Honey and Stout Tart
Wow, this is awkward. I’m sorry we had to meet under such circumstances, but it’s not often I come across a recipe that I’m so unsure about.
When Richard says this honey and stout tart is similar to treacle tart, I wonder if the stout had gotten to him. Should the idea of a tart conceived on St. Patrick’s Day have rung alarm bells in my head? Mind you, it’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that I don’t quite get it. It’s rib-stickingly moist, and tastes like it’s trying really hard to be a treacle tart, so then why ruin it by adding a mountain of oats? Don’t get me wrong, I love oats. I just don’t see the appeal of having this much of it in a tart. Why Richard why?
“Richard Corrigan?” B chimes in, “Didn’t he make what the judges considered to be the worst dessert ever, on Great British Menu?” Did he? I must have a short memory for such things. I offer a spoonful to B. He chews, nodding thoughtfully, and finally, this man who normally quite happily eats anything I put in front of him, admits that he doesn’t really want any more.
So anyway, I’m including the recipe, for anyone to whom the combination of pastry and porridge sounds particularly appealing. Or, rather than make this, I’m offering a free tart (minus a few tasting slices) to any person who is willing to come pick it up from where I live. Add some whipped cream spiked with whisky and a handful of fresh raspberries, and you have crannachan in tart form! I also highly recomended this tart for people requiring more fibre in their diet.
Honey and Stout Tart :
(serves 6-8; from The Clatter of Forks and Spoons by Richard Corrigan)
Pastry :
250g plain flour
a pinch of salt
125g butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
50g caster sugar
2 eggs, plus 1 egg beaten, for eggwash
sweetened buttermilk or double cream, to serve
Filling :
4 Bramley apples [I used Granny Smiths]
1 x 330ml bottle stout, such as Guinness
200g rolled oats
250g golden syrup
250g honey
250g stale breadcrumbs
6 eggs beaten
4 dessertspoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
To make the pastry: Put the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix well, then mix in the eggs a little at a time, bringing the mixture together with your fingers until you have a dough. Alternatively, put the flour, salt, butter and sugar into a blender and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and pulse again until just combined, then turn out into a bowl or on to a clean work surface and mould into a ball. Try not to work the dough any more than you have to in order to bring it together. Cover the pastry with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes to make it easier to roll.
Preheat the oven to 150’C. Have ready a 25cm, loose-bottomed flan tin, greased with a little butter.
On a floured surface, roll out the pastry into a circle about 5cm bigger than your tart tin. Roll the pastry loosely round your rolling pin, then drape it over the tin and gently press it in. Trim carefully round the edge with a knife.
To bake ‘blind’, line the pastry with greaseproof paper and scatter over a layer of dried beans – this will stop the pastry from rising up. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until pale golden, then remove and turn the oven up to 180’C.
Immediately after taking the tart tin out of the oven, remove the greaseproof paper and beans and brush the whole of the inside of the pastry case with eggwash. This will seal it and prevent it from cracking as it cools – it may still crack a little, but don’t worry.
Peel and grate the apples. Pour the stout into a saucepan, add the apple, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and let the liquid reduce by about half. The apple will go brown but it’s natural. Take off the heat and allow to cool until just warm.
Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well.
Pour the mixture into the pastry case and bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes until set. Serve with sweetened buttermilk or double cream.
Caitlin said,
March 26, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Wow. That’s an… interesting… filling. I’m not sure about it. It *looks* tasty though.
Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella said,
March 26, 2009 @ 11:40 am
Interesting combination, I don’t know that I would try it given your review. Haha feel free to bring a slice to lunch though-I’m intrigued!
Y said,
March 26, 2009 @ 11:40 am
Caitlin : Really? B said that it “looked” healthy. The last thing you want really, is something that looks healthy but isn’t. Hehe.
Y said,
March 26, 2009 @ 11:45 am
Lorraine, is this one of those situations where a person is tempted to drive past slowly to observe the train wreck? 😀 I’ll bring some along – I don’t know what to do with it anyway. You can take it home and let me know later what you think!
Manggy said,
March 26, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
Oh, dear. And here I’m thinking an apple tart couldn’t possibly go wrong! (But then again I’m not a beer drinker) 🙂
Aran said,
March 26, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
i can’t even imagine how this must taste!
