Spread the almond base evenly on the pastry case.
9/ In a bowl mix the blackberries with the demerara sugar, and spread evenly on top of the almond base. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, and bake for 25-35 min. (Take care that the pastry case doesn't burn)
2/ Gradually draw in the flour into the centre and mix with your finger tips until the dough becomes slightly grainy.
3/ Again, make a well and add the eggs. Work them into the flour mixture, using your fingertips, until the dough begins to hold together.
4/ When the dough is well amalgamated, knead it a few times with the palm of your hand until smooth. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and rest in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before using.
5/ 15min before the end of the pastry's resting period, preheat the oven at 170deg C and prepare the almond base: in a bowl, whisk the eggs with a fork. Add the sugar and ground almonds, and whisk until well combined.
6/ When the dough is rested and you are ready to use it, unwrap and roll out on a lightly floured counter to a 2 - 3 mm thickness (depending in how thick you like it. This pastry is quite solid, so you can roll it out thin if you like).
7/ Line a tart dish with the pastry, cut out the pieces hanging over, cover the pastry with baking parchment and dried beans or baking beans, and bake blind for 10mins. Remove the baking beans and parchment, and bake for further 5mins until lightly golden. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10-15min.
8/ Spread the almond base evenly on the pastry case.
9/ In a bowl mix the blackberries with the demerara sugar, and spread evenly on top of the almond base. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, and bake for 25-35 min. (Take care that the pastry case doesn't burn)
Pastry recipe adapted from Michel Roux's pâte sucrée by The Messy Baker
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