Strawberry tart
Makes one 20cm tart
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 a 20cmx3,5cm tart ring with the pastry. Trim excess dough along the edges and rest the tart shell for 15-30 minutes in the fridge.
Mazarin with white pepper
100g almond paste, at least 60% almonds
1 egg
75g butter
75g sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
Pinch of salt
40-50g melted dark chocolate
Beat together almond paste, egg and white pepper until fully combined and there are no lumps remaining. In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar, mix with the almond mixture and season with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 175C and prebake the tart shell for 5 minutes. Pipe or pour mazarin into the tart shell and smooth the surface with a spatula. Return the tart to the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the tart shell and mazarin is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature.
Brush the surface of the mazarin with melted dark chocolate and leave to set.
Tahitian vanilla bean cremeux
125ml heavy cream
125ml whole milk
4 egg yolks
35g sugar
1/2 Tahitian vanilla bean
3 leaves gelatine
Pinch of salt
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.
Bergamot nappage
100ml water
50g sugar
5g yellow pectin
10g bergamot juice (or lemon, lime or orange)
Whisk together sugar and pectin and set the mixture aside. Heat the water 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 and add the citrus juice. Pour into a bowl and cool to about 34-35C.
To assemble and serve
300g strawberries, rinsed, hulled and quartered
Whisk the cremeux until light and smooth and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe into the tart shell and smooth the surface with a spatula. Arrange the quartered strawberries on top of the cremeux and brush with the bergamot nappage.
Best served within 3-4 hours of assembly.