Mango Tart

This mango tart took me 3 hours to make... The pics sucked because of the poor lighting (as usual) and that I was exhausted.  Mangoes are in season now so I bought a case last week... We baked fruit flans in our baking class but I was not too happy with the results as I found the custard filling too bland.  So this time I found recipes for the filling and I improvised a little by adding a layer of sponge cake and a layer of fresh cream.  

Sweet shortcrust pastry

1 ½ cups plain flour

½ cup icing sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

125g cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 large egg yolk

1. In a mixer, mix the flour, sugar and salt for a few seconds. Add the butter and beat until it becomes pebbly. Add the egg yolk and combine until the dough clumps together. 
2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead for 30 secs. Wrap the dough up and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Roll the dough out between two sheets of non-stick parchment paper and line a 22cm (9 inch) fluted flan tin. Remove the lined tin from the fridge and prick the base with a fork.
4. Fit a piece of non-stick baking paper tightly against the crust and fill with weights. Place the tin on a baking tray and bake in in a preheated oven (350F) for approximately 15 minutes or until the exposed edges are a very light brown. Remove the baking paper and weights. Bake for a further 8-10 minutes or until the base is golden brown. Allow to cool on wire rack.

Vanilla pastry cream

2 cups (500ml) whole milk

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

5 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

50g cold unsalted butter, cubed

1. Bring the milk to the boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the eggs, sugar and cornstarch until smooth. Pour a little bit of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk well. Pour the remaining milk into the egg mixture and whisk.
3. Place the saucepan onto the heat and whisk constantly, bring the mix to boil. Reduce the heat down to medium and cook for 2 minutes or so or until the custard becomes very thick. Remove from the heat.
4. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Whisk in the butter until it’s smooth and silky.

Hot Milk Sponge Cake 

1 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ℉.  Butter and flour either a 9" round pan
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs until light, about 4 minutes.  With the mixer running on medium, slowly add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light yellow and comes off the whisk in a ribbon when the whisk is lifted, about 7-8 minutes.
4. While the eggs and sugar are beating, bring the milk and butter just to a boil in a small saucepan set over medium heat.  Stir the vanilla into the hot milk.
5. With the mixer running on medium speed, slowly add the hot milk mix to the egg mixture.  Mix until combined, then reduce the mixer speed and add the flour mixture slowly, just until thoroughly combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl once or twice.  Pour the batter immediately into the prepared pan and place them into the oven.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are browned and just pulling away from the pan or a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake, comes out clean.  Let cool slightly in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Fresh Cream Filling

1 cup of whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Whip the cream and sugar until it reaches soft peak.

Assembly

3 large, ripe mangoes

1. Cut the cheeks off both mangoes. Using a large spoon, carefully scoop out the flesh. Cut the mango cheeks into thin slices.
2. Fill the crust with the pastry cream, ensuring the filling is smooth.
3. Put a layer of the sponge cake on top of the pastry cream.
4. Then spread the fresh cream on top of the sponge cake layer.
5. Arrange the mango slices over the fresh cream.
6. The tart can be chilled in the fridge for a few hours before serving. 

And of course I couldn't wait any longer... I consumed a slice before it's properly chilled.  It is very delicious...