More Than Sweet

Desserts

Mi-Cuit with red kampot pepper & apple brandy

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Paid partnership with Xoco Gourmet Cocoa & Couverture

Mi-cuit with red kampot pepper & apple brandy

Makes 4 cakes

225g 70% Mayan Red chocolate, finely chopped
220g butter
120g granulated sugar
100g cake flour
2 tsp. freshly ground red kampot peppercorns
6 M/L eggs
60ml apple brandy
Generous pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 190C fan and coat the inside of four 8cm diameter, 5cm tall ring moulds with butter and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Melt the butter and add the chopped chocolate, stirring to dissolve. Add to a bowl and set aside until cooled to room temperature. Whisk together sugar, flour, ground pepper, eggs and apple brandy, then fold in the cooled chocolate mixture until a smooth batter. Season to taste with salt.

Pour into the prepared ring moulds and bake for 8 minutes for very soft and runny interior and 9-10 for a firmer interior.

Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, before transferring the cakes in the ring moulds to serving plates. Remove the ring moulds and serve immediately.

MANZANILLA ROASTED RHUBARB TART WITH TOASTED CHAMOMILE GANACHE

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Paid Partnership with Xoco Gourmet

MANZANILLA SHERRY ROASTED RHUBARB TARTS WITH TOASTED CHAMOMILE GANACHE

HAZELNUT PATE SABLÉ

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g toasted hazelnut flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

TOASTED CHAMOMILE GANACHE

200g dark milk chocolate, preferably Xoco Gourmet
150g heavy cream
1 Tbsp. honey
15g chamomile tea
Pinch of salt

SHERRY ROASTED RHUBARB

10-12 slender rhubarb stalks, washed and trimmed
80g sugar
50ml Manzanilla sherry
1/4 tsp. crushed pink peppercorn

Pate sable: Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, almond flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Roll out the dough and line six 7,5cm tart rings with the pastry. Trim excess dough along the edges and rest the tart shells for 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the tart shells. 

Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tart shells until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Ganache: Toast the chamomile tea in a pan over medium heat until toasty and fragrant, this shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. 

Add the dark milk chocolate to a heatproof bowl. Heat the heat heavy cream with the honey and chamomile and bring to a boil.

Pour over the dark milk chocolate and beginning in the centre of the bowl start emulsifying the chocolate and the heavy cream. Season to taste with a pinch of salt. Pass through a fine meshed sieve and press a layer of clingfilm against the surface chill the ganache overnight in the fridge.

Beat the chilled ganache until light and creamy and transfer to a piping bag.

Roasted rhubarb: Preheat oven to 200C. Cut the rhubarb to fit the six tart rings snuggly and place in a roasting tin. Sprinkle with pink pepper, sugar and sherry and roast for 10-12 minutes, until the rhubarb are fork tender, but not mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

When ready to serve, pipe the whipped ganache into the tart shells and top with the rhubarb batons.

Serve within a few hours of assembly. 

Floral Apple Tart with Nyetimber Sorbet

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Paid partnership with Mette Ravn Vanilje

FLORAL APPLE TART WITH NYETIMBER SORBET
NYETIMBER SORBET

375ml Nyetimber sparkling wine
225g apple sauce
100 ml water
130g glucose 
85g sugar  
4g sorbet stabiliser 
Pinch of salt 

Add Nyetimber, apple sauce, water and glucose to a pan and warm up to 36C. Mix the sugar with the sorbet stabiliser, add to the mixture and bring up to 85C. Season to taste with salt and emulsify using an immersion blender. Add to a bowl, cover and rest overnight in the fridge. Before churning, blend with an immersion blender and churn in an ice cream maker. Freeze for at least an hour or two before scooping.

