Pomegranate Tart — almond tart with pomegranate glaze and seeds

i. The fruit behind the tart

The pomegranate is native to the region stretching from Iran to northern India and has been grown across the Middle East and Mediterranean since antiquity. It is one of the most symbolic fruits in the world: its many seeds stand for abundance and fertility, and it appears in the art and stories of ancient Persia, Egypt, Greece and the Bible. Its Persian name is anār, its Arabic name rummān, its Turkish name nar.

It still marks the turning points of the year. In Iran, pomegranates are eaten on Shab-e Yalda, the winter solstice night, their red seeds a symbol of the dawn and of life. In Jewish tradition they are eaten at Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, in the hope that the year's merits will be as many as its seeds. In Greece a pomegranate is smashed on the doorstep at New Year for luck, and Turkish and Armenian cooks use it everywhere from salads to desserts.

Pomegranate in sweet dishes is not new. Medieval Arabic cookery books, such as the tenth-century Baghdad collection of al-Warrāq, use pomegranate juice and seeds widely to give sour-sweet flavour to dishes, and pomegranate seeds were a prized garnish in medieval courts from Persia to Europe. What is newer is the tart itself: a European-style pastry shell and almond frangipane, finished with Levantine pomegranate molasses (dibs rummān) and fresh seeds. It is best thought of as a contemporary Middle Eastern–Mediterranean dessert, in the spirit of cafés and home cooks who combine the two traditions, rather than as a dish with a single place of origin.

Its natural companions are other almond and fruit tarts, like the fig and honey tart and the rose petal jam tart, and the rose-and-pistachio flavours of the rose pistachio cake.

ii. Why molasses for the glaze, seeds for the finish

Fresh pomegranate juice is thin, watery and fairly mild. Baked into a filling it disappears, and brushed on a tart it soaks in and leaves almost no flavour. Pomegranate molasses is the same juice boiled down to a thick, dark syrup — a reduction of many times its volume — which concentrates both the sugar and the acid. A little of it carries a deep, tangy, almost wine-like flavour that stands up to rich almond and butter. Warmed with honey, it brushes on as a thin, glossy, ruby glaze that sets slightly tacky.

Molasses varies a great deal between brands. Some are pure reduced juice and very sour; others are sweetened. Taste it before glazing: if it is very sharp, add more honey; if it is sweet, add a squeeze of lemon. The glaze should taste bright and tart, because the frangipane underneath is already sweet.

The fresh seeds — properly called arils — add juice, crunch and colour, and they must go on at the end. Their skins burst in the oven and their juice bleeds into the filling, so they are scattered over the cooled, glazed tart just before serving. Pressed lightly into the tacky glaze, they stay put when you slice.

The frangipane is a simple almond cream of equal weights of butter, sugar and ground almonds with eggs. Orange-blossom water gives it the Levantine perfume. It is baked until just set and lightly golden; overbaked, it turns dry and cakey and the sharp glaze no longer has a soft, rich base to play against.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 8 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 200 g plain flour
• 60 g icing sugar
• 110 g cold unsalted butter, diced (pastry)
• 1 egg yolk, plus 1–2 tbsp cold water
• 125 g unsalted butter, soft (filling)
• 125 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125 g ground almonds
• 25 g plain flour (filling)
• 1 tbsp orange-blossom water
• 1 orange, zest only
• 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 large pomegranate, seeds only
• 2 tbsp chopped pistachios, to finish

Pomegranate molasses is sold in Middle Eastern and Turkish shops as dibs rummān or nar ekşisi; choose one that lists only pomegranate (and perhaps lemon) for the cleanest flavour. A heavy, deep-red pomegranate will have the juiciest seeds. Orange-blossom water varies in strength — start with less and taste. You can swap it for rosewater, using half as much. Use ground almonds with or without skins; or replace a third with ground pistachios for a greener, more Persian filling. Shop-bought sweet shortcrust saves time.

iv. Method

1. For the pastry, rub the cold butter into the flour and icing sugar until like fine crumbs. Add the yolk and enough cold water to bring it together. Flatten, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Roll out to 3 mm and line a 23 cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Prick the base and chill for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, 375°F).
3. Line the case with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes; remove the beans and bake 5–8 minutes more until pale golden and dry. Lower the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, 340°F).
4. For the frangipane, beat the soft butter and sugar until pale, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the ground almonds, flour, orange-blossom water and orange zest.
5. Spread the frangipane evenly in the case and bake for 25–30 minutes until puffed, golden and just set in the centre; a skewer should come out clean. Cool for 20 minutes.
6. Warm the pomegranate molasses and honey in a small pan for 1–2 minutes until loose and glossy. Taste and adjust. Brush over the warm tart in a thin, even layer.
7. To seed the pomegranate, halve it across its equator and hold each half cut side down over a bowl; tap the skin hard with a wooden spoon so the seeds fall out. Pick out any white pith.
8. Once the tart is cool, scatter the seeds thickly over the glaze, pressing them in lightly, and finish with pistachios.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Blind-bake the case fully. A pale case turns soggy under the moist almond filling. Bake until golden and dry before filling.
• Taste the molasses. Brands range from sweet to eye-wateringly sour. Balance the glaze with honey or lemon before brushing.
• Glaze warm, seed cold. The glaze spreads on a warm tart; seeds on a warm tart weep and stain the filling.
• Seed underwater for less mess. If tapping splashes, break the fruit apart in a bowl of water: the seeds sink and the pith floats.
• Don't overbake the frangipane. Take it out when just set and lightly golden; it firms as it cools.
• Cut with a hot knife. A blade dipped in hot water slices cleanly through the glaze and seeds without dragging.

vi. Variations

Pomegranate and pistachio tart replaces some or all of the almonds with pistachios. Pomegranate custard tart fills the case with orange-blossom pastry cream instead of frangipane and tops it with seeds and glaze. A chocolate and pomegranate tart pairs a dark chocolate ganache filling with seeds, whose sharpness cuts the richness. For a rosewater version, use rosewater in the filling and scatter dried rose petals with the seeds.

For other tarts that pair nuts with fruit, see the fig and honey tart, the pear tart and the Bakewell-style almond tart.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve at room temperature, in slices, with thick Greek yoghurt, crème fraîche or labneh sweetened with a little honey — something tangy and cool suits it better than sweet cream. It makes a striking dessert for autumn and winter, when pomegranates are in season, and for Yalda, Rosh Hashanah or Christmas.

The tart is best on the day it is assembled. Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 2 days and bring back to room temperature before serving; the seeds will soften slightly. The baked, unglazed tart can be made a day ahead and kept at room temperature, then glazed and seeded before serving. Unglazed frangipane tart freezes for a month.

ix. More from Middle Eastern

• Rose Pistachio Cake — perfumed nut cake
• Honey Almond Cake — citrus-scented almond loaf
• Fig and Honey Tart — figs on almond cream
• Malabi — rosewater milk pudding
• Qamar al-Din — apricot pudding
• Persian Saffron Ice Cream — bastani