Soft tart with caramelized grapes
I had wanted to try the “vintage” recipe for this soft grape tart for a long time, I found it in a precious recipe notebook collected by my mother, I believe it’s from “La Cucina Italiana” 1960s, it is really delicious and in baking, a light caramelized sauce is formed due to the release of fruit liquid in contact with butter and sugar (I used brown sugar).
Fruit cake, ideal for a healthy homemade autumn breakfast (or snack). Easy and quick recipe.
The recipe initially explains that: “…..this dessert, of American origin, is very easy to prepare and sure to succeed….” indeed, I prepared the tart in less than 15 minutes, plus the baking time.
I assure you that this soft little tart has a truly delicious and autumnal flavor, an autumn dessert par excellence.
If you’re looking for cakes with apples or other fruits, click on my Special: “Desserts with APPLES and/or FRUIT“
If you want to try other easy and quick cakes, search in my Blog’s category dedicated to “EASY Desserts“.
If you’re looking for other easy and quick recipes (sweet or savory) click on my Special: “Easy and Quick Recipes“
You might also be interested in:
- Rustic Ring Cake with Caramelized Figs and Walnuts. Simple and Soft Autumn Cake.
- Very Quick and Soft Apple Fritters in Air Fryer.
- Rustic Autumn Grape Cake. Ancient Country Recipe, Easy and Very Soft.
- Paccheri with Figs, Gorgonzola, and Walnuts. Delicious, Easy, and Quick Autumn Recipe Ready in 10 Minutes, While the Pasta Cooks.
- Quick Focaccia with Figs and Prosciutto.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2-3 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: International
- Seasonality: Summer, Autumn
Ingredients for the Soft Tart with Caramelized Grapes
- 1 2/3 cups All-purpose flour
- 7 tbsps Butter (for the shortcrust pastry)
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg (whole)
- 1 g Lemon zest
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- as needed Vanilla powdered sugar (for decorating)
- 1 cup White grapes (I used Victoria grapes)
- 3 tbsps Butter (melted)
- 1/4 cup Brown sugar (I used Demerara)
Tools
- Bowls Guzzini set of bowls of various sizes
- Stand Mixer Kenwood XL bowl illuminated 7 L, 1400 W power
- Saucepan Lagostina with thick bottom
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Pan
Preparation of the Caramelized Grape Tart
Work 200 g of flour with 100 g of butter and 100 g of granulated sugar with the paddle attachment for a few minutes to make a crumbly mixture.
Add to the mixture a whole egg, the grated zest of one lemon, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract (or vanilla sugar) and work not too long, just enough to obtain a smooth and compact dough.
Place the dough in a cool place for about ten minutes.
Take a springform pan of about 8 inches in diameter and grease it with butter (I used parchment paper).After the indicated resting time, take the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured parchment paper.
Roll out the dough with the rolling pin to a medium thickness (not too thin, nor too thick).
Place the shortcrust pastry in the springform pan and prick it here and there on the surface.
Cut the grapes in half and remove the seeds.
Cover the dough with the grape halves, cut side down.
Separately, melt some butter (about 3 tbsps) over moderate heat and pour it uniformly over the entire surface of the cake along with plenty of sugar, about 1/4 cup (I used Demerara brown sugar, BUT you can use any type of sugar, except powdered sugar).
Place the pan in the oven at 350°F for about 40-50 minutes (give the sugar time to caramelize well).
Remove the tart from the mold when it’s cold.
Place the tart on a serving plate and generously sprinkle it with powdered sugar to decorate.
You can prepare this soft grape tart also with whole wheat flour and you can easily replace the grapes with different fresh fruits (figs, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, pears, apples) following the season and the preferences of your guests.
A cute idea for a brunch could be to double or triple the doses and prepare several colorful tarts with different fruits.
Notes and Tips
For this recipe, I used “Vittoria” grapes, with large round berries and juicy flesh (see here).
Shopping Tips!!!
For preparing the shortcrust pastry, I used my Titanium Chef Patissier XL stand mixer with 7L illuminated bowl, integrated scale and blender, 1400 W power, a faithful kitchen ally for: kneading, weighing, whipping, pasteurizing eggs, melting chocolate.
If you’re looking for a more economical stand mixer model, you can safely choose to purchase Kenwood Chef Titanium, with double bowl of 5 and 7 liters, incorporated illumination, and supplied rubber whisk and baking spatula, 1200 W power.
To melt the butter, I used this saucepan with thick aluminum bottom enclosed between two steel layers. The aluminum layer allows the heat to spread evenly over the entire bottom.
