Dried fruit, cranberry and bourbon butter tart

Prep time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time Cook time: 55 minutes

Serves 8

This is based on a Scottish tart and makes a great Christmassy dessert (or something to have with coffee or for afternoon tea). Serve it with whipped double cream laced with some bourbon, or if you prefer something that will cut through the sweetness, crème fraîche.

INGREDIENTS For the pastry

– 200g plain flour, sifted – 115g cold butter, diced – 25g icing sugar –1largeegg

For the filling

– 100g raisins

– 100g sultanas

– 70g dried cranberries – 2½ tbsp bourbon

– 115g butter, at room

temperature

– 115g soft light brown

sugar

– 1 tbsp golden syrup – finely grated zest of

½ lemon and ¼ orange – ½ tbsp lemon juice

– 2 large eggs, lightly

beaten – ¼ tsp mixed spice

– 15g white breadcrumbs – 100g pecans, roughly

chopped

– icing sugar, for dusting

METHOD

Put the flour, butter and sugar for the pastry into a food processor with a pinch of salt and whizz until you have a mixture that looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and whizz again until the pastry comes together into a ball. Press out into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for an hour.

Put the dried fruit into a small saucepan with the bourbon. Heat gently until the liquid starts to bubble then pull the pan off the heat. Leave the fruit for a couple of hours to plump up.

Roll out the pastry into a circle to fit a 23cm shallow tart tin (I always roll pastry on a sheet of greaseproof paper – it makes it easier to transport and it sticks less than on a floured surface). Line the tin with the pastry, trim off the excess and put the tart case into the freezer or the coldest part of your fridge for half an hour.

Heat the oven to 200C/ 190C fan/gas mark 6.

Line the chilled tart case with some scrunchedup then smoothed-out greaseproof paper or foil and fill with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the paper or foil and the beans and return the tart to the oven. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the temperature down to 180C/170C fan/ gas mark 5.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan gently melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool slightly then add the citrus zest and juice, the eggs and the mixed spice.

Scatter the boozy dried fruit, breadcrumbs and pecans into the tart case. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Put the tart on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Cover the top with foil in the last 10 minutes of cooking time, or it will get too dark. The filling should be only just set in the middle – it will continue to cook in the residual heat when you bring it out of the oven.

Serve warm or at room temperature, lightly dusted with icing sugar.