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Calamansi Mousse Tartelettes With Candied Kumquats

Calamansi Lime Mousse Tartelettes


The story could beging with "I’ve got these two friends, you see"…And then I could even attempt a rhyme like "they are wild and crazy". But that would be putting Todd and Diane in a box and these two, their hearts and their generosity will never bump the corners of a box. What am I talking about…their garden knows no boundaries. Over a month ago, they sent me a box of Calamansi limes from their own tree and it took me very little time to figure out what I wanted to do with them. Calamansi Mousse Tartelettes With Candied Kumquats.

Every time I virtually enter Todd and Diane’s garden, I get lost in all of its beauty and amazing givings. I literally get lost there and in the gorgeous pictures this amazing team pairs up with their delicious recipes. You get it, I am running low on adjectives to describe them and what they contribute to the blogging world. Actually wait, here’s another one, hot. These two are smoking hot. And hilarious. I’ve been fortunate to meet them both twice and twice I’ve wanted to bottle them up and take them home with me.

Ingredients for tartelettes

Clockwise: kumquats getting candied – fresh Calamansi limes – Calamsi curd in progress – fresh kumquats.

I had tasted Calamansi limes once years ago, before getting this shipment from Todd and Diane. Oh how I remember that first encounter. Could be one for the "what not to do" list. They look like rounded kumquats and I did what I usually do with kumquats. I popped a whole one in my mouth. Then I remember distinctly squinting my eyes, feeling my cheeks draw themselves inward. I love tart and I love sour but this on a scale from 1 to 10 was 25 in the sour-tart department. Oh my, did I squint!!

This time I had a plan. I zested about half of them and juiced them all and believe me, that took a little while and I was left with about 3/4 cup of juice. I immediately thought about making curd for tartelettes and mixed it with whipped cream to tone done the sour factor. The mousse was just right for everyone. For the shells, I used my favorite short crust dough but added some freshly chopped lemon balm to enhance the hints of citrus. Lemon verbena or lemon thyme would work quite well here also.

Making Tartelettes


Since all the little limes from the box had been used for juice, I candied some sliced kumquats to crown the tartelettes with. This almost did not happen as we had a full house munching on them the day I made them and barely saved enough for the tarts. These are like crack in our house. They take a bit of time with slicing and removing the seeds but they are well worth the time. I used them in breads instead of raisins, on tartines with herbed goat cheese, and my favorite way is to tuck pieces into a bowl of my freshly made rice pudding.

The combination of flavors worked out perfectly well from top to bottom. Literally. I know Calamansi limes are not available everywhere but you could easily replace them with limes or lemons, any citrus would work beautifully here.

Calamansi Lime Mousse Tartelettes



Calamansi Mousse Tartelettes With Candied Kumquats:

Makes four 3-inch tartelettes

For the sable crust:
1/2 stick (55 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup (95 grams) all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon freshly chopped lemon balm

For the Calamansi lime mousse:
3/4 cup (190 ml) calamansi juice (or lemon or lime juice)
1 cup (100gr) sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (190ml) heavy cream

Prepare the crust:In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg yolk and mix for a short minute. Add the flour, salt and chopped lemon balm and beat until the dough just starts to come together. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it a little to a small disk and wrap it well in plastic wrap. Refrigerate one hour before using.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper or on a well floured board until 1/4-inch thick. Cut out four 4 inch rounds of pastry dough and fit them inside four 3 inch tartlet molds, patting the dough in with your fingertips if needed. Place a small piece of parchment paper inside the tart shells, fill with beans or pie weights and blind bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and remove the shells from the rings.

Prepare the curd:
In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the Calamansi juice and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks to break them up. Beat some of the Calamansi mixture into the egg yolks to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes. Remove the curd from the heat, stir in the butter until it is completely incorporated. Let cool completely. If not using immediately, place a piece of plastic wrap over the top.
Whip the heavy cream to medium stiff peeks and gently fold it in the citrus curd in two additions or until no streaks of whipped cream remains.
Place the mousse into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipes rosettes of mousse inside the shells. You can also simply spoon the mousse inside the shells. Top with candied kumquat slices if desired and refrigerate.

Candied kumquats:
You can blanch the kumquats in boiling water for a minute before candying them but I forgot to one year at the restaurant and honestly did not see a difference in taste or time. If you think yours have been treated heavily with chemicals before packaging, I encourage to drop the kumquat slices in boiling water for a minute, drain them and proceed to the candy part.
1/2 cup (125ml) water
1 cup (100gr) sugar
1 pint fresh kumquats, washed, patted dry, and cut in 1/8 inch thin slices

In a heavy saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the kumquats, being careful not to overcrowd your pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the fruit become translucent, about 20-30 minutes. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and place it, separating the slices, on a piece of parchment paper or silpat. Use as desired.

