Tropical Fruit Coconut Tart & A Giveaway

We have had some truly glorious weather recently (interspersed between some very wet and miserable days...); as I write this I am overlooking our back garden, which is beautifully warm and sunny, aaand horrifically overgrown...all the plants have had a sudden growth spurt and it is getting towards the point where even the dog can't venture out any further than the patio due to the height of the weeds (he is only small). It needs some serious work doing to it; not just weeding, but leveling, digging out a couple of trees, extending the patio, laying a path, building vegetable beds, mending the fences etc. etc. I thought about starting work on it the other day, but I just couldn't face it so baked this tropical fruit coconut tart instead which was a much more satisfying use of my time.

With the warm, sunny weather I had been craving tropical fruits, and what better way to use them than by pairing them with crisp, coconut pastry and creamy coconut milk creme patissiere? To make the coconut pastry tart base I added some coconut flour to my pastry, which not only adds a touch of coconut flavour but also makes for an extremely crisp, crunchy pastry (scroll down to the bottom of the post for a chance to win some coconut flour and other goodies). You can use desiccated coconut in place of the coconut flour if you prefer, though bear in mind that you will probably need to add less water to the pastry to bind it together (coconut flour is very absorbent); just add the water a spoonful at a time until the pastry comes together.

The coconut creme patissiere is made in exactly the same way as regular pastry cream, except that I used coconut milk in place of the usual dairy milk; it is perfectly smooth, creamy and coconutty. I topped the tart with pieces of mango, pineapple and kiwi (which I cut into star shapes using a pastry cutter - this is totally not necessary) and some passion fruit. I decided that the tart looked too yellow so scattered over some freeze dried raspberry pieces as I didn't have any fresh raspberries but again this is not really necessary and was purely for decoration rather than taste (although some fresh raspberries on there would be tasty). The combination of delicious fresh tropical fruit, creamy coconut creme patissiere and perfectly crispy pastry is utterly divine and this tart is the perfect dessert to serve on a warm sunny day, and so much more rewarding than gardening...

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Tropical Fruit Coconut Tart

Serves 8

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Coconut Pastry Cream:

• 400 ml can full fat coconut milk
• 1 large egg
• 4 large egg yolks
• 40 g (⅓ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Coconut Pastry:

• 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain flour
• 30 g (1oz) coconut flour
• 30 g (⅓ cup) icing sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100 g (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 3-5 tbsp ice water

To Finish:

• 1 large, ripe but firm mango diced
• ½ small ripe pineapple diced
• 3 kiwis peeled and sliced
• 2 passion fruit
• raspberries/freeze dried raspberries

Instructions

Pastry Cream:

• Place the coconut milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg, yolks, cornflour, sugar and vanilla extract in a heat-proof bowl until smooth.
• Gradually pour the coconut milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly then return the mixture to the saucepan over a medium heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and comes up to the boil; continue to cook for a couple more minutes while whisking to cook out the flour then pour into a clean bowl, cover with clingfilm directly on the surface then refrigerate till cold (or overnight).

Coconut Pastry:

• Place the plain flour, coconut flour, icing sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and blitz until it resembles sand. With the motor running, gradually add the ice water until it comes together into a ball. Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
• Roll out the chilled pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface and use to line a 25cm tart tin, trim off the excess, prick the base with a fork and place the pastry case in the freezer for 15 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
• Line the tart case with greaseproof paper or a double layer of good quality clingfilm, going right into the corners, edges and up the sides then fill with baking beans or dried rice making sure that the sides are propped up.
• Bake for about 25 minutes then remove the paper and beans, reduce the oven temperature to 170C/325F/gas mark 3 and return the tart case to the oven for about 15 minutes more, or until golden and crisp. If the edges start to colour before the middle is done then you can cover them with strips of tin foil.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes then remove the tart case from the tin, transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. If you are making the case the day before serving the tart then keep in an airtight container once cool.

To Assemble:

• Place the tart case on a serving platter. Beat the coconut pastry cream with a wooden spoon until smooth then spread evenly over the tart base. Scatter over the mango, pineapple and kiwi then drizzle with the passion fruit. Top with fresh or freeze dried raspberries. Best eaten on the same day as it is assembled. Keep refrigerated.

The coconut flour I used is by Goodyfull, who provide a subscription service for healthy ingredients; they are very kindly giving away 100g each of coconut flour, cacao powder and chia seeds to THREE lucky winners, just enter using the widget below for your chance to win. Goodyfull are also running an event on the 11th June in Birmingham on nutrition, exercise and overall well-being, which is aimed at people who are just starting their journey or have been on it for a while and need some guidance; if you fancy attending then you can find the details here.

Goodyfull Coconut Flour, Chia Seeds & Cacao Powder Giveaway:

– Three winners will receive the following: 100g each of coconut flour, chia seeds & cacao powder

– The giveaway open to UK residents over the age of 18 only. 

– The giveaway ends on the 5th of June 2016 at 11:59:59 PM.

– Entries using an automated process or software to create bulk entries will be disqualified.

– The winner will be randomly selected, announced in the Gleam giveaway box and contacted via their provided e-mail address shortly afterwards. Please claim your prize within 4 days of being notified.

More competitions at The PrizeFinder

Goodyfull Coconut Flour, Cacao Powder & Chia Seeds Giveaway