Pierre Hermé's Infiniment Vanille Tart

i've put off making this tart long enough and i'm finally glad i made it. having bookmarked this recipe for almost a year, each time i look at it i just feel like i don't hv the courage to go ahead coz i don't hv so many of the ingredients called for, things like titanium dioxide, tahitian and mexican vanilla beans as well as trimoline (inverted sugar) used for the biscuit cuillere (sponge fingers). in the end i decided to make do with whatever i hv and cut corners whenever possible and luckily for me, the tart turned out glorious still. so far i've used a couple of pierre herme's recipes, from the complicated ones like the emotion ispahan verrines and this vanilla tart to some of the basic recipes like candied citrus peel, pate sablee tart crust, choux pastry, passionfruit milk choc ganache for the mogador macaron etc, i must say his recipes are nothing short of amazing. it really makes me wonder - if my homemade renditions could be this good, what more for those coming out of his own hands, the picasso of pastry himself?

some of the essential ingredients i used for the tart - madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, nielsen massey vanilla bean paste, my homemade vanilla extract and rum.

components from the top : vanilla glaze, english vanilla mascarpone cream, sponge fingers soaked in a vanilla rum syrup, vanilla white choc ganache and pate sablee tart shell. not the most flattering pic but this tart made me go OMG. the mascarpone cream is so silky smooth i've never tasted anything like that! the overall taste is really good - crisp tart shell, sponge fingers perfumed with a vanilla rum syrup, creamy silky smooth custardy vanilla mascarpone cream and the glaze is so yum. i'm in vanilla heaven! definitely making this again. soon.

recipe adapted from veronica of kitchen musings

ingredients (makes about four 7.5cm Ø tartlets) :

for the pate sablee tart crust :

pls refer to my recipe for the tarte aux fruits rouges here

for the vanilla glaze :

96g white choc

36ml whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

2g glucose syrup

5ml water

72g neutral glazing gel

1-2 drops of titanium dioxide paste or wilton white icing color

for the english vanilla mascarpone cream :

166ml whipping cream

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

2 small egg yolks

41g sucrose or pure icing sugar

2.5g sheet gelatine (about 1.5 sheets)

125g mascarpone cheese

for the vanilla ganache :

45ml whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

50g white choc couverture

for the vanilla rum syrup :

250ml water

125ml glucose syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

5ml vanilla extract

12ml rum

storebought sponge fingers

directions :

1. make the pate sablee tart base.

2. to make the vanilla glaze, melt the chocolate. boil the cream with the vanilla bean paste and pour into the chocolate. in another pot, boil the neutral glaze with the water and glucose. pour this sugar mixture into the ganache then add in titanium dioxide/wilton white color and blend the mixture to obtain a smooth and homogeneous texture; avoid incorporating air. keep chilled until ready to use.

3. to make the english vanilla cream, mix the egg yolk and sucrose/icing sugar together. add the scraped vanilla seeds into the cream, bring to a boil and pour half of it on the egg yolk/sucrose mixture. pour this mixture back into to the remaining cream and cook until 84C. add the gelatin sheets that have been softened in water and blend. strain mixture and add in the mascarpone cheese and mix well. divide mixture equally among four mousse/tart rings and chill in fridge until set.

4. to make the vanilla ganache, mix vanilla bean paste and cream together. bring to boil. pour cream over choc and let stand for 1 min. mix well and blend the ganache to a smooth consistency. add vanilla extract and mix well. store in cool place before using.

5. to make the vanilla syrup, boil the water with the glucose syrup and vanilla bean paste until the glucose has dissolved completely. let cool before adding the vanilla extract and rum.

6. remove the chilled mascarpone cream discs either by running a knife along the insides or by warming the outside of the rings with a blow torch. place the discs on a cooling rack with a tray below to catch the drips and pour the glaze over the discs. leave to set in the fridge.

7. fill the cooled baked tart shell with a little vanilla ganache. then place a piece of sponge finger that hv been soaked in the vanilla syrup on it (you may need to break the sponge fingers to fit the size of the tart shell). fill the rest of the tart with vanilla ganache. let cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour. place the mascarpone disc on the tart then dust the left side of the tart with some cocoa powder before serving.

notes :

* before proceeding, please go through the recipe carefully and plan your steps ahead. i recommend making the mascarpone discs first since they need to be chilled in fridge to set anyway so you can proceed with other components after that.

* titanium dioxide is to whiten the glaze. you can replace it with wilton white icing coloring or do away with both entirely if you don't hv them.

* ingredients like glucose syrup and neutral glazing gel can be purchased from baking supplies stores. i got mine from phoon huat.