Passion Fruit, Apricot and Vanilla Bean Cream Tart
I am a custard person. I love cakes, fruit pies, cookies and so on, but creamy custard, in any way shape or form, is my dessert of choice. And if the custard in question contains lots of mini specs of vanilla bean, then I’m in heaven.
After making the apricot pate de fruit a few days ago, I still had some apricot puree left in the freezer and a bit of passion fruit puree as well. I decided to use it all up by making a thin jam. The process is very similar to pate de fruit but the mixture is not cooked as long and not as much pectin is used resulting in a viscose jam.
As you might have noticed, sable breton is my favorite tart base and I use it many, many times, just as I did this time. This is a very simple tart with the sable breton, the passion fruit and apricot jam and the vanilla bean mousseline. I decorated it with a little bit of the apricot pate de fruit I had left over and it made a great stormy afternoon treat.
Sable Breton
160 grams sugar
160 grams salted butter
4 egg yolks
zest of half an orange
1/2 vanilla bean
225 grams unbleached all purpose flour
15 grams baking powder
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together. Add the egg yolks, vanilla bean and the orange zest. Add the flour and baking powder combined until it comes together. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Roll out to about 1/2″ thickness and cut 3″ circles with a round cutter. Place the circles in molds and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Passion Fruit and Apricot Jam
100 grams passion fruit puree
100 grams apricot puree
1/2 vanilla bean
75 grams sugar
30 grams glucose
20 grams sugar
4 grams pectin
15 grams lemon juice
Place the fruit purees in a small saucepan. Mix the 20 grams of sugar with the 4 grams of pectin. When the puree is about 100 degrees F, add the sugar and pectin mixture. Bring it to a boil and add the rest of the sugar and glucose. Bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice.
Transfer the jam into a clean bowl and lt it cool slightly before refrigerating it.
Vanilla Mousseline
250 grams whole milk
1/4 vanilla bean
50 grams egg yolk
75 grams sugar
25 grams cornstarch
125 grams butter, cut into medium pieces
Place the milk, half of the sugar and vanilla bean in a small saucepan. Separately, whisk together in a bowl the egg yolks, cornstarch and the other half of the sugar. Bring the milk to a boil and temper into the egg yolks. Return the custard to the saucepan and cook until it thickens.
Immediately, transfer the cream to a clean bowl and add the pieces of butter. Whisk until they melt into the custard. Place plastic wrap over the bowl touching the cream and refrigerate until cool.
Place the cream in a piping bag fitted with a round pastry tip and pipe the cream on top of the baked and cooled sable breton. Pipe some passion fruit and apricot jam in the middle and top with more mousseline cream.
Your pate de fruit looks good enough sweating!! Beautiful photos, Aran, as always…Oh I can’t wait to get my dslr and take tons of beautiful food photos like you do!! What sort of piping nozzle did you use to get the effects on the first photo? Is it just a plain round one, just piped towards the center of the tart instead of upwards?
Hi Christy! Yes, the camera certainly makes a difference… I just wish I REALLY knew how to use it. That’s next on my things to learn. And yes, that is a round tip piped towards the center. Thank you!
Son tan bonitos… Me resulta difícil imaginar la mezcla de sabores, texturas… Debe de ser una gozada. -A mí me vuelve loca la vainilla desde que tengo uso de razón y seguro que esto resultaría de lo más adictivo. ;-)
Very cute tart, Aran. I love the blobbles of vanilla mousseline. I’m definitely learning quite a bit from you about presentation! :)
Such cuties! Aran, the tarts look irresistible.
Sounds delicious! Did you see how beautiful these are !!!!
Another custard fan here, I’m going to give the Sable Breton a try.
I love your pictures with the gray blue lighting. Sables are a favorite of mine so I must try the Sable Breton. As hard as the humidity is to live in, it gave a nice touch to the photos.
I think your photo’s look beautiful… not to mention delicious!
Aran, these look beautiful, I’ve never tried Sabel Breton though, should definitely give it a go!!
This weekend I think it’ll be chocolate souffle though, if I manage to shake off my strep throat!
You never fail to impress me over and over again. Gorgeous (anytime) afternoon treat.
Thanks for sharing,
Alexandra
Sablé bretón es mi favorito absoluto también! Aqui también hace un calor para morirse!
Oh, I’m a sucker for anything creamy too! These little tarts look divine! Each component is so pretty!
pretty, pretty! now i am yearning for a stormy afternoon at home…
Perhaps I’m not reading carefully enough, but how long (and at what temperature) are the Sable Breton baked?
Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to make them. I know you love nuts, but being allergic to them, I’m thrilled that I get to make one of your original creations unmodified.
anonymous- yes, i missed that!
Really fabulous photos, aran… did you buy a new camera?
You know, every time I think you’ve outdone yourself with a beautiful new dessert… you do it all over again with the next post.
that looks incredible, great post & thanks for sharing!
monika
Oh, THANK YOU for the jam recipe! I love passion fruit, and I’ve been hoping to make a jam out of it – this combination sounds wonderful!
Lovely…they remind me flowers, but creamy and heavenly. The photos are wonderful. I like that you use natural lighting. I’m not a pro, but I prefer it, too.
