Spiced Caramel Chiboust with Hazelnut Streusel and Peaches

We are finishing off the Tarts chapter with a recipe that is a bit more difficult both in its composition and components. Our bakers did an incredible job tackling it. The way the tart is structured is very much like how many pastry chefs are presenting tarts these days, a thin layer of crust with a molded strip of "filling" placed on top. It is drastically different than how we've done tarts thus far- roll out dough, press into a pan, bake and pour in filling. Second, the components require careful reading of the instructions to make sure everything is timed properly. Again, much praise for the great writing in the book because it's not impossible, just a step up from what we've done before which seems fitting now that we are half way through the book.

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Once again, Thomas Keller takes a classic dessert and refines it. Lemon meringue pie is an Americana delight, often found in diners and grandmothers' kitchens. The swirly peaks of toasted meringue are both sweet and light, offset by the tart and tangy lemon curd inside. Here, we elevate the dessert into individual tarts, including a layer of lemon madeleine cake to stabilize the meringue. Our bakers enjoyed this challenge with great results. 

Serious Eats has posted the recipe their website if you'd like to give it a try!

Plum Tart with Almond Cream

This is a very versatile tart in that you can substitute the fruit for a seasonal option of your choosing. In the book, plums were selected for their beautiful color especially in contrast to the blond/brown color of the almond cream. I could also see this with apricots, peaches or nectarines all of which are in season now and pair well with the almond flavor. This week, Pastry Chef Sebastian Rouxel, co-author of the Bouchon Bakery cookbook happened to make this tart as well. How timely!

Rhubarb Tart

This week, our bakers were pleasantly surprised by the rhubarb tart. Although it's a little late in the season for rhubarb, this tart was worth searching out the special ingredient. There were only a few components: pate sucrée, rhubarb, brown butter filling, and toasted almond streusel. The tart is baked in a quarter sheet pan to show off the long stalks of rhubarb, instead of cutting it up, like most pies do. The result is a more elegant tart, suitable for a dinner party or a picnic.

Apple Band Tart

The apple is a special ingredient for French pastry as it is the star of the classic tarte tatin and the recipe for this week, the apple band tart. In the Bouchon Bakery cookbook the tart is made extra decadent with the addition of pastry cream between the flaky crust and fanned apples. No scoop of vanilla ice cream needed here, unless you feel like indulging.

Apricot Flan Tart

Our task this week was a flan parisien. The name of this tart threw our bakers for a loop, since it's not at all like the dessert flan, with its caramel top, that most people think of. This is more of a baked custard in a tart, layered on top of apricots in this case. There are really only three elements to this recipe: pate brisée, custard, and fruit. Simple enough, right? See how our bakers fared!

Caramel Nut Tart

Week two of tarts, and after a rather difficult initiation, this week's recipe offered a bit of a reprieve. The tart is as simple as it sounds, with only three simple parts: pate brisée, caramel, and nuts. Our bakers enjoyed the simplicity of this recipe after last week's challenge. This would be a good tart any time of year for any occasion.

Chocolate, Praline and Cocoa Nib Tart

Incredible job by our bakers this week. We kick off the Tarts section of the book with a more complex recipe, if not the most in the chapter. There are several ingredients not in a typical baker's pantry and with a total of four layers to this creation, it is not one that can be whipped up in a day. Like with all the recipes we've come across, but especially for this recipe, planning is key and making the components over the course of a few days is very helpful. This Chocolate, Praline and Cocoa Nib tart has a buttery crust, praline, ganache and dentelle for the finish on the top. It is an impressive dessert. Read on to see what our bakers think.