Veggie-licious!
The gin’s the thing in this delicious tart from The Salopian Inn
We asked Karena Armstrong of The Salopian Inn to pick her favourite South Australian ingredient and create a recipe especially for EatDrink Local SA and SALife magazine.
Her pick was Happy is the New Rich Gin, a bespoke small batch gin made for The Salopian Inn by Kangaroo Island Spirits. It’s bright botanicals are teamed here with the most voluptuous stone fruit you can lay your hands on – Karena has used nectarines but this would work brilliantly with peaches, plums, apricots… you get the picture. And of course you can riff on your favourite South Australian gin to make this dish your own.
We’ve tested this recipe and we can tell you it makes a large slice tray of gooey fabulousness that has lazy weekend lunch written all over it, and it freezes well too (if it gets that far) for a mid-week treat.
(PS – Karena actually couldn’t actually decide on just one ingredient, so she picked two. Jump over here for her Coorong Mullet + Zucchini + Tomatillo recipe.)
Ingredients
This recipe makes a large slice tray (25cm x 25cm) to serve a crowd!)
- 8 ripe nectarines or stone fruit of your choice
- 100g brown sugar
- 6 bay leaves
Almond Cream
- 360g butter
- 150g caster sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 10g vanilla paste
- 140g self-raising flour
- 300g almond meal
- 3 free range SA eggs (think Rohde’s, Kangaroo Island, Day’s, so many to choose from!
- 50ml Salopian Inn Happy Is The New Rich Gin
Boozy Syrup
- Cooking juices from roasted fruit
- 3 tablespoons stone fruit jam (we used Beerenberg Apricot Jam)
- 100ml water
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cinnamon quills
- 1 star anise
- 100ml Happy Is The New Rich Gin
To serve
- Generous dollops of South Australian thick cream (we like Tweedvale Milk Pure Double Cream)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Cut the nectarines in half and remove the stones. Line a baking dish with baking paper and sit the fruit snuggly into it, flesh side up. Scatter the brown sugar and bay leaves over the fruit and roast for 25 minutes or until just roasted but not soft.
- Cool the fruit and remove the skins. Put the roasting pan juices into a small saucepan and set aside to use later when you make the boozy syrup.
- Turn the oven down to 180C. Line your slice tray with baking paper.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until white and fluffy (this takes around 6-8 minutes on a moderate speed).
- Sift the flour and set aside.
- Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, mixing well after each one. Fold in the almond meal and then the flour. Fold in the gin.
- Spread the mixture evenly over the base of your tray. Add the nectarines on top and gently press them down into the almond cream.
