Recipe by: Erren’s Kitchen
Serves: 12
Time: 55 mins
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of cherry preserves or good quality cherry jam
- 1 cup fresh or frozen pitted cherries Note: if using frozen cherries, defrost before using and strain the juices.
For the vanilla icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoons melted butter
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Method
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Preheat the oven to 160C.
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Grease a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan and place this on a baking tray.
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Using a food processor or mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and brown sugar vigorously until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. It’s an important step to beat the butter and sugar well together when making shortbread as this ensures the shortbread is light, crisp and will hold together.
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In a separate bowl, sift the flour and salt. Add it to the butter mixture and mix until blended (forming large clumps).
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Turn onto a floured surface and using floured hands, press two-thirds of the mixture evenly into the prepared pan (including the sides).
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Spread with the cherry preserves or jam evenly over the dough, leaving a 1⁄4-inch border and then scatter with the cherries.
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Crumble the remaining dough into large crumbs and scatter evenly over the filling, covering most of the surface.
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Bake the tart for 40 – 45 minutes, until lightly browned.
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Leave to cool completely in the pan.
For the Vanilla icing:
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In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, butter and one tablespoon of the milk. If it looks too thick, you can add a second tablespoon of milk.
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Drizzle the cooled tart with the icing, remove from the pan and serve on the base.