Tuesday 11 September 2012
salted caramel mousse tart
There are certain combinations in life that are an absolute match made in heaven. In my opinion, none more so than salty-sweet combos. Peanut butter & chocolate, ice cream with fries (you either hate it or love it and I looove it!) and of course, the ever popular salted caramel or sea salt caramel. I have a lukewarm reaction towards caramel but add a dash of sea salt to it and I could probably finish an entire jarful of the stuff--which is not too smart, given my profession.
After reading up a little on pastry, I felt inspired to make some kind of tart and was trying to decide between banoffee or salted caramel for the filling. Opted for a salted caramel mousse in the end.
I had attempted to make my own crust with this same recipe previously and it turned out quite all right but for some reason, the second attempt turned out to be an utter disaster! I had such a difficult time transferring the rolled-out dough to the tart pan! It drove me nuts and I ended up injuring my hand. Thankfully, my trusty elf was around to calm me down and suggest I try again in the morning after a good night's rest.
So the next morning, I got up bright and early and tried again. You know how they always say you need a cool environment and really cold butter to make good pastry? Well I've learnt that it definitely helps to have a cool head as well, cuz tadah!
Lovingly and calmly made, with an injured dominant hand, I might add. Yes, never underestimate the power of a good night's rest (and an air-conditioned room.)
This being my first time using gelatin and making a mousse, I miscalculated the amount of gelatin required and the mousse turned out a little too runny. Perhaps it was a subconscious thing since I find the idea of using beef collagen in my dessert rather disturbing. I've amended the measurement in the recipe below.
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
(recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver)
Ingredients
250g plain flour
25g icing sugar
125g salted butter, cold and grated
Zest of half a large lemon
1 egg, beaten
Splash of milk
Directions
- Mix flour, sugar and grated butter to produce crumbs
- Mix in lemon zest
- Add eggs and milk into mixture and gently work it together until you have a ball of dough. (Don't overwork the dough. Use cold hands.)
- Cover with clingwrap film and put in fridge to rest for at least 1h
- Take dough out and roll onto baking paper until ~3-5mm thick and large enough to cover 8-inch tart pan (I use the kind with a removable base)
- Transfer to tart pan (you can either wrap dough around your rolling pin and roll out over the pan, or just flip the baking paper with dough rolled out on it over the pan and peel the dough off, which is what I did) and gently adapt the dough to the pan as in the picture above. Remove any excess
- Poke holes in crust with a fork
- Cover with clingwrap and place in freezer for about 1h.
- Preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius
- Remove crust from freezer and bake blind (place aluminium foil over crust and fill with pastry weights or pulses) for 12min or until golden brown
- Remove from oven and leave to cool
Salted Caramel Mousse
Ingredients
125g caster sugar
12.5ml water
75ml + 1 cup thickened cream
75mg salted butter
Sea salt flakes
2 tbsps water
1.5 tbsps powdered gelatin
Directions
- Pour 2 tbsps of water into a ramekin, sprinkle with powdered gelatin and set aside
- Put sugar and 12.5ml water into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves
- Raise the heat and, without stirring, wait until sugar caramelises and turns amber or golden brown (watch sugar closely, as soon as it turns yellow prepare to remove from heat as it tends to burn quickly)
- Remove from heat and pour in 75 ml thickened cream and whisk well (be careful! the cream will sizzle and spit when it comes in contact with the hot caramel)
- Mix in butter
- Add sea salt as desired
- Put ramekin with gelatin in a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until gelatin completely dissolves and mixture is clear
- Pour gelatin into hot caramel and leave to cool to room temperature
- In a mixing bowl, whip 1 cup of thickened cream until soft but stiff peaks form
- Gently fold cooled caramel-gelatin mixture into whipped cream
- Pour mixture into baked crust and leave to set in fridge for 24h (or at least 8h)
*To decorate:
Pour a thin layer of ganache (1/3 of the amount listed here) over set mousse, tilting the tart such that ganache flows to cover entire surface
Top with fresh raspberries
Refrigerate for 1h before serving
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