Who doesn’t love a tart?
If you’re an avid fan of shows like the Great British Bake Off and Masterchef, you’ll be aware of the themes that run through them and inform the contestants about what they will be baking or cooking that week.
One of our firm favourites on GBBO has to be tart week. Because, after all, who doesn’t love a tart? Savoury or sweet, the world is your oyster when it comes to the many different tart varieties out there. And the great thing about them is you can be as adventurous or as tame as you like – it all depends on your taste, skill and the occasion.
Tarts are thought to have derived from Medieval pie-making and the process of layering pastry and filling. Many believe enriched dough (aka shortcrust pastry) was the first to be commonly used around 1550, approximately 200 years after the world began to make pies. In contrast to pies which were more a commoners dish (a great way to use up scraps for later consumption), tarts were popular amongst the nobility and mainly served because they looked good. Due to this attractive characteristic, tarts became an edible art with their brightly-coloured fruits and vegetables. Often custard-based, sweet and savoury tarts were typical, but it was often a mixture of both, making them even more appealing.
Over time culinary trends have inevitably changed and adapted the tart. Now, more are sweet than savoury with certain varieties, such as the Tarte Tartin and the Treacle Tart becoming firm favourites worldwide. Savoury tarts have morphed into more of a ‘cousin’ to the tart to become the beloved quiche, which we love just as much as you can be equally adventurous with it.
So what about our tarts? If you know Parties to Go or have been to an event catered by us, then you may have tasted one of our tarts. We have some which are firm favourites with our customers, some that are great as small dessert canapés and some we just can’t get enough of ourselves. And what do they all have in common? It’s that they not only taste great, but in the proper style in which they were conceived, they look fabulous too. Here are a few of our favourites.
Lemon Tart
Possibly the most loved tart (although some would dispute this in favour of the apple tart), the lemon tart not only looks lovely but tastes fantastic. The zesty lemon tang and creamy custard give you a delicious sweet and sour bite, and it’s not hard to see why this dessert was served to kings as a symbol of wealth and goodness. We love our take on the classic with the little canapé bites and the larger version, which is a delight to slice.
Fruit tart
With a fruit tart, you can really see why these were regarded as edible art. Our fruit tarts vary depending on occasion and customer, but we love that we can be as creative and as colourful as we like with the fruit that goes on top of them. Raspberries, kiwi, strawberries; the world is your oyster when it comes to topping off the creamy custard filling. Sometimes we use filo pastry layers as a base instead of the more traditional shortcrust crust, and on occasion, we finish with a sprinkling of edible glitter.
Chocolate tart
What dessert would be complete without a version that included chocolate? Rich and creamy, this dessert has been linked back to colonial times and was also featured in an early 19th-century book for “opulent families”. The thing we love about chocolate is that so many flavours complement it. We like to add a twist of orange or, when we can, add some ground hazelnuts to finish it off.
Leek and gruyère tart
Ok, so we know this one is a savoury version, but it is one of our favourites, and our customers love it. Gruyère is a hard, yellow Swiss cheese with a sweet yet salty, nutty flavour and is perfect for a tart of this sort. It’s not too overpowering either, so combined with leeks, it makes for an excellent taste sensation. These are great for a buffet table and are the perfect accompaniment to a BBQ as an alternative to the grilled fayre.
