Frozen Berries For No Fuss Fruit Tart

Our answer

Nigella's No-Fuss Fruit Tart (from KITCHEN) is easy to make as the base is a cookie crumb mixture and the tart is filled with a lemon cream cheese mixture. It is then simply topped with fresh berries. If fresh berries are not available then you can use any fresh fruits that are local and seasonal to you. If necessary, peel and cut up the fruits before using them. For example, slices of mango, papapya and kiwi would all work well with the filling.

Unfortunately frozen berries are not ideal as they will soften and let out juice as they thaw. You could put them on the tart while still frozen, but they would not be nice to eat this way. We would suggest using the frozen berries to make a compote instead, and serving this with the tart. You could try using the blueberry compote recipe from Nigella's Lemon Tendercake With Blueberry Compote as a guideline, as the juices are thickened with cornflour (cornstarch). Blueberries and blackberries are best as they don't break down easily when cooked. Raspberries can tend to break up a little when they are cooked, so if you use them you have to treat them very gently and strawberries can be slightly mushy and lose some of their colour when cooked. The fruits should be cooked direct from frozen. If you have access to rhubarb then roasted rhubarb would also make a good topping. Nigella's Toasted Marshmallow and Rhubarb Cake has instructions on how to roast rhubarb.