PATE SABLÉ

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g almond flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

ALMOND SPONGE 

60g almond flour
50g + 25g cane sugar
20g egg yolk
75g egg whites
50g butter, melted
35g all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 generous pinch of salt 

JASMINE APPLE COMPOTE

500g apples, peeled, cored and cut in chunks
100ml jasmine tea
1 Tbsp. sugar
1-2 tsp. lemon juice

TAHITI VANILLA BEAN CREMEUX 

125ml heavy cream
125ml whole milk 
4 egg yolks
35g sugar 
1 Mette Ravn Vanilla Tahiti vanilla bean
3 leaves gelatine
Pinch of salt 

TO ASSEMBLE

6-8 fragrant apples, like gravenstein or aroma
Lemon balm
Lemon juice
Simple syrup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tart shells until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Almond sponge: Preheat oven to 175C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Mix together the almond flour, 50g of cane sugar and egg yolk in a bowl and whisk in the melted butter. 

Sieve together flour, baking powder and salt and mix into the batter. Whisk the egg whites with the remaining 25g of sugar to soft peaks and fold into the batter until the batter falls from the spatula. 

Pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out to about 1/2 cm thickness. Bake for 4-5 minutes and leave to cool on a wire rack. Cut out 6 rounds of cake that fit inside the cooled tart shells.

Jasmine apple compote: Place apples and jasmine tea in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for a few minutes. Reduce heat and cover the saucepan with a lid. Cook until the apples are starting to cook down, add sugar and lemon juice and cook for another few minutes. Remove from heat and leave to fully cool.

Vanilla cremeux: Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and mix with the sugar, beat with egg yolks until pale and very airy. Bring milk and cream to just below boiling with the empty vanilla bean, remove from heat and pour 1/2 into the egg mix while whisking rigourously. 

Return to heat and warm up to 85C while whisking continuously. Remove from heat, squeeze excess water from the gelatine and stir into the hot custard, until it is fully dissolved. 

Season with a pinch of salt. Strain into a clean bowl and press a piece of clingfilm directly against the surface to prevent a skin forming. Chill until fully set.

To assemble and serve: Add the sponge discs to the tart shells and spread a thin layer of apple compote on top. Whisk the cremeux until light and airy, transfer to a piping bag and pipe on top of the apple sauce leaving a few mm to the edge. Slice the apples thinly, brush them with a mixture of 2:1 lemon juice and simple syrup and arrange in rosettes on top of the cremeux. Garnish with lemon balm and serve with Nyetimber sorbet.


Chai custard tarts with blueberries

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Chai custard tarts with blueberries

Sweet shortcrust

250g all purpose flour
135g butter
A pinch of grated nutmeg
90g sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Rub together the flour, butter and nutmeg until the texture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar and whisk together the egg yolk and whole egg. Slowly add the eggs to the mixture and gently knead just until the pastry forms a ball. Wrap the pastry ball in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough until 2-3mm thickness and line six 10cm tart rings with the pastry. Return the tart shells to the refrigerator for 15 minutes, while you preheat the oven to 175C.

Prebake the tart shells until golden brown, remove from oven and turn the heat down to 120C.

Chai custard

500ml cream
1 Tbsp. chai spice
75g sugar
160g egg yolks
Pinch of salt

3 Tbsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. bitter cocoa

Bring the cream to a boil and dissolve the chai masala in the warm cream. Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks and pour in the warm cream while whisking. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a jug and skim off any foam forming on top.

Pour the custard into the tart shells and sieve over a mixture of cinnamon and cocoa powder.

Bake the custard for 20 minutes, or until the custard is just set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature.

Blueberry gel

100g wild blueberry purée
20 gr sugar
25g water
1 tsp. lemon juice
1g agar agar
1/4 leaf gelatine

Soak the gelatine in cold water. Bring blueberry purée, sugar, water, lemon juice and agar to just below boiling. Remove from heat, squeeze excess water from the gelatine and dissolve in the warm liquid. Fully set in the fridge and purée to a smooth gel. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.

To assemble and serve

Fresh blueberries
Fresh herbs (I used a mixture of orange marigold leaves, lemon verbena and lemon thyme)

Pipe dots of blueberry gel on the cooled tarts and place fresh blueberries on top. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve.

