Scottish Ecclefechan Tart Recipe

To make the pastry, first add the flour and butter to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You can also rub together the flour and butter with your hands if preferred (just make sure they’re cold).

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar and whisk briefly by hand to combine.

Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the egg and 1 tbsp of the water. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on a slow speed until it just starts to come together into a dough. If the dough is still looking too dry and crumbly, add the second tablespoon of water. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can also use a fork to bring everything together.

Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. Don’t handle it more than you need to here or you may overwork the dough.

Wrap the dough ball in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Whilst the dough chills, prep the tart filling. Melt the butter and muscovado sugar together in the saucepan over a low-medium heat. Set this aside to cool for about 5 minutes.

Add all remaining filling ingredients to the pan and stir well to combine.

Preheat the oven to 180C. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to approximately 0.5cm in thickness. Use a 7.5-8cm cookie cutter to cut circles from the dough and push them carefully into the holes of a cupcake tin.

Once you have lined all of the cupcake holes with pastry, prick the bases with a fork a couple of times, then spoon the filling mixture into each pastry case.

Bake for 20 minutes until the filling is set and the pastry is turning golden around the edges.

Leave in the cupcake tin for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.