More Than Sweet

plated dessert

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.

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.

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.

Yuzu-chamomile tart with mezcal gelé, elderflower & cucumber sherbet

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Yuzu-chamomile tart with mezcal gelé, fresh elderflowers & cucumber sherbet

Serves 8

CUCUMBER SHERBET

115g sugar
3 grams ice cream stabiliser
35g glucose syrup
450g cucumber juice (from about 3 cucumbers)
15g yuzu juice 
300g full fat plain yogurt 
Pinch of salt, to taste

Mix 15g of sugar with stabiliser, and set aside. Add 100g sugar, glucose syrup, cucumber juice and yuzu juice to a pot and warm up to 36C. Add stabiliser and warm up to 83C while stirring continously. Remove from heat, cool down to 60C, then blend in yogurt with an immersion blender. Season to taste with salt.

Age the sherbet overnight in the fridge, then churn in an ice cream maker. Chill the sherbet in the freezer at least an hour before serving.

YUZU-CHAMOMILE FILLING

180ml heavy cream 
2 Tbsp. dried chamomile blossoms
275g eggs (about 5 eggs)
1 egg yolk
200g granulated sugar
150ml yuzu juice
Pinch of salt 

Bring heavy cream to just below boiling in a small saucepan, remove from heat and whisk in chamomile blossoms. Leave to infuse overnight in the fridge.

Stir together eggs, yolk and sugar, then set aside until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the heavy cream through a fine meshed sieve into the egg syrup and stir gently to combine. Stir in the yuzu syrup and a pinch of salt.

PÂTE 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 four 10cm tart rings with the pastry. Trim excess dough along the edges and rest the tart shells for 15-30 minutes in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 175C and preface the tart shells for about 15 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack, meanwhile lower the heat to 140C.

Gently pour in the yuzu custard, then bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the custard is just set but there is a wobble in the center of the tarts. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

MEZCAL GELÉ

100ml water
50ml mezcal
1g agar agar

Add water and agar to a small saucepan and leave to hydrate for 5 minutes. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes while whisking, whisk in mezcal and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and leave to set for an hour. Purée until smooth, pass through a fine meshed sieve and transfer to a small piping bag or squeeze bottle.

TO ASSEMBLE AND SERVE

Fresh elderflower blossoms or baby leaves of herbs such as lemon thyme, basil, cilantro or mint

Cut the tarts in half and pipe 12-13 small dots of mezcal gelé on the set custard. Place a single elderflower blossom or herb leaf on the gelé dot.

Serve with a quenelle of cucumber sherbet.

Almond sorbet with strawberries and vanilla olive oil

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A refreshing and not overly sweet treat perfect for warm summer afternoons or as a light dessert. The almond sorbet is my variation on the traditional Sicilian almond granita typically eaten for breakfast.

Almond sorbet

650ml water
100g sugar
50g glucose syrup
17g dextrose
6g ice cream stabiliser (or 2,5g locust bean gum)
150g blanched almonds or almond flour
Pinch of salt, to taste

Mix ice cream stabiliser with 15g of the sugar, set aside. Add water, remaining sugar, glucose and dextrose to a pot and warm up to 35-36C. Add stabiliser mix, whisking to dissolve, and warm up to 85C. Remove from heat and cool to 60C. Transfer to a blender with the blanched almonds and blend until a very smooth mixture. Pass through a fine meshed sieve, season to taste with salt and pour into a bowl. Cover with clingfilm and age overnight in the fridge.

Use an immersion blender to emulsify the sorbet base before churning in an ice cream maker.

Freeze for at least an hour in the freezer after churning, before plating the sorbet.

Strawberries with vanilla olive oil

250ml fruity olive oil
1 empty vanilla bean
300g strawberries
Pinch of salt
Fresh herbs (lemon verbena, orange tagetes, basil, lemon balm, lemon thyme…)
Raspberry vinegar

Infuse the vanilla bean in the olive oil for at least a few days, up to 2 weeks. Rinse and hull the strawberries. Cut them in quarters, drizzle them with vanilla olive oil and a tiny pinch of salt. Arrange the strawberries in four bowls, drizzle with a little raspberry vinegar and garnish with fresh herbs. Serve with a quenelle of almond sorbet.

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.

