You may not know it, but, the 6th of April is in fact Tartan Day. It’s a day to celebrate Scottish heritage and a day for the Scottish diaspora all over the world to celebrate tartan and Scottish culture. April 6th marks the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath which confirmed Scotland’s status as an independent sovereign state. During the 18th century there was an attempt to ban tartan in an effort to bring warrior clans under control. Thankfully it never happened and tartan remains as popular as ever today. As a McDonald, I feel I should pay some attention to my roots and wanted to celebrate this quirky feast day with some food. I think Tartan Day is a great way to wear some beautiful colours, cook up some Scottish food and celebrate our ancestors. So what better way to celebrate tartan day, than with a tart. A wee tartan tart *to be said in a Scottish accent*.
Here’s how:
Pastry
– 225g of white flour
– 1-2 tablespoons of castor sugar
– 110g of butter
– water or a little beaten egg
Filling
– 150g of jam
– 50-60 Blueberries
– 20 -30 Cherries, stoned and cut in half
– 50-60 Raspberries
Icing
– 100g of dark chocolate
– 100g of white chocolate
– Yellow lemon icing
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. To make the pastry, put all the ingredients in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add a small amount of water, about a teaspoon, and continue to blend until the mixture comes together into a ball of pastry dough. Wrap the dough in Clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Line a rectangular baking tin with butter and silicone paper. My tin was a 12 x 8 inch swiss roll tin. Carefully place the rolled pastry into the tin. Bake blind for ten minutes (place some baking beads and silicone paper over the pastry to ensure it doesn’t puff up.) Once the pastry is set and a pale golden colour, take it out and allow to cool. Once cold, spoon on the raspberry jam.
I made out a grid on some parchment paper that I copied from a Tartan pattern that I got online. This helped me figure out where to arrange the different coloured fruits. As soon as you have placed the fruit on top of the jam, cook the tart for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and golden. Once cooked, allow to cool again.
Meanwhile melt the dark chocolate in one bowl and the white chocolate in another. For the tartan lines, I used the grid to figure out where to pipe the chocolate. Using a piping bag with a small nozzle, pipe vertical and horizontal dark chocolate lines.
I then piped horizontal and vertical white chocolate lines. I used a lemon flavoured yellow icing pen to draw horizontal and vertical yellow lines. Leave the chocolate to set. Serve with some fresh cream. This tart is deliciously fruity and tangy and just perfect with a cup of tea.
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