Blueberry Slice

Blueberry Slice

I make these in square tins, so they cut better. I like to make a mini blueberry jam/compote along with a layer of fresh blueberries. Serve this on its own or with some sweetened cream.

·         2 x Punnets Fresh Blueberries – almost a kilo, washed and ready to use

·         1 x Vanilla Bean – just the seeds, 10ml vanilla paste will work too

·         4Tbsp of Water or Cassis

·         150g White Sugar

·         Icing Sugar – for dusting

·         Zest of 1 Orange

Biscuit Base

·         2½C Plain Flour

·         250g Unsalted Butter – chilled and cut into cubes

·         2 – 3Tbsp of Milk

·         200g Castor Sugar

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170 ͦC. Start with the biscuit base, place the flour, butter, sugar and 2Tbsp of the milk into a food processor and blitz till it comes together. If you find it is a tad to dry add the extra tablespoon of milk. Press the mixture as evenly as possible into a square loosed bottomed fluted tart tin, sprayed well with non-stick spray. Take your time when doing this as you want the base as flat as possible. The base should be about 2 – 2.5cm thick. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes till just slightly golden brown. While the base is in the oven make the blueberry compote. Place half of the washed blueberries in a medium sized pot on the stove over a low heat. Add the vanilla seeds, sugar, and orange zest along with the water or cassis. Bring the mixture to a simmering boil only stirring every now and then to ensure all the sugar has dissolved. You can even mash some of the berries up with a fork. Cook this for about 10 -15 minutes. Remove from the heat and place the bottom of the pot in a make shift ice bath just to bring the temperature down as quickly as possible. Then set aside to cool further. Once the base is done and slightly cooled evenly spread the blueberry compote over the base and level it with a palate knife. Now take the rest of the blueberries and place them on top. Try and fit them one-by-one, this will take time but well worth it for the presentation. Return the tart to the oven for 10 minutes, and then let it cool at room temperature in the tin before slicing and serving. Dust well with icing sugar.