Food /

Brockmans Gin, Grapefruit and Juniper Tarts

Everyone knows that tarts are delicious, but have you ever tried gin-infused grapefruit and juniper tarts? Rebecca Gerrard of Rebecca Cooks has taken the humble tart to a new level…

After throwing dinner parties and feeding her loved ones, Rebecca realised her love for cooking had grown into an obsession, one she wanted to explore.

She started her website, Rebecca Cooks, as a means to cultivate her ever-growing cooking appetite, inspiring her to keep reading cookbooks, learn new cooking techniques, and produce great recipes.

One look at her Instagram explains why we fell in love with her style of cooking – so we challenged her to create a recipe using Brockmans Gin. The result? 4 delicious Brockmans Gin Grapefruit and Juniper Tarts.

Brockmans Gin, Grapefruit and Juniper Tarts

By Rebecca Gerrard

Recipe makes 4 tarts.

INGREDIENTS

Custard Filling

  • 2 eggs
  • 85g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp finely grated pomegranate zest,
  • 90ml strained pomegranate juice
  • 75ml double cream
  • 30ml Brockmans Gin
  • Handful of juniper berries

Pastry

  • 100g plain flour, sifted, plus extra to dust
  • 20g icing sugar, sifted
  • 30g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
  • 1 tsp pomegranate zest
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 30ml chilled tonic water

METHOD

  1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease 4 small tart tins.
  2. Lightly crush the juniper berries and leave to soak in the gin.
  3. To make the pastry: add flour, icing sugar, butter and grapefruit zest in a food processor and blitz until the mixture is crumbly. Add egg yolk and tonic water and continue to mix until the mixture comes together in a smooth ball. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  4. Lightly dust a worktop with flour and roll out pastry until around 4mm thick. Line the tins and chill for a further 10 minutes.
  5. Prick the base of your pastry base several times with a fork, then line with baking paper and fill ceramic baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the weights and bake for another 5 minutes before allowing to cool.
  6. Whisk the caster sugar, eggs, cream, pomegranate zest, and juice.  Strain the gin and discard the juniper berries. Add the strained gin to the creamed sugar mixture and whisk till combined.
  7. Pour the filling into the cooled tart base and bake for 20-25 minutes until just set.