Nigel Slater’s Marmalade Tart

I think the beauty of a fruit tart is that it combines different textures and sensations with whatever you want to serve it with. Cream, ice cream, custard or even left by itself and washed down with a cup of strong tea, a tart is often as much about what accompanies it… although this one is particularly delicious.

I’ve used marmalade for that extra spice, and because the pastry is deliberately sweetened to balance the citrus bitterness of the marmalade.

Serves 4

For the pastry:

250g plain flour
125g butter
100g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1-2 tbsp water
1 egg, beaten for the glaze

For the filling:

4 tbsp ground almonds
500g orange marmalade

You will also need a 20cm tart tin with a removable base.

1   Put the flour into the bowl of a food processor, add the butter in large pieces and process for a few seconds to the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and the egg yolks and process until the mixture starts to come together to form a dough.

2   Next, pour in enough water – probably 1 or 2 tbsp – to produce a smooth, firm dough. You can also do this by hand, rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingertips, then stirring in the sugar and eggs and a little water and bringing the dough into a ball by hand.

3   Wrap the pastry in kitchen parchment and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Set the oven at 190°C/gas mark 5. Slice off one-third of the dough and set aside. On a lightly floured board, roll out the larger piece of pastry and use it to line the tart tin. Push the dough well into the corners and trim the edges. Scatter the ground almonds over the base of the tart, then spoon in the marmalade and gently smooth the surface.

4   Roll out the reserved pastry into a disc roughly the size of the tart, then cut into 2cm wide strips. Brush lightly with a little beaten egg, then place the strips one at a time on to the surface of the tart in a lattice pattern.

5   Bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is pale biscuit-coloured and the marmalade is bubbling. Let the tart cool before easing from the tin and slicing.

Top Tip

Leave the tart to cool and the filling to fully set before attempting to cut into slices.