I remember the first time I looked into the window of London’s oldest patisserie, the venerable Maison Bertaux on Soho’s Greek Street, and delighted in the array of pastries and cakes laid out. The tarts in particular were beautiful, reminding me of pastries I had enjoyed as a boy on holiday in France. Unlike many British bakers in the 1970s, which used oils, margarine and other emulsified stuff, cakes at Maison Bertaux were made with butter – and the proof was in the eating, which I did often.

Soho has a reputation for being many things, but I love it best for its restaurants and food shops. For sure, sadly, a great many of the originals have gone, replaced by a a new generation of restaurateurs differing wildly from when I first made the area’s acquaintance. Due to the tenacity of two sisters, Michelle and Tania Wade, Maison Bertaux remains a veritable beacon, proudly continuing to put forth beautiful pastries, as it has been doing since 1871.

On Frith Street, just around the corner from Maison Bertaux, used to be a restaurant called Alastair Little. Alastair’s kitchen made a huge contribution to pioneering the renaissance in British cooking. Fine ingredients were cooked beautifully and served simply, and I was fortunate enough to work in – and learn from – that kitchen.

Alastair’s is food I love cooking still. His repertoire listed marvellous puddings, inspired by classics then reimagined. Whenever a new one appeared, it would cause quite a stir. One day, that stir was caused by a tart that Alastair had eaten at his friend Rowley Leigh’s house, a tart of apples and prunes set in a sabayon (a custard made with egg yolk, sugar and sweet wine). It was pronounced a triumph. The recipe remains pretty much as I first cooked it, with just the merest changes here and there – honest.

Caramelised apple and prune tart (main picture)

The pastry recipe makes enough for two 25cm-wide loose-bottomed tart cases, but uses only one. The remaining ball of pastry keeps well in the fridge for a few days but also freezes excellently. Prep the pastry and prunes the night before.

Makes 1 tart
For the prunes
25ml red wine
75g redcurrant jelly
12 agen prunes – stones in, preferably
A pinch of pepper

For the sabayon
100g butter
2 large eggs
100g caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon

For the apples
6 apples, such as cox’s pippin or russet
Juice of half a lemon
75g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
2 tbsp calvados

For the pastry
250g 00-grade flour
180g cold unsalted butter
A pinch of salt
10g caster sugar
1 tbsp cold water
1 egg

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a food processor. Chop the cold butter into large pieces. Add the salt and sugar. Start the motor and whizz briefly to a fine crumb. Add the water.

2 Crack the egg into a cup, having a care that no shell keeps it company, then add to the bowl. Whizz for 15 seconds or so, until the pastry just forms a mass – no more. Tip the dough on to the board and knead lightly until smooth. Split into two. Roll one out over a 25cm-wide tart case, pressing into the edges. Lightly flatten the other piece, wrap well, then put both in the freezer.

3 For the prunes, boil the red wine and redcurrant jelly, then whisk until the jelly is quite dissolved. Add the prunes and the pepper, then return to the boil. Count to 10 and remove the pan from the heat. Decant the result into a bowl, cool, then cover. Leave in a cool place overnight. Remove the stones prior to assembling the tart.

4 Now, turn your attention to the apples. Cut them into quarters, then remove the pips and core. Halve each quarter, tossing all the pieces in lemon juice as you go. Gently warm a frying pan. Melt the butter in it, then add the sugar, cooking until the palest gold colour is achieved. Pour in the apples and any remaining lemon juice. Let them cook undisturbed for 5 minutes, merely agitating the pan. Stir or lightly toss the apples, add the calvados then cook gently for 10‑15 minutes, or until just done. Decant these on to a plate.

5 Have two discs of silicone paper or tinfoil ready and line the frozen tart case with these. Tip in the rice, baking beans or whatever is at hand to weigh down the paper while blind baking the case. Put the case on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in the middle of the oven. With care, remove the discs and beans from the tart case.

6 For the sabayon, melt the butter in a small pan over a gentle heat. Beat the eggs and sugar with vigour until stiff and pale. Add the melted butter carefully in a gentle stream, then stir in the juice of a lemon.

7 Lower the temperature of the oven to 170C/335F/gas mark 3½. Use a spoon to transfer the apples into the tart case, then arrange the prunes in among the apples, reserve any of the delicious juice that remains. Put the tart back in the oven and pour on the sabayon. Bake the tart for 15 minutes after which time it should be golden brown and still slightly liquid. If uncertain, cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

8 Remove the tart from the oven and let it settle. The tart is best served warm, with lots of cream and any of the remaining prune juice.

• Jeremy Lee is the chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis restaurant in London @jeremyleeqv

Apples 101: Navigate the nuances of the UK’s favourite fruit

Reverend wilkes, cox, pippin, pitmaston pine … in the ever-delightful world of botanical nomenclature, apples, surely, come up trumps.

That the fruit that has come to epitomise the English countryside actually hails from Kazakhstan is only one of the unexpected things about it. While there’s something dreamy about that ancient westerly journey, the contemporary commercial apple trade covers distances of altogether less romantic proportions.

There are something like 4,000 named varieties of apple cultivated in Britain, but you wouldn’t know that from supermarket shelves, which display two dozen at best; a mere handful if you choose organic. And most are grown in Argentina, Austria, Chile, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, the US, France and South Africa. Of those that are locally grown and widely available, many are still not British varieties: braeburn and gala were developed in New Zealand, granny smith in Australia. And some aren’t varieties at all, but trademark brand names – Pink Lady, Jazz – which goes a long way in explaining their commercial ubiquity.

Apples are a constant on the “dirty dozen” lists of fresh produce that has the highest pesticide absorbance and therefore should, wherever possible, be organic. Local is always better – not just for the planet, but for the flavour: an apple that’s been given the time to ripen on its tree will taste better than one that hasn’t. Apple trees blossom in May, and their fruit is harvested late summer to late autumn. Of the early apples – those that don’t last that well – Fern Verrow’s Jane Scotter recommends red devil (a picturebook apple, bright-red skin with Persil-white flesh, crisp and fresh and sweet), the crimson discovery and jonagold (which Jeremy Lee also likes for this week’s tart), generous and juicy.

The apples that keep well are put into cold dry storage to last through the winter. On this front, Scotter generally plumps for cookers: bramley – bountiful in yield and full of culinary potential; and reverend wilkes – a staple in the Fern Verrow larder that adds brightness and flavour to anything cooking. Russets – those varieties that sport a natural tanning of the skin, partial or complete – also keep well. The most beautiful is the egremont: russet all over with tiny white flecks and a sweet, nutty flavour, with a slight acidity that cooks well.
Dale Berning Sawa