Summer fruits don’t need much help to be delicious, but enclose them in pastry and serve with lashings of thick cream and you will have yourself something amazingly good. This pastry recipe is fabulous. It’s perfectly short, has the ideal amount of sweetness and is easy to work with. My Mum is the queen of pastry, she makes everything from scratch and only by hand, and Mum always compliments me on this pastry. They have several fruit trees on their farm so I have made this with apricots, peaches and figs so use whatever you have an abundance of at your place.
SERVES 8
PREP 20 MIN
COOK 40 MIN
What you’ll need:
500g nectarines, cut into wedges
200g strawberries, hulled & halved if large
2 tbs cornflour
2 tbs caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
20g unsalted butter
1 tbs demerara sugar
Whipped cream, to serve
Pastry
1 ½ cups (240g) plain flour
3 tbs (60g) caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
150g cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tbs cold water
What to do:
Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and blend until combined. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas then add water and pulse again until dough just comes together. Turn out onto a floured bench and roll out onto a large sheet of baking paper to a rough 30cm circle. Transfer to a baking tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Place nectarines, strawberries, cornflour and sugar in a large bowl and toss to combine. Place fruit in the centre of the dough, leaving a 4cm border. Brush the edges with egg wash and fold up over the fruit, pressing down lightly. Dot the butter over the fruit, brush the pastry with egg and sprinkle demerara sugar over the pastry. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden. Cool for 15 minutes then slice and serve topped with a dollop of thick cream.
