Learn how to become the queen of tarts with Rachel Allen’s fruit and chocolate recipes (2024)

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Serves 6-8

You will need:

• 200g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 100g chilled butter, cubed
• A pinch of salt
• 1 large egg, whisked with 1 tablespoon of water

You will also need:

• 23cm diameter loose-bottomed tart tin or a 20 x 30cm Swiss roll tin

1 Place the flour, the icing sugar, the butter and the salt in a food processor and whiz briefly until the butter is in small lumps. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz for another few seconds or until the mixture is just starting to come together. Bear in mind that prolonged processing will only toughen the pastry, so once the dough comes together there’s no need to knead it. You might need to add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together. Reserve any egg to use for later.

​2 If making by hand, rub the butter into the flour, the icing sugar and the salt until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bring it together. Reserve any leftover egg to use later.

​3 With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough about 1.5cm thick, into a round if it’s going into a round tin, or a rectangle if going into a Swiss roll tin. Place on a plate and cover with an upturned bowl and leave in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

​4 Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan), 350F, Gas 4.

​5 When you are ready to roll out the pastry, remove it from the fridge and place it on a work surface that you’ve dusted with flour. Dust some flour over the pastry and using a rolling pin, roll the pastry out to approximately 3-4mm thick. If the pastry has been in the fridge for more than 20 minutes, it might be necessary to let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes first. Make sure to keep it in the shape of the tin that you’re using.

​6 While you’re rolling the pastry you want to ensure that it’s not sticking to the work surface so keep sliding a palette knife or a fish slice underneath, and if necessary move the pastry to the side and dust with a little more flour. When the pastry is just about 3-4mm thick and large enough to cover the base and sides of your chosen tart tin, dust off any excess flour and place your rolling pin on top. Now starting at the end away from you roll the pastry over the rolling pin towards you, then continue to roll so that the pastry is rolled around the pin — this makes it easy to transfer into the tin.

​7 Once the pastry is in the tin, press it into the edges at the base and, using your thumb, cut the pastry along the edge of the tin for a neat finish.

8 Now prick over the base with a fork and if the pastry has got warm while working with it, then pop it into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before baking. It can also be covered and chilled for 24 hours or frozen for a few weeks if you wish, for convenience.

​9 To blind bake the pastry, cut a piece of baking parchment larger than the tin and scrunch it up in a ball, then Un-scrunch it — this makes it more pliable for putting into the tin. Lay the paper in the base of the tin and coming up the sides, higher than the pastry. Fill with baking beans or dried pulses, then place in the oven and blind bake for 35-40 minutes or until the pastry feels dry in the base. Remove from the oven, take out the baking beans and paper, brush the base of the pastry with any leftover beaten egg, then cook in the oven for another 3-4 minutes or until light golden. Remove from the oven and cool slightly for a few minutes before pouring in your chosen filling.

Rachel Recommends If you have a spare tart tin, it’s really worth making two tarts and placing one, covered, in the freezer for a rainy day.

Strawberry, raspberry and almond tart

I adore this strawberry, raspberry and almond tart, a version of one that was made by Ruth Rogers and the late Rose Gray from the River Café in London — they came to give a guest chef course at the cookery school at Ballymaloe many years ago when I was just starting out. It’s a divinely rich and nutty tart with the biscuity shortcrust pastry encasing a sweet buttery almond frangipane, topped with juicy summer fruit such as strawberries and raspberries — though cherries, apricots and peaches also work fabulously.

Serves 8

You will need:

• 1 x 23cm sweet shortcrust pastry shell

For the frangipane filling, you will need:

• 285g soft butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 275g ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 250g mixture of fresh strawberries and raspberries

1 First blind-bake the pastry in the oven. Preheat the oven to 160C (145 fan), 325F, Gas 3.

​2 Next make the almond frangipane filling. Cream the butter with the sugar until soft and fluffy. Break the eggs in a separate bowl and whisk well. Then gradually, while beating the butter and sugar (I like to use an electric hand-beater for this), pour in the eggs.

​3 Mix in the ground almonds and the flour. Pour into the cool blind-baked pastry case. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the filling feels just set in the centre.

​4 Place the tin on a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing the tart from the tin, see Tip, and placing on a serving plate.

​5 Just before serving, cut the strawberries in half or quarters and place on the tart with the raspberries. Cut into slices to serve.

Top Tip To remove a tart from the tin, place it on a bowl or wide cup so that the sides of the tin fall down, then use a palette knife to slide it off the base and into a serving plate.

Rich chocolate tart

The chocolate tart is one of my favourites. Rich, intense and uncompromisingly chocolatey, this is best made a few hours in advance to allow the almost molten chocolate mousse filling to set. Serve with berries if you fancy, and lots of softly whipped cream or ice cream.

Serves 8

You will need:

• 1 x 23cm sweet shortcrust pastry shell

For the filling, you will need:

• 200g dark chocolate, I like to use 55pc
• 150g butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 40g caster sugar

​1 First blind-bake the pastry in the oven. Preheat the oven to 190C (170 fan), 375F, Gas 5.

​2 Melt the chocolate and the butter together by placing in a Pyrex bowl sitting over a saucepan that has a few centimetres of hot water in it, on a low to medium heat. Once the water in the saucepan comes up to the boil, take it off the heat and let the mixture in the bowl melt slowly.

​3 Next, place the eggs, the egg yolks and the sugar in a separate bowl and whisk well, until a little pale and thick — this will take about 2 minutes.

​4 Fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture and beat briefly to combine well. Pour into the blind baked case and bake for 7 minutes exactly. It should still be slightly molten/ wobbly when you take it out of the tin. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

​5 Once the tart has cooled and set, take it out of the tin and place in a serving plate. Dust, if you wish, with icing sugar or cocoa powder.

​6 Serve with softly whipped cream.

Peach, blueberry and raspberry crumble tart

Finally, here’s a gorgeous end-of-summer tart to enjoy with some vanilla ice cream. Juicy fruit sitting inside a sweet shortcrust pastry case, topped with buttery crumble. Yummy.

Serves 8

You will need:

• 1 x 23cm sweet shortcrust pastry shell
• 700g peaches or nectarines
• 110g blueberries
• 110g raspberries
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 2 generous teaspoons sugar

For the crumble, you will need:

• 3oz butter
• 3oz plain flour
• 150g caster sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon — optional
• 75g chopped almonds

​1 First blind-bake the pastry in the oven. Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan), 350F, Gas 4.

2 While the pastry is cooking, make the crumble. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar to make a coarse crumble. Add the ground cinnamon, if using, and the chopped almonds.

​3 Slice the peaches or nectarines, whichever you’re using, into a bowl and add in the raspberries and the blueberries. Sprinkle with the cornflour and the sugar and mix well. Place in the baked pastry shell, scraping the bowl to get every bit of cornflour and any juices in with the fruit.

​4 Top the fruit with an even layer of crumble and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to one hour or until the topping is crisp and the fruit is tender. The juices might bubble up around the edges.

​5 Serve with vanilla ice cream.