Blueberry Tart with Vanilla Diplomat Cream

Preheat the oven to 90°C / 194°F (maximum).

Separate the whites from the yolks. Ideally the whites should be at room temperature. Remember to keep the yolks for the pastry cream.

Add a pinch of salt if you wish.

Begin whisking the whites with an electric mixer on low speed to incorporate as much air as possible. The whites will start to foam.

Add the sugar gradually once the whites are already well whipped.

Add the “blueberry” powder food colouring.

Continue whisking to firm up the whites. When you lift the whisk out of the meringue, a bird’s beak should form.

Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray, then using a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle, pipe small domes in a staggered pattern.

Bake for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on the size of the meringues.

The meringues are done when they come away from the baking paper cleanly. They should be crispy on the outside and soft in the centre.

Place the soft butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and incorporate the sifted icing sugar and salt. Add the egg, then the sifted flour and knead briefly until the dough comes together into a ball.

Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.

Roll the dough out to 2 mm thickness. Prick the dough lightly with a fork and cut out a circle larger than your tart ring.

Place the dough in the ring (the holes made with the fork go on the underside).

A few tips for lining a tart ring well: bring the dough inside the ring and, using your index finger, form a right angle all around the pastry. Create a slight inner rim, run the rolling pin over the top to trim the excess. Shape a neat upright edge by pinching the pastry (video tutorial available).

Refrigerate while you prepare the almond cream.

Beat the butter in a stand mixer (using the paddle attachment) until creamy.

Add the icing sugar and mix.

Incorporate half the eggs, mix, then add half the ground almonds. Mix again.

Add the remaining eggs and mix, then add the remaining ground almonds and the flour. Mix until you have a smooth, uniform cream.

Pipe 150 g (5.3 oz) of almond cream into the tart base and arrange fresh blueberries evenly over the cream.

Bake for 20 minutes at 160°C / 325°F.

Once out of the oven, leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once the tart base is baked and cooled, use a microplane grater to smooth any imperfections.

Heat the blueberries and water in a saucepan and cook until you have a compote with pieces of fruit.

Mix the sugar and pectin together and add to the saucepan. Boil for one minute.

Add the lemon juice.

Leave the compote to cool slightly, then pour it into the tart base over the almond cream.

Soak the gelatine leaves in very cold water.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.

Add the cornflour and mix.

Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan with the vanilla seeds and pod. Pour three-quarters of the milk into the bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.

Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens, for approximately 3 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl, add the squeezed-out gelatine and stir.

Cover with cling film touching the surface and leave to cool.

When the pastry cream is completely cold, take it out of the refrigerator and work it with a whisk until smooth. Whip the full-fat cream to soft peaks and fold it into the pastry cream in 3 additions.

Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a plain 16 mm nozzle. Refrigerate until needed.

Peel the zest from the lemon using a vegetable peeler.

Remove the white pith from the lemon peel using a small knife.

Cut the zest into fine strips.

Bring the water and sugar to the boil, add the zest and boil for one minute.

Leave to cool at room temperature.

Pipe the vanilla diplomat cream over the blueberry compote, creating small domes.

Decorate with fresh blueberries, candied lemon zest and crispy meringues.