Tarte au sucre
Tarte au sucre means sugar tart
You asked me for French baking and this is what I shall deliver today. Don’t let the name send you into a panic, there isn’t that much sugar in it all things considered.
This is a French classic at its best, I love it because it’s yummy, very easy and because it makes me chuckle that the name is totally misleading! To me it’s a good example that the French language, and perhaps French people, are more complex than it would appear.
A tarte au sucre is basically an enriched brioche with sugar on top (but not even that much given its name).
It’s more of a snack than a dessert to me. My kids enjoy it after school, I like it with a cup of coffee and I think would work really well as a recovery snack because it’s not very filling actually.
Ingredients:
- 420g strong flour
- 50g caster
- 160ml milk
- 100g salted butter – cubed
- 1 sachet of dried yeast
- 3 eggs
- 80g caster sugar
- 60g double cream
Method:
Warm up the milk a little, add the sugar and yeast and stir well.
Place the flour in a large bowl and when the yeast has bloomed (swollen up in the milk), place the liquid in the bowl with the flour and mix well.
Add the eggs one at the time and when all the eggs have been added, tumble the butter cubes in the mix. Knead gently for 2 min until everything has been incorporated and then knead more vigorously for 10min. I’m not going to lie, it’s easier in a Kitchen Aid or the likes than by hand.
Leave the dough to rise for 90min, then place it in a greased tin – ideally round and ideally flat (not a loaf tin), just because it’s more traditional that way. Make some holes with your fingers and put your tarte in the fridge covered by a cloth. I like to leave mine in there for a couple of hours but it’s sometimes more convenient to leave it overnight and it’s totally fine.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. When the oven is ready, pour the cream in the holes and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake for 20min.
Leave your tarte au sucre to cool before eating.
