If it weren’t for a bit of a chill early morning (pre-sun rising), you’d be hard pressed to feel like it is still winter here. It seems like it all happened in the past couple of days. No more need for a coat, no more fires. Piping bowls of soup are not preciously close to the body and used as hand warmers anymore. The skies are changing color. That wintry filter in front of the sun is slowly disappearing each day.
Even produce at the store is losing its marbles. It’s a bit of a mess during this seasonal transition. There’s everything everywhere. Usually it starts bugging me by late February except this year. I needed this off season produce frenzy to work on Carrie’s book as I was covering four seasons, breakfast items, main meals and desserts. I hate to admit it but for once, the fact that I could find plump and gorgeous tomatoes from California in the middle of February was making me jump for joy instead if mumbling "not the season yet damn it".
My seasonal cook preference to find the berries stands completely void of raspberries this time of year was quickly meant with slight panick when I needed a bunch for a few recipes (had to be fresh). Good thing there was lots of other things to work on but you can bet that when the shelves filled up again, so did my cart! I had a couple of pints left over and decided to make these Raspberry Pistachio Frangipane Tarts With Meyer Lemon Chantilly.
I thought I was commiting another seasonal faux pas when I loaded my basket with (incredibly cheap) Meyer lemons for an article but Sam, my produce guy, told me their season could extend as late as April. I raised an eyebrow and said "that’s awesome. If you are in California. Since they’re not indigenous to our parts so really, we should take it to the streets and strike!" to which he replied "You’re so French. Striking!". We were both joking but deep down not so much.
To sum it up, don’t do what I did for these tarts unless raspberries are in season where you are. They were good but I felt like I was holding a box of diamonds at $6 a pint. Trust me, even though the photo gig is over, I am still making the last pint last to the last berry. They’re good, don’t get me wrong but I *know* they will be way better in a couple of months.
On the other hand trust me when I say that the combination of shortbread dough, topped with pistachio frangipane and fresh raspberries was pretty darn good on its own. Believe me again when I add that the Meyer lemon chantilly will wrap this whole thing in the best bite of tangy whipped cloud that will make you giggle in all the right places.
Raspberry Pistachio Frangipane Tarts With Meyer Lemon Chantilly:
Serves 8
Notes:
– I used eight 3-inch mousse rings to bake mine but you can fit the whole thing into an 8 or 9-inch pie plate. The tart filling will probably need extra baking time (add 10-12 minutes) at the same temperature.
– I used a combination of basic gluten free flours but you can substitute all purpose or whole wheat flour in the same quantity.
– As you can imagine, when I was preparing the dishes for Carrie’s book I had to use the exact same ingredients she does in her recipes. There were only two I was not much familiar with, one of which was "organic whole cane sugar", an unrefined and unbleached sugar with nice molasses undertones (and much healthier). It’s not organic cane sugar, nor organic brown sugar and you will find it with the names rapadura or sucanat sometimes. I love molasses so I have fallen completely in love with it. It doesn’t go with every dessert but it worked really well in the shorbread dough. Of course, feel free to substitute regular granulated sugar or a strong brown sugar like demerara or dark muscovado.
– The other one was coconut oil. I knew of it, I knew some about it but I never used it in my cooking. I do now everyday (while keeping using butter, olive oil, avocado oil, etc…) A little goes a long way but make sure to get the best kind: unrefined, extra virgin cold pressed. It is more expensive than most store bough coconut oil but a little goes a long way. It does smell like coconut but not as strongly (if at all) when cooked or baked.
For the shortbread bottoms:
1 stick (115 gr) unsalted butter or coconut oil, at room temperature
1/2 cup (95gr) whole organic cane sugar (or granulated or dark brown)
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup (80gr) brown rice flour
1/2 cup (80gr) white rice flour
1/4 cup (30gr) sorghum flour
(Or use 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour instead of the 3 mentioned above)
2 tablespoons (20 gr) tapioca starch
pinch of salt
For the pistachio frangipane:
1 stick (115 gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (95 gr) organic whole cane sugar (or granulated)
1 cup (100 gr) ground pistachios
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream
For the Meyer lemon chantilly:
1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon honey
zest of one Meyer lemon
2 pints fresh raspberries
Prepare the tart shells:
In a mixer, whip together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and mix until incorporated. Add the flours, tapioca starch and salt and mix briefly. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic (it tears easily). You will need half the amount of dough to make the tartelettes. The other half can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen, well wrapped for up to 3 months. Cut out eight rounds with a 3-inch pastry ring, dock with a fork and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely.
Prepare the pistachio frangipane filling:
Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Place the butter, sugar, ground pistachios, and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir it in carefully instead of whisking it (you do not want to emulsify it or it will rise while baking). Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Place the 8 baked rounds of dough in eight 3-inch pastry rings, divide the cream evenly among the rings and bake 20 minutes. Let cool.
Prepare the Chantilly:
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or hand held) whip the heavy cream together with the honey and lemon zest to medium stiff peaks.
Assemble the tarts:
Pipe or spoon a generoud dollop of chantilly in the middle of each tart and place raspberries all around. Oh yeah…Eat!
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Le P’tit Coin En Francais:
Pour la pate sablee:
115 gr beurre non salee, a temperature ambiante
95 gr de sucanat (ou sucre integral – voir ici) (ou un bon sucre brun)
1 jaune d’oeuf
80gr farine de riz brun
80gr farine de riz blanc
30gr farine de sorghum
(Ou utilisez 160gr de farine au lieu des trois mentionees ci dessus)
20 gr de farine de tapioca (ou maizena)
pincee de sel
Pour la frangipane pistache:
115 gr beurre non sale, mou
95 gr sucanat (ou sucre brun)
100 gr de pistaches en poudre
2 oeufs
60ml de creme liquide entiere
Pour la chantilly au citron:
250ml de creme liquide entiere
1 cuilliere a soupe de miel
zeste d’un citron Meyer ou autre
500 gr de framboises fraiches
Preparer les fonds de tartes:
Dans le bol d’un mixer, fouetter le beurre et le sucre pendant 2-4 minutes. Ajoutez le jaune d’oeuf et battre jusqu’a ce que le melange soit homogene. Ajoutez les farines, le tapioca et le sel et melanger brievement pour obtenir une pate a biscuit. Formez la pate en boule sur votre plan de travail et refrigerer 30 minutes a une heure. (la moitie suffit pour la recette mais la pate se garde bien au congelateur pendant 1-3 mois).
Prechauffer le four a 170C.
Sur votre plan de travail etalez la pate sur une epaisseur d' un demi centimetre. Decoupez 8 cercles de 5cm de diametre environ et piquez les a la fourchette.
Faites les cuire environ 8 minutes. Laissez les refroidir completement et posez les dans des cercles a tarte de 5cm de diametre et de 2 cm de haut.
Preparez la frangipane:
Prechauffez le four a 170C.
Dans un grand bol, melangez tous les ingredients et ajoutez la creme doucement pour ne pa l’emulsionner ou la creme risquerait de gonfler au gour. Gardez la au refrigerateur 30 minutes a une heure.
Dressez la creme sur les fonds de tarte et cuire environ 20 minutes. Laissez refroidir completemet avant de garnir avec la chantilly.
Preparez la chantilly au citron:
Dans le bol d’un mixer, montez la creme en chantilly avec le miel et le zeste de citron. Garnir une poche a douille avec la chantilly et deposez des rosettes de creme au centre des tartes. Ajoutez les franboises tout autour.