Nordic Paris-Brest

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Cardamom crusted choux with parsnip crème diplomat and rosemary poached pears

Parsnip crème diplomat

Parsnip milk

500ml whole milk 
300g parsnip, peeled and cut into cubes 
1 sri lanka cinnamon stick 
25g honey 
Pinch of salt

Parsnip crème diplomat

250ml parsnip milk
1 Tbsp. heavy cream
40g egg yolks
50g sugar
18g cornstarch
1,5 leaves gelatine

175ml heavy cream

Add whole milk, parsnip cubes, cinnamon stick, honey and salt to a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and infuse in the refrigerator overnight. Strain out the parsnip and cinnamon and measure off 250ml parsnip milk for the pastry cream.

Soak gelatine leaves in cold water. Heat the parsnip milk and 1 Tbsp. of heavy cream with 15g of the sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch, then whisk in the hot milk mixture. Strain back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat while stirring continuously until pastry cream thickens. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, to cook out the starch. Remove from heat, squeeze excess water from the gelatine and whisk into the pastry cream. Transfer the pastry cream to a container and press a piece of clingfilm directly against the surface. Chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

Whip the pastry cream until creamy. In a separate bowl, lightly whip 175ml of heavy cream, then gently fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream. Pour into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Rosemary poached pears

1l water
250g sugar
4 pears, peeled, halved and cored
4 sprigs of rosemary
5cm strip lemon rind

Heat water and sugar in a large pot until sugar is dissolved. Add pears, rosemary and lemon rind to the warm poaching liquid, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until fork tender.

Transfer the pears and poaching liquid to a container and refrigerate overnight.

Cardamom crusted choux rings

50g butter
65g water
65g whole milk
3g sugar
2g salt
125g egg
75g all purpose flour

1 tbsp. cardamom seeds, coarsely crushed
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 180C.

Melt butter, water, whole milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan on low heat. When the butter is melted, bring to a boil over high heat and immediately remove from direct heat. Stir in flour to make a soft dough. Return the pan to low heat and cook the dough for a few minutes, while stirring continuously. Be careful not to scrape the film forming on the bottom of the pan.

Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes. Beat in the egg a little at a time until dough is glossy, elastic and holds a “V”-shape when dropped from a spatula. You might not need all of the egg for the dough.

Line two trays with baking paper and use an 8cm cookie cutter as stencil to draw four circles on each tray with a pencil. Flip the baking paper around so the pencil mark faces down.

Place the choux dough into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm star nozzle and pipe eight choux circles.

Sprinkle liberally with the cardamom sugar and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

To assemble the Paris-Brests, drain the pears and cut into 1x1cm cubes. Cut the choux rings in half and place the pear cubes in the bottom halves.

Pipe parsnip crème diplomat on top of the pears and layer with the top halves.

Serve immediately.

GREEN STRAWBERRY & OOLONG DESSERT

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GREEN STRAWBERRY TART WITH GOOSEBERRY AND FENNEL POLLEN & OOLONG MILK TEA ICE CREAM
OOLLING MILK TEA ICE CREAM 

650ml whole milk
65ml heavy cream
4 Tbsp. Oolong tea
65g skimmed milk powder 
100g sugar
40g liquid glucose  
4g ice cream stabiliser 
Pinch of salt 

Mix stabiliser with 15g sugar, set aside. Add milk and cream to a heavy-duty pot and warm up to 80C, add tea leaves and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain off the tea leaves and add milk powder, 85g of the sugar and glucose. Whisk in stabiliser mixture and heat the mixture to 82C while stirring continuously. Remove from heat and leave the ice cream base to age in the fridge overnight. Before churning, emulsify the ice cream mixture using an immersion blender, season with a little salt to taste then churn in an ice cream maker. Freeze for at least an hour in the freezer before serving.

