cherry & chocolate tart

creamy from the milk chocolate, balanced out with the cherries.

pastry

recipe adapted from elements of desserts

120g butter, softened

90g icing sugar

18g almond flour

capful vanilla

pinch of salt

1 egg

248g flour

cherry mousse

300g cherries, fresh or frozen, pureed, sieved

50g sugar

25g water

1 tbsp powdered gelatin

1 tbsp cold water

200g whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks

cherry jelly

400g cherries, fresh or frozen, pureed, sieved

60g water

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp powdered gelatin

1 tbsp cold water

milk chocolate ganache

250g milk chocolate chips

100g whipping cream

pastry

in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, icing sugar, almond flour, vanilla extract and salt until pale and fluffy. beat in the egg, then add in the flour and mix until everything is just combined.

form the dough into a disc, wrap it in cling film then place it in the fridge for 1 hour.

preheat the oven to 350, place 4 4inch tart rings on a baking tray with parchment paper.

once the pastry is chilled, roll it out on a floured surface to the thickness of about two dollars stacked on top of each other, then cut out 4 6inch circles. carefully press the pastry into the tart ring and trim off any excess. then place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

bake for 10-20 minutes, until golden.

cherry mousse

you’ll need a 4inch silicon mould (i use these)

combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl, set aside.

in a saucepan combine the cherry puree, sugar, water and bring to a boil then take the pan off the heat, stir in the bloomed gelatin until it’s dissolved. transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and set it aside on the countertop until it’s room temp (this takes about 1-2 hours).

once the puree is cool, using a spatula fold one-third of the puree into the whipped cream, then fold in another third, then the final third making sure there are no streaks of cream or puree left.

pour the mousse into the silicon moulds and using a spoon or offset spatula smooth out the top, refrigerator overnight.

cherry jelly

in a small bowl stir together the gelatin and cold water, set aside.

combine the cherry puree, water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. once boiling takes the pan off the heat and stir in the gelatin until it’s dissolved.

pour the jelly into the silicon moulds and set in the fridge overnight.

ganache

place the cream in a saucepan and set it over medium-high heat, bring it just to the boil.

place the chocolate chips in a bowl, once the cream is hot pour it over the chocolate. using a spoon or whisk stir everything together until it becomes thick and shiny.

pour an even amount into each prepared tart shell.

set in the fridge overnight.

assembly

take the mousse and jelly out of the fridge and get a cookie-cutter the same size as the tart ring and one 2-4cm smaller.

cut out the bigger circle, then the smaller circle on each one, place the small jelly circle in the big mousse circle, and repeat until all the puzzles match up.

place your puzzle on top of the ganache tart, decorate with leftover chocolate and cherries:)