Crust makes the tart

By Nadine Kam
Assistant Features Editor

Following is Cyrus Goo's recipe for a Mother's Day tart made with mangoes now in season. Those who find themselves mango-less may substitute diced canned peaches.

While few desserts look as impressive as a fresh-fruit tart, the techniques will be familiar to anyone who has baked a pie. As with pies, the crust is the foundation for a memorable tart.

The mangoes are complemented and anchored by a filling of custard.

While the chef uses a commercial glaze from Europe, home bakers can achieve similar results with melted fruit preserves.

The glaze serves a dual purpose, imparting an eye-pleasing luster and keeps the fruit from drying out or oxidizing.

Tart pans in 9-1/2 -, 10-1/4 - and 11-inch diameters run $6.50 to $8.95.

Also following is an Applesauce Cake recipe from "The Charleston Cake Lady" by Teresa Pregnall.

Mango Tart

Tart shell:
3/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
Pinch salt
5-1/2 cup flour

Mix sugar and margarine to incorporate only. Add vanilla and egg white. Add salt and flour and mix to incorporate only. Do not over mix. Refrigerate dough and roll out to fit a 10 1/4-inch tart pan. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Cool.

Custard Filling:
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
4 cups milk
5 eggs
9 tablespoons cornstarch

Bring sugar, salt and 3 cups of the milk to a boil over medium heat. Mix remaining cup of milk, eggs and cornstarch and add to mixture in a steady stream. Continue cooking 3 to 5 minutes. Pour into baked tart shells and cool.

Apricot Glaze:
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 tablespoon Kirsch or fresh lemon juice

Melt jam over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in Kirsch or lemon juice and strain into a small bowl.

Mango filling:
4 cups diced fresh mango

Combine mango and glaze, and pour over custard in shells. Refrigerate until mango sets. If desired, garnish sides of tart with whipped cream. Makes 18 slices.

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Approximate nutritional analysis per 8-ounce serving: 525 calories, 21 grams fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 300 mg sodium.*

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Applesauce Cake

(From "Treasured Recipes from the Charleston Cake Lady")

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground all-spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 16-ounce jar unsweetened applesauce
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sweet butter, melted
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
1-1/2 cups raisins

Do not preheat oven. Grease a 12-cup tube pan. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt.

Combine applesauce, sugar, water, melted butter and egg. Mix wet and dry ingredients together on low speed for 1 minute, or stir until well blended. Fold in nuts and raisins.

Pour batter into pan and set oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan. Makes 18 slices.

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Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 320 calories, 12 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium.*

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Learn to bake, by the book

Some new baking books to assist in the learning process:

"The Village Baker's Wife" by Gayle and Joe Ortiz with Louisa Beers (Ten Speed Press), $24.95. Capitola, Calif., is home to Gayle's Bakery, and this book serves up recipes for "desserts and pastries that made Gayle's famous."

Recipes run the gamut from whole-wheat croissants and spritz cookies to chocolate truffle cake and gateau citron.

The book is likely to become a bible for home bakers, with its 25 essays on baking techniques and 130 instructional illustrations.

This is a book for someone who has outgrown basic cookie and bread recipes and aspires toward soaked, filled and layered cakes. A beginner may be discouraged before even getting started.

"French Tarts: 50 Savory and Sweet Recipes" by Linda Dannenberg (Artisan), $19.95. A delicious array of recipes features savory tarts to serve as hors d'oeuvres or light main courses, as well as sweet desserts. Color photos illustrate dishes such as a tomato and cheese tart Provencal that looks like a pizza, and a lemon meringue tart topped by waves of fluffy white rosettes.

"Treasured Recipes From the Charleston Cake Lady" by Teresa Pregnall (Hearst Books), $17. Since 1984, Pregnall has sold her homemade cakes by mail order. With more business than she could handle, she published this book to share the pleasure, fun and excitement of baking. What's more, she knows that what most home bakers want are recipes that are fast, easy and fabulous.

So here are recipes to get you through any occasion. These include two versions of carrot cake, black walnut cake and glazed cranberry coffee cake, plus Charleston classics such as gardenia pie, chocolate chess pie and benne (sesame) seed wafers.