Blackberry lemon cream tartlets recipe
The lemon filling in these tartlets is delightfully creamy and light, with just the right amount of richness from the coconut and cashew milk base. The crisp and fragrant pastry is one of my favourite all-purpose pastries. If you have a little left over, use it to make thumbprint biscuits. If blackberries are not in season, top these tartlets with raspberries or halved strawberries instead, or just eat them plain.
Note: The tiny pinch of turmeric in the filling gives it a lovely, lemony yellow hue. The colour will deepen as the custard simmers, so don’t be tempted to add too much.
When using rice milk, make sure you purchase plain, not unsweetened – ithas a bad aftertaste and lots of unnecessary additional ingredients. Plain rice milk isn’tsweetened; it’s made with rice, which tastes naturally sweet.
Ingredients
For the pastry- 150 g dried, unsweetened, grated coconut
- 60 ml melted extra virgin coconut oil, plus more for oiling tins
- 25 g regular rolled oats, plus 2 extra tbsps
- 3 tbsp brown rice flour
- 0.25 tsp sea salt
- 100 g whole spelt flour
- 60 ml maple syrup, plus 2 extra tbsps
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 110 g raw cashews, soaked for 2 to 6 hours in 480ml water
- 540 ml plain rice milk
- 25 g dried, unsweetened, grated coconut, plus 2 extra tbsps
- 3.5 tsp agar flakes
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 60 ml maple syrup (grade A or lightest colour)
- 1 tiny pinch ground turmeric
- 60 ml fresh lemon juice
- 4 tsp lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
- 440 g fresh blackberries
- 1 tsp maple sugar
- 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Dessert
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 90 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 150ºC/gas mark 2. Line a baking tray with baking parchment, add coconut and spread out evenly in a single layer. Place in oven and toast for 4 minutes; stir and toast for another 2 to 3 minutes or until golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Raise oven temperature to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Thoroughly oil tartlet tins and set aside. Grind oats, rice flour, salt and 50 g (2 oz/½ cup) of the toasted coconut in a food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in spelt flour and remaining toasted coconut. Drizzle in coconut oil; mix with a fork or your fingertips until all flour is moistened.
- Add maple syrup and vanilla and mix until evenly incorporated. Pastry should be moist but not sticky. Wash and dry your hands, then press pastry evenly into tartlet tins.
- Trim any excess pastry from the edges. Prick the base of each tartlet with a fork several times and place on a baking tray. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until deeply golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and leave to cool.
- Now make the filling. Line a medium sieve with a nut milk bag; clean, thin tea towel; or several layers of muslin (cheesecloth). Place over a medium heavy-bottomed pan and set aside.
- Drain and rinse cashews and add them to an upright blender, along with rice milk and grated coconut. Blend on highest speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour through lined sieve into pan, gather up edges of nut milk bag or cloth, and gently squeeze out all liquid. Compost dry pulp that remains. Rinse blender and set aside.
- Add agar, salt, maple syrup and turmeric to the coconut-cashew milk mixture and whisk to combine. Bring to the boil over high heat, whisking every minute or so. Cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, whisking every 5 minutes.
- Check that agar has completely dissolved; if not, re-cover and continue simmering until no flakes appear.
- Remove from heat and set aside, uncovered, for 10 minutes to cool slightly. Pour into rinsed blender; add lemon juice and blend for 20 seconds or until frothy. Add 3 teaspoons of the lemon zest and pulse to combine.
- Let mixture sit in blender for another 10 minutes to cool a little more. This step allows cream filling to thicken a bit more, which ensures tartlet pastry will remain crisp (thin, hot liquids seep into pastry and affect the texture).
- Carefully remove tartlets from tins and place on a baking tray that will fit in your fridge. Divide lemon filling between tartlets, filling them all the way to the top. Sprinkle with remaining lemon zest. Once filling has stopped steaming, place in the fridge to set completely, about 30 minutes.
- While tartlets set, gently combine blackberries, maple sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl; set aside to macerate for 20 to 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Stir blackberries, then evenly distribute over tartlets and serve.
This recipe is extracted from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin, published by Jacqui Small.
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