Mulberries are so good fresh from the tree, dripping dark mulberry juice all over your hands and staining everything. How to translate that joy into a tart? Well the only thing that I think makes the flavour of a fresh mulberry even better, or perhaps more decadent, is eating it with cream. This short crust pastry tart loads fresh mulberries on top of thick creme patissiere. Perfect.

If you are looking for “healthy” this is not really it. I am an all-things-in-moderation believer, but, if you are after something without the dairy, or prefer fruit based desserts, maybe try my sugar free mulberry and apple tart.

The tart shells and the creme patisserie need to be made ahead of time so they are cool. A good option if you have a dinner party looming and want to have dessert ready to go in advance.

Mulberry cream tart

Makes 1 large 23cm tart or 4 individual 10cm tartlets

Ingredients

1 short crust pastry tart shell or 4 individual tart shells, baked until golden

300ml pure cream

250ml milk

100g sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

3 egg yolks

2 Tbs cornflour

90g butter

fresh mulberries to serve

Instructions

1. Bake your tart shells. Let cool and store in an airtight container until ready to assemble.

2. Make your cream filling. Place the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla bean paste in a saucepan and bring to the simmer. Turn off heat. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolk until creamy. Add the corn flour and whisk until well combined. Slowly drizzle in the milk as you continuously whisk to avoid the egg scrambling. Return to a low heat and stir until thickens (happens very quickly). Put a lid on the pan, allow to cool, place in the fridge.

3. Assemble. When ready to serve, spoon or pipe the cream mix into the tart shells. Be generous. Top with fresh mulberries. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar and mulberry powder (from dehydrated mulberries) if you have some.

This pairs very well with a mulberry liqueur.