Pastry School Graduation

The past week was a whirlwind of flying sugar and flour. Amidst it all, I somehow got it together enough to present my final pastry project (champagne in hand) and graduate from pastry school.

The final project was a neat assignment. Each student came up with an idea for a dessert table they felt represented their pastry persona, and then got to create it and present at graduation. Fifteen hours of baking later, there were a lot of beautiful cakes and lovely set-ups.



Because I have completely fallen for tarts, I knew I wanted my project to be a sort of ode to these lovely sweets. I also decided to have a fruit or nut (or both) component in every one of my tarts to express my love for these ingredients. One of the hardest things for me was narrowing down my tart menu. I finally figured it out…
Plum Tart
Peach and Raspberry Tart
Raspberry Frangipane Tarts
Bittersweet Chocolate Tarts with Almond Crust
Lemon Poppy Seed Tarts
Coconut and Peach Tarts with Rum Whipped Cream
Caramelized Banana Pecan Linzer Tarts
Gingersnap-Peach Poptarts



Before starting in on the baking, I created a timeline for my tart project. I knew that it was going to be a challenge to get everything finished in time, and that I would likely be cursing my own name. I was right…I was still in the back of the kitchen with a torch in hand bruleeing bananas when the first guests started arriving.

In a tart fervor, everything (except for a Lemon Poppy Seed Tart I forgot in the fridge) made it to the front table.



I feel oh, so bittersweet about graduating. It’s sad to leave the comfort and warmth of my San Francisco school where I got to play with ingredients and test recipes. But, I’m also excited to take the next step.

So here I go, off to bake full time...

Oh, and I'm including the Plum Tart recipe in case you care to join in on the fun.

A Plum Tart Indeed

Almond Tart Dough:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
~2 tablespoons ice water

Blend flour, almonds, sugar and salt in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in almond extract and enough water to form moist clumps. Knead dough briefly on work surface to combine; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm before rolling, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out crust dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Gently press dough into tart pan; trim excess and dock the bottom of the dough with a fork. Freeze crust 15 minutes.

Bake the crust 10 minutes. Continue to bake until crust is pale golden, about 12 minutes. Cool crust for about 15 minutes.

Filling:
3/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick room-temperature unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 Tbsp flour
2-3 drops almond extract
4 large plums, pitted and cut into thin slices

Grind the almonds with the sugar and salt in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground. Add the softened butter and process (scrape down from food processor sides if needed). Add eggs one at a time, making sure first egg is thoroughly mixed before adding the next. Add the flour and almond extract and mix well.

Fill cooled tart shell with almond filling, leaving 1/4 inch margin on the rim of the pastry (this leaves room for filling to expand). Then, push plum slices into the filling and bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes until nicely browned. Transfer to a rack.

Glaze:
1/4 cup apricot preserves
2 teaspoons water


Stir apricot jam with the water in small saucepan over medium heat until mixture boils. Strain the glaze into small bowl. Brush glaze generously over plums. Cool tart completely.

Rainier Cherry and Almond Frangipane Tart

Rainier Cherries should be celebrated and experienced by all. These aren’t your typical red cherries (which I do love as well), but are a bit more unique and lesser known. They are bigger than most cherries and are yellowish-orange-pinky-red…the colors all sort of swirled together like a beautiful sunset.



Rainier Cherries have a taste that stands up to their beauty. They have a subtle tartness that is softened and made even more delicious by the extra sweet juiciness of their mellow flesh. They are the stage for a very sophisticated balance of flavors that make them intensely appealing…they taste like something both familiar and new.

What better way to show off these fruit jewels than in a lovely tart? A tart that is fruit forward, tastes delicious and is perfectly summer. A Rainier Cherry and Almond Frangipane Tart. Now, how does that sound?

This tart has the sort of rustic, homey appeal of a pie…with refined touches that make it a bit more elegant.



The crust is made with almond flour, which gets deep and nutty when baked. It plays nicely with the Almond Frangipane filling which has a lighter, gentle almond taste.

The cherries are pushed into the uncooked Frangipane filling and the whole tart is then popped into the oven to bake. About 35 minutes later, out comes a lush, beauty of a tart. It is Rainier Cherry Perfection, and simple to make too.




Rainier Cherry and Almond Frangipane Tart

Almond Tart Dough:
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup "AP" (All Purpose) flour
1/2 cups almond flour
1 large egg
1/8 tsp salt

Cut butter into 1" pieces and freeze for 15 minutes.

Sift together sugar, cake flour, AP flour and almond flour into the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add butter, mix on low speed for 2 minutes, or until the butter is the size of broken walnut meats. Stop the machine and by hand pinch flat any large pieces of butter that remain.

Combine egg and salt in a small bowl and mix well. Turn mixer on low speed and add egg all at once. Mix until dough just comes together. If too dry, add 1-2 Tbsp ice cold water. Dough should be tacky but not sticky.

Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour (or up to 3 days).

Roll out dough and line pan. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Fill tart shell with parchment paper and pie weights. Blind bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, then remove pie weights and parchment, and bake another 10 minutes until lightly golden. Cool.

Filling:
3/4 cup almonds (blanched are recommended, but not necessary)
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick softened butter
2 eggs
2 Tbsp flour
2-3 drops almond extract
~15 Rainier Cherries, pitted and cut in half

Grind the almonds with the sugar in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground. Add the softened butter and process (scrape down from food processor sides if needed). Add eggs one at a time, making sure first egg is thoroughly mixed before adding the next. Add the flour and almond extract and mix well.

Fill cooled tart shell with almond filling, leaving 1/4 inch margin on the rim of the pastry (this leaves room for filling to expand). Then, push cherry halves into the filling (skin side up) and bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until nicely browned. Let cool on a rack.