Lime, pineapple & coriander tartlets (William Lamagnère inspiration)

Flipping through one of my “Fou de Pâtisserie” [Hors série #4, summer 2018], I stopped at this recipe by William Lamagnère. In the statement, everything came together to please me: a tangy flavour base that I love and a combination of ingredients that reminded me strongly of my husband’s Brazilian northeast—lime and pineapple, of course, but also cilantro. In my husband’s region of origin, coriander is used a lot, and my mother-in-law puts it absolutely everywhere. However, I had never seen it in a dessert before… So of course, I had to try it.

The original recipe is composed of a sweet pastry [way too buttery for my taste], a frangipane, a lime cream and a pineapple jelly. Those who know me won’t be surprised to see that I couldn’t help but put my two cents in. I will say that I kept the basics of the recipe and tweaked the rest, firstly to adhere better to my tastes and secondly to simplify it. So:

1/ I used Pierre Hermé’s recipe for sweet pastry, and it suits me better.

2/ making a frangipane didn’t appeal to me at all. I don’t even make them for the king cake, so no, I went for a simple almond cream;

3/ a pineapple jelly, why not… but honestly, I prefer fresh fruits. It’s summer, let’s enjoy it!

4/ the amount of coriander just seemed too much to me. With all due respect to this great pastry chef, it’s probably delicious, but I didn’t dare. So I preferred to go easy on it, and I was fine with it.

5/ I also adjusted the proportions of lemon, sugar and so on.

These tarts breathe freshness, sunshine and Brazil (to me at least), which is really everything I like. And there is nothing very complicated in the process. Don’t forget to prepare the lemon cream the day before, ideally the sweet dough, and to simplify your life, even more, make your almond cream at the same time. Each preparation is quick to make, and the next day you will only have to bake your pastry and assemble the whole.

LIME, PINEAPPLE & CORIANDER TARTLETS (INSPIRED BY WILLIAM LAMAGNÈRE)

Fresh little tarts, with a taste of the Brazilian northeast in each bite

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 hours hrs

Cooking time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 tartelettes

Course: Tart

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

For the sweet dough (the day before)

• 125 g of butter soft
• 85 g powdered sugar
• 25 g almond powder
• 210 g of flour
• 1 egg
• 3 pinches of salt

For the lime cream (the day before)

• 2 g of gelatin (liquid or powder)
• 2 limes zests
• 1 egg
• 50 g of sugar
• 70 g of butter

Pour la crème d'amande

• 60 g of butter
• 60 g For the almond cream
• 60 g powdered sugar
• 1/2 egg slightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon of rum
• 2 zests of lime

For the pineapple and coriander brunoise

• 400 g pineapple (about 1/2 pineapple)
• 2 limes
• 10 à 15 g of coriander
• sugar (optionnal)

Equipment

• Casserole
• Thermometer
• Rolling Pin
• 6-9 cm pie circles (or 1 large one)

Method

 

For the sweet dough (the day before)

1. In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar.
2. Add the almond powder and mix.
3. Lightly beat the egg, and pour it into the mixture.
4. Add flour and salt. Work the dough until it is homogeneous.
5. Keep refrigerated overnight.

For the lime cream (the day before)

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

   If you are using gelatin sheets: place 1 gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water.

   If using powdered gelatin: mix 2 g. of gelatin with 10 g of cold water.

   Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine lime juice and zest, egg and sugar.
3. Cook in a water bath until 75°C.
4. Remove from heat, add gelatin (either the well-drained sheet or the powder/water mixture) and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.
5. Let cool to 50°C, add the butter in pieces and mix to emulsify.
6. Pour into a bowl and cover with cling film.
7. Reserve in the refrigerator until the next day..

For the almond cream

1. Whip the butter with the powdered sugar, almond powder, egg, rum and lemon zest.
2. Set aside.

For the pineapple and coriander brunoise

1. Cut the pineapple into small cubes.
2. Chop the coriander.
3. Mix the pineapple, coriander, lime juice and zest. Add sugar to taste (when the pineapple is ripe it is usually not necessary)
4. Set aside

For the assembly

1. Roll out the dough and shape the 6 circles. Prick the dough with a fork and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
3. Bake the pie shells for 15 minutes.
4. Take them out of the oven, and spread the almond cream between the tarts.
5. Bake again for 10 minutes.
6. Let the tarts cool. Add the lime cream.
7. You can keep the tarts in the refrigerator. Take them out 15 to 20 minutes before serving and place the pineapple brunoise on top.