Vanilla, Blackcurrant and Raspberry Tartlet

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 almond flour and salt and mix again.

Next add the beaten egg and mix using a spatula (it will be easier than with the stand mixer).

Finish with the flour and mix briefly with the stand mixer until a smooth dough forms. Do not overwork the dough. Gather the dough into a ball without pressing too much.

Wrap the dough in cling film, flattening it into a rectangle. Refrigerate for one hour.

Roll the dough out to a thickness of 2–3 mm using a rolling pin. Cut out 10 cm (3.9 in) diameter rounds of dough (for 7 cm (2.8 in) diameter rings).

To make the raspberry purée, thaw some frozen raspberries, blend them and strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Thawing and refreezing is not an issue here since the fruit purée will be brought to the boil. In a saucepan, gently warm the fruit purées.

Add the sugar and NH pectin, which have been thoroughly combined. Bring to the boil while whisking continuously and keep at a rolling boil for one minute.

Off the heat, add a dash of lemon juice and stir.

Bloom the gelatine in cold water.

Place the white chocolate in a bowl and melt it in the microwave.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk with the scraped vanilla pod.

Off the heat, add the bloomed gelatine and stir with a spatula.

Pour one-third of the milk over the white chocolate and stir to create an emulsion. Then pour in a second third, then a third, until the mixture is perfectly smooth and homogeneous.

Add the cold heavy cream and blend with a hand blender.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F (fan).

Once the dough is well chilled, trim the excess dough overhanging the ring using a small knife.

Place a sheet of baking paper over the dough and fill with baking beans or dried beans for blind baking (in principle, if the tart shells have been in the fridge overnight, no baking beans are needed — the dough won't move).

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, unmould and leave to cool slightly.

Smooth out any imperfections in the pastry using a Microplane grater.

Glaze the tart shells and the edges (inside and outside) with a mixture of egg yolk and heavy cream to give a shiny finish (the heavy cream should represent about 10% of the weight of the yolk).

Bloom the gelatine in water.

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

Add the cornstarch and mix well.

Bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla seeds and pod in a large saucepan. Pour 3/4 of the milk in a thin stream into the bowl, whisking constantly, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.

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

Transfer to a bowl, then add the squeezed gelatine and stir to combine.

Cover with cling film pressed directly against the surface and leave to cool (this step can be done the day before).

Once the pastry cream is completely cold, remove from the fridge and whisk until smooth. Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into the pastry cream in 3 additions.

Pour the blackcurrant/raspberry jam into a bowl and loosen it with a whisk (keep a small amount of jam aside for later). Spread a layer of jam over the base of the tart shell to a depth of about 5 mm, then place in the freezer for a few minutes before finishing the assembly.

Place the namelaka cream in a piping bag with no tip and pipe it over the jam. Smooth flush with a small offset spatula. Place the tart in the freezer for 10 minutes before the next step (or 30 minutes in the refrigerator).

Place a beautiful raspberry (filled with jam) on the namelaka cream, right in the centre, then pipe a large dome of diplomat cream on top of the raspberry, so that it reaches up to the edges of the tart. Gently shake or tap it so the dome of cream settles nicely into place.

Make a small hollow in the diplomat cream using a Parisian scoop warmed beforehand (with a blowtorch or under very hot water) and pipe a little jam inside.

Arrange a half raspberry, a blueberry (if you cannot find blackcurrants) and a small edible flower if you have any.