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Lemon & Basil Tart

Stunning lemon tart with a twist of basil. This tart form is a little bit more complex to make but the result is worth it. This shape is a very elegant way to present a dessert for a small amount of people. The details, the flavour and the creaminess of this tart will positively surprise you.




 

Special material requirements


  • 1-3x tart rings: 25cm diameter (height: 2cm)

  • 1-3x tart rings: 19cm diameter (height: 2cm)

  • Round nozzle (e.g. Ateco 12)

  • Round nozzle 9mm (e.g. Wilton 3A)

  • Star nozzle (e.g. Decora S/F 10)

  • Brush

  • Thermometer

  • Piping bags (optional)

 

Recipe


Yield: 3 tarts - 18 servings | Difficulty: medium


Ingredients


Almond pate sablé

155g butter (cold)

105g powdered sugar

250g all purpose flour

40g almond flour

1 medium egg

pinch of salt


Egg wash

2 medium egg yolks

2 tsp heavy cream


Almond & basil frangipane

55g sugar

55g butter (room temperature)

55g almond flour

1 large egg

3 tsp fresh basil (finely chopped)

1 tsp lemon zest


Strawberry & basil confit

175g strawberry puree (10% sugar)

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

3 tsp fresh basil (finely chopped)

1 tsp pectin nh

1 tsp lemon juice


Lemon crémeux

200g lemon juice

2 medium egg yolks

70g butter (room temperature)

zest of 1 whole lemon

3 tbsp honey

2 tsp cornstarch


Macaron shells (Italian meringue)

85g powdered sugar

85g almond flour

31g egg white (approx. 1 medium egg white) at room temperature

yellow food colouring (e.g. gel)

31g egg white (approx. 1 medium egg white) at room temperature

85g caster sugar

25g water

1/2 tsp egg white powder (optional)


Lemon ganache

340g white chocolate

113g lemon juice

80g butter (room temperature)

40g honey


French meringue

1 medium egg white (approx. 31g) (room temperature)

31g sugar (same weight as egg white)

3 drops lemon juice


Decoration

Fresh basil leaves

 

Directions


Almond pate sablé

  1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine cold butter (cubed), powdered sugar, flour, almond flour and salt. Mix until you get a bread crumb consistency.

  2. Then add the egg and mix just until well combined. Don't over mix it. If there are still some crumbs which are not incorporated, kneed it into the dough by hand.

  3. Spread the dough between two baking papers and roll out thinly. You may have to divide the dough and use 2x2 baking papers. Put it in the freezer until the dough is firm.

  4. Preheat the oven to 175°C fan. Take the dough out of the freezer, remove the baking paper and cut out the base with the bigger tart ring. Additionally, cut out stripes which are about 2.5cm in width (slightly bigger than the walls of the tart) and long enough to line the whole side of the tarts. Line the tart with the dough and press the edges on the bottom together, so that the base and the walls stick together. Trim the excess dough from the edges of the tart ring.

  5. Cut out a hole in the middle with the smaller tart ring and remove the excess dough on the inside. Leave the ring in the centre and line the outer sides of the small ring with dough stripes. Trim the excess dough from the edges of the tart ring.

  6. Place the lined tart rings in the freezer for another 15 minutes, until the dough is firm again.

  7. If you have an air mat and a perforated baking tray, place the tart on that. If not, just use a normal baking tray and baking paper. Bake the tart shells for about 10 minutes in the middle of the oven.

  8. Take the tarts out of the oven, remove the tart ring and let them cool down.


Egg wash

  1. Whisk the egg yolks and the heavy cream together.

  2. Brush all sides except the bottom of the tarts with egg wash.


Almond & basil frangipane

  1. Cream sugar, butter, basil and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add the almond flour and whisk again. Add the egg and whisk until homogenous.

  2. Evenly spread the frangipane dough among the tarts.

  3. Put the tarts back into the oven and bake for another 13 minutes, until the frangipane has browned a little on top and the tart shells are not too dark.

  4. Take the tarts out of the oven and let them cool completely.


Strawberry & basil confit

  1. Place the sugar and pectin in a small bowl and whisk until the pectin is evenly spread in the sugar.

  2. Add the puree and basil to a saucepan and heat it up to approximately 40°C.

  3. Sprinkle the sugar-pectin mix to the puree while constantly whisking.

  4. Bring the puree to a boil and boil for about 2 minutes. Then remove from the heat and add the lemon juice.

  5. Transfer the confit to a bowl and cover with cling film to touch and let it set.

  6. When the confit has cooled down and firmed up, emulsify with a hand blender and transfer to a piping bag.


Lemon crémeux

  1. Place lemon juice, honey, egg yolks and lemon zest into a saucepan and heat it up on low-medium heat while constantly whisking.

