Chardonnay mango pecan tart

This recipe was inspired by a holiday in San Miguel de Allende, one of Mexico's top culinary destinations.

Chardonnay mango tart Credit: Pati's Mexican Table

• serves

  10

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Crust

• 1½ cups pecans
• 1 cup plain flour
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• pinch kosher or coarse sea salt
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp cold butter

Pastry cream

• 235 ml  milk
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 small egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1½ tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Fruit

• 3 large ripe mangoes

Glaze                                                                 

• ¼ cup apricot jam
• ¼ cup chardonnay from a bottle that you would like to drink

Chilling time 1 hour

Instructions

For the crust, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Place the pecans in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until finely ground. Add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse again a few times until combined. Add an egg and the butter, pulse again a few times until thoroughly mixed and the butter has broken into the smallest of pieces, making it hard to distinguish it from the mix. The mix should resemble a coarse meal; it will not appear to be a homogeneous dough, but it will be all crumbles. That’s what you want.

Turn all the pecan mix into a 23-25cm tart pan with a removable ring. Press into bottom of the pan with your hands, levelling it all around. As you press, the mix will start looking like dough. Press a bit to the sides to form a border about 3 mm (¼-inch) border all around.

Bake for 15 minutes, until cooked through and appears to be lightly golden. Let it cool completely.

For the pastry cream, in a medium saucepan, set over medium heat, pour in the milk and vanilla, stir well with a whisk and let it come to a simmer. Just until it begins bubbling around the edges. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks along with the sugar and the cornstarch. Slowly, in a thin stream and with the help of a ladle, pour the milk into the beaten eggs, whisking along to combine thoroughly until all the milk mixture has been poured. Transfer it all back into saucepan. Set over medium heat, stirring occasionally and keeping a good eye on it, let it come to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 to 2 minutes, until it thickens to thick cream consistency. You may stir with a spatula as it simmers so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Remove from heat. Let it cool, wrap with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

For the fruit, when ready to assemble the tart, vertically slice the cheeks of the mangoes. With a small knife, cut around the cheeks to make it easy to remove from the skin, and scoop out with a spoon. Cut the cheeks into slices.

For the glaze, in a small saucepan, combine the jam with the wine. Set it over medium heat. Stir or whisk a couple times, until it dissolves and it begins to simmer. Let it simmer 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.

To assemble the tart: Pour the pastry cream onto the crust. Place the mango slices, going around the tart until you reach the center. With a pastry brush, brush the glaze all over the mangoes. If the glaze has cooled, heat for a few seconds until it becomes liquid again.

Place the tart in the refrigerator at least for an hour to set and chill.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.