WHIPPED FENNEL POLLEN GANACHE

100g white chocolate, chopped
200ml heavy cream
1 Tbsp. liquid glucose
1/2 tsp. fennel pollen
Pinch of salt

Add the white chocolate to a heatproof bowl. Heat the heat heavy cream with the glucose and fennel pollen and bring to a boil. Pour over the white chocolate and beginning in the centre of the bowl start emulsifying the chocolate and the heavy cream. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, press a layer of clingfilm against the surface and chill overnight in the fridge.

PATE SUCRÉE 

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g almond flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, almond flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Roll out the dough and line six 7,5cm tart rings with the pastry. Trim excess dough along the edges and rest the tart shells for 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the tart shells.

Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tart shells until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

SALTED PISTACHIO CRUNCH

50g white chocolate
30g pistachio praline paste
30g feuilletine (or toasted, chopped pistachios)
40g toasted, chopped pistachios
Salt to taste

Melt the chocolate and mix with the pistachio praline paste, fold in the feuilletine and toasted pistachios. Season to taste with salt and spread in the bottom of the tart shells. Leave to set.

GOOSEBERRY COMPOTE

200g green gooseberries, topped and tailed
50g sugar
Juice of 1 lime

Add everything to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the gooseberries are tender. Remove from heat and leave to cool in a bowl.

GOOSEBERRY GLAZE

150ml water 
75g green gooseberries
50g sugar
3g yellow pectin

Whisk together sugar and pectin and set the mixture aside.

Place gooseberries and water in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Leave to cook for 10-15 minutes, then strain liquid through a fine-mesh sieve.

Measure of gooseberry juice and heat to 45C in a small saucepan, add the pectin mixture and whisk to dissolve fully. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, turn off the heat pour into a bowl, cool to about 34-35C.

TO ASSEMBLE AND SERVE

300g strawberries, rinsed, hulled and quartered
Floral olive oil in a squeeze bottle
Sweet cicely leaves (or substitute lemon thyme or even cilantro)

Beat the chilled ganache until light and creamy and transfer to a piping bag.

Add a thin layer of gooseberry compote on top of the pistachio crunch layer and pipe the chocolate ganache on top. Use a spatula to even the layer and place in the fridge to set.

Quarter the green strawberries and brush them with a thin layer of gooseberry glaze. Arrange the gooseberries artfully on top of the whipped ganache and decorate with sweet cicely leaves.

Place 7-8 dots of olive oil on the tart and top with a quenelle of Oolong milk tea ice cream.

Costa Rica Vanilla Panna Cotta

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vanilla panna cotta

The intense prune, cognac and caramel notes of the Costa Rica vanilla bean and adding salt to the panna cotta mixture makes the velvety custard taste almost like the best vanilla bean salted caramel

Costa Rica Vanilla Panna Cotta

Serves 4-6

400ml heavy cream
300ml whole milk
1 Costa Rica vanilla bean, split lengthwise

75g granulated sugar
4 gelatine leaves hydrated in cold water (or 7,5g gelatine powder dissolved in 60ml cold water)
1/2-3/4 tsp. salt, to taste

Heat the heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla seeds and empty bean to just below boiling. Remove the pot from heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes, but overnight is even better for maximum flavour extraction.

Reheat the milk mixture with the sugar while stirring to to fully dissolve. Squeeze excess water from gelatine sheets and add to the hot vanilla cream and stir until gelatine is fully dissolved. Season to taste with salt.

Pour the warm vanilla cream through a mesh sieve into a pouring jug and leave to cool at room temperature for an hour, stirring every once in a while to prevent vanilla seeds from settling at the bottom.

The panna cotta mixture will start to thicken and set slightly, but should still be a pourable consistency. Pour panna cotta mixture into 4-6 silicone moulds or oiled ramekins and leave to set in the fridge, this will take anywhere from 2-4 hours. If using silicone moulds, freeze panna cottas in the freezer for easier unmoulding, then leave to thaw completely on the plates before serving.

The panna cotta is delicious on its own, but it could also be served with stewed prunes, basil-apple salsa, brandied cherries or pear sorbet. Or make the panna cotta with floral and anisey Tahitian vanilla beans and my white peach & tarragon sorbet.

