Serves 6-8

It may seem unusual to put grapes into a tart, but many of the major wine-producing countries have ingenious ways of incorporating grapes into their cooking. Some French recipes use ground walnuts in this tart’s filling, but I find they taint the custard with an unattractive grey-brown colour. Toasted, ground hazelnuts are a good alternative. You can also make small individual tarts, if you prefer.

For the filling

50g toasted hazelnuts
90g caster sugar, plus 1tsp
3 eggs
75ml crème fraîche
75ml full-fat milk
200g red or green seedless grapes
Icing sugar, for dusting

For the sweet pastry

250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
90g caster sugar
125g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg

Method

1 Whiz the hazelnuts with a teaspoon of sugar in a food processor until they look like coarse breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl.

2 Put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor. Whiz for 10 seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and pulse until the mixture comes together. Press the mixture into a dough and wrap with clingfilm. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

3 On a lightly floured board, roll out the pastry thinly and use to line a shallow 23cm tart tin with a removable base, leaving the excess pastry overhanging the sides of the tin. Place the tart shell on a baking sheet and prick lightly with a metal skewer or fork. Chill for 20 minutes.

4 Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Line the tart shell with foil and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and lining and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the pastry is lightly golden. Trim off the excess pastry using a sharp knife. Reduce the oven to 170C/Gas 3.

5 Spread the hazelnuts over the tart base. Beat together the sugar, eggs, crème fraîche and milk until well combined. Pour the mixture into the base, so it comes two thirds of the way up. Top with the grapes.

6 Bake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 35-45 minutes until set but still with a little wobble in the centre. (The filling will set completely as the tart cools.)

7 Let the tart cool completely, then dust with icing sugar before serving.

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