Damson Tart
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Prepare the short crust pastry according to the Apple Tart recipe.
Place an inverted cup or funnel in the center of the pie dish to retain the juice.
Fill and bake
Half-fill the dish with damsons, sprinkle brown sugar, then add the remaining damsons.
Cover with pastry, brush lightly with cold water, and sprinkle with caster sugar.
Bake at 400 °F (200 °C) for about 1 hour.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Damsons
- Provide the fruit filling, whose juice is kept in the dish by the inverted cup.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the natural tartness of the damsons.
- Short crust pastry
- Forms the rich, crisp case and top crust that hold the filling.
The step that matters
Placing the inverted cup or funnel. Damsons release a lot of juice as they cook. The cup in the centre gives the juice somewhere to go, so the pastry does not become soggy or burst open.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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