Today I wanted to share another tart recipe with you – a combination of nuts, figs, white choc ganache and caramel. They received a lot of positive feedback from my taste-testers and I hope you’ll love them too!
This recipe makes 6 tarts.
Ingredients:
Ganache:
- 140g white chocolate (I used Callebaut)
- 100g (hot) heavy cream
- 200g (cold) heavy cream
- Half of vanilla bean pod
- 2g gelatine + 15g water
- White Food Colouring (optional)
The ganache needs to be prepared in advance. I’d recommend the day before, but if you don’t have the time, do it at least 8 hours earlier since it needs to chill in the fridge.
Place the gelatine and cold water in a small cup, stir together and leave for a few minutes to let it bloom.
Place 100g of heavy cream, vanilla beans from half a pod and the pod in a saucepan. Heat up until it just starts simmering. Place the gelatine bowl into a microwave for about 10seconds to allow it to melt. Add the gelatine to the hot cream and stir well. Take out the vanilla pod. Place the white chocolate into a measuring jug/bowl. Pour the hot cream with gelatine over the white chocolate and leave aside for a few minutes. Blend everything together until smooth. Add the remaining cream (200g), a few drops of white food colouring and stir together until combined.
Pour it into a container/bowl and 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.
Tart Shells:
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 Nut Cream:
- 30g walnuts
- 10g almonds
- 40g butter
- 30g sugar
- 40g egg
- 5g flour
Place the walnuts and almonds in a blender/food processor and blend until they’re fine crumbs. Be careful not to over-blend it. Place the butter and sugar in a mixer and cream together for a few minutes. Add the processed nuts, flour and egg and stir until combined.
Fill the tarts (around 1/3 of the shell’s height) with your walnut and almond cream. Place the tarts back in the oven for another 13-15mins in 170C – you want the top of the cream to turn to golden colour. Take them out and let them cool.
Caramel:
- 125g caster sugar
- 30g water
- 85g heavy cream
- 20g butter
- Pinch of salt
Place caster sugar and water in a saucepan on a low to medium heat. Try not to stir it too often. Keep an eye on it, so it doesn’t burn. In the meantime place your heavy cream in a microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Let the caramel cook until the colour turns to amber. Pour your heavy cream into the caramel (be careful not to burn yourself), keep stirring until it all comes together and take off heat. Add the butter, salt and blend. Pour your caramel into a small bowl/jar through a sieve and let it cool down a little.
Fig Confit:
- 260g fresh figs
- Half a lime – juice + zest
- 20g sugar
- Rosemary – 3 sprigs + 30g boiling water
- 10g potato starch + 20g cold water
Place 3 sprigs of rosemary in a small bowl and pour 40g of boiling water over them. Leave aside for a few minutes to let it infuse.
Since I use figs with the skin on, I place them in a big bowl and pour boiled water (not the one rosemary one!) over them and leave them for about a minute or two. Pour the water out, cut your figs into quarters and place in a saucepan. Add lime juice, zest, sugar and the rosemary infused water.
In a small bowl mix the potato starch with water and leave aside for now.
Start cooking your figs at a medium heat – stirring every now and then. Once they become soft, take them off the heat and blend everything together. Return to heat and cook at a low heat for about a minute, stir your potato starch in water once again before adding it into the figs. Start stirring at the same time until it thickens slightly. It won’t take long. You have to be careful, if you let it cook for too long, the figs will become very thick. Take it off the heat and transfer into a bowl to let it cool down.
Assembling:
Divide and even out the fig confit across all the tarts, try to not get it on the edges.
Take out the ganache from the fridge and whip it until it becomes pipe-able.
Grab a big piping bag and cut the end so that the diameter of the hole is just slightly smaller than the tart. About 5.5-6cm. Place the ganache in the bag and pipe it out on top of the tart until it covers the surface and then pull up to form the peak (it’s a lot easier to understand if you watch my reel over here).
Using a melon baller or a rounded measuring spoon, create an indent in top of the ganache. Place your caramel in another piping bag and pipe your caramel into the hollow. Make sure to warm up the melon baller in a mug of hot water beforehand and also in-between each tart. IF you make your caramel earlier and it sets by the time you have to pipe it out, you can always warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds at a time. You don’t want it to get hot as it would melt the ganache. If it’s too warm and you don’t have the time or patience, just pop it in the fridge for a short while and make sure to check it every 5-10mins, so that it does not set.
Decorate with fig slices and enjoy!
NOTES:
If you have any leftover caramel you can store it in the fridge.
