Pukka Maple Syrup Tart...

(Sorry couldn't resist the title)

This is an awesome Jamie Oliver recipe that I have made once before and loved so much I just had to make it again – although next time, I will definitely make sure it’s for a dinner party and not just The Boy That Can’t Cook and I… no wonder I’ve put on nearly a stone since starting this blog…. Grrr!

Serves 6-8…. Hmmm, or 2 for Sunday dinner and leftovers for a couple of days!

What you need… 

• Shortcrust pastry (Eek, I cheated and used ready made, but I am capable of making my own – promise!)
• 55g butter
• 340g maple syrup
•  3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 170g breadcrumbs, half fine, half coarse
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 2 Cox's apples grated
• Grated thumb-size piece of fresh ginger
• 2 handfuls of shelled pecan nuts

This is the recipe straight from his book ‘Jamie’s Dinners’ – I could rewrite it, but who better to tell you than the man himself…

First of all, make your pastry, then line a 28cm/11in loose-bottomed tart tin with it and place in the freezer for an hour. Preheat the over to 180C/350F/gas 4. Take the pastry case out of the freezer and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Heat the butter, maple syrup and golden syrup together in a pan, then mix in the breadcrumbs, orange zest, apples, ginger and half the pecan nuts. Spoon into the pastry case and sprinkle over the remaining pecans. Put back in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes. Lovely served with some cème fraiche or vanilla ice cream…

And here's one I made earlier...

We had ours with crème fraiche as I could imagine it’s rather sickly with ice-cream – but if you’ve got a sweet tooth, then by all means go ahead. It’s also even better the next day when the breadcrumbs have completely fattened and absorbed the sticky mixture…. So make sure you have leftovers!