Vincotto Strawberry and Apple Crumble Tart

Vino Cotto Strawberry and Apple Crumble Tart

Starring warm tender apples and sweet strawberries with a dash of Vino Cotto and a generous helping of crunchy hazelnut crumble, makes this dessert a real treat.

The fruits pair up beautifully and the sweet crumble offsets the subtle tartness of the compote. Any leftover compote can always be enjoyed with a scoop of yoghurt or ice-cream.

Serves 10

IngredientsSweet Pastry (can be made in advance)
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting40g icing sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
125g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg yolk

Hazelnut Crumble (can be made in advance)
½ cup hazelnut meal
½ cup oats
3 tbsp desiccated coconut
4 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
90g cold butter, chopped into small pieces

Apple and Strawberry Compote
5 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced to 5mm
100g caster sugar
zest of one lemon
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split
3 sprigs thyme
2 punnets strawberries, hulled and halved
4 tbsp Vino Cotto

Vanilla Custard (can be made in advance)
1 cup thickened cream
1 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp cornflour
1/3 cup caster sugar

Double cream, to serve (optional)

Method

Sweet Pastry:
Place the flour, icing sugar, vanilla seeds and butter in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs.
Add the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons iced water, then whiz until the mixture comes together in a ball.
Shape pastry into a disc, warp in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and line a 33cm x 12cm rectangular loose-bottomed tart pan, trimming to fit. Alternatively, use a round pie dish/tin. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Line tart with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice.
Bake for 10 minutes, then remove paper and weights.
Bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until golden. Cool completely.
Tart shell can be made a day in advance and stored in an airtight container.

Hazelnut crumble:
To make crumble, combine hazelnut meal, oats, coconut, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Rub in the butter using fingertips until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Place crumble onto a lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
Remove from oven and break up any of the large chunks with a spoon. Cool.
The crumble can be made in advance and kept in an airtight container.

Vanilla Custard:
Combine cream and milk in a small saucepan. Add vanilla bean and seeds to milk mixture and place over a medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until hot but do not allow to boil. Remove saucepan from heat. Discard vanilla bean.
Whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar in a bowl until well combined. Pour hot milk over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
Return mixture to saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring constantly for 15 to 20 minutes or until custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon (ensure custards does not come to a boil as it will curdle).
Pour into a serving jug, cover the surface of the custard with cling wrap to prevent a skin forming and refrigerate.

Prepare compote: Add into a large saucepan the apples, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla bean and thyme. Add 2tbsp of water. Cover with lid and place over a medium heat. Stir occasionally until some liquid forms and the apples begin to soften but not break up. Approx. 20 minutes.
Remove and discard the lemon zest, cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean and thyme.
Add the strawberries to the apples and cook covered for 5 minutes until the strawberries are tender and syrupy.
Remove saucepan from heat. Add in the Vino Cotto and stir to combine. Cool compote completely.

 

 

 

 

 

Assemble tart by spreading the cooled compote (avoid scooping up any juices as we don’t want the tart shell to get gooey) into the cooled tart shell and bake at 180C for 10 minutes just to warm through. (The left over juices can be used to pour over some yogurt or ice-cream)

Place warm tart onto serving platter and sprinkle with crumble.
Serve tart with custard and/or double cream for extra indulgence.

Enjoy!

Buy the Vino Cotto you need for this recipe online. Click here.