Pink praline tarts

How pretty are these tarts?  I don’t think I have ever baked anything so pink!  Pink pralines are a French speciality – particularly in Lyons – and are basically an almond with a pink sugary shell.  Broken up and cooked with cream they form an almond flavoured caramel that is thick but not sticky or heavy.

A French recipe seemed an appropriate bake for the closing weekend of the Tour de France and, as an Englishman –Bradley Wiggins, has won it for the first time (Go Wiggo!) I couldn’t let it go without some sort of commemoration.

I couldn’t find pink pralines in any of my local shops so ordered mine online from MSK . The downside is that they only sell them in 500g quantities, and they cost £20.  I chose the whole, rather than crushed, as I figured that it gave me more options i.e. I could crush them (and control how crushed they were!), or use them whole.  I realise that they’re expensive but they do have a very long ‘best before’ date so you have time to use them in many different recipes.

Perhaps the fact they are sold in 500g tubs was a blessing because I got through a fair few “testing” that they were ok.  I need to test most foodstuffs, but I find that anything sweet needs the most testing.   What can I say?  I care about the welfare of my eaters!  Here are the pralines at the start of cooking:

Here they are at the end of the cooking time:

I followed Eric Lanlard’s recipe given in his latest book “Tart it Up!". I love Eric Lanlard for his unfussy, unpretentious presentation of sophisticated patisserie.  So many pink praline tart recipes call for precise thermometer readings, but his recipe simplified the process and worked brilliantly.  The only change I made was to leave out the additional sugar in the tart filling as I feared it might be a sweet overload.

The only other tweak I made was to serve the tarts with thick cream, rather than Eric’s suggestion of crème fraiche.  Call me a peasant, but I have never understood how crème fraiche adds anything but unpleasantness when added to a dessert.  I get the whole idea of balancing flavours, evening out sweet with sharp but crème fraiche??? Bleugh.  It’s up there with mint leaves on my ‘hate’ list.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

300g plain flour
4 tablespoons golden caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, straight from the fridge, chopped into cubes
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

275g pink pralines, plus extra for decoration
225ml single cream

Method

Start by making the pastry: place the flour, sugar and butter into the food processor and blitz until you have fine breadcrumbs. If you prefer, you can make the pastry by hand using the rubbing in method, also until you have breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolks, water and vanilla and pulse the food processor until the pastry just starts to form a ball.  If you are making it by hand, use your fingertips to incorporate the wet ingredients.

Tip out the pastry and handle just enough to bring together into a ball.

Cut in half and form each half into a fat disc.

Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

This recipe will make 7 individual tarts using shallow tart tins approximately 8-10cm across (mine were 10cm measured across the top, 8cm measured across the bottom).

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Roll one of the discs of pastry out between two sheets of clingfilm – you’re aiming for about 0.5cm thick.  I found the pastry particularly soft and buttery so dusted the clingfilm with a little extra flour.

Cut the pastry into three pieces (cut it like the Mercedes logo!) and line three of the tart tins – leave a small overhang and cut off any excess.

Use the second disc of pastry to line a further three tins, and then re-roll the offcuts from both to line the seventh tin.

Gently prick the base with a fork before pressing some tin foil onto the pastry – you can use baking beans if you wish but for small cases I find it unnecessary.

Place the tins on a baking sheet (or two) and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked.  There will be no further baking so the pastry must be cooked through.

Leave the pastry cases to cool.

When cool, trim off any excess pastry.

Now make the filling: place the pink pralines in a thick plastic bag and bash with a saucepan to crush them.  Recipes vary as to how far you should crush them, but as the pink praline shell melts when heated, it’s really just about how big a piece of nut you want in your tart.  I kept them quite chunky.

Place the crushed pralines in a saucepan along with the cream and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for a further 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ladle the mixture into the prepared pastry cases and leave to cool before refrigerating until you wish to serve.

Before serving, decorate with further pink pralines, if you wish.

Serve with thick spooning cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.