Pastry Cream
From Emmanuelle Peron, Chouquette Pastry, chouquettepastry.weebly.com
Recipe yields cream for ten 4-inch tartlets, or one 9-inch tart
250 grams whole milk
½ vanilla bean pod; Peron prefers Madagascar bean for flavor
4 egg yolks, or 60 grams, at room temperature
60 grams granulated sugar
25 grams cornstarch
25 grams butter
Cut ends off of vanilla bean, then slice in half lengthwise. Scrape interior of pod, add scraped beans and pod to milk in saucepan.
Bring milk and vanilla to soft boil, then remove from heat. Allow to steep for 10-20 minutes, to infuse. Cover with heatproof plastic film, pressed onto mixture to avoid “skin” formation.
In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Do not over-whisk or mixture will turn white; it should be yellow.
Strain 1/3 of warm milk/vanilla into the yolk mixture and beat; remove bean pods. Strain remaining milk/vanilla mixture. Beat well.
Pour mixture back into the saucepan and cook on high while whisking.
Remove from heat when the cream has thickened; this happens fast!
Add butter and whisk mixture.
Cover with plastic film, wrap, and cool in refrigerator. Consume cream within 24 hours.
Tarte Pâtissière aux Framboise
From Emmanuelle Peron, Chouquette Pastry
Recipe yields ten 4-inch tartlet shells, or one 9-inch tart shell
120 grams butter, softened for 2-4 hours at room temperature; Peron prefers unsalted Plugra, available at local grocers
80 grams powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean; Madagascar bean preferred for flavor; see pastry cream recipe for how-to
25 grams white almond flour
1 pinch salt
1 whole egg, or 50 grams
200 grams all-purpose flour
Raspberries, 12 per tartlet; if you must wash berries, wash very gently and let dry overnight
In a bowl, combine softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla bean (beans only, no pod), almond flour and salt. Mix with a spatula until incorporated.
Add the egg and whisk.
Sift the flour lightly over the bowl and combine dough by hand or very slowly using paddle attachment on mixer. Do not overwork dough or it will contract rather than expand.
Press dough into large round or rectangle so it will cool well.
Wrap in film and rest dough in refrigerator for 2 hours minimum, or overnight, to meld flavors.
This dough does not rise, and can be kept for 24 hours uncooked.
When the dough is cool, roll out and press into lightly buttered and sugared baking pan(s). If dough is not well-cooled, it will stick to rolling surface.
Tip: Press dough into tart pan by pushing at an angle, and into the edges of pan. A quick slice of a knife across top of pan will remove extra dough.
Bake tart shells 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool to room temperature.
When the pastry cream is cold, give it a good whisk and spoon (or pipe with pastry bag) into room temperature tart shell(s), starting at center of tart. Scrape with spatula to flatten cream on top.
Arrange raspberries on the tart, starting at edges, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
