Chefs' Recipes

Nadine Ingram's passionfruit tart

This tangy and creamy passionfruit tart will bring a ray of sunshine to your morning tea.

By Nadine Ingram
  • 45 mins preparation
  • 1 hr 30 mins cooking (plus resting, cooling)
  • Serves 12 - 15
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"A passionfruit tart is the yellow sunshine of Australian summers," says Nadine Ingram of Sydney's Flour and Stone. "That bounty of passionfruit that hangs over a neighbour's fence, 'foraged' for our gain, represents the fruits of Aussie tenacity and resourcefulness. If only to create something that we can skite about on the table of a sweltering backyard barbecue." Begin this recipe a day ahead to make and rest the pastry.

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 25 gm caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 250 gm (1 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 175 gm unsalted butter, cut into large dice and softened
  • Crème fraîche (optional), to serve
Passionfruit filling
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 250 gm caster sugar
  • 400 gm passionfruit pulp (from about 15 passionfruit), plus extra, to serve
  • 250 gm mascarpone, at room temperature
  • 125 ml (½ cup) pouring cream

Method

  • 1
    To make pastry, whisk egg, yolks, sugar and milk in a small bowl. Tip flour onto a work surface, add a pinch of salt and scatter butter over the top. Working quickly to keep the butter cold, rub butter into flour with your fingers until just combined, keeping lumps throughout. Make a well in the centre, then pour egg mixture into well. Gradually pull flour from into the well, mixing with your fingertips until liquid is just absorbed, then push the dough away from you on the bench with the heel of your hand in a sweeping motion, isolating the butter lumps and flattening them into ribbons throughout the pastry (take care not to overwork the flour and butter). Form dough into a 2cm-thick flat rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest (at least 3 hours or overnight).
  • 2
    Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 3mm-thick round. Line a 28cm-diameter loose-bottomed tart tin with pastry, leaving 1cm overhang. Ensure pastry is snug against sides of tin and there are no air bubbles underneath. Refrigerate to rest (overnight).
  • 3
    For passionfruit filling, whisk eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl until well combined. Add passionfruit, mascarpone and cream, and whisk to incorporate thoroughly. Push filling through a fine sieve with a spoon into a jug. Leave at room temperature until needed.
  • 4
    Preheat oven to 180°C. Trim excess pastry from tart (reserve it to repair any holes), then blind-bake until set (35-45 minutes; see cook's notes p126). Remove paper and baking weights and bake, gently pressing down any bubbles with a tea towel, until pastry is cooked through (5-10 minutes). Remove from oven and return paper and weights to pastry case until case is cool (15 minutes). Repair any holes with reserved pastry, spreading it over gaps.
  • 5
    Reduce oven to 120°C. Skim off any cream that has risen to the surface of the filling, then whisk until smooth. Place tart case in oven and carefully pour in filling to almost reach the rim (there may be some leftover). Drag a sheet of paper towel across the surface to absorb any residual cream and burst any bubbles. Bake until set with a slight wobble in the centre (30-35 minutes). Cool completely (2 hours) and serve with crème fraîche and passionfruit pulp.