-Françoise Piège, chef at Restaurant Alain Ducasse, Paris, France
Yield: 4 servings
12 ounces puff pastry
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
7 ounces lump sugar
11 ounces wild strawberries
Condensed Milk Sorbet
4 cups fresh, full cream milk
2¸ cups powdered skimmed milk
2¹ cups condensed milk
2¸ cups sugar
Wild Strawberry Yogurt
8 egg yolks
¹ cup sugar
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon fresh, whole milk
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon light crme fra”che
11 ounces wild strawberries
Strawberry Jus
2 pounds wild strawberries
¹ cup sugar
Special Utensils
Vacherin rings, 3 inches in diameter
1 cookie cutter, 3 inches in diameter
Method:
Prepare the tartlets: roll the dough as thinly as possible, sprinkling it with confectioners’ sugar. Cut it into strips 1¸ inches wide and 9 inches long. Arrange the strips on a nonstick baking sheet. Leave to dry in the open air for 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350¡F. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes, in order to caramelize the sugar in the dough. As soon as the pastry is cooked, roll the strips around 4 vacherin rings, 3 inches in diameter. Leave to cool then remove the rings.
Place the sugar lumps in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons water. Melt the sugar over a low heat, then bring to a boil and cook to obtain a very pale caramel. Turn the caramel out onto baking parchment and immediately spread it with a spatula. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut the caramel into circles.
Prepare the condensed milk sorbet: bring the fresh milk to a boil. Leave to cool completely and then dissolve the skimmed milk powder in the fresh milk. Add the sugar and condensed milk, ensuring that both dissolve completely. Strain through a chinois (or fine sieve), transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze.
Prepare the wild strawberry yogurt: preheat the oven to its very lowest setting. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a salad bowl until they turn white. Add the fresh milk and crme fra”che. Pour the mixture into an earthenware dish and cook in the oven for about 3 hours. Leave to cool. When the yogurt is cold, remove the skin from the surface. Gently break up the yogurt with a fork. Add the strawberries and stir them into the yogurt, taking great care not to damage them.
Prepare the strawberry jus: wash, hull and dry the strawberries, and place them in a salad bowl with the sugar. Stir, then cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours.
Assemble the tartlets: strain the strawberry juice through a piece of muslin or gauze. Cover the 11 ounces of strawberries with the juice. Place a pastry circle on each plate and fill with strawberry yogurt. Arrange the juice-covered strawberries on top. To finish, close each tartlet with a round of caramelized sugar, so that they look like upside-down tartlets, with the filling visible through the transparent caramel.
Pour a little strawberry jus onto each plate beside the tartlet, and on top place a portion of sorbet, molded into an oval shape with a tablespoon.
Wine Suggestion
A naturally sweet white wine.
Strawberry tarts are REALLY good!