Day: April 2, 2017

Blackberry and Lavender Tartlets

These tartlets are based on a cocktail I had in London recently. It was a gin cocktail with blackberries and lavender and tasted delicious. The tartlets have a sweet shortcrust pastry base, a hidden layer of blackberry jam and are filled with a blackberry and lavender crème mousseline. They are then topped with a little vanilla crème mousseline, fresh blackberries and lavender petals. 

For the Shortcrust Pastry

Click here for my post on making a sweet shortcrust pastry. Make one portion of pastry as per the instructions. Chill the pastry, wrapped in cling film, for at least one hour. Once the pastry has chilled, dust your work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to about the thickness of a pound coin. I used four pastry rings with a diameter of about 5 inches, greased with unsalted butter. Prepare a baking sheet with baking paper. Cut out circles of pastry and place in the rings, directly onto the baking paper. Press the pastry firmly against the rings, then use a sharp knife to cut excess pastry off the top. Repeat with the remaining 3 rings and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prick the bases of the chilled tartlets with a fork, line with baking paper and baking beans and bake for about 12 mins. Remove the beans and the paper, then bake for about 4-6 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Leave to cool.

For the Blackberry, Lavender and Vanilla Mousseline

  • 500ml milk
  • 1 tbsp lavender petals
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 135g caster sugar
  • 50g cornflour
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 8-10 frozen blackberries
  • 8 tbsp blackberry jam

Infuse the milk with the lavender petals for at least one hour. Sieve the milk to remove the petals then heat the milk gently in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, then whisk in the cornflour. Once the milk is simmering, pour a small amount into the egg mixture and whisk together, then pour the entire contents into the saucepan and turn up the heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is thick. Pour into a clean bowl and whisk in the vanilla. Cover with cling film (the film needs to be touching the pastry cream) and chill in the fridge.

Once the cream is cooled, pop the butter (at room temperature) in an electric mixer and whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Keep whisking the butter and add the pastry cream a little at a time until fully incorporated. The mixture may look a little curdled but keep whisking and it will become smooth. Remove about a third of the mousseline and keep to one side.

In a saucepan, gently heat the frozen blackberries with a couple of tablespoons of water, until they are mainly liquid. Sieve the blackberries to remove any seeds and keep the liquid to one side to cool. When cold, slowly add the liquid into the remaining mousseline until smooth and violet in colour.

Now to put everything together. Take your cooled pastry tartlets and spoon a couple of tablespoons of the blackberry jam onto the base and smooth to create a layer. Now carefully spoon the blackberry and lavender mousseline onto the jam and smooth over with a palette knife. Put the vanilla mousseline into a piping bag and pipe little blobs around the edge of the tart. Add fresh blackberries to decorate then sprinkle lavender petals over the top.

How to make Shortcrust Pastry

Shortcrust pastry is great for making pies, tarts or quiches. I use the same method every time to make this pastry so, rather than repeating myself in each post, I’ve put together a more detailed explanation of making shortcrust pastry by hand. This is the method I was taught at Patisserie school. It’s a quick method and there is no danger of overworking the flour. The method below is for sweet shortcrust pastry and makes enough pastry for four individual tartlets.

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 medium egg

To start with, use your fingertips to rub together the flour, sugar, salt and the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg to the bowl and roughly mix everything together. Tip the contents of the bowl onto a clean work surface.

Use the heel of your hand to push a small amount of the mix away from you and against the work surface. Then repeat with another small amount of the mix. Repeat until you have worked through the whole dough.

Then, use a dough scraper to bring all the dough back together and start again, pushing a small amount of the mixture away from you at a time. Repeat this method until a smooth dough forms.

Then wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge, ideally for at least an hour. Once the dough has chilled, you can roll out to use however you like. Easy!