Pear Frangipane with Pate Sucree Tart shell

I was originally making this for AFAM: Pears hosted by Raaga of the The Singing chef for the month of March. I am posting this recipe after she has even finished with the round up! Talk about Indian standard stretchable time:) I wanted to explore frangipane tarts more thoroughly before writing about them.

The frangipane tart in terms of taste was a great contrast of slightly tart fruit with the crisp chewiness of the macaroon like almond filling.

Frangipane in the pastry world is a sweetened almond filling used in tarts and pastries. I was very delighted to discover that it has an Indian connection. Frangipane is the name of a flower, which was originally used to flavor the almond paste.Look familiar?
.












I love this flower, called the Temple Tree flower, it has a sweet intoxicating smell which usually denotes summer for me.

For the Frangipane itself I followed this recipe from the Washington Post.For the shell instead of going with the cream cheese tart shell as in the WP recipe, I went for a Pate Sucree ( Sweet Tart Pastry Shell) from the Bakers dozen cookbook.

Couple of important pointers for anyone who might want to attempt this. One is that The frangipane receives equal billing with the fruits. This is not a tart you want to stuff with fruits. The picture I have of my pear tart is actually a good example of what not to do with a frangipane tart. You want give the frangipane enough space to puff up and develop a nice brown crust. A very good example is Spittoon extra's Apricot and Fig Frangipane Tart.

You can substitute the pear with any stone fruit, Apple or Plums being favorite choices. You can also flavor the almond frangipane filling like I did with cardamom or even perhaps nutmeg. I made a Plum filled one as well, but I donot have any pictures because my little daughter really liked it. She polished it off with the ten teeth she has!

This tart shell is perhaps one of the easiest bcause it does not depend too much on the correct mixing of the butter into the flour, which is perhaps the most technical part of forming a good tart shell. So it is good for newbies.

Pate Sucree( Sweet Tart Pastry Shell)
from the Bakers dozen Cookbook.

6 tbsp unsalted butter, cool but not chilled
2.5 tbsp sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of fine sea salt
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1. In a medium bowl, using a hand-held mixer on medium high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Break the egg into a cup, mix it thoroughly with a fork, and measure 2.5 tbsp. Discard the remainder. Beat it in with the vanilla and salt just until blended. Scrape down the bowl. On low speed, add the flour all at once and mix just until the ingredients are moistened. Donot overmix.

2. Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface. Quickly finish combining the ingredients by smearing small amounts away from you. Using a bench knife or plastic scraper, scrape up the dough and gather it together. Form into a flat disk about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap. Referigerate until firm, atleast one hour.( The dough can be prepared upto a day ahead, wrapped, and referigerated.)

This dough tends to break, but it is easy to repair.

Lemon Curd Mousse

I made a Strawberry Tart with Lemon Curd for Spice Cafe's JFI Lemon/Lime a little while back. I only used a couple of tablespoons of that delicious lemon curd.

So I made a Lemon Curd Mousse with the remainder.It has a wonderfully tangy and tart flavor, at the same time creamy and smooth - delicious.

So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Lemon Curd
2 cups Heavy cream
11/2 packets Plain Gelatin (Knox)
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp sugar

Method:
Things to take care of before starting:
a. Make sure the Lemon curd is at room temperature and not cold.
If you add the gelatin to really cold lemon curd, it causes the gelatin to become really lumpy.
b. Chill the vessel in which you are going to whip the cream and the beaters.


1. Add the water to the gelatin in a little sauce pan. Let stand for five minutes until the gelatin blooms.
2. After five minutes, heat the mixture gently over low heat, until the gelatin dissolves. Do not Boil
3. Add the dissolved gelatin to the Lemon Curd.
4. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form(3 minutes on high). Add the 3 tbsp sugar and whip until smooth and glossy(Another 2 minutes). Take care that you donot overwhip. I prefer to be on the safer side and usually underwhip it.
5. Gently fold in the Lemon Curd and gelatin Mixture.
6. If you are using a mould like a square cake pan , line carefully with wax paper or parchment paper and pour the Mousse in.
7. Freeze overnight.
9. Dip the cake pan in hot water and gently remove the mousse.
10. Cut into squares.
11. Plate onto final serving dishes.

I was not familiar with freezing Mousse, but it is a good technique if you want to cut it into geometric shapes. Because of the high butterfat content in the Heavy cream , it is easy to cut and shape. Keeping it in the referigerator for about two hours makes it all soft and creamy again, while holding its shape. But once it becomes soft ,it is impossible to move it: so once you cut it frozen, plate it.

Top with strawberries and chocolate sauce and enjoy.

Strawberry tart with Lemon Curd

My entry for
Spice Cafe's JFI Lime-Lemon






















Oh my! The lemon in my picture looks as big as a pear. I guess in general lemons, like most other produce in America are supersized. I usually use lemons to finish off dishes, to add that bright top note. So I was stumped coming up with something that would highlight just the Lemon / Lime taste. I had just made a lovely Lime vodka using verdant Lime peels dunked in vodka for about a week. No photos though.

Thats when I came accross this recipe for Lemon Curd from Epicurious. Lemon Curd is generally used to fill tarts, pastry shells, top Cakes and cookies. My curiousity piqued, I tried out the recipe for the JFI event by coffee. The Curd part refers to the consistency of the Lemon curd filling. You can find the recipe for the tart shell here.

I must confess I went with the strawberry more for the visual impact.I was not sure that the tart strawberries would pair well with the equally tart lemon. To my surprise when I wolfed down the tart after taking the photographs, the strawberry went with the lemon curd filling really well. I could really taste the fresh fruit.

Lemon curd is a simple recipe, you can always fill pre baked pie shells purchased from the market with as much lemon curd as you prefer, and top it off with the fresh fruit of the day. I have some Lemon curd left over from this and will attempt to make some lemon curd mousse ( recipe and photo to follow).