Pink grapefruit and almond tart

As a citrus fiend, I’m never happier than when I can turn something inherently sweet just that little bit sour, and I’ve found that when you want citrus to take centre stage don’t mess about, you need a diva; step forward the pink grapefruit. Ridiculously beautiful, pale pink segments, fragrant tropically-tinted zest and a juice that while sharp, has non of the bitterness of lemons or limes, she’s the complete package in my book – and so this zingy take on the classic Bakewell slice is my ode to her. If you need any more convincing of the pink grapefruit’s fabulousness, it translates into French as la pamplemousse rose, chic, non?

I use an oblong tart tin for this recipe but you could also use an 8” circular tin.

ingredients

• 1 pink grapefruit

for the pastry…

• 200g plain flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 2g salt
• 125g, softened, unsalted butter
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• ½ pink grapefruit, zest
• a few drops of vanilla extract

for the almond cream and filling…

• 115g caster sugar
• 115g ground almonds
• 115g unsalted butter
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 30g plain flour
• 5ml vanilla extract
• ½ pink grapefruit, zest
• 3 tbsp smooth marmalade

to decorate…

• 2 tbsp apricot jam
• a handful of flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC / Gas Mark 4 and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Top and tail the grapefruit and cut away the peel and pith, then cut out the segments using a sharp knife. Pop these onto the tray and bake the segments for 20mins, there should be some caramelised edges by the end of it which are completely delicious, so don’t worry they’re not burnt! Allow these to cool completely.
2. To make the sweet pastry case, cream together the butter and sugar using a hand whisk, before adding the beaten egg gradually. Next up, stir in the zest and vanilla, followed by the flour and salt. Then bring the pastry together in the bowl before turning it out onto a work surface. You then need to work the pastry until it is smooth. Using the heel of your hand push the pastry away from you then bring it back together using a dough scraper. Repeat this 5 times, cling film the pastry and pop it in the fridge for 30mins to chill.
3. As the pastry chills you can make the almond cream. I do all of this using a KitchenAid fitted with a paddle attachment but by hand works just as well. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the ground almonds, eggs, zest and vanilla and mix well. Finally add the flour.
4. Roll out the pastry as thin as you can go, 3-4mm is perfect, and line your tin of choice with the pastry. There is no need to blind bake the case with an almond tart as the filling is cooked too. Spread the marmalade onto the bottom of the pastry case and then pipe or spoon in the almond cream, level off the surface, and finally arrange the grapefruit segments on top of the cream, pushing each one down slightly. Bake the tart for 25-30mins.
5. With 5mins to go, prepare an apricot glaze by simply heating the jam in a saucepan until gently simmering. As soon as the tart is out of the oven, glaze the tart with the hot jam and sprinkle over some flaked almonds. Done.

Related posts:

• Rachel Khoo’s raspberry and almond tarts