Wholemeal Banana Tart

My elder son can swim far better than his brother, but when it comes to running, he is not better off than me. He went for his 'long-distance' run early this morning. It was part of his school's annual physical fitness test. Although it was only 1.6 km, to him, who has got a pair of elephant's legs, is almost equivalent to a mini-marathon ;)

In order to give him an extra boost of energy, I made something with banana for his breakfast today.


I have planned to make a banana tart using the same old Peach Tart recipe. However, when I was gathering the necessary ingredients, I realised that I have ran out of ground almond. I was not prepared to get out of the house to buy a pack of ground almond, and neither was I keen to bake a banana cake. So I looked around for a suitable substitute...and when I spotted the pack of wholemeal flour, I knew instantly that my problem was solved.


I was a little hesitant to use the wholemeal flour for the pastry base, my main concern was whether the pastry would be able to form a dough or hold it's shape. But I went ahead and gave it a go. Lady Luck was with me, the pastry dough was not very much different from the usual ones using ground almond. I was also surprised that even without the almond, the finished tart shell was emitting a nice buttery aroma when it was cooling on the rack.


This Wholemeal Banana Tart is not as pleasing to the eyes as compared to the lovely Peach Tart. The banana slices turned black upon baking, no amount of icing sugar could cover up the undesired appearance :'(


Nevertheless, it smells and tastes really really delicious. I love the nutty texture of wholemeal flour, although the filling was slightly sweet due to the generous amount of bananas I have added to the filling. My kids have no complaints though. The tart shell was crisp on the day it was baked, sadly, it softened when left over night, I wonder whether the mashed banana was the main culprit?

My boy clocked in 10min 4sec for his run which is 1.5mins faster than his usual timing. No, I won't attribute it to this tart, I think it was his determination and the set of goals that he had set that made him pushed himself to his limit. It is my wish to see him having the same zeal in everything he does.


Wholemeal Banana Tart

Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)

pastry:
40g unsalted butter , soften at room temperature
30g caster sugar
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg
20g wholemeal flour
80g plain flour


filling:
60g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
50g brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
80g wholemeal flour
10g flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large bananas, mashed


2 bananas, thinly sliced (optional)
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:

Pastry base:
1. Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan, set aside. Sieve flour and set aside.
2. With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Add in the egg gradually, whisking the batter till well mixed each time the egg is added.
4. With a spatula, fold in the wholemeal flour.
5. Sieve over the flour in 2 to 3 additions into the batter. Fold the mixture gently with the spatula. Gather and form the pastry into a round ball.
6. Roll out the pastry in between 2 plastic sheets or baking paper to about 23cm in diameter.
7. Remove one side of the plastic sheet. Carefully turn/flip the pastry and place it over the prepared tart pan. Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill it in the fridge for 10~15 mins before rolling.
8. Chill the pastry in the fridge for 20mins. (This is to prevent the pastry from shrinking upon baking.)
9. Use a fork to poke holes on the pastry. Brush the top of the rim with egg wash. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 10 ~12mins until the edges are slightly browned. Let cool completely.
filling:
10. With a whisk, cream butter and brown sugar till the mixture turns fluffy. Add in the egg gradually, mix well each time the egg is added.
11. Add in wholemeal flour and the plain flour. Fold with a spatula till well incorporated. Add in vanilla extract followed by the mashed banana, mix well.
12. Spread the filling onto the cooled pastry base. Ensure that the edges are filled up. Line with banana slices (optional). Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 deg C for 30 ~ 35 mins, until the edges and filling turn golden brown. Let cool, and dust with some icing sugar (optional).
    
    Recipe Source: Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori