5th October 2017
Interview: Sophie Missing
Photographs: Sophie Davidson
Makes 1 x 9”/23cm flan
INGREDIENTS
8oz/225g freshly milled flour
4oz/110g butter
As many mulberries as you can find (around 1lb/450g)
2 medium eating apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tbsp kuzu (wild arrowroot)
METHOD
Rub the butter into the flour and mix in enough cold water to bring it all together and make a dough. Add a splash more water – the pastry should be a bit wetter than you think. Put the pastry in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for at least half an hour: the longer the better as it will go on absorbing the liquid. The pastry can be made a day in advance if easier (if you try to use it straight away it just falls apart).
I prepare the fruit in advance then let it go cold: to save saucepans and heat and washing up, stew the apples in a drop of water over a low heat and throw the mulberries in with them to soften. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Roll the pastry out into a circle on a lightly floured surface and transfer to a tart or flan tin pushing into place. Prick the base with a fork and bake for approximately 25 minutes – tap it to check it sounds hollow. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Fill the pastry shell with the stewed fruit, reserving the juice.
In a small pan, mix the kuzu with a little of the cold reserved fruit juice until totally smooth then add the rest of the juice. Bring to the boil for a minute, stirring constantly. Pour over the fruit to cover and allow to go cold before serving – the glaze is far better when “set”.
If strawberries are in excess in summer and you have some frozen you can arrange them around the edge of the flan and the fruit glue will thaw them while preserving their shape.
Interviews
Rosamund Young