Caramelised Pineapple and Ginger Tart

ABC Delicious: Wicked, Sinful Desserts from your Favourite Chefs
2002 Australia Photographs by Ian Wallace

 

 

Serge Dansereau, Chef, The Bather's Pavilion, Sydney

Caramelised Pineapple and Ginger Tart

“I love this dessert because of the unusual fruit it uses. Pineapple is not an easy fruit to turn into a dessert because of its great sweetness; married with ginger and coconut ice-cream it blends beautifully to create a classic dessert that I feel is a lip-smacking sensation“ Serge

125ml (½ cup) milk; 65g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle; 1 vanilla bean, split; 10g plain flour; 15g cornflour; 4 egg yolks; 100ml pineapple juice; 450ml thin cream, whipped; coconut ice-cream, to serve

Strudel tartshell: 6 sheets filo pastry; meted butter, to brush; icing sugar, to dust

Pineapple and ginger confit: 1 pineapple, cut into 1/2cm dice; 2 apples, diced; 200g caster sugar; 25g unsalted butter; 50g stem (or candied) ginger

To make the strudel tartshell, brush a sheet of the pastry with melted butter and dust with the icing sugar. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheets layering them at an angle. Use the pastry stack to line the base and side of a shallow 24cm loose-bottomed flan or quiche pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to cool.

Preheat oven to 190ºC. Remove pastry from fridge, trim any excess pastry, then line with non-stick baking paper and fill with rice or pastry weights. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the rice and baking paper and return to the oven for 5 minutes until golden brown.

To male the confit, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture is thick and all the liquid is absorbed.

To make the custard, place the milk, sugar and vanilla bean in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reserve a little of the milk mixture and whisk in the flour, cornflour and egg yolks. Add to the remaining milk and whisk thoroughly while cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the pineapple juice and return to the boil. Remove from heat and strain, discarding the vanilla bean. Set aside to chill.

Just before serving, fold together the whipped cream and the custard. Spread the tart with the pineapple confit, then top with the custard. Sprinkle the top with the extra sugar and use a blow torch (or place under high grill) to caramelise the top. Serve with coconut ice-cream.

Serves 8.