Banana and Walnut Tarts

, from Issue #38. September, 2015
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth.
Banana and Walnut Tarts

These simple tarts are made using store-bought puff pastry, caramelised bananas and crunchy walnuts. It's a quick and easy dinner party dessert.

 

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

2 sheets pre-rolled puff pastry

Topping
100 grams butter, soft but not melted
½ cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
70 grams walnuts, finely ground
1 egg

To assemble
2 medium firm but ripe bananas
1 egg yolk
caster sugar for sprinkling
passionfruit syrup for serving
softly whipped cream
icing sugar

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Cut 2 x 12 cm circles from each piece of pastry and lightly score a 1 cm border around the edge of each circle. Place them on a lined baking tray and refrigerate while making the filling.

Filling: Mix the butter, both sugars and the cinnamon with a wooden spoon until smooth. Beat in the walnuts and the egg to make a thick paste.

Spread 2 tablespoons of the walnut topping evenly over each pastry circle, inside the border. Slice the bananas 1 cm thick and arrange 8-9 slices slightly overlapping, over the top. Brush the border with egg yolk then sprinkle the entire tart with a little caster sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, turning for even browning, until puffed and golden.

Cool for 5 minutes then dust with icing sugar and serve with softly whipped cream or ice-cream and top with passionfruit syrup. 

Passionfruit syrup can be bought in jars from supermarkets. 

The walnut topping here makes enough for 10 x 12 cm tarts. Store any remaining topping in a sealed container in the freezer for future use.