July has (already) given way to August and after a long absence from the blog due to the holidays, here I am again to share my latest recipes with you!
And I’m starting with this delicious raspberry tart that I had the chance to make for my colleagues. My headteacher had brought in raspberries from her garden and I really wanted to make a dessert with them. For the recipe, it’s very simple, I followed to the letter the one by Christophe Michalak that he made on the show “Dans la peau d’un chef”. This tart is made up of a coconut lime soft cake, a raspberry-blackcurrant confit, a white chocolate and ginger crunchy layer and fresh raspberries.
I tried to put myself in the same conditions (30 minutes max to make this dessert). Admittedly, the ingredients weren’t weighed out ready as on the show, but I’m still very, very far from 30 minutes!!! I imagine it’s even more stressful on set. Shame, I won’t be able to test the stress of cooking in front of a camera because my application for the show wasn’t selected 🙁
In any case, I can tell you that this dessert is to die for! It’s “the mega atomic bomb that kills its mum” as the chef would say ^^ All my colleagues loved it (it was apparently “one of the best cakes I’ve made”, which says a lot!). And the most incredible thing in all this? I liked it too! Why incredible? Because I like neither raspberry nor coconut. I was starting from a long way off, wasn’t I?
In short, if I haven’t convinced you to make this dessert, I don’t know what more to add 😉
Ingredients & preparation
4 components · Full recipe
Coconut and Lime Soft Cake
Ingredients
- 170 g (6 oz) soft butter
- 170 g (6 oz) sugar
- 140 g (4.9 oz) desiccated coconut
- 100 g (3.5 oz) eggs (approximately 2 eggs)
- 20 g (0.7 oz) cornflour
- 100 g (3.5 oz) thick crème fraîche
- 2 limes
- 2 g (0.1 oz) baking powder
- 50–100 g (3.5 oz) fresh raspberries (to taste)
- a little fleur de sel
Preparation
1
Place the soft butter, sugar, a pinch of fleur de sel and the lime zest in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment at maximum speed. Beat for about one minute, until the butter is well aerated.
2
Reduce the speed, add the whole eggs, desiccated coconut, cornflour and baking powder. Return to full speed to combine and mix everything together well.
3
Reduce the speed again and add the thick crème fraîche.
4
Pour the batter to a depth of 1 cm (0.4 in) into a 20 cm (7.9 in) square frame placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. You should have some batter left over — you can use it to fill one or two small muffin tins, for example.
5
Add the raspberries, cut in half.
6
Bake at 220°C / 425°F for approximately 20 minutes. Check with a knife — the blade should come out clean. The soft cake is done when it is evenly golden.
7
Transfer the cake to a wire rack and leave to cool.
Raspberry and Blackcurrant Confit
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) fresh raspberries
- 50 g (1.8 oz) blackcurrant pulp (I replaced it with strawberry jam)
- 25 g (0.9 oz) brown sugar
- 5 g (0.2 oz) NH pectin
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- a few drops of red Tabasco
Preparation
1
Place the raspberries, blackcurrant pulp, brown sugar and pectin in a saucepan. Bring everything to the boil, then whisk vigorously.
2
Off the heat, add a very small amount of Tabasco (a few drops is plenty).
3
Pour into a dish, cover with cling film touching the surface, and leave to cool.
White Chocolate and Ginger Crunchy Base
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) white couverture chocolate
- 8–10 shortbread biscuits (sablés bretons)
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 lime
- fresh ginger
Preparation
1
Break the white chocolate into pieces in a bowl and melt it over a bain-marie or in the microwave.
2
In a mixing bowl, combine the lime zest, grated ginger, a pinch of fleur de sel and the seeds from the vanilla pod.
3
Crumble the shortbread biscuits by hand, then add the melted white chocolate. The mixture should be neither too dry and crumbly nor too “paste-like”. (Chef’s note: For a good balance, use one third white chocolate to two thirds biscuit.)
4
Spread the mixture into the same frame. Level it out well and remove the frame. Refrigerate.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) fresh raspberries
- coconut shavings (optional)
- icing sugar
Preparation
1
Take the raspberry confit and work it with a whisk to loosen it. Add some grated ginger, a few fresh raspberries, a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of fleur de sel. Mix together.
2
Carefully spread a layer of raspberry confit over the coconut soft cake using a spatula. Be gentle — it is fragile and may break if you press too hard.
3
Also spread a layer of raspberry confit over the reconstructed shortbread base.
4
Place the coconut soft cake on top of the shortbread base. Position the two layers carefully (they should sit perfectly aligned, as they are the same size). Dust the edges with icing sugar to neaten them.
5
Cover with whole fresh raspberries. You can follow Christophe Michalak’s lead and alternate rows of “plain” raspberries with rows that have been dusted with icing sugar.
6
If you like, you can also use a peeler to shave thin curls of fresh coconut and decorate the cake with them.
7
Chef Michalak’s tip: If you cannot find blackcurrant purée or pulp in supermarkets or specialist shops, buy fresh blackcurrants and blend them into a purée.
8
If you cannot find blackcurrant purée, NH pectin, or even fresh blackcurrant berries, bind your raspberries with a red fruit jam of your choice, without cooking it or adding any sugar.
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