
I hold the recipe for these cherry and pistachio tarts quite close to my heart because this was the second recipe I have ever created. When I started this journey I never thought I would be developing recipes, but as the time went on, I kept thinking that I should give it a go and so this was a huge step in a new direction for me. I can’t wait for you to try making them yourself. They will be perfect for the upcoming cherry season. 🙂
This recipe makes 8 tarts.
Ingredients:
Pistachio Ganache:
- 100g hot heavy cream
- 110g white chocolate
- 50g pistachios*
- 200g cold heavy cream
*I used 25g roasted and salted and 25g unsalted.
The ganache needs to be prepared in advance since it needs to chill in the fridge. I often prepare it the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight.
Place the pistachios in a blender/food processor and blend until you get a slightly runny, paste-like consistency, it may take some time depending on your blender. Place the white chocolate and the blended pistachios in a bowl. Heat up 100g of heavy cream until it just starts simmering.
Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate & pistachio butter and leave aside for a few minutes. Stir until combined. If you see any chocolate that did not melt, you can always pop the bowl into a microwave for about 10 seconds and stir again. Add the cold cream (200g) and stir everything until combined. Cover with cling film, so that it touches the ganache and therefore prevents a skin forming on top of it. Chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
Tarts
Prepare and bake tart shells using my recipe here. After you’ve baked them, take them out of the oven (but don’t turn the oven off yet) and let them cool for about 10-15mins, while you prepare the baked cream.
Baked Pistachio Cream:
- 55g pistachios
- 30g butter – room temp.
- 35g sugar
- 5g flour
- 1 egg – medium
- Pinch of salt
- About 10 fresh cherries
Place the pistachios in a blender/food processor and blend until they’re fine crumbs. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together for a few minutes using a hand whisk. Add the ground pistachios, flour, salt, egg and stir until combined.
Fill the tarts (around 1/3 of the shell’s height) with your pistachio cream, gently press about 3 halves of fresh cherries into the cream of each tart. Place the tarts back in the oven for about 15-17mins in 170C. Take them out and let them cool.
Cherry Compote:
- 240g cherries*
- 30g sugar
- 20g lime juice
- Lime zest
- 10g potato starch + 15g cold water
*You can use fresh or frozen cherries.
In a small bowl mix the potato starch with water and leave aside for now.
Make sure all pits are removed if you’re using fresh cherries.
Place cherries, sugar, lime juice and zest in a saucepan over medium heat – stirring every now and then until cherries become softer. I mainly use frozen cherries, so at this point I like to press them with a potato masher just to break them up/squash them a little more and make sure there were no pits in them. If you’re using fresh cherries, you can cut them into quarters before placing in the saucepan and ignore the potato masher step. Stir your potato starch in water once again before adding it into the cherries. Start stirring at the same time until it thickens slightly, it will happen very quickly. You have to be careful, if you let it cook for too long, the cherries will become very thick. Take it off the heat and transfer into a bowl to let it cool down a little.
Assembling:
Divide and even out the cherry compote across all the tarts.
Take out the ganache from the fridge, let it sit for about 15mins in room temp and then whip it a few times until it becomes pipe-able. Transfer into a piping bag with a big star nozzle and decorate the edges of the tart. Place a cherry or a halve in the middle and decorate with some edible gold. You can sprinkle each tart with some chopped pistachios.
If you make these cherry and pistachio tarts, please tag @pinchofbakinglove on Instagram, so I can see your creations!
Enjoy!
