Blackberry and almond fondant tart

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 1 tart, you will need:

• 1 300 g Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)
• 2 50 g white chocolate
• 3 2 sheets gelatin
• 4 200 ml liquid cream
• 5 200 ml almond milk
• 6 30 g caster sugar
• 7 10 g Vanilla sugar
• 8 100 g caster sugar
• 9 50 g jam gelling agent
• 10 350 g Fruit coulis (fruit purée)
• 11 400 g caster sugar
• Total weight: 1,694 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
1 hour 21 min.	2 hours	25 min.	3 hours 46 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Roll out the pastry and line a 9-inch (22 cm) tin or mould, then bake blind.
2	Protect the bottom of the tart with 50 g white chocolate, melted in a bain-marie, as explained here.
3	Stand small rings or cutters in the pastry case after greasing the outsides using a pastry brush dipped in a little melted butter, for example (to make removing these easier in stage 13). Press the rings gently into the white chocolate layer. These are the moulds that will contain the almond mixture and will be surrounded by the blackberry filling. Put to wait in the fridge.
4	Almond panna cotta Put 2 sheets gelatin in a bowl of cold water and leave to soften for 5 minutes.
5	Put into a saucepan: 200 ml liquid cream, 200 ml almond milk, 30 g caster sugar and 10 g Vanilla sugar. Put on medium heat and mix well with a whisk until the mixture is hot, about 140°F (60°C) – it does not need to boil.
6	Turn off the heat and add the softened gelatin after draining and drying. Mix again with the whisk until completely dissolved. Leave covered to wait at room temperature.
7	Blackberry jelly Mix together 100 g caster sugar and 50 g jam gelling agent. Set aside.
8	Pour 350 g Fruit coulis (fruit purée) into a saucepan and add 400 g caster sugar. Put on high heat and bring to the boil while whisking. Leave to boil for 3 minutes. You may need to skim off any froth which forms on the surface.
9	Tip in the sugar + gelling agent mixture all at once and whisk to mix thoroughly.
10	Bring back to the boil and leave to boil for a further 3 minutes.
11	Take off the heat, cover with a lid or plastic film and stand the pan in cold water to accelerate cooling.
12	You will now have the 3 elements of your tart: the sweetcrust pastry case, the blackberry jelly and the almond panna cotta. Now it's time to assemble everything...
13	Assembling the tart As soon as the blackberry mixture has cooled and is starting to thicken, take the tart case out of the fridge and pour the jelly around the moulds, leaving them emplty. Put back in the fridge until the blackberry jelly is set.
14	Take the tart out of the fridge and gently remove the moulds. This is THE tricky moment in this recipe. If the jelly insists on sticking, slip a knife blade around the sides of the moulds to loosen them. You should now have "wells" surround by the set blackberry jelly.
15	Carefully pour the almond panna cotta to fill all the holes, taking care not to get any on the blackberry jelly (you can use a funnel to help). Put back in the fridge until the panna cotta is set.
16	You tart is complete. Decorate with a sprig of mint or verbena and serve cool, but not too cold.

Remarks

It is not essential to coat the pastry case in stage 2, but if you do (which I heartily recommend), it helps the bottom of the tart stay crisp for longer.
Of course, there can be lots of different versions of this tart, based on the same idea. For example, you could use raspberries or blackcurrants instead of blackberries. It is good to keep some sharpness to the fruit to balance the almonds.

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