The Yorkshire curd tart has origins dating back to the mid-17th century and was traditionally made around Whitsuntide from leftover curds from cheesemaking

York-based Cordon Bleu chef Gilli Davies’s latest series of recipe books, Flavours of England, features several Yorkshire specialities, with recipes such as Yorkshire rhubarb pie.

The Yorkshire curd tart has origins dating back to the mid-17th century and was traditionally made around Whitsuntide from leftover curds from cheesemaking. Featured in the Puddings cookbook, they are still a common sight in bakeries and cake shops. Yorkshire parkin is traditionally eaten around bonfire night and is one of several occasions celebrated with a tradition dish in the Festive cookbook. Yorkshire’s famous Wensleydale cheese dates back to the mid-12th century when it was made by Cistercian monks in North Yorkshire. When Henry VII dissolved the monasteries in 1540, the cheese was made on Yorkshire farms. Wensleydale goes particularly well with a slice of fruit cake and can be seen in the recipe in Gilli’s Cheese cookbook.

Yorkshire Curd Tart with blackberry sauce

Ingredients

For the pastry:

175g plain flour

75g unsalted butter

40g icing sugar

1 large egg

For the filling:

225g curd cheese

12g unsalted butter,

melted

100g caster sugar

100g ground almonds

2 eggs

50g currants

Good pinch of nutmeg

Grated rind of half a

lemon

1 tablespoon rum

For the sauce:

Handful of blackberries

Juice of ½ a lemon

1 tablespoon cassis

liqueur or rose water

Caster sugar to taste

Serves 4-6

Method

1 Make up the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs then adding the icing sugar and egg and stirring until you have a firm dough. Chill for half an hour.

2 Roll and line into a 25cm flan tin. Line the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans then bake for 10–15 minutes to set the pastry. Remove the beans and paper and leave the pastry to cool.

3 For the filling, beat the curd in a bowl to break it up and then stir in all the other ingredients.

4 Pour into the pastry case and bake at 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 for about 20 minutes until the top is golden.

5 For the sauce, take a good handful of blackberries and liquidise them with the juice of ½ lemon, a tablespoon of cassis liqueur or rose water and sugar to taste. Sieve before serving.

Taken from Flavours of England Puddings by Gilli Davies £6.99.