Well winter has definitely arrived, and we seem to be experiencing weeks of grey overcast days with continual rain. I always remember a comment by Australian author and raconteur Clive James, about his view on the appalling weather in London - he likened it to living under a Tupperware container. Got to agree with you there Clive, we have the same problem here in NZ at the moment - yucky grey overcast and no sun!

To brighten the long grey wet weekend I’ve had a bit of a baking session in the kitchen to use up some of the citrus from the garden. This combination of the tart citrus filling with the liquoricey anise pastry is perfect! Give the recipe a go - you won’t be disappointed!

CITRUS TART WITH ANISE PASTRY

Adapted from recipe by Food52

INGREDIENTS

Pastry
¾ c flour
8 tablespoons cold butter, diced
¼ c caster sugar
pinch salt
1 tspn ground star anise

Filling
3 eggs
¾ c sugar
zest of 1 x orange and 1 x lemon
½ c orange juice, freshly squeezed
¼ c lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¼ c flour, sifted

To Serve
fresh fruit – Pomegranate seeds or berries
mint leaves
whipped cream
honey

Serves: 4 - 6

METHOD

Pastry

Preheat oven to 150C (fan oven). Grease a 20cm tart tin, or smaller individual tins with melted butter and set aside. Using a food processor, mix the flour, caster sugar, salt, anise, and butter until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Form into a ball and roll out on the bench until approx. 3 mm thick. Line the tart tin(s) with the pastry, and chill for 20 mins. Cover the pastry shells with baking paper and top with ceramic pastry beads or rice, and bake until the edges are lightly coloured, approx. 20 - 30 minutes. Check often! Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack, leaving the pastry shells in the tins.

Filling

Whilst the pastry shells are cooling, whisk the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the citrus juice and zest, and mix well. Add the sifted flour, mix carefully and pour into cooked pastry shells. Bake the tarts until set, approx. 30 - 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Serve with fresh fruit, mint, whipped cream & a drizzle of honey.