Sloe & Sour Cherry Apple Tart with Sour Cherry Sorbet

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Sour cherry sorbet

Makes 1 liter

500g sour cherries
200g water 
200g sugar
80g glucose
20g lemon juice
4g ice cream stabiliser, preferably Cremodan Coldline
Pinch of salt 

Mix 20g of sugar with stabiliser and set aside. Add sour cherries, water, 180g sugar, glucose and lemon juice to a pot. Warm up to 35C, add stabiliser mix and bring the sorbet mixture up to 82C. Remove from heat, season with a pinch of salt and blend with an immersion blender. Strain through a sieve, transfer to a bowl and rest overnight in the fridge. Blend a second time with an immersion blender and churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Sloe & Sour Cherry Apple Tart

Makes eight 5cm tarts

Almond biscuit

85g almond flour
80g of melted butter
75g sugar
20g confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
20g egg yolk
20g egg white
40g cake flour 
1 tsp. baking powder
95g egg whites
15g sugar

Preheat oven to 160C. 

Sieve together flour and baking powder, set aside. 

Whisk together almond flour, sugar, icing sugar, salt, egg yolk and 20g egg white. Drizzle in melted butter while whisking, then gently fold in the flour. 

Whip 95g egg whites with the remaining sugar to a stiff, glossy meringue. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the batter, then gently fold in the remaining meringue. 

Pour the batter onto a baking tray lined with parchment and spread out to about 1/2cm thickness. 

Bake the biscuit in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes, until sponge springs back when touched. Leave to cool at room temperature. 

Pâte 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 eight 5,5cm tart rings with the pastry. Insert a 2cm round cookie cutter in the center of the tart ring and line with pastry to make a tart wreath. 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.

Almond namelaka

150g Valrhona almond inspiration
1/2 gelatin leaf
85g whole milk
170g heavy cream
Pinch of salt

Add almond inspiration chocolate to a heat proof bowl and melt chocolate over a water bath.

Soak the gelatin leaf in cold water for 10 minutes. Bring the milk to a boil, squeeze excess water from the gelatin leaf and add to the warm milk. Remove from heat and pour over the melted chocolate. Emulsify using an immersion blender and pour in the cold cream while blending. Transfer to the fridge to set.

To assemble and serve

8 apples
150ml sour cherry juice
Sloe gin syrup (Bring 75ml water and 25g sugar to a boil, cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in 50ml sloe gin. Cool completely.)

Slice apples 2mm thick then cut out small leaves. Add half the apple leaves to the sour cherry juice and the other half to the sloe gin syrup. Leave to macerate for 15 minutes in the fridge.

Cut out 8 circles of cake that fit in the cooled tart rings. Brush with sloe gin syrup and pipe almond namelaka on top. Alternate sour cherry and sloe gin macerated apple leaves on top and serve with quenelles of sour cherry sorbet.

Walnut tart with lemon burnt honey caramel and pear sorbet

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PEAR SORBET

500g pears, peeled and cored
200g water 
220g sugar
20g dextrose  
15g glucose
20g lemon juice
4g ice cream stabiliser, preferably Cremodan Coldline 500 
Pinch of salt 

Mix 20g of sugar with stabiliser and set aside. 

Add pears and water to a blender and blend until a fine purée. Transfer to a heavy bottomed pot with sugar, dextrose, glucose and lemon juice. Warm the liquid to 35C, add stabiliser mix and bring the sorbet mixture up to 82C. Remove from heat, season with a pinch of salt and blend with an immersion blender. Transfer to a bowl and leave overnight in the fridge.

Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Walnut tart with lemon & burnt honey caramel

Makes six 10cm tarts

Pâte à foncer

250g all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
125g butter, diced and slightly softened
50g egg yolk
40g ice cold water

Add flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse almond meal. Add the egg yolks and ice water and pulse just until a dough begins to form. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough and line six 10cm fluted tart tins (or one 25cm fluted tart tin) with the dough. Refrigerate the pastry for at least an hour.

Line the pastry with tin foil and weigh down with dried beans, blind bake for 8 minutes at 180C, remove tin foil and weight and bake for another 7 minutes. Meanwhile make the filling.

Walnut filling

125g salted butter
100g brown sugar
75g honey
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 tsp. salt
360g walnuts

Add honey to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cook until honey is a deep caramel color, about 4-5 minutes. Add butter and brown sugar and cook over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a rolling boil, remove from heat and stir in heavy cream, lemon zest, salt and walnuts. Immediately pour in the filling to the baked tart shells and bake for 10 minutes, or until the caramel filling is bubbly and gooey. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Garnish with fresh thyme leaves and serve with pear sorbet.