Vanilla and Raspberry Tart

In a saucepan, gently warm the raspberry purée.

Add the sugar and NH pectin, previously mixed together. Bring to the boil, whisking well.

Pour into the swirl mould (14 cm (5.5 in) diameter), leave to cool then freeze.

Place the softened butter and icing sugar in the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Add the ground almonds, vanilla powder and fleur de sel, and mix again.

Add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula (easier than the stand mixer at this stage).

Finish with the flour and mix with the stand mixer until you get a smooth, homogeneous dough. Do not overwork it. Bring into a ball without overhandling. Divide into 2 equal portions.

Wrap each portion in cling film, shaping each into a flattened rectangle. Refrigerate one overnight and freeze the other (for a second tart). The following day, roll out the chilled dough to 2–3 mm thickness. Cut out a 22 cm (8.7 in) circle and refrigerate for 15 minutes (to make it easier to line the tin).

Grease the tart ring, then line it with the pastry, taking care to create a sharp right angle at the base. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (ideally).

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.

Once the pastry is well chilled, trim the overhanging excess with a small knife.

Place a sheet of parchment paper inside and fill with baking beans or dried pulses for blind baking.

Bake for 15 minutes. I quickly summarise the traditional lining and blind-baking method here, but I now use the technique from La Pâte de Dom, which gives beautifully neat tart shells. Her method may look lengthy but the results are worth it. I recommend watching her video tutorial on YouTube to find out more.

Meanwhile, cream the butter in the stand mixer (paddle attachment) until soft.

Add the sifted icing sugar and mix.

Incorporate half the eggs. Mix, then incorporate 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, even cream.

After 15 minutes of blind baking, remove the tart from the oven and pipe the almond cream into the shell. Spread evenly.

Press a few halved raspberries into the cream, then return to the oven for 15–20 minutes at 160°C / 325°F (the almond cream should be lightly golden and soft). The pastry should be well browned. 10 minutes before the end of baking — once the ring has pulled away from the tart — brush the inside and outside of the shell with a mixture of egg yolk and cream for a shiny finish. Once out of the oven, place on a wire rack to cool, then smooth any imperfections in the pastry with a Microplane grater.

Soak the gelatin sheets in very cold water.

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

Add the cornflour and mix.

Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan with the vanilla seeds and pod. Pour three-quarters of the hot 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, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl, add the drained gelatin and mix.

Cover with cling film touching the surface and leave to cool. This step can be done the evening before. The next day, all you need to do is whip the cream and fold it in. When the pastry cream is cold, take it out of the fridge and work it with a whisk until smooth. Whip the whole cream to a soft Chantilly and fold it into the pastry cream in 3 additions.

Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 15 mm round nozzle. Refrigerate until assembly.

Pipe the vanilla diplomat cream over the almond cream and smooth with a cranked palette knife.

Remove the raspberry confit swirl from the freezer and carefully unmould it without breaking it.

Place it on the tart, centred.

Pipe balls of diplomat cream all the way around the tart, evenly spaced.

Decorate with a few raspberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.