Salted caramel snow egg with pickled apple & vanilla creme anglaise

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Salted caramel snow egg with pickled apple & vanilla creme anglaise

Created for Mette Ravn Vanilje

Serves 6

Creme anglaise

250ml heavy cream
250ml whole milk
1 tahiti vanilla bean, seeds of
50g sugar 
5 egg yolks
Generous pinch of salt, to taste

Add heavy cream, whole milk and the vanilla seeds to a heavy bottom saucepan and warm up to just below boiling. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and very airy in a heatproof bowl. Remove vanilla bean from the milk mixture and set aside, warm back up to just below boiling and pour 1/2 of the warm milk into the egg mixture while whisking rapidly. Return egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat while stirring constantly, until custard reaches 85C on an instant read thermometer. Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl, add the vanilla bean and cover with cling film. Leave to cool completely in the fridge.

Pickled apple

3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
200ml water
100g sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 empty tahiti vanilla bean

Bring water, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla bean to a boil. Remove from heat, add the apple dices and leave to quick pickle for 5 minutes. Remove the apple dices from the pickling liquid and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Salted caramel meringue

165g sugar
5 egg whites
Generous pinch of salt

Caramelise the sugar until a deep amber color and pour onto a silicone mat or piece of baking paper to set. When the caramel is completely hardened, grind it to a fine powder in a food processor. Sieve off any large pieces of caramel.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then add the caramel powder 1 Tbsp. at a time until it is fully incorporated. Then beat to a stiff, glossy meringue. Season with salt to taste.

Bring a wide shallow pan of water to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat. Quenelle 6 meringue eggs into the warm water and poach for 2 minutes, before gently turning them over and poaching a minute or two on the other side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the poached meringue from the water and drain on a kitchen towel.

To serve, divide the apple dices in the centre of six bowls and pour over the chilled creme anglaise. Place a poached meringue on top of the apples and serve immediately.

Paris-Brest in the springtime

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Paris-Brest with caramelised buttermilk mousseline & pickled apple, apple sorbet and citrus herbs

For the sorbet, replace pears with an equal amount of apples.

Caramelised buttermilk mousseline

150ml heavy cream
75g sugar
4 egg yolks
25g all-purpose flour
25g corn starch
350ml buttermilk
150g softened butter, divided

Slowly caramelise the heavy cream on a nonstick pan over medium high heat, scraping the bottom once in a while, until the cream turns a a light caramel color.

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour and egg yolks until no lumps remain. Whisk in buttermilk and caramelised heavy cream. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil, cook while whisking rigorously for a few minutes to thicken the cream and cook out the starches. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in 75g of butter until combined, cover with clingfilm and let cool. When the cream is room temperature, whisk in the remaining 75g butter and transfer to a piping bag with an open star nozzle. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Pickled apple

2 apples, peeled and cut into small balls
100g sugar
100ml water
1 Tbsp apple vinegar
A few sprigs of verbena, lemon balm and lemon thyme

Bring sugar, water, vinegar and herbs to a boil, and boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, cool for 15 minutes then add apple balls. Leave for 5-10 minutes, check to make sure apples are not mushy, then remove apple balls from pickling liquid.

Vanilla choux

Makes 6 choux rings

80g whole milk 
80g water
65g butter
5g sugar 
2g salt 
100g strong bread flour, sieved
140-160g whisked eggs 
*1 empty vanilla bean leftover from other purposes 
2-3 Tbsp. icing sugar
Flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 175C.

Add milk, water, butter, vanilla bean if using, sugar and salt to a pan and warm up over low heat until butter is melted. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and remove from heat as soon as the milk mixture is boiling. Remove vanilla bean and rigourously whisk in flour until a homogenous paste, return to low heat and cook the dough for a few minutes. Be careful not to scrape off the thin film that forms on the pan.

