Strawberry & Lilac tart
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Strawberries are finally in season, so let’s make a strawberry tart! As a base we make a lovely thin and crispy almond tartelette. To tidy up the outside it grated on a microplane before making it shine with a cream and egg yolk glaze. After baking the inside it’s brushed with some melted white chocolate to prevent it from becoming soky. The tartelette is filled with a delicious strawberry and lilac compote, a long pepper sponge and a strawberry cremeux. A dot of lilac meringue is then piped on a white chocolate disc before it’s shaped. I shape it with a frozen stamp that’s -196 degrees Celsius. Then the top is decorated with some strawberries, lilac flowers and anise leaves.
The lilac syrup
250 g | water |
250 g | sugar |
50 g | cleaned lilac flowers |
20 g | lemon juice |
This will be the base for the compote and meringue. Mix the water with the sugar and heat it up to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved turn off the heat and let it cool down in your fridge. Meanwhile clean enough lilac flowers for 50 grams. You only what the flowers and not the green stems. These are bitter, so be sure to double check them. Once the sugar water has cooled down add the lemon juice and the 50 grams of lilac flowers. Make sure all the flowers are submerged in the sugar water and then let it infuse for at least 24 hours in your fridge. The next day you can drain the syrup on a fine sieve. Be sure to let it drip for at least 30 minutes so you don’t waste a single drop. Keep it in your fridge for later.
The strawberry compote
400 g | cleaned strawberries |
150 g | lilac syrup |
3.5 g | agar powder |
600 g | cleaned strawberries |
0.5 | lemon |
0.5 g | long pepper |
Begin by cleaning enough strawberries for 400 grams. Then blend it till smooth. Once smooth pass it through a fine sieve. Tap the side of the sieve to speed up the process. Now mix 150 grams of the strawberry coulis with the lilac syrup and the agar powder. Mix it well and then bring it to a boil for at least 30 seconds. Stir it every now and then to prevent it from burning. Then pour it into a bowl and let it set in your fridge. Once it had cooled down transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth. Now transfer it into a bowl and keep it in your fridge for later. Then clean enough strawberries for 600 grams and cut those in a nice dice. It doesn’t need to be super precise. Now add it to the strawberry gel and then season it with the zest from half a lemon and also grate the long pepper to the bowl as well. Mix it well and then keep it in your fridge for later.
The strawberry cremeux
225 g | the strawberry coulis we made before |
225 g | cream 35% |
30 g | starch |
90 g | egg yolk |
225 g | white chocolate |
0.5 | lemon |
Mix the strawberry coulis with the cream, the corn starch and the egg yolk. Now mix it well and then while stirring heat it up to thicken the cremeux. Once thickened add the white chocolate and the zest from the half a lemon. Then blend it with a hand blender. Now pour it into a bowl, cover it and let it set in your fridge. After that transfer it into a piping bag and keep it in your fridge for later.
Then the almond tartelette
180 g | plain flour |
30 g | almond powder |
80 g | icing sugar |
4 g | salt |
110 g | cubes of butter |
30 g | beaten egg |
Pour the plain flour on your worktop and use the bowl to make a well in the middle. Fill it with the almond powder, the icing sugar, the salt, the cubes of butter and the beaten egg. Now bring all the ingredients together and then knead it into a nice dough. Don’t overmix it to prevent too much gluten from forming. Then cover it and let it rest in your fridge for at least 1 hour. After the hour dust your worktop with flour and roll the dough into a sheet that’s between 2 to 3 millimeters thin. If needed dust some more flour in between. Then cut half of the dough in long stripes and gently take it of your worktop. Now press it on the side of some perforated rings. Keep the dough as cold as possible so it doesn’t break. Use the back of a knife or a pallet knife to clean up the edges and then press the rings in the remaining dough. Place them on a perforated silicon sheet and bake them at 160 degrees Celsius for around 15 minutes. If you don’t have a perforated sheet use a fork to make small holes at the bottom of the tartelette, this prevents the dough from raising up. Once the tartelettes are done let them cool down for 5 minutes before removing the baking rings. If needed use a grater to tidy up the outside and the top.
20 g | egg yolk |
20 g | cream 35% |
Now mix the egg yolk with the cream and mix it well. Use a brush to add a thin layer of the glaze on both the inside and outside of the tartelettes. This will make the tartelettes shine and help them stay crispy. Bake them for another 15 minutes till golden brown. After that let them cool down completely. Then brush some melted white chocolate on the inside of the shells and keep them covered out of the fridge for later. This layer will also prevent the tartelettes from turning soggy.
The long pepper biscuit
250 g | egg |
150 g | sugar |
2 g | salt |
0.5 | lemon |
0.5 g | long pepper |
150 g | plain flour |
Mix the egg with the sugar, the salt, the zest from half a lemon and the grated long pepper. Mix it well and then while beating it with a whisk heat it up till the temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. Do this over a double boiler. Once it has the right temperature take it off the heat and start beating it with a stand mixer. You want nice thick fluffy peaks. Then transfer the flour on a sieve and tap the side of the sieve. Fold it in till all the flour is incorporated and you have a fluffy even batter. Now divide the batter on two silicon sheets and level it with a pallet knife. Bake them at 220 degrees Celsius for 5 to 6 minutes. Then let them cool down before portioning the biscuits with a big round cutter. It needs to be slightly smaller than the tartelette shell.
The white chocolate galette
Pour some tempered white chocolate on a plastic sheet and spread it with a big pallet knife. Let it set for 30 seconds before portioning it with a round cutter. Place another sheet on top and then while covered let it set for at least 30 minutes out of the fridge. Then gently remove them from the sheet and keep them out of the fridge for later.
The lilac meringue
50 g | lilac syrup |
150 g | egg white |
150 g | fine sugar |
5 g | citric acid |
Pour the lilac syrup in a pan and bring it to a boil on a low medium heat. Directly start beating the egg white on a high speed and once a white foam starts to form add the fine sugar and the citric acid. Keep on beating it till it’s a thick fluffy meringue. Then once the syrup has boiled add it to the bowl and beat it for another minute. You’ll end up with a beautiful meringue. Now transfer it into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle.
How to finish the tart
Begin by covered the bottom with the strawberry compote. Level it before placing the biscuit on top. Now fill the tartelette all the way with the cremeux and level it as well. Then pour some liquid nitrogen in a container and freeze a stamp. Find a link to the stamp in the description of the video. Gently place the chocolate galette on the center of the tart and pipe a dot of the meringue on there. Use the frozen stamp to shape it. The stamp is -196 degrees Celsius allowing you to shape it without the meringue sticking to the stamp. Now decorate the top of the tart with some strawberries that are sliced in 6 and also add some fresh white lilac flowers and some anise leaves.
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