Raspberry and Caramelised White Chocolate Tartlets

Raspberry And Caramelised White Chocolate Tartlet Recipe

Ingredients (make 8 tartlets)

For the sweet dough

90g unsalted butter (diced)

50g fine caster sugar

1 free range egg

160g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)

20g almond meal

For the raspberry coulis

250g frozen raspberries (thawed - or fresh ones if in season)

1 tbsp caster sugar

For the caramelised white chocolate ganache

100g double cream

100g chopped caramelised white chocolate ( can be found as blond chocolate in shops, or make your own with recipe further below)

15g unsalted cold butter

1. The dough needs to be made early on. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the egg and beat well until the texture is fluffy.

Add the plain flour and almond meal. Work the dough until it comes together. Flatten it and wrap in clingfilm . Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

2. When the dough has rested long enough, roll it out on a flat surface dusted with flour.

Cut 8 round shapes using a 10cm diameter cutter. Fit them in tartlet tins (10cm diameter). Leave in the fridge for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan).

Take the tartlets out of the fridge. Prick the dough with a fork, put the tartlets on the middle shelf of the oven and blind bake them for 10 to 15 minutes, until you get a lovely golden crust.

In the meantime, put the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes and stir every now and then.

4. When the tartlets are baked, take them out of their tins delicately and put them on a tray. Divide the raspberry coulis between them and set aside.

5. To make the ganache, pour the cream in a small saucepan over a medium heat. When it is boiling, add in the chopped chocolate and stir well until you get a smooth texture.

Take it off the heat, add the butter and stir again until it has melted and you are left with a silky smooth ganache.

Pour the ganache over the raspberry coulis in the tartlets. Leave them on the tray in the fridge for at least one hour before serving.

Bon appétit!

Caramelised (Roasted) White Chocolate Recipe (Gluten Free

Ingredient

400g good quality white chocolate (pastilles or chopped - minimum 30% cocoa solids)

Preheat the oven to 140ºC (120ºC fan).

Pour the white chocolate into a baking dish (approximately 20cm x 20cm or as in the photo above).

Put the dish on the middle shelf of the oven. After 10 minutes, take it out and stir the melted chocolate really well with a spatula or a large spoon. Flatten the chocolate mixture and put the dish back in the oven.

Repeat this action every 10 minutes until the chocolate is caramelised and has the texture and colour of smooth peanut butter. It took me 50 minutes altogether to get the result I was looking for. 

If you feel you do not need as much as 400g for your recipe, use less chocolate but cooking time may vary. 

It took me a few tries to get this result. First, I used store bought white chocolate. I had to leave it a bit longer as it became really dry at some stage. It was lovely at the end but quite grainy as it did not contain enough cocoa solids. After that, I used Callebaut white chocolate pastilles and it was much better as I got a really smooth texture. The quality of the chocolate is indeed quite important for this recipe.

I poured the chocolate in little moulds and kept it in an airtight container in room temperature as I planned to use it for a few other recipes during the week.

You can use the chocolate afterwards for tempering and create homemade chocolates and bonbons; I used it for a ganache (see recipe above) and it melted beautifully. You could use it for a mousse, tarts, chopped in muffins or brownies, etc. I guess there are many possibilities.