With this lovely weather and the return of strawberries, I naturally wanted to make a little tart. But for a change from the traditional strawberry tart, and to use up leftovers from the freezer (here, a disc of vanilla mousse), I went for a strawberry, vanilla and almond tart-entremets, with a pâte sucrée, an almond cream, a strawberry compote, a vanilla mousse and fresh strawberries.
To be completely honest with you (because I tell you everything!), I used some leftover almond frangipane that was in the freezer (leftovers from Epiphany). Usually, of course, it’s an almond cream that’s used to fill a tart (and that’s precisely why it’s that recipe I’m giving you below). That said, it allowed me to empty my freezer a little more and saved me time. Verdict… the baking is very different!! I should have put the frangipane in the tart base from the start — as it was, I had to bake my tart base for nearly 50 minutes. It didn’t burn, admittedly, but it was nicely golden!
It’s a fairly simple recipe to make and full of freshness — my other half gobbled up three quarters of it. If you’re a fan of this kind of dessert, I advise you to go and look at the other strawberry tart recipes on my blog — there’s bound to be one that will win you over.
Ingredients & method
6 components · Full recipe
Vanilla White Chocolate Mousse (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) full-fat crème fleurette
- 1 vanilla bean
- 100 g (3.5 oz) white chocolate
- 2.15 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine
- 13 g (0.5 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
- 215 g (7.6 oz) full-fat whipping cream
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Make a ganache: melt the white chocolate over a bain-marie until it just begins to melt.
3
Heat the crème fleurette with the vanilla seeds and pod. Cover and leave to infuse for about ten minutes.
4
Reheat the cream, then off the heat, add the well-drained gelatine.
5
Pour the cream over the white chocolate in three additions, emulsifying each time. The chocolate should be smooth and glossy.
6
Whip the cream until light and foamy — do not overwhip.
7
Once the ganache has cooled to 20°C / 68°F, gently fold in the whipped cream, then pour the vanilla mousse into the bottom half of the Eclipse mould to a depth of 1 cm (0.4 in).
Strawberry Compote (can be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) fresh strawberries
- 10 g (0.4 oz) lemon juice
- 20 g (0.7 oz) caster sugar
- 1.5 g (0.1 oz) NH pectin
Method
1
Wash the strawberries, cut them roughly and place in a saucepan over a medium heat.
2
Once the strawberries are hot, add the sugar/pectin mixture and bring to the boil for at least 1 minute.
3
While stirring, quickly crush the strawberries to create a compote texture.
4
Off the heat, add the lemon juice and leave to cool. Cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface and refrigerate overnight.
Sweet Pastry (start 2 days ahead or the day before)
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) butter
- 95 g (3.4 oz) icing sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) ground almonds
- 60 g (2.1 oz) egg (one large egg)
- 250 g (8.8 oz) plain flour
- a pinch of fleur de sel
- a knife tip of vanilla powder
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 g (0.1 oz) full-fat cream
Method
1
Place the softened butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Add the ground almonds, vanilla powder and fleur de sel and mix again.
2
Add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula (this is easier than using the mixer).
3
Finish by adding the flour and mix with the stand mixer until you have a smooth dough. Do not overwork the dough — bring it together into a ball without pressing too hard. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions.
4
Wrap each portion in cling film, shaping it into a flat rectangle. Refrigerate one portion overnight and freeze the other (for another tart). The next day, roll the pastry out to 2–3 mm thickness. Cut out a disc of pastry 26 cm (10.2 in) in diameter.
5
Grease a 22 cm (8.7 in) tart ring, then lay the pastry over it, taking care to create a clean right angle at the base.
6
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (ideally).
7
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.
8
Once the pastry is well chilled, trim the excess pastry with a small knife.
9
Place a sheet of baking paper on the pastry and add baking beads or dried beans for blind baking (note: if the pastry shell has been left in the fridge overnight, it should hold its shape without baking beads). Bake for 15 minutes.
Almond Cream
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) softened butter
- 50 g (1.8 oz) icing sugar
- 5 g (0.2 oz) plain flour
- 50 g (1.8 oz) eggs
- 50 g (1.8 oz) ground almonds
- about ten strawberries
Method
1
Wash the strawberries and cut them into small pieces. Set aside.
2
Meanwhile, beat the butter in the stand mixer (with the paddle) to make a smooth cream.
3
Add the sifted icing sugar and mix.
4
Incorporate half the eggs. Mix, then add half the ground almonds. Mix again.
5
Add the remaining eggs and mix, then add the remaining ground almonds and the flour. Mix until you have a smooth, homogeneous cream.
6
After 15 minutes of blind baking, remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
7
Smooth any imperfections in the pastry with a Microplane grater. Pipe the almond cream into the tart shell, spreading it evenly.
8
Press the strawberry pieces into the almond cream.
9
Bake for 15 minutes at 160°C / 325°F (the almond cream should be lightly golden and soft). Remove from the oven and leave the tart shell to cool on a wire rack. The pastry should be a deep golden colour. Ten minutes before the end of baking (once the ring has come away from the tart), you can brush on a mixture of egg yolk and cream for a shiny finish (1 egg yolk to 4 g (0.1 oz) of cream).
Neutral Glaze
Ingredients
- 80 g (2.8 oz) sugar
- 80 g (2.8 oz) water
- 4 g (0.1 oz) gelatine
- 24 g (0.8 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water for at least 15 minutes.
2
In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water to 103°C / 217°F.
3
Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine and stir gently, taking care not to incorporate air. Leave to cool until it reaches 32°C / 90°F.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Remove the strawberry compote from the fridge and whisk briefly to restore a smoother texture.
2
Spread the strawberry compote over the almond cream and smooth with a spatula.
3
Once the neutral glaze reaches 32°C / 90°F, remove the vanilla mousse disc from the freezer and glaze it.
4
Place the mousse disc on the tart using a large offset spatula, centring it carefully.
5
Wash the strawberries, cut them in half and pat dry on kitchen paper.
6
To make them shine, dust icing sugar over the cut side of the strawberries (the side that will be visible). Arrange the strawberries all around the vanilla mousse disc and refrigerate for 1–2 hours before serving to allow the mousse disc to thaw.
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