Baking Obsession

These are probably the last berries of the season (how sad…) They are topping the coconut pastry cream filling and a thin layer of raspberry-white chocolate ganache below. And yes, there’s more coconut in the tart shells, too.

Makes 6 4-inch tarts

For the tart crusts:

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup ground unsweetened coconut
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 ½ oz cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and frozen for 20 minutes.
• 2 large egg yolks
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

For the raspberry-white chocolate ganache: follow this recipe, it makes just enough to cover the bottoms of the tarts thinly

For the coconut pastry cream filling:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ vanilla bean, cut lengthwise
• 3 tbsp cornstarch, sifted
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tbsp (2 oz; 55g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1-tablespoon portions

Fresh raspberries

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)

Make the crusts:

Combine the flour, coconut, icing sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl lightly whisk the yolks and vanilla together. Dribble the yolk mixture through the processor tube while pulsing until clumps form. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very lightly just to incorporate any dry ingredients that haven’t been mixed in. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Butter 6 4-inch tart pans with removable bottoms. On lightly floured surface or on parchment paper, roll the dough into 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into circles a couple inches larger than the tart pans. Carefully transfer the rolled dough into the prepared pans and press the dough onto the bottoms and up the sides of the pans. Cut the excess of the dough. Dock the bottoms of the crusts with a fork and freeze for at least 30 minutes. If you are not planning to bake right away, wrap the crusts tightly and keep in the freezer until needed. Do not defrost before baking.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the frozen crusts with parchment paper, then with dry beans or pie weights. Bake for about 15 minutes, until set. Carefully remove the parchment and bake the crusts for another 10-12 minutes until light golden.

Make the coconut pastry cream, assemble the tarts:

In a small saucepan, bring the coconut milk, milk and vanilla bean (scrape the seeds into the milk) to the boil over the medium heat. Off the heat, cover and let steep for an hour.

Prepare an ice bath.

Return the vanilla-infused milk to the medium heat. Reheat the milk once again to the boiling point. In the meantime, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk together.
Once the milk has reached the boil, temper the eggs by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the egg mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered egg mixture.

Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and place the pan over the medium heat. Whisk vigorously and continuously until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). The pastry cream should be thick and the cornstarch taste should be all gone. Strain the pastry cream into a small bowl set into the ice-water bath to stop the cooking process.

Continue stirring the mixture at this point so it remains smooth. Once the cream has reached the temperature of 140F remove it from the ice-water bath and stir in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Return to the ice-water bath to cool completely, stirring often. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly over the surface of the cream and refrigerate up to 2 days.

To assemble the tarts, divide the still pourable raspberry-white chocolate ganache between the prebaked tart crusts, tilt the tart shells so the ganache spreads and covers the bottoms thinly. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes to set the ganache. Fill the crusts with the coconut pastry cream, not up to the very edge. Otherwise the pastry cream can overflow once topped with the berries. Scatter the raspberries over the coconut filling, dust lightly with the confectioners’ sugar and serve. The tarts are the best the day they are assembled.