Transfer dough to a bowl and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Beat in egg a little at a time, you might not need all of it, until dough falls off the spoon in a V. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe six 7,5cm circles on a piece of parchment paper. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until puffy and golden brown all over. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

To assemble and serve
Floral olive oil
Icing sugar
Lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme

Cut choux rings in half, pipe caramelised buttermilk mousseline on the bottom half and arrange pickled apple balls on top of the mousseline. Place the upper half of the choux rings back on top of the apples and dust with icing sugar.

Serve with a few extra apple balls, fresh herbs, dots of floral olive oil and citrus herbs

Spiced hibiscus apple tart with hazelnut ice cream and brown butter crumble

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Spiced hibiscus apple tart, hazelnut gelato and brown butter crumble
Spiced hibiscus apple tart with hazelnut gelato and brown butter crumble

Hazelnut gelato

650ml whole milk
65ml heavy cream
65g skimmed milk powder
60g sugar
80g liquid glucose
4g ice cream stabiliser
100g roasted hazelnut paste
Pinch of salt

Mix stabiliser with 15g sugar, set aside. Add milk, cream, milk powder, remaining sugar and glucose in a heavy-duty pot. Warm up to 40C, whisk in stabiliser mixture and bring up to 84C while stirring continuously. Remove from heat and age in the fridge overnight. Mix with hazelnut paste and emulsify using an immersion blender, season with a pinch of salt and churn in an ice cream maker.

Brown butter crumble

50g browned butter, cooled
50g all purpose flour
30g sugar
15g hazelnut flour

Rub browned butter, flour, sugar and hazelnut flour together until the texture is like wet sand. Spread into a thin layer on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake at 175C for 30 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Hazelnut pâte sucrée

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g hazelnut flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, hazelnut flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the dough and line six 10cm calisson tart rings with the dough. Trim the edges and rest for another 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tarts for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla cremeux

330g heavy cream 
60g sugar
1 gelatin sheets 
1 vanilla bean
70g egg yolks 
1/2 tsp. salt

Rehydrate the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.

Heat heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat.

Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, mix with a tbsp. of the sugar and use a knife to rub the vanilla and sugar together. Mix the vanilla sugar with the remaining sugar and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk until very pale and and airy. Remove the hot cream from the heat, remove gelatin and squeeze to remove excess water before stirring into the cream. Slowly pour the cream into the egg mixture, transfer back into the saucepan and cook on low heat until thickened and the mixture reaches 82C on an instant read thermometer. Pour the cremeux into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 4 hours.

Vanilla caramel

125g sugar
125ml heavy cream
1/2 empty vanilla bean, leftover from cremeux
Pinch of salt

Bring the cream to a boil, remove from heat and add the vanilla bean. Leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.

Add sugar to a small saucepan and caramelise until it is a dark amber color. Remove the vanilla bean, then pour in half the warm cream while stirring vigorously. Add the remaining cream and whisk to a golden caramel sauce, season with a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and pour into a jar. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Spiced hibiscus syrup

300ml water 
Juice of 1/2 lemon 
75g sugar
15g dried hibiscus flowers 
1/2 empty vanilla bean 
2 cinnamon sticks 
1 5cm piece of liquorice root 
5g whole green cardamom 
5g fennel seeds
5g cloves 
5g star anise 
2g black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. Rosewater
50ml spiced rum 

Add the water, sugar, hibiscus flowers, lemon juice and spices into a large saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and leave to infuse for an hour. Pour through a sieve, discard the spices before adding rosewater and spiced rum. Cool completely in the fridge.

To assemble and serve

9 apples
Thyme

Pipe a thin layer of vanilla caramel in the bottom of each tart shell and pipe the cremeux on top of the vanilla caramel. Thinly slice the apples. Cut 90 larger leaves and 78 slightly smaller leaves from the apple slices and brush with cold hibiscus syrup. Place the larger leaves along the edge of the tart shells and the smaller leaves on top in the centre. Garnish with thyme leaves and serve with a quenelle of hazelnut gelato on top of a spoonful of brown butter crumble.