Fig Shortbread Tart
Fig Shortbread Tart – Le Cordon Bleu Recipe
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Shortbread Fig Tart, the perfect combination of textures and sweetness. This recipe offers all the sweetness you would want in a dessert without the overt sweetness that can ruin a dish. The recipe for the shortbread comes from the culinary school days at Le Cordon Bleu. Taking simple ingredients and transforming them into something special is the art of pastry and baking. The main ingredients of butter, sugar & flour are usual characters in pastry & baked desserts. The ability to create a tender tart crust is really what we want in a great recipe. Tender tart dough with naturally sweet figs. This is what makes this dessert spot on good…
What is ShortBread?
Shortbread is a biscuit traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour. Other ingredients like ground rice or cornflour are sometimes added to alter the texture. Modern recipes also often deviate from the original by splitting the sugar into equal parts granulated and icing sugar and may add a portion of salt. Shortbread is different from shortcake, though they are similar: shortcake can be made using vegetable fat instead of butter and usually has a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder, which gives it a different texture. Shortbread biscuits are often associated with normal egg-based biscuits, but they hold their shape under pressure, making them ideal for packed meals. Shortbread originated in Scotland, with the first printed recipe, in 1736, from a Scotswoman named Mrs. McLintock. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and the Scottish brand Walkers Shortbread is exported around the world. As a Scottish brand, shortbread is sometimes packaged in a tartan design, such as Royal Stewart tartan.[4]
What are Figs?
The common fig tree has been cultivated since ancient times and grows wild in dry and sunny areas, with deep and fresh soil; also in rocky areas, from sea level to 1,700 meters. It prefers relatively light free-draining soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Unlike other fig species, Ficus carica does not always require pollination by a wasp or from another tree but can be pollinated by the fig wasp, Blastophaga psenes to produce seeds. Fig wasps are not present to pollinate in colder countries like the United Kingdom.
Figs are just plain beautiful in my opinion. Sweet, delicate, floral scented and tender to the bite
Fig Shortbread Tart
Ingredients
Shortbread:
- 1 Cup of powder sugar
- 2 Cups all purpose flour
- 1 Teaspoon good vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons corn starch
- 1/4 Teaspoon baking powder
- 6.5 Ounces of butter - or 2 sticks of butter minus 2
- 1/2 Teaspoon of sea salt
Filling
- 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese
- 3 Tablespoons of sweet condensed milk
- 1 Teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 to 2 Teaspoons of honey
Instructions
- In an electric mixer add the butter and turn on the machine to soften butter, then add in the powder sugar slowly.
- Then add the vanilla, next scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
Dry Ingredients
- Combine all dry ingredients and mix well in side bowl
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, combine with mixer.
- Lastly, knead the dough on a cutting board and smoothen out the dough getting rid of all cracks.
- Using a spring form pan spread the dough all around trying to create an even layer all the way around.
Baking
- Bake the shortbread at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until the shortbread sets and cooked through.
- Check oven over every 5 minutes, using a fork poke the base of the shortbread to help stop the dough from rising too much.
Filling
- Combine cream cheese, lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk & honey and mix well. Once mixed scrape down the sides of mixing bowl and then mix one last time.
- Spread the filling over the cooked/cooled shortbread and place into refrigerator for one hour.
- Decorate the top of the tart with figs in whatever design you like.
Chef Steven Pennington
Content Creator
Le Cordon Bleu Chef sharing food adventures from around the world with a style of cooking rooted in southwestern flavors using French culinary technique.
