8.31.15
It’s hot out. And I decided to experiment and create a summer tart. Something that makes you think of sunny skies when you eat it. I wanted to challenge myself to make white chocolate ganache, and I’m a huge fan of lemon. Pairing these things together made a dessert a sweet tooth can only dream of.
Things I learned: white chocolate ganache is very hard to make, I own many yellow pieces of clothing, and there are a lot of angles with a camera that can make you look pretty special. Luckily for you, none of those will show up here.
You’ll also receive double trouble this week. Juxtaposed with this daytime sunshine tart, I also made a salted chocolate and caramel tart which I’ll post in a few days. Dark and sexy.
My White Chocolate Tart with Lemon Curd. Three separate elements combined into dessert-dom.
For the Curd
For the Pastry Crust
And the white chocolate ganache
Full disclosure, because of the higher milk content in white chocolate, I used too much heavy cream and it took about 2-3 days for it to fully hardened. It wasn’t exactly runny after chilling for a day, but full out ganache it was not. The recipe is adjusted using that knowledge.
The outfits this week are all about the color scheme. First, yellow is one of my favorite colors. It’s cheerful and bright. You can be having the shittiest day, but if you put on some yellow, you’re going to make it through. For summer, I made this a pretty basic combination, mostly because when it’s this hot out, I try and wear the breeziest and least amount of clothing as possible.
I found this skirt at a thrift store, and since I have about zero patience looking through thrift stores I’m glad it caught my eye quickly. These wedges are my summer go to. I originally bought them through LuLu’s, but they’re not selling them anymore. In NYC, wearing heels is not a common occurrence in my life, but you can give the illusion that you’re trying with lower, easier to walk around-in wedges. You can fool everyone.
This outfit is inexpensive, but those sports bra tan lines? Priceless.
Forever 21 Cami / Skirt (similiar) / H&M belt (similar) / Lulu’s Wedges (similar)
White Chocolate Tart
Ingredients
For the Lemon Curd
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 tsp of lemon zest
- juice of 4 lemons (strained)
- 7 Tbsp of butter cut into cubes
- pinch of salt
For the Pate Sucree (Sweet Pastry Crust)
- 1 1/2 cups of AP flour
- 1/8 tsp of salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
For the White Chocolate Ganache
- 10-12 oz of high quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- lemon zest for garnish
- toasted coconut chips for garnish
Instructions
For the Lemon Curd
- Whisk top 4 ingredients in the top of a double boiler
- Allow water in bottom pot to simmer before putting pot with mixture on top, stir constantly for about 10 minutes
- Once thickened, remove from heat and add half of the butter, stirring in completely, then add the remaining butter and salt
- Cool and store in airtight container until ready to spread on pastry crust
For the Pate Sucree
- Whisk together flour and salt, set aside
- In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter until soft
- Add sugar and beat until fluffy
- Slowly add egg
- Turn mixer off, dump all of flour mixture in at once, and gently mix until dough ball forms
- Wrap in plastic tightly and chill for 15-20 minutes
- Unwrap and pat into the bottom, and up the sides of 9″ tart pan
- Wrap with plastic and place in freezer for 15 minutes
- Preheat oven to 400º, prick crust with fork to avoid puffing, and bake for 5 minutes
- Reduce heat to 350º and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until light golden
- Allow to cool completely before filling it with lemon curd
For the White Chocolate Ganache
- Place white chocolate in bowl
- Allow heavy cream to simmer on stove to a point where bubbles are created around the outer edge
- Pour heavy cream over white chocolate and allow to sit for about 1-2 minutes
- Gently stir until combined and thickened
- Pour over top of lemon curd in sweet pastry crust and store in refrigerator to allow white chocolate to harden (….hopefully)
- Top with toasted coconut shavings and lemon zest
To Assemble
- Make your pastry crust first, allow it to fully cool, and if you’d like, or your tart pan has a removable bottom, take the crust out for easier access to slice.
- Make lemon curd and allow to fully cool before spreading into pastry crust
- Make white chocolate ganache, and once it is smooth and creamy, pour right over lemon curd, and immediately place in fridge to chill and (hopefully) harden
- When ready to serve, top with extra lemon zest and toasted coconut
