French guava tart

I really love French pastries. They are on my list of treats that I don’t mind splurging on. I love buying a variety of beautiful pastries in a neat box, eating them in secret without having to share with anyone!

A few of my friends are sugar intolerant and usually have to miss out on delicious pastries like these. But what if I tell you that this sweet and decadent classic French fruit tart was made without any sugar?

Take a look at the ingredients below: the only sugar in this tart is the natural sugar in the fresh guavas. The sweet pastry, custard filling and poaching syrup were all sweetened with Canderel Yellow – a great new alternative to sugar that is stable for cooking and baking, and safe for diabetics. And it tastes so close to sugar that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

This classic French fruit tart can be made way ahead of any party, and then assembled shortly before serving. You can use any fruit that you like (peaches, kiwi’s, strawberries etc) – guavas are in season, so I just lightly poached them in a simple sugar-free syrup. The custard filling is a French classic: Crème Pâtissière, also perfect for filling choux buns or sponge cakes.

This is a seriously delicious treat with zero guilt. Enjoy!

Ingredients for sweet flan pastry: (Pâte Sucrée)

• 250 ml cake flour
• pinch of salt
• 60 g butter, diced
• 75 ml Canderel Yellow (substituted for 75 ml caster sugar)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 t vanilla essence

Method:

1. Using a stand mixer with beater attachment, add flour and salt and mix on low speed. Add butter, then mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add Canderel, egg yolks and vanilla, then mix until the dough just comes together. If necessary, add a few teaspoons of cold water, taking care not to make the mixture too wet.
3. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 min. Remove from fridge, roll out thinly, shape carefully into a loose-bottomed pastry tin (20-23 cm), prick with a fork, and return to fridge until ready to bake.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190 C for about 10 minutes until it is a pale biscuit colour – not brown. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Ingredients for filling: (Crème Pâtissière)

• 375 ml milk
• 1 vanilla bean, slit open
• 75 ml Canderel Yellow (substituted for 75 ml sugar)
• 60 ml cake flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks

Method:

1. Bring 300 ml milk to the boil with vanilla pod. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Remove pod, sqeezing out the vanilla seeds into the milk.
2. Mix flour, Canderel and remaining milk to a paste, then gradually add milk and mix until smooth. Now add mixture gradually to eggs, mixing well.
3. Return mixture to stove and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, just until boiling point. Mixture will thicken. Remove from heat and continue to stir for 1 minute. Cool, covered, until ready to use.

Ingredients for lightly poached guavas:

• 8-10 fresh, ripe guavas, still firm (skinned and halved)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup Canderel Yellow (substituted for 1/2 cup sugar)

Method:

1. Bring water and Canderel to a slow simmer, then add guavas cut side up. Poach, covered, for 2-3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Reserve liquid.
2. Cut cooled guavas in neat wedges.

Assembly of tart:

Pour filling into baked pastry case, spreading to smooth surface. Arrange guava wedges in neat concentric circles, brushing them with poaching liquid if necessary. Serve immediately.

Tip: Use any seasonal fruit of your choice instead of guavas. Peaches, berries and kiwis will work well.

(Recipes for pastry and filling adapted from The A-Z of Food and Cooking in South Africa by Sannie Smit and Margaret Fulton)

This post is part of a 5 week campaign that I am doing in association with Canderel Yellow.