Some encounters give rise to the most beautiful recipes. This one was born from an invitation from Anne-Lise, the owner of the Villa de la Croix, a charming guest house nestled in Villechétif, on the doorstep of Troyes.
The Villa de la Croix combines the charm of a renovated old residence with a warm and authentic atmosphere. The house offers 5 spacious guest rooms as well as a self-contained cottage for even more privacy. And when the sun is out, the heated outdoor pool is there for you to truly unwind.Every morning, a hearty homemade breakfast awaits you. In the evening, the table d’hôtes showcases the region’s producers through a full menu (starter, main course, cheese, dessert and coffee) cooked with care. And every Saturday, Anne-Lise opens her cooking and pastry workshop to share her favourite recipes.Anne-Lise therefore set me a gourmet challenge: to create a recipe that would be both a tribute to the Aube terroir and a nod to the very particular geography of Troyes — this medieval town whose historic centre, nicknamed the Bouchon (the cork) for its instantly recognisable shape when seen from the sky, houses at its heart a work imagined by a couple of artists from the Aube… a heart of metal and poetry, a symbol of the romanticism with which the town is imbued.
On the menu for this creation: apple, Prunelle de Troyes — a liqueur made from sloe stones — and so, a heart shape. A recipe imagined for the occasion, and made four-handed with Anne-Lise in the kitchen of the Villa de la Croix.
And so these tartlets were born. They are made up of a pâte sucrée, a stewed apple compote with its raw brunoise for a bit of crunch, a wonderfully light vanilla whipped ganache, and to finish, a veil of Prunelle de Troyes jelly. Simple, elegant, and terribly Aube.
Prunelle de Troyes is obviously the soul of this recipe, but if you can’t find any, don’t panic — the veil of jelly remains entirely optional. And if you’d still like to give it a try, amaretto is a lovely alternative: its almond flavour pairs wonderfully with apple and vanilla. As the proportions are different, refer to the recipe for the adjustments.
Ingredients & preparation
7 components · Full recipe
Vanilla Whipped Ganache
Ingredients
- 45 g (1.6 oz) Valrhona Ivoire 35% white chocolate
- 50 g (1.8 oz) whipping cream
- 1/2 Norohy organic Madagascar vanilla pod
- 100 g (3.5 oz) very cold whipping cream
- 1.2 g (0 oz) powdered gelatin (= 3/4 of a sheet)
- 7.2 g (0.3 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatin)
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatin in the water.
2
Break the white chocolate into pieces in a bowl (you can melt it slightly in a bain-marie or microwave).
3
Heat the 50 g (1.8 oz) of cream with the split and scraped half vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then cover and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.
4
Remove the vanilla pod then reheat the cream.
5
Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatin and mix.
6
Pour one third of the cream onto the white chocolate and mix with a spatula to create an emulsion. Then pour in a second third, then a third, to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.
7
Add the 100 g (3.5 oz) of very cold cream and mix again. Blend for a few seconds with an immersion blender to thoroughly homogenise everything.
8
Cover with cling film in contact and refrigerate overnight.
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (to start the day before)
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) T55 flour
- 90 g (3.2 oz) icing sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) ground almonds
- a pinch of fleur de sel
- 120 g (4.2 oz) cold butter
- 55 g (1.9 oz) whole egg (= 1 large egg)
Method
1
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sifted powders (flour and icing sugar), ground almonds, fleur de sel and vanilla powder. Mix briefly with the paddle to distribute all the dry ingredients evenly.
2
Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the previous mixture (the butter should be very cold).
3
Start the mixer at low speed to “sand” the dough. You will get a grainy mixture, which is perfectly normal.
4
Add the beaten egg to the mixer bowl and mix at low speed. The mixture will start to come together. Mix until a smooth ball of dough forms, without overworking the dough.
5
Bring the dough together into a ball without insisting. At this stage you can fraisage the dough with the palm of your hand to finish kneading it. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions.
6
Wrap both pieces in cling film, flattened into a rectangle shape. Place one in the refrigerator for 1 hour and the other in the freezer (to make another tart).