  2. Place the cornstarch in a separate bowl.

  3. As soon as the mixture gets hot, add some of the lemon juice mix to the cornstarch and whisk until there are no lumps. Pour the cornstarch mix back to the saucepan and continue cooking on medium heat while whisking.

  4. When the cream thickens, remove it from the heat, pour it through a sieve and transfer into a bowl.

  5. Add the butter and emulsify with a hand blender.

  6. Cover the cream with cling film to touch and let it cool down.


Macarons shells (Italian meringue)

  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan and place the silicone mat/baking paper onto the back of a baking tray.

  2. Add the almond flour and powdered sugar to a mixer and blend in impulses.

  3. Place the powdered sugar, almond flour, first part of the egg whites and some drops of food colouring in a large bowl and mix with a rubber spatula until you have a paste.

  4. Place the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

  5. In the mean time, place the second part of egg whites into a bowl and start whisking on medium speed, until you have soft peaks. Here you can optionally add the egg white powder.

  6. When your syrup reaches 118°C and your egg whites are at a soft peak, remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly pour the syrup to the egg whites, while still whisking.

  7. Keep whisking the egg whites on high speed until they have increased in volume and are fluffy and shiny and the meringue has cooled down.

  8. Add one third of the meringue at a time to the almond flour paste, incorporating it completely every time and prepare the macaronage.

  9. As soon as the dough has the right consistency, transfer it into a piping bag with the nozzle (Ateco 12) and pipe mini macarons with max. 2.5cm diameter onto the silicone mats.

  10. Tap the bottom of your baking tray to release any air bubbles. If you have air bubbles on top that won't pop, use a toothpick.

  11. Bake the shells in the middle of the oven for 8-9 minutes. Depending on your oven you may need to adjust the temperature or baking time.

  12. Take the shells out of the oven and let them cool completely. Then gently remove them from the silicone mat/baking paper.


Lemon ganache

  1. Place white chocolate, lemon juice and honey into a bowl and slowly heat it up in the microwave in impulses, always stirring in between, until all the chocolate has melted.

  2. When the ganache reaches 45°C add the butter and emulsify the ganache with an immersion blender.

  3. Pour the ganache onto a tray or into a bowl and cover with cling film to touch.

  4. Let the ganache rest at room temperature for couple of hours or overnight until it has stabilised.

  5. Transfer the ganache into a piping bag with the round nozzle (Wilton 3A) attached.


French meringue

  1. Prepare the meringue as soon as the tart is ready for decoration.

  2. Place the egg white in a bowl and whisk until you have soft peaks.

  3. Add the lemon juice and one third of the sugar to the egg whites and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

  4. Continue adding the rest of the sugar in thirds until all sugar has dissolved and you have stiff peaks.

  5. Transfer the meringue into a piping bag with the star nozzle (Decora S/F 10) and immediately pipe on the tart. Don't leave the meringue out for too long as it won't be as smooth to pipe.


Assembly

  1. Spread the strawberry & basil confit among the tarts.

  2. Fill the tarts with the lemon crémeux. Wipe off the cream from the tart edges if necessary.

  3. Pair same sized macaron shells, pipe lemon ganache on one shell and place the second shell on top.


Decoration

  1. Pipe some meringue on the tart.

  2. Pipe some lemon ganache dots.

  3. Place some macarons.

  4. Decorate with fresh basil leaves.

 

Notes


  • Almond pate sablé: if your freezer is too small for the rolled out dough or the whole tart, place it in the fridge instead. However, if you place the dough in the fridge it takes more time to firm up, so take that into consideration.

  • Macaron shells: 31g of egg whites is approximately the amount of one medium egg. However, this may vary. For the macarons it is important to have the exact amount for all ingredients. The easiest way is to weigh your egg whites and adjust the other ingredients to your egg white amount.

  • French meringue: to make the meringue more stable and longer smooth to pipe you can increase the sugar to up to the double amount of the egg white. However, this will of course also increase the sweetness of the meringue.

  • French meringue: in this recipe, the sugar amount is equal to the weight of the egg white. The easiest way for the meringue is to weigh your egg whites first and adjust the sugar to your egg white amount. The lemon juice stays the same for one egg white.


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