strawberries and cream tart
what’s a better summer dessert than strawberries and cream?
pastry
recipe from elements of desserts
120g butter, softened
90g icing sugar
18g almond flour
1 egg
pinch of salt
73g flour
175g cake/pastry flour
strawberry compote
10 strawberries, hulled, diced
20g sugar
1tsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
chocolate mousse
120g eggs
50g sugar
1 tbsp powdered gelatin
160g milk chocolate
260g whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks
diplomat cream
200g milk
3 egg yolks
50g sugar
10g cornstarch
capful of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
20g butter
1 sheet of gelatin
300g whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks
strawberry ganache
recipe from matt adlard
380g heavy cream
3g powdered gelatin
18g cold water
130g white chocolate
1 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
pastry
preheat the oven to 350F. place 4 4inch tart rings on a baking tray with parchment paper.
in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, almond flour, and salt until light and fluffy, beat in the egg. then sift together the flour and cake flour, add the flour mixture to the bowl, beat on low until a dough forms and there are no dry patches.
wrap the dough in cling film, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface (this helps prevent sticking), roll the dough out to your desired thickness, cut out 4 6-7inch circles, and carefully press your circles into the tart rings, trim off any overhanging dough. chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
cut off 4 large pieces of cling film, place one on each of your tart shells, fill with baking beans (to make a little pouch), bake for 12 minutes, remove the baking bean pouches (you can reuse these) and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until golden.
* cling film has a weirdly high baking temperature.
strawberry compote
combine the strawberries, sugar, honey, lemon juice in a small pan on medium-low heat, let them bubble and reduce for about 10-20 minutes. cool in the fridge.
chocolate mousse
in a small saucepan, stir together the gelatin and 1 tbsp of water, set aside for 10 minutes.
place the eggs and sugar in a stand-mixer bowl, set over a medium saucepan with water in (a double boiler) on medium-high heat. whisking continuously until the mixture reaches 60C.
when the egg mixture has nearly reached its temperature, set the pan with gelatin in over low heat until just fully melted.
transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour the melted gelatin into the egg mixture, whisk on high until it has cooled to a temp of 35C.
place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, set over a saucepan with water in (double boiler) on high heat, melt the chocolate to 35C.
whisk the chocolate into the eggs until combined. using a spatula fold one-third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, then repeat with the remaining two thirds, until there are no streaks.
spoon the chocolate mousse into 1inch dome moulds, freeze overnight.
diplomat cream
place the milk in a medium saucepan set over high heat, warm the milk until it is just about to come to a boil.
while the milk is warming, in a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, salt until slightly pale.
once the milk is hot, slowly pour it into the egg yolk mixture in a steady stream, whisking constantly. return the custard back to the pan and place over high heat, continually whisking until the custard starts to thicken and bubble a little.
pour into a clean bowl, place cling film directly on the surface of the custard, leave in the fridge to cool.
bloom the gelatin by placing it in a small bowl filled with cold water, leave for 5 minutes until it’s soft, then squeeze out the excess water. take 1/3 cup of the custard and give it 30 seconds in the microwave until it’s hot, stir in the gelatin until dissolved. combine the gelatin mixture back into the custard.
working in thirds, fold the custard into the whipped cream, place the diplomat cream in a piping bag, leave it in the fridge until you are ready.
strawberry ganache
in a small saucepan stir together the gelatin and cold water, set aside for 5-10 minutes, then on low heat dissolve the gelatin (don’t let it boil). place the cream in a different saucepan and bring to a boil, stir in the gelatin.
place the white chocolate in a tall jug, pour the hot cream over, blend using a stick blender or stir together with a spoon.
cover with cling film, chill in the fridge for about 6 hours or overnight.
once chilled, place the ganache, and strawberry powder into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip until medium peaks.
transfer to a piping bag fitted with whatever tip you like.
assembly
spread a spoonful of strawberry compote into the bottom of the tart case, then place the chocolate dome in the centre, pipe the diplomat cream around the dome, using an offset spatula smooth out the top of the tart, pipe the ganache on top of the tart, then just decorate with fruit:)
