Recipe courtesy of Le Cordon Bleu

Lychee Raspberry and Nougatine Tart or Tarte Litchis Framboises Nougatine

Getting reviews...
  • Level: Advanced
  • Total: 2 hr 30 min
  • Prep: 1 hr
  • Inactive: 30 min
  • Cook: 1 hr
  • Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the sweet pastry dough:

For the almond cream:

For the Sesame seed nougatine:

For the Raspberry cream:

For garnish:

Directions

Special equipment:
1 (8.5-inch) tart pan;
  1. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add the cold cubes of butter and rub into the flour. Add the powdered sugar, ground almonds and beaten egg. *Knead the dough with the heel of your hand, gather into a ball. Flatten the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the bottom of the refrigerator.**
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Butter the tart ring, place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Take dough out of the plastic film, cut into 2 pieces and reserve 1 piece for another use. Roll the dough out as thin a possible, it should be 1 1/4-inches (3 cm) larger than the tart ring. Roll the dough around the rolling pin and slide it into the tart ring, press the dough into the base of the tart ring and up against the sides. Roll the rolling pin over the edges of the tart ring, pressing down firmly to remove any excess dough. Dock the sweet pastry dough base with a fork. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
  4. Cream the softened butter with the sugar using a whisk. Add the ground almonds and mix well. Add the egg and whisk to combine. Transfer to a pastry bag and reserve in the refrigerator.
  5. It is advisable to line the tart ring with parchment paper and dried beans (pie weights), partially blind bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove parchment paper and dried beans. Pipe a layer of almond cream onto the base of the partially blind baked tart shell. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F, return the tart to bake for 10 minutes, the almond cream should be just set. Unmold the tart and leave to cool. Do not turn oven off.
  6. Sesame seed nougatine: Bring to boil the glucose, sugar and cream. Pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for 10 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool on the baking sheet, break into shards.
  7. For the raspberry "cream":
  8. Heat the raspberry puree in a small saucepan. Combine the potato starch and sugar and add to the saucepan. Whisk and bring to a boil. ***Remove from the heat, add the softened gelatin leaves and stir to combine. Transfer to a pastry bag; do not allow to set, (once cold, the gelatin will set rapidly).;
  9. For assembly:
  10. Pipe a layer of creamy raspberry over the cool almond cream to fill the tart. Drain the lychees on paper towels. Arrange lychees and raspberries on the raspberry cream and decorate with shards of sesame seed nougatine.

Cook’s Note

*Fraiser: French technique for mixing pastry ingredients evenly without over working the dough. The fleshy part (heel) of the palm of the hand is used to smear the dough across the work surface to blend the ingredients into a smooth dough, without overworking and developing the gluten in the dough. ** Sweet pastry dough freezes well. *** To soften the gelatin leaves; cover with cold water and leave to soak a few minutes until limp and soft, gently squeeze out excess water with your hands, add to hot liquid to dissolve (or melt in a bain-marie over low heat) depending on recipe instructions.