Damson Apple Tart

I was given a gift of a huge bag of damsons and apples from my work friend Mrs. M and wanted to make something very simple to show off their naturally gorgeous flavours.  Bearing in mind that this would end up back in work, I also needed to stretch it to feel 20 hungry savages, so I decided to make a freeform Damson Apple Tart.  Damsons in their raw state are inedible - sour and bitter - so they do need to be cooked with sugar (I used 300g  of fruit with 100g sugar and they were perfectly sweet)

Damson Apple Tart
300g Damsons, stones removed
100g Caster Sugar
400g Apples, peeled, cored & roughly chopped
500g Shortcrust Pastry

Preheat your oven to 200c/Gas Mark 6

Mix the damsons and sugar in a large pot (not an aluminium one... it reacts with the fruit acids) and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes until the damsons have started to break down.

Add the apples and cook for a further 5 minutes until they have softened.  Allow the mixture to cool for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the pastry.

Roll out your shortcrust pastry into a large square (yes, you can be very lazy and use readymade - I won't tell...) and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Top with the damson & apple mixture, keeping it away from the edges.

Now start roughly folding the pastry in towards the fruit, taking absolutely no care to make it neat and tidy - the rougher the better for this tart.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked in the middle (giving it a tentative lift up with a palette knife will soon show you if it's cooked or not).

Serve with a generous dollop of cream.