Ginger Fig Streusel Tarts With Honey Lavender Ice Cream

FigTart4-2


Thank you guys for toasting Barbara with us in my last post. I know it meant a lot to her and it did to me. (And yes, those were my feet!). It’s been a tough journey for her and I often told Bill I’d give my last shirt to get on a plane and try to be of some help (laundry, groceries, you know the drill), crack up some stupid joke or just hold someone’s hand. He understands. He also adds that he doesn’t like when I travel, saying that I always prepare some good dinners for him to eat while I am gone, I rarely leave dessert. Wrong. Cookies, I always make cookies.

This past weekend however, when I went to Veronica’s in Virginia to teach what we now call a Pastry Bootcamp (a nice one), leaving four of these Ginger Fig Streusel Tarts with some Lavender Honey Ice Cream. He ate the coffee-chicory macarons. Go figure. He actually did it (unknowingly) right as we had plenty of the tarts to celebrate our 11th anniversary. Still feels like we are within the first 5 years. Very much loving having such a fantastic partner. Very much digging this whole marriage thing. Very much looking forward to the next 11 by his side.

Teaching Veronica was great fun and even if there was a lot of information shared in a short amount of time, she knows that the pastry course comes with a lifetime warranty and free upgrade to the baking 101 hotline! I am very glad to have a couple tarts left still as it makes catching up with laundry a whole lot easier. Not to mention getting caught up with work a whole lot sweeter!! How can one’s inbox get so full in 4 days away?! Even the puppies seem to have grown!

Figs and Lavender


The tarts were inspired from the last dessert we had in Asheville a few weeks ago before getting on the plane. The original was an apricot ginger tart served with a scoop of honey lavender ice cream. I changed it around a bit as apricots here are not fully seasonal and a bit on the bland side and a friend had just dropped figs from her tree. I love figs…It’s a childhood thing. It’s a childhood story actually but I’d need another three paragraphs so I’ll wait for that one!

I could wax poetic about figs for hours (no surprise there) but let’s get to the essentials. The crust is a simple pate sablee with a little vanilla bean seed for extra flavor. I know vanilla beans are not cheap and I am lucky to get supplied by my mother but I have to tell you that even 1/4 bean makes a huge difference in a recipe. When it comes to figs, I like them grilled, roasted or fresh so I pretty much left them as they were and layered them with some streusel spiked with crystallized ginger, added a drizzle of honey and hop! in the oven they went. The honey ice cream is just the perfect hint of sweetness and bonus flavor to bring the tarts together. As Bill put it: it’s Provence in a tart!

Before I leave you with the recipe, I just want to thank my friends Todd and Diane from White On Rice Couple for kicking off their new feature series, Portrait of A Gourmand by starting with me. I am honored. Gourmande I am that’s for sure!

FigTart3


One year ago: Berries and Cream for Bastille Day.

Ginger Fig Streusel Tarts With Lavender Honey Ice Cream:

Makes four 3-inch tarts

For the lavender honey ice cream:
1/2 cup (125ml) lavender honey
4 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (375ml) milk
1 1/2 cups (375ml) heavy cream

For the pate sablee:
2 tablespoons (20gr) slivered almonds
1/2 (60gr) cup powdered sugar, unsifted, divided
1/2 stick (56.5gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 vanilla bean, seeded
pinch of salt
3/4 cup (90gr) all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk

For the filling:

2 oz (60gr) all purpose flour
2 oz (60gr) sugar
2 oz (60gr) very cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
12 fresh figs, quartered
4 tablespoons lavender honey (or the one you prefer)

Prepare the ice cream:
In a large bowl, beat the honey and egg yolks until light in color. Heat the milk and cream to a bare boil in a large heavy saucepan. Pour the mixture over the eggs and return the mixture to the saucepan and gently heat (do not boil) until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions

Prepare the pate sablee:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Place almonds and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, vanilla bean seeds, ground nuts and salt on medium speed until well-combined. Slowly add remaining powdered sugar and flour and mix well. Add the egg yolk and mix until incorporated. Shape dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours or overnight.
Place the dough in between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out four 5- inch rounds and fit them inside four 3- inch tartlet molds, patting the dough in with your fingertips if it breaks on you as you transfer the rounds. Gather the scraps and set aside.
Prick the dough with a fork and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place a piece of parchment paper inside the tart shells, fill with beans or pie weights. Bake the shells for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. Keep the oven running at 350F.

Prepare the filling:
In a large bowl, mix together the flour and sugar. Add the butter and ginger and quickly mix with your fingertips until you get pea sized pieces. Layer 3/4 of the streusel at the bottom of each tart shell. Divide and arrange the quartered figs evenly on top and top with the remaining streusel. Drizzle with the honey and bake an additional 20 minutes or until the streusel is baked and the figs are slightly roasted. Serve with the ice cream.