RECIPES

Pineau tart

This is an amazing tart which highlights the flavour of the Pineau in an interesting way.

Serves 6-8

Preparation time: 5 minutes + 10 to 15 pre-cooking time

Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes

1 shortcrust pastry disc (or 300 g pastry)

For the garnish:
4 eggs (separated)
100 g caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour
200 to 300 ml Pineau (depending on your taste)
200 ml single cream
1 tablespoon caster sugar to beat the egg whites
Icing sugar for the decoration

Special equipment:
1 tart mould measuring 30 cm with high edges (removable bottom if possible), dried beans

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Place the rolled pastry into the mould, prick the bottom with a fork, put a circle of baking paper inside, cover with dried beans and pre-cook the pastry for 10 to 15 minutes
In the meantime, whisk 4 egg yolks with sugar (until light and pale)
Gradually dilute the cornflour with the Pineau and the cream to avoid lumps, add to the yolks
Whisk the whites to a stiff peak (add the tbsp of caster sugar halfway through)
Gently fold in with a spatula to the Pineau cream
Remove the pastry from oven when cooked, remove beans and paper, pour Pineau cream inside the baked pastry case, bake and check for 20 to 25 minutes (the cream may swell in the end but will go back to a normal size when cooling down)
Remove from oven when the cream is firm, cool down completely before turning out
When serving, dust with icing sugar through a sieve, then serve immediately (before the icing sugar melts)

© Françoise BARBIN-LECREVISSE
Cuisine du pineau (Paperback)
by Françoise Barbin-Lecrevisse (Author)
Editor's foreword
With "Cooking with Pineau", learn the history and manufacturing process of Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine which was was born over four centuries ago and appreciated in France for all that time. Try these recipes from starters to desserts. They will bring flavours of a unique terroir to your table.

"Cooking with Pineau" has been awarded "Best in the World" in the category of cooking with Wine or Spirits by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2006 in Madrid, Spain.

Author's biography
Living in the heart of the Pineau production region, Françoise Barbin-Lecrevisse has published several books on the products of the Charentes. The success of the "Cuisine du Pineau" led to this third edition since 2000 and its English version, "Cooking with Pineau" thus spreading Françoise's passion for Pineau and the Charente region well beyond the borders of the Hexagon (the French people's nickname for France).

For a quality Pineau des Charentes, The Chai du Rouissoir, a small, family-owned business, makes award-winning pineau as well as cognac, wine and grape juice from the vines on their property near Jonzac. Find their site by clicking HERE. The owners, Didier and Hugues Chapon, are ecologically aware, and take great care of both their vines and of the forests which surround them.

For those who are interested in the grape picking process, the Wine production October 2008 photographs can be seen by clicking HERE.