I’ve been feeling so tired lately, have no energy or will to do much… Being constantly tired means I have little patience too. Oh I’ve seen my GP and did some blood tests, ‘everything is good, must be the heat’ said my beloved doctor : )
Anyway, sometime last week I was craving something sweet, was out of ice cream and couldn’t be bothered to try something from my very long list of ‘got to try recipes’. I almost grabbed the nutella jar and a tea spoon but decided that I had to get off my butt and force myself to do something : ) Looked in the fridge to see what I had and whipped up a quick cocoa tart crust. Again not having any, I mean any energy :)) to make creme pat, I prepared some vanilla panna cotta to fill my fully baked tart shell. Then I macerated some strawberries with fresh basil, black pepper (love this combination) and a tiny bit of sugar. Dumped the whole thing over the set panna cotta (you got that I had no energy whatsoever to decorate my tart and strategically place the berries one by one, right 🙂 ) et voila! Dessert was ready in no time (not counting the resting, setting times etc) with really little effort.
Now I’d better get to the recipe before I run out of energy :))
- COCOA TART CRUST
- 250 gr all purpose flour
- 200 gr butter (cold, cut into cubes)
- 50 gr cocoa
- 110 gr powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- a pinch of salt
- .
- VANILLA PANNA COTTA
- 400 ml heavy cream
- 100 ml milk
- 50 gr sugar
- 10 gr leaf gelatine (adjust amount accordingly)
- 1 vanilla bean or 2 ts vanilla extract
- .
- MACERATED STRAWBERRIES
- ½ pound strawberries
- 2 Tbs granulated sugar
- 7-8 fresh basil leaves
- ½ tsp coarse black pepper
- To prepare the tart crust place flour, cocoa, powdered sugar, butter and a pinch of salt into the food processor. Whizz using short pulses until you have a sandy texture. Add in the egg yolk and mix until combined. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for 40 mins. You can divide the dough into two before wrapping with plastic as you'll only need half.
- In the meantime start with the panna cotta. Prepare your gelatine following the instructions on the packaging. Some will need to be bloomed in warm and others in ice cold water. The leaf gelatine I use needs to be softened in ice cold water for 15 minutes.
- In a small sauce pan mix cream, milk, sugar and the vanilla seeds or the extract and very gently bring to boil. I suggest you don't leave it unattended as it only takes a millisecond to boil over and curdle.
- Add in softened gelatine off the heat and mix well (if you are using leaf gelatine don't forget to squeeze excess water first) Leave to cool at room temperature.
- Butter and flour a 20 cm tart tin, place a piece of baking parchment on the base.
- Roll dough between two parchment paper to a thickness of about ⅛ of an inch (3-4 mm.) Gently place on the tart tin and trim the excess. Rest in the fridge for 30 mins. or 15 mins. in the freezer.
- Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F).
- Line the tart tin with parchment paper and fill with baking beans and blind bake for 20 mins. Remove beans and paper and bake for a further 10-15 mins, until fully baked. Let cool in the tin, once completely cool fill with panna cotta and put in the fridge to set.
- Cut strawberries into quarters and mix with sugar, freshly ground black pepper and roughly chopped basil. Cover and leave to marinade in the fridge.
- Once the panna cotta is set, serve your tart topped with the strawberries.
You can keep the dough wrappped tightly in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to two months.
Panna cotta tart is best enjoyed the same day but will keep in the fridge for three days.
Keep the other half of the dough in the freezer for later use.
İnci says
I have just fallen madly in love with every single little detail of this recipe! 😍 The flavors, the colors, the elegant simplicity is just sublime!