7
After 1 hour of resting, roll out the dough to 2 mm thickness using a rolling pin between 2 sheets of baking paper (this avoids adding flour).
8
Cut strips of dough slightly taller than the height of the ring and slightly longer than the circumference of the tartlet ring (here I had a heart-shaped tartlet ring, so no 2πR calculation, just make do).
9
Grease the tartlet rings.
10
Place the strip of dough against the inside of the ring and press it to adhere. Seal the two ends of the dough with your finger.
11
Cut out the tart base by pressing gently with the tartlet ring. The strip will overlap slightly.
12
Place all the rings on a baking tray covered with baking paper or a Silpain mat. Freeze for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight (I now habitually freeze overnight). This resting time is important so that the gluten can relax a little, preventing the dough from shrinking during baking.
Apple Compote
Ingredients
- 3 apples
- 1/2 vanilla pod
- 10 g (0.4 oz) sugar
Method
1
Peel and cut 2 of the apples into chunks, then cook them gently with the vanilla and sugar.
2
Cut the last apple into a brunoise (small 5 mm cubes).
3
At the end of cooking, blend the apples to obtain a compote, then add the raw apple and mix.
4
Fill 8 half-spheres of 3 cm (1.2 in) diameter with this compote and smooth flush. Freeze for 1 hour. The rest can be kept at room temperature in the meantime.
Almond Cream
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) softened butter
- 50 g (1.8 oz) icing sugar
- 50 g (1.8 oz) eggs
- 50 g (1.8 oz) ground almonds
- 5 g (0.2 oz) flour
- one tablespoon of Prunelle de Troyes
Method
1
In a bowl, work the butter with a spatula to reduce it to a cream.
2
Add the sifted icing sugar and mix.
3
Fold in half the eggs. Mix, then fold in half the ground almonds. Mix again.
4
Add the remaining eggs and mix, then add the remaining ground almonds, the flour and the liqueur. Mix until a smooth cream forms.
5
Transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle and set aside.
Baking the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Ingredients
- one egg yolk
- 2 g (0.1 oz) whipping cream
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.
2
Once the dough is well chilled, trim any excess dough that overhangs with a small knife.
3
Place a sheet of baking paper and baking weights or beans on top for blind baking (normally, if the tart case spends the night in the refrigerator, there is no need to use baking weights — the dough won’t move).
4
Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the tartlets from the oven, remove the rings and leave to cool slightly.
5
Smooth any imperfections in the pastry using a Microplane grater.
6
Brush the outside of the tartlets with a mixture of egg yolk and liquid cream to make them shiny.
7
Fill with the almond cream (don’t add too much — it will expand slightly) and bake again for 15 minutes. The cream should be lightly coloured.
8
Leave the tart bases to cool on a wire rack.
Prunelle de Troyes Jelly Veil
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Prunelle de Troyes
- 80 g (2.8 oz) water
- 10 g (0.4 oz) sugar (optional but recommended to round out the flavour)
- 2 g (0.1 oz) gelatin (= 1 sheet)
- 0.5 to 0.8 g (0 oz) agar-agar
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatin in the water.
2
Heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan and add the agar-agar. Bring to the boil for 30 seconds, then off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatin followed by the liqueur.
3
Pour onto a silicone mat so as to obtain a fairly thin layer. Leave to set, then cut out the veil in a heart shape. If you don’t have Prunelle de Troyes at home, you can try with another type of alcohol. I personally also tested with amaretto. With the latter, the gelling agent quantities differ slightly: 75 g (2.6 oz) amaretto for 0.8 g (0 oz) agar-agar and 1 g (0 oz) gelatin.
Assembly
Ingredients
- the vanilla whipped ganache
- the small frozen apple compote domes
- the Prunelle de Troyes jelly veil
Method
1
Article written in collaboration with Villa de la Croix.
2
Fill the tart bases with apple compote flush to the top and smooth with a small spatula.
3
Then place a small frozen apple compote dome right in the centre of each tartlet.
4
Whip the vanilla ganache like a Chantilly cream, then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 12 mm round nozzle.
5
Pipe small balls of ganache all around the dome, then place the liqueur veil on top.
6
Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Article written in collaboration with Villa de la Croix.
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