Tuesday, June 10, 2008

TWD - La Palette Tart



This week’s TWD challenge was chosen by Marie of A Year From Oak Cottage. If you haven’t visited Marie’s blog yet, you should! Marie chose La Palette’s Strawberry Tart. This is a simple tart made with a shortcrust pastry, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. Strawberries are not in season for another 6 months here in NZ, and I just couldn’t bring myself to buy the imported US ones – it’s not just the food miles (I try to buy locally 99% of the time) but they just don’t taste like fresh strawberries! In the side bar suggestion, Dorie said you could use any stone fruit as an alternative, or pears, apples or quinces. I decided to use the quince I bottled earlier in the year.

Dorie’s advice in relation to the tart crust is to cook it well so that it is lovely and crisp. I didn’t have any need for a big tart, so I made the whole amount of pastry (choosing to make the nut pastry, substituting some of the flour for ground almonds), rolling out enough to line a mini tart tin and freezing the rest for another day. The pastry is lovely and sweet – almost like shortbread. It tastes great raw as well!



I have actually got quince jam that I made last year in the cupboard, but I didn’t want to open yet another jar to keep in the fridge. I did have quince jelly open, but the jelly is not the depth of colour that the bottled quince are, so I didn’t use that to line the base of the tart. In fact none of the jams I had seemed quite right to match with the quince, so in the end I decided to line the tart base with thick yoghurt (I strained it in the fridge overnight) mixed with some quince syrup –yum! This was delicious. You could also use mascarpone in the same way. The quince syrup is a syrup I make by cooking chopped quince (including the cores and skins) with sugar and water until it is thick and sticky and then straining off the syrup. I bottle this and it lasts forever in the fridge.

This tart is delicious! The yoghurt is great with the sweetness of the quince and the tart case is the perfect accompaniment. I had one spoonful of the tart, leaving the rest for my husband, but it was so good that I wanted to eat the whole thing! Sometimes it is the simple things that taste the best!

I am really pleased with my quince version of the tart, but will try it again in summer with strawberries. Go here to see what the other TWDers’ strawberry tarts look like.

27 comments:

Gretchen Noelle said...

I am so intrigued by the quince! I just made poached quinces yesterday but the taste was a bit off. I bought some more today and am wondering what I shall try with them next. I think they would taste excellent with the thick yogurt. Yum!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

looks good! i love the beautiful color of poached quince!! i thought about doing quince also, but i saw a lady at the farmers' market selling the strawberries (she must be either from queensland or growing them in a greenhouse), so i thought i'd give them a shot.

Andrea said...

I found some of the Queensland Winter strawberries Steph wrote of. They weren't the best.
Well done to go local.

Anonymous said...

The quinces look delightful on the mini tart. Very cool that you got to use something you had bottled yourself. Great job.

Linda said...

What a lovely variation to the original recipe! I love that you mixed the quince juice with a tart yoghurt, and used that as a base for the fruit. This is definitely a recipe that has sweet and tart playing off one another in a really great way.

CB said...

Mmmm... I bet the mascarpone would be yummy instead of the jam. I admit that I had not idea what quince was before reading your post. Gotta love google search and wikipedia. HAHA! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Engineer Baker said...

Yoghurt and quince - such a fabulous looking combo! Makes me want to go out and try quince, since I've never had one before...

Amy said...

I've never tried quince. I really don't know what it is. But, now I can't wait to try them. Your tarts look so good.

Anonymous said...

I've never had quince before - in fact, I wouldn't know what it unless it came up to me and introduced itself! However, it certainly looks great!

Heather B said...

Add me to those that haven't tried quince! But I'm dying to try it after your post! It sounds so tasty!

Jules Someone said...

I don't think I've ever eaten quince. Your tart looks lovely. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Mail me one? ;)

amanda said...

I've never even seen a quince but your post made me want to try one! Your tart looks amazing!

Tammy said...

I hadnt tried quince myself until a few years ago. The look kind of like a cross between a pear and an apple - but you cant eat them raw. If you cook them for about an hour they turn a lovely pink colour and can be eaten. I cooked the ones in my tart for about 4 hours and they go that gorgeous ruby colour. I cooked mine with star anise, so it has a delicate aniseed flavour. They are really yummy! You should try them if yuo get the chance!

Anonymous said...

No quince for me either but your tart makes me want to try it. Looks fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Your food is always so mouthwatering Tammy,how clever are you to substitute quince ? I have never tried quince but will look for them at Moore Wilson tommorrow,and try the mascarpone option.

NKP said...

Quince is on the list of foods that I have to try. I love the rich colour of it on your tarts.

Anonymous said...

What a neat idea! Quince! Who would have thunk it?

ostwestwind said...

Glad for me that strawberries are just in season. Glad you went local...
Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Jayne said...

I just tried posting but it didn't show up - I apologize if I'm on here twice. But anyway - your tart is absolutely beautiful!! The quince looks lovely - I've never had it before, but I definitely would like to try it. Great job!

Lynne Daley said...

The quince looks good. Nice job.

Christine said...

I am going to have to try quince! Sounds really good! Your tart looks delicious!

Susie Homemaker said...

These look so good, but I have never even tasted quince...how sad for me...I imagine it is good??

Mari said...

I've never tasted nor baked/cooked with quince, and you've got me curious! I'm glad you participated in spite of not having the seasonal ingredient, because your take on the recipe is great!

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

I'll have to give quince a try! Thanks for the idea.
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Dolores said...

Okay, I've added quince to a growing list of fruits I'm going to try with this tart.

Jaime said...

i've never had quince before, but this looks so tempting!