Simnel cherry tart

Easter baking recipe for 4 - 8 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has self-raising flour, shortcrust pastry, butter, golden caster sugar, large egg, ground almond, fruit, glace cherry, orange, mixed spice, cinnamon, jam, marzipan, icing sugar and almond.

Simnel cherry tart

Simnel cherry tart

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Easter baking
Servings

4 - 8

servings
Prep time

50 mins

Ingredients

  • Butter: 140g butter, softened
  • Cinnamon: 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Orange: zest and juice 1 orange
  • Almond: 25g flaked toasted almond
  • Self Raising Flour: 75g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
  • Ground Almond: 75g ground almond
  • Golden Caster Sugar: 140g golden caster sugar
  • Large Egg: 2 large eggs
  • Mixed Spice: 1 tsp mixed spice
  • Glace Cherry: 50g glace cherry, halved
  • Shortcrust Pastry: 375g pack sweet shortcrust pastry
  • Icing Sugar: 50g icing sugar, to decorate
  • Fruit: 175g mixed dried fruit
  • Jam: 6 tbsp cherry jam
  • Marzipan: 350g marzipan, 1/2 cut into small cubes, 1/2 rolled into 11 balls to represent the apostles

Directions

  1. On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to the thickness of a PS1 coin. Lift the pastry over your rolling pin and use to line a 20 x 30cm rectangular fluted tart tin, leaving a rim of overhanging pastry. Chill for at least 30 mins.
  2. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line your pastry case with baking parchment, then fill with baking beans. Blind-bake for 15 mins, remove the beans and parchment, and bake for a further 10 mins until the pastry is pale golden and biscuity. Leave to cool.
  3. Reduce oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well between each addition. Stir in the flour, almonds, dried fruit, cherries, half the orange zest, and the spices. Spread the jam over the base of the tart case, then dot the cubes of marzipan over the top. Pour over the cake mixture and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 35 mins until golden and risen. Leave to cool in the tin.
  4. If you want to brown the tops of your marzipan balls, heat the grill to medium. Put the marzipan balls on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and place under the grill for 1-2 mins until golden - make sure you keep an eye on them, as they will burn easily. Let cool. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with enough orange juice to make a thick, smooth icing. Drizzle the icing over the tart, top with the toasted marzipan balls, flaked almonds and the remaining orange zest. Cut into squares to serve. Will keep for 5 days in a sealed container.