Notice: Function add_theme_support( 'html5' ) was called incorrectly. You need to pass an array of types. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 3.6.1.) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5833 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/functions.php:5833) in /customers/6/8/f/missfoodwise.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1723 {"id":184,"date":"2013-06-19T06:41:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-19T06:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.missfoodwise.com\/2013\/06\/the-prune-tarts-at-tudor-court.html\/"},"modified":"2015-10-18T18:27:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T16:27:26","slug":"the-prune-tarts-at-tudor-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missfoodwise.com\/2013\/06\/the-prune-tarts-at-tudor-court.html\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prune Tarts at Tudor Court"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

In 1615 English poet Gervase Markham mentioned ‘a prune tart’ in his book “The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman<\/i>“.
\nIn his beautiful way of writing he states:
\n“Take of the fairest damask prunes you can get, and put them in a clean pipkin with fair water, sugar, unbruised cinnamon, and a branch or two of rosemary; and if you have bread to bake, stew them in the oven with your bread…”<\/i><\/p>\n

He goes on to explain in detail how to finish the prune puree and how to assemble the little tarts he likes to shape into little birds and flowers by first cutting out a pattern in paper to trace on the pastry. The tart cases or ‘coffins’ as they were called in times gone by, were raised by hand.
\nDuring Tudor times pastry had evolved from the Medieval inedible crust -that was there only to hold a filling- to sweet and savoury pastry to enjoy as a part of a dish. Eggs and butter or suet were beginning to be used making the pastry more refined and giving the cook the opportunity to be inventive with fillings as well as with decoration. If you look at Renaissance paintings especially by the Flemish and Dutch masters, you will notice the pies who are depicted on the tables as dramatic centerpieces, sometimes wildly decorated with stuffed swans or geese resting on top.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

But it isn’t the only change, the Tudor court wanted to show their worldliness employing Florentine sculptors and painters for great artistic commissions, decorating royal palaces and most likely even influencing the kitchen. I can’t but help to see the striking recemblance between an Italian ‘Crostata di marmellata<\/a>‘. In 1570 Bartolomeo Scappi, an Italian cook mentioned the different recipes for pastry in his book, it would take 30 years before a guide like that was published in Britain. ‘Delightes for Ladies<\/i>‘ was published in 1602 but Gervase Markham’s book a decade later would provide a much easier to follow set of recipes.
\nIt always pleases me to find links between Italian and British cook<\/a>ery, these are my two favourite cuisines and I feel there are a lot of things linking the two together, not only in dishes but also in philosophy.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Prune tarts bring back memories of my childhood. Normally only eaten on Ash Wednesday in my home town Antwerp, prune tart would be on our sunday breakfast table quite regularly. Our local bakery used to have the best prune tarts in sizes big and small and my mother used to buy a small one for me because she knew it is one of the few sweet things I truly enjoy.
\n<\/a>
\nFor these prune tarts I tried to recreate a tart I had tasted years ago. As it is my favourite of tarts I can be very specific in how it should taste, the pastry can’t be too sweet and has to be very thin making the prunes the star of the show filling your mouth with a soft puree full of subtle almondy flavour and coloring your tongue black. The pastry would merely be there to encase the prune puree and to give an extra texture and buttery bite to the tart but it is very important to get it right. You can’t have the prune puree without the crust, they are entwined.<\/p>\n

I called upon an old friend I used to visit in her bakery when I should be out partying. Now living a sunny life in Thailand running her own shop in baking equipment she gave me her recipe for the pastry, remembering her prune tart I gave it a go.
\nAlthough I prefer Gervase Markham’s method of slowly cooking the prunes in the oven while you are baking a bread or stewing a tough cut of meat, one can easily -like he states as in his book – cook them on a moderate fire. However when stewed slowly in the oven, you do get a more intense flavour so next time you are cooking a Sussex Stewed steak, pop some prunes in the oven as well.<\/p>\n

What do you need<\/b> (makes 4, 15 cm wide tarts)<\/p>\n

For the pastry<\/b> (I halved the recipe, for 1kg of flour use 5 eggs)<\/p>\n