St Clements Tart

Oranges  and lemons

Oranges and lemons,

Say the bells of St. Clement's.

You owe me five farthings, 

Say the bells of St. Martin's.

When will you pay me?

Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich.

Say the bells of Shoreditch.

When will that be?

Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,

Says the great bell of Bow

Here comes a candle to light you to bed, 

And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

The lyrics above are to a nursery rhyme about the churches in the east end of London. I am originally from London but the North West of London, nowhere near the East End. It is a standing joke that D thinks that being from London means you are a cockney, he originates from Southampton. I still have my London accent even though I have not lived there for 30 years but it's a very different accent from those who come from the east end. Not that there is anything wrong with coming from the east end of London or  being a cockney but in order to be classed a true cockney you have to have been born within earshot of the Bow Bells and I definitely wasn't. 

This Sunday in the UK is Father's Day.  The bearded one is the most difficult person to buy for he never knows what he wants and we as a family dread, Christmas, his birthday and father's day as what do you buy for the man who has everything he wants. You would think we would have resolved this issue after 18 years but NO would be the answer to that particular problem. So generally it is cards and a token present, usually chocolate. The weather has been a little inclement over the last few days the aftermath of Hurricane Hector I believe. All this is fine so long as the weather come Sunday sticks to what is predicted and is glorious sunshine with a little light breeze later into the afternoon. This will give us enough time to venture out somewhere with or without the furry paws. 

My culinary plan for Father's Day involves Tom Kerridge's Pulled Pork as I can put this in the oven first thing and leave to slow cook over the course of the day. Desert on the other hand I will make a head of time and leave in the fridge. 

 I make both a lemon tart and an orange tart but sometimes I use both to make a St. Clements tart, as in the nursery rhyme 'oranges & lemons says the bells of St Clements'. 

To make the tart you will need a rolling pin, 9"/23cm loose bottom flan/quiche tin and a baking sheet. 

Although I make my own pastry sometimes when time is of the essence I will use ready made and both this tart and the quiche I make work equally as well with ready made pastry.  If you're not confident with pastry and want to have a go  then you will need to look for ready rolled sweet short crust pastry and you will normally find this in the chilled section of the supermarket. 

To make your pastry from scratch you will need           For the St Clements cream you will need

225g/8oz plain flour                                                            5 medium eggs

115g/4oz butter diced                                                          150g caster sugar

2tbsp icing sugar                                                                  85mls of freshly squeezed juice from the 

1 egg                                                                                        orange & lemon

1tsp of vanilla extract                                                           2tbsp of orange & lemon zest

1tbsp of chilled water                                                           150mls of double cream

• To make the pastry sift the flour into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and stir in the icing sugar. 
• Add the egg and vanilla extract and most of the chilled water, and work into a soft dough
• On a lightly floured surface knead lightly until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or util needed. 
• For the cream filling, mix together the eggs, sugar and orange/lemon juice and zest and whisk for few seconds. Add the cream and whisk before placing in the fridge until needed. 
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry until about 1/8 inch thick. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and gently unroll over your flan/quiche tin. Gently guide the pastry into the tin and tick into the bottom edge so that it fits well. Take a piece of excess pastry and push the pastry into the sides of the tin. 
• Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and leave any excess pastry for now as you will trim once you have added the filling. return to the refrigerator for 30 mins or until you are ready to make your tart (this will help prevent shrinkage when you bake your tart).
• Preheat your oven to 200/400/gas mark 6 not forgetting to put your baking sheet in the oven at the same time so that it gets nice and hot ready to start baking the bottom of your pastry case as soon as you put it in the oven.
• When you are ready to make your tart remove the pastry case and your cream from the fridge and give it 5 minutes to come up to room temperature. 
• Add the cream mixture to your pastry case and trim off the excess pastry.
• Place your tart on the hot baking sheet and reduce the heat of your oven to 180/350/gas mark 4 and bake for 35-45 minutes until the filling is just set and your pastry is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
• Serve with cream or Ice cream.

And there you have it should you wish to have ago

If you are celebrating Father's Day this weekend I hope you have a lovely time whatever you have planned. 

Mx