Kirby! said,
March 26, 2009 @ 5:20 pm
I agree, I am really tempted to make this because I just have no idea what it would taste like! But really, you can’t go wrong with a tart…. and you REALLY can’t go wrong with stout! 🙂
darae85 said,
March 26, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
Hi!
I am enjoying your blog very much and was wondering if there are any other means of contacting you (email, facebook etc)
You have some beautiful pictures!
Christie @ Fig & Cherry said,
March 26, 2009 @ 5:39 pm
It’s not good enough for B so you palm it off to me and Lorraine! Sorry, but I’m not too keen on it, but Dillon and Morris loved it!
ps. The soft fudge was the nicest – yum, yum!
Y said,
March 26, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
Manggy : Apple tart, yes. Apple, beer, oats and breadcrumb tart.. maybe not.
Aran : Probably best not to think about it.
Kirby! : Exactly what I was thinking until I tasted a slice of the end product!
darae85 : Hi! Hmm.. I think I have my email address somewhere.. or maybe I removed it to avoid spam. I have no other presence online except for my blog, so if you’d like to get in contact, my email is : ylee@lemonpi.net
Christie : Hey, it’s all about trying to find a good home for it! I know it’s not a *bad* tart. It’s just not quite to my liking, but I suspected there were people out there who would like it. Besides, Lorraine asked for a slice and I thought it’d be rude not to bring you one too. ;P
Arwen from Hoglet K said,
March 26, 2009 @ 9:14 pm
Sounds like a strange one. Apple, golden syrup, and oats sounds yummy, but more like crumble than tart. Sounds like you got some fans when you handed it out, so it was worth the trouble.
cathy x. said,
March 26, 2009 @ 10:56 pm
i recently tried making a rice milk panna cotta with lemon and agar from a a health book called ‘you are what you eat’. i suppose i should have taken heed and avoided trying any recipes at all since dr gillian recommends using carrot juice as a sweetener and NONE of the recipes contain even the teensiest amount of salt whatsoever!@ chef mat said it was the worst thing he’s ever tasted 🙁
gine said,
March 27, 2009 @ 2:47 am
mmm pastry & porridge … lol .. oh well, your pics look delicious anyway 🙂
Grace said,
March 27, 2009 @ 2:48 am
Do you have a contact email?
Piggy said,
March 27, 2009 @ 6:37 am
The combination sounds really intriguing to me. I wonder how it tastes like, but I won’t be able to try out the recipe since alcohol is not available in where I am now. 😉
Anita said,
March 27, 2009 @ 8:51 am
Lovely photos, although it’s unfortunate that it wasn’t as good as you had hoped.
shez said,
March 27, 2009 @ 9:52 am
what a shame! the pastry looks lovely and thick-yet-crumbly thought. and *giggles* at your last pre-recipe comment re fibre. gold 🙂
Y said,
March 28, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
Grace : Hi! Yes, I’ve sent you an email.
Shez : Heh. Thanks! 🙂
George@CulinaryTravels said,
March 28, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
LOL I’ve had this bookmarked to try for ages (since I got the book) and now you know I’m just going to have to test it out aren’t I. Sounds lovely to me.
helen said,
March 29, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Interesting. I’m a fan of Richard Corrigan and would make anything out of his cookbooks. The photo looks beautiful; too bad about the taste/texture.
Y said,
March 30, 2009 @ 11:14 am
George@CulinaryTravels : I have quite a few recipes bookmarked from the book too, but now am feeling a bit hesitant about attempting them 😛
Helen : Opinion seems to be divided on this tart. If anyone gets round to making it, I’d love to hear some other thoughts regarding it.
Kevin said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:56 am
This tart sounds so good!
Jude said,
April 5, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Well, if there was alcohol involved in the making of this recipe… I am pretty interested in trying it out though.
Tanya said,
May 17, 2012 @ 7:52 am
Hiya! I kind of want to risk this but I was wondering what you’d think about combining this idea (honey + stout beer) with the recipe here http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-for-pi-day-chocolate-stout-pudding-pie-166918
Remove the outs, have it be a pudding tart with honey and stout, instead of a chocolate stout?
Y said,
May 17, 2012 @ 5:47 pm
Hi Tanya,
That chocolate stout pudding pie looks amazing. You could definitely replace the chocolate stout and maple syrup in that pie recipe, with normal stout and honey, if that’s what you were thinking of doing.