Fig and brie tart

This elegant fig and brie tart from Daen Lia is the ideal dish to bring to your next picnic gathering, as it’s easy to transport and can be served warm or at room temperature. Rather than needing a trip to the supermarket, this method makes puff pastry and hot honey from scratch, which costs a fraction of the price and tastes so much better than the storebought varieties.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

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Practical Picnic

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Ingredients

• 1 sheet prepared pastry (see below)
• 200 g brie, sliced
• 6 figs, quartered
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp honey
• ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 - 2 tbsp picked thyme leaves

For the pastry (makes 2 sheets) 

• 300 g (2 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes
• 150 g salted butter
• 200 g sour cream

Resting time: 15 minutes

Chilling/freezing time: 20 minutes + 2 – 24 hours

Instructions

1. Place a large bowl, box grater and the butter in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill, before beginning.

2. Place the flour and salt in the chilled bowl and whisk together. Grate the butter using the chilled grater directly into the flour and rub the butter in the flour with your fingers until you have a pebble-like crumbly texture.

3. Create a well in the centre of the flour mixture, then add the sour cream. Use a fork to slowly combine the flour and sour cream. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and shape the dough into a disc. It should be firm and moist, not sticky. You want just enough moisture so the dough is barely sticking to itself. If it needs more moisture, slightly wet your hands when working with it or, if it’s too dry, lightly dust it with flour.

4. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a long rectangle, 2 cm thick. Fold the dough into thirds as if you were folding a piece of paper to go into an envelope. Turn the dough clockwise and roll it back out into a 2 cm thick rectangle. Repeat this step six times until you have created many layers and the dough is smooth.

5. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, then wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or ideally overnight. The dough can be refrigerated for 2 days or 2 months in the freezer from this stage.

6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200°C conventional (180°C fan-forced) and line a baking tray with baking paper.

7. Dust a work surface lightly with flour, then roll one batch of the puff pastry into a 25 cm circle, 4 mm thick. Use the rolling pin to transfer the dough to the prepared baking tray. Evenly spread the brie over the pastry, leaving a 4 cm border around the edges. Top the brie with the figs.

8. Fold the 4 cm border edge over itself, pinching the dough to form a rustic circular shape. Use a pastry brush to brush the dough with beaten egg, then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

9. Drizzle the fig and brie tart with honey, chilli flakes (if using) and thyme leaves. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Practical Picnic

Watch the full episode here

G

Watch the full episode here

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