How beautifully decadent they look. C’est presque trop beau pour les manger. Your blog is stunning. I spent a good part of my teenage years in Toulouse and Luchon (pyrennees), not too far from you.:-)
Your photos are stellar no matter what the weather. I love how elegant this tart is; really dressed up for a night out!
Love the idea of using sable breton, also love the way you piped the mousseline. And love the gold leaf and the tiny sprinkle of pistachio. So to sum it up: gorgeous!
I love what you’ve done with this dessert! It’s gorgeous! And I love the piped and speckled mousseline! Brilliant!
That is stunningly beautiful, and just the thought of passion fruit and apricot jam is making my mouth water.
stunning as always!!!!
Also i have tried out your berries charlotte. fab cake… just my fingers seem a bit soft, reckon i m under baked… but taste nice!!!
I always love your flavor combos Aran! I am definitely a cream person too and yours looks extra delicious!
Love sables tarts, crumbly and creative, not to mention one bite perfect! I dare see a little Michalak influence (and I am saying that in a very positive way), but feminine to a “t”. Beautiful!
Any thought on a new challenge project?!
i’m drooling at the sight of this! looks fantastic! that vanilla cream..ohhh :)
I love the blue hue, but then again shooting in Seattle we get that hue a lot. In fact I hate shooting in the sun.
Gorgeous photos as always.
Stunning and original! One question: what is the difference between this cream and crème pâtissière?
Hi Astrid- The difference is simple, the amount of butter!! Of course right? Creme patissiere would have about 30 grams of butter in the recipe but here, I added 125 grams which makes it a mousseline. The cooking method is the same so mousseline is a creme patissiere with extra butter added. Mousseline is also called when buttercream is added to creme patissiere. Thank you!
The flavors you combined here are very dear to me – great photos, as usual!
these are gorgeous–I love the colors–I will use these pictures on my inspiration board for next spring’s line…
I tried the souffle last night Aran! It rise beautifully (and then fell, aww) but what a beautiful texture and flavor…thank you for all of your beautiful recipes.
oh! and i made a little post about it this morning!
Yummy! Tengo que probarlo! Por cierto tengo una duda sobre si puedo congelar o no un coulis de frambuesa que he hecho, podrías aconsejarme,please? Gracias!;)
Hola Eva- Es solo puree de frambuesa y azucar? En ese caso, por supuesto!
Oh how I wish I could master the art of piping! Any tips? You are a master. This is just beautiful.
This made me laugh: “This is a very simple tart with the sable breton, the passion fruit and apricot jam and the vanilla bean mousseline.”
Do you have any idea how talented you are? Simple is making pancakes from a box. This is inspired.
Gracias Aran! Asi ya tengo para invitados inesperados!;)
That looks fantastic!
Gorgeous looking tarts, Aran, you’ve piped the mousseline so beautifully! Love your photos!
Oh yum!!
This looks incredible. Sable breton + vanilla mousseline + apricot/passion? Those are probably my three favorite sweets ever! I’m already loving this. :)
Tout simplement superbe… Ca donne envie…
You’re in heaven?… Baita ni ere bai sentituto naiz, zure natilak frogatzen, Aran. Pantailatik harrapatzeko gogoak ditut… A ze artista zaren!
Muxu bat, laztana.
WOW! Really great recipe! Not sure if I will be able to make this any day soon since it seems to require a lot of work. But I will try bits and pieces of it for sure! The use of real vanilla and in particular
vanilla beans always draws my attention!
Bon appetit!
Hi Aran,
I didn’t have rings to bake the sables in and they spread like crazy… I was wondering if I could have avoided that by using less baking powder – is there a specific reason for using 15 grams?
Thanks,
Eva
Eva- the baking powder is necessary to achieve a light sable. If you don’t have ring molds you can even use muffin pans. Make sure they are nonstick or that you brush them with softened butter before baking. The sides of the breton might not be straight as the muffin cavity isn’t but I have used it many times. Sable breton does spread a lot! Let me know if that worked.
Great idea, Aran – I’ll try again! Luckily even my flat, ugly ones taste pretty good!
Hi Aran,
I’ve never had a sable breton before, I tried your recipe but it became really hard. Do you think I overcooked it, or is this the way it should be? Thanks,
D.
D- sorry about that. they are a bit crispy on the outside but tender inside. they were probably overbaked. did you bake them in a mold?
That was quick :) Yes, I cooked them in cookie cutters. I will bake for a fewer minutes then next time. thnaks a alot.
D.
what kind of molds did you use? Something like this?:
http://cooksdream.com/store/cr326pc.html
jules
Jules- yes, exactly!
this is absolutely gorgeous.
[…] p.s. I used this recipe for sablé breton. […]
Hi Aran,
I found the dough is very moelleux, is this how it’s supposed to be? Or was it because my eggs are too big, hence too wet?
I even tried putting them into freezer before handling them, but it is still very hard to lift them up from the work surface. I was actually trying to bake them in a mold, ahem, in my attempt to make a mont blanc with it. It tasted great though!
Just wondering what is the difference btw pate sable and sable breton?