Salted honey tart

Creamy set honey gives this tart a pleasingly dense but smooth texture. It’s infused with flaky salt to open your palate and balance the sweetness. Think treacle tart but far more floral and flavoursome.

Honey is also the star in this salted honey loaf cake with hazelnut brittle.

Nutrition: Per serving

Calories; 617kcals
Fat: 38g (23g saturated)
Protein: 6.9g
Carbohydrates; 61g (37g sugars)
Fibre:1.3g
Salt: 1.8g

Ingredients

  • 80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 120g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 50ml double cream, at room temperature
  • 250g plain flour, plus extra to dust
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Crème fraîche to serve

For the filling

  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp cornflour
  • 120g golden caster sugar
  • 220g good-quality set honey
  • 3 medium free-range eggs, lightly beaten
  • 150ml double cream
  • 2 tsp sea salt flakes

Specialist kit

  • 23cm fluted tart tin

Method

  1. Put the butter, cream cheese and cream in a food processor, then whizz until smooth. Pulse in the flour and salt until the pastry begins to come together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 30 seconds to bring it together, then form into a disc. (If you don’t have a food processor, beat the butter, cream cheese and cream in a mixing bowl, then stir in the flour and salt.) Wrap the pastry and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
  2. Heat the oven to 200°C fan/gas 7. Roll out the pastry to 5mm thick and use it to line the tart tin. Trim the excess (see Tips), then prick the base all over with a fork. Line with scrunched baking paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice/lentils. Blind bake on a baking tray for 20 minutes, then lift out the paper and beans/rice/lentils and cook for another 5 minutes until the pastry looks sandy.
  3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the butter, then pour into a large bowl and leave to cool for a few minutes. Use a balloon whisk to whisk in the cornflour and sugar, beating to a smooth paste. Add all the remaining ingredients and whisk until silky.
  4. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C fan/gas 4. Give the filling a final stir, then pour into the pastry case. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and the edges are set but there’s still a slight wobble in the centre of the tart. Slide the tin onto a wire rack, then leave the tart to cool completely and set (this will take a few hours). It will have puffed up in the oven but it will sink down and the top will wrinkle as it cools. Serve at room temperature with crème fraîche on the side.

delicious. tips

  1. Don’t waste it Top any scraps of pastry with grated cheese and bake alongside (when you’re blind baking the tart case) for some bonus cheese straws.
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