Coconut, pink peppercorn, mango and basil custard tart
Coconut, pink peppercorn, mango and basil custard tart
The week between Christmas and New Year always trips me up, as everything kinda merges into one day. And despite you telling yourself that you’ll have time to relax and socialise, it never feels like it’s ever enough.
Anyways, I have ended up in this situation where this week I have hosted three dinner parties back to back. With that, it has been a lot of dishwashing and a slight adrenaline rush. All of a sudden, I had flashbacks from the time when I was auditioning for GBBO and was at the point in the process where I needed to make my baking methodologies as efficient as possible. Did it help me get onto the show? Nope. However, it did help me learn how to deal with many moving parts under pressure.
So now I want you to picture this. Your friend is coming to yours for 5 pm. You haven’t got an idea for dessert yet, let alone preparing it. You both go to the supermarket and in real time, they see the thought process you have to have a tart go from idea to execution. They tell you they need to leave yours for 9 pm, meaning that you have to make some baked pastry tarts in just over two hours whilst they’re making the main in the same kitchen. And with all that pressure came this recipe! Over the summer I had made a coconut milk custard tart and so I used that as inspiration for the above. The pink peppercorns? Floralness. The mango and basil? A mixture of sharpness and freshness. The coconut filling? Sweetness and creaminess. And when all combined together you get a dessert that all works in perfect balance.
Would I ever recommend making tarts in just over 2 hours? No. However, the nice thing about this recipe is that if you are under some time pressure you have an option! And it’s really easy to put together and be a nice ending to a dinner. Let me know what you think if you decide to try it out.
Ingredients
For the pastry
220 g plain white flour
40 g icing sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp pink peppercorns
1 tsp ground mixed spice
130 g unsalted butter cubed and from the fridge
1 large egg yolk, separated
1 large egg white, separated
2-3 tbsp ice cold water
For the custard
1 tin coconut milk (my personal recommendation)
80 g sugar
5 large egg yolks
A pinch of salt
For the mango basil jam compote
1 one whole mango (semi ripe)
85 g sugar
8 leaves of basil
1 freshly squeezed lime
Equipment
4 x 10 cm tartlet tins (I use these ones)
A food processer (if you don't have a food processor, you can break the butter up by hand to eventually resemble fine breadcrumbs)
A blender
Instructions
To make the pastry, combine all the dry ingredients and butter in a food processor and blend together to form a breadcrumb consistency. Place the contents into a large bowl. Add your egg yolk and ice cold water into your mixture and using a knife, stir until the mixture begins to clump together. Don't be alarmed by the dough is slightly dry.
Put the contents of the bowl on a work surface and gently knead the pastry until combined. Finally, place your pastry between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out to the thickness of about 3 mm (pound coin thickness), turning it 90 degrees between each roll. Place the pastry sheet in the fridge and let it chill for 15 minutes.
Next, take out the chilled pastry, using your tartlet tins to cut out the bases. Place the tart tins with the bases onto a tray lined with parchment paper. With the remaining pastry, cut out strips to cover the sides of the tins, ensuring there is no gap between the sides and the base. If there are gaps, fill them with any leftover pastry. Leave half a centimetre of pastry overhanging. Use a fork to place light holes across your pastry base and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Whilst the pastry is chilling, prepare the mango topping and preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius, 170 fan. Place 2/3 of the mango along with 85 g sugar and the basil leaves into a blender. Blend until smooth. With the remaining mango, dice into small cubes and set aside. Place the blended mixture into a small pan and boil over medium heat for around 5-8 minutes. The jam is done once the mixture becomes translucent and the bubbles begin to pop at a slower rate. Take it off the heat and mix in the diced mangos. Place the jam mixture over a plate and cool in the fridge.
Take your pastry out of the freezer, line the tartlet tins with parchment paper and fill with baking beans. Remove the excess pastry with a sharp knife. Place your tart case in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes or until the pastry begins to shrink from the sides. Place the case back in the oven and bake for another 3-5 minutes or until the base is no longer damp. Remove your tart case add an egg white wash and place in the oven for 2 mins. Finally, remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 140 degrees fan.
Prepare your custard. Mix your eggs yolks and sugar with a whisk. Next, pour in the coconut milk and mix together with a spatula to prevent bubbles from forming. Finally, pour the mixture into the tart cases. Bake for around 20-25 minutes until there is a slight jiggle in the middle of the tart. Remove from the oven and let it cool for an hour at room temperature before transferring it to the fridge to completely set (minimum 1 hour, ideally overnight).
Once your tartlets has fully set, decorate with the mango jam and pink peppercorns to finish. Serve.