Pistachio praliné and dark chocolate tartlets

Instructions

Gluten-free chocolate and pistachio shortcrust pastry

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment combine butter, buckwheat flour, potato starch, cocoa powder, pistachio flour, icing sugar, vanilla powder, salt and carob flour and work until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add almond milk and beat on low speed until the dough comes together.
3. Once the pastry has come together, press into a neat flat square and cover in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Line a perforated baking tray with perforated silicone mat. Grease generously with butter 6 tartlet rings (Ø 8,5 cm x h 3,5 cm) and place them onto the prepared baking tray.
5. Roll the chilled shortcrust pastry on a lightly floured surface to approximately 2-3 mm in thickness, adding flour when needed so it doesn't stick.
6. Cut out the rolled pastry with the tartlet ring to obtain the base. Place the pastry base onto the prepared baking tray.
   Cut out a pastry strip of 8,5 cm long and 4 cm high and line the side of the ring. Join the ends of the pastry strip and trim some of the excess pastry that is overhanging the side of the ring, using a knife.
   Place the ring over the pastry base, so that the pastry base is perfectly inside the ring and ensure that the edges of the pastry base stick well to the pastry sides. Freeze for at least 1h
7. Line the frozen and unbaked tart shells with heatproof plastic wrap and fill it firmly to the top with uncooked rice (any type of legume or cereal also works well). Bring the sides of the wrap together at the top like a parcel, so it is easy to remove.
8. Put the tartlets in the oven, reduce the temperature at 150°C and pre-baked for about 15 minutes. Remove the rice and bake for a further 10 minutes at 160°C to finish baking.
9. Remove the tartlets from the oven and dust with cocoa butter powder (Mycryo) while they're still hot. This prevents the pastry to get soggy. Allow to cool down completely before removing the tartlet ring.

Gluten-free pistachio praliné croustillant

1. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave to 45°C. Add the pistachio praliné and stir well with a rubber spatula until obtain a smooth and evenly mixture. Add the green natural food coloring just to enhance the green color of the croustillant and stir to dissolve it into the mixture. Add the granola and transfer into a small mixer grinder. Pulse to break up any large granola chunks and to obtain a grainy, evenly mixture.
2. Spread a thin layer (about 1-2 mm thick) of the croustillant into the base of each tartlet and leave at room temperature until it is firmed (about 2 hours), or chill the tartlets for faster times.

Gluten-free chocolate granola (for the croustillant)

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Line a baking tray with silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. In a bowl combine together the first 5 ingredients and mix with a spoon.
3. In a saucepan combine all the wet ingredients (maple syrup, molasses, apricot kernel butter and vanilla extract) and heat on medium-low heat without boiling, just to obtain a fluid and homogeneous mixture.
4. Add to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until it all comes together and is very sticky.
5. Spread out evenly flat onto the prepared tray about 0,5 cm thick. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the granola is golden and almost dried.
6. Remove the granola from the oven and let it cool down while it crisps up. Store the granola in an airtight glass jar at room temperature and away from light.

Vanilla pistachio praliné 60%

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Line a baking tray with silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Arrange pistachios and almonds on the tray. Place the scraped vanilla beans on top of the nuts. Toast until golden brown and fragrant, about 15 minutes.
2. In the meantime, make a dry caramel: place a saucepan over low-medium heat, add a little Demerara sugar and wait until it is fully dissolved. No stirring at this point.
   Demerara is an unrefined sugar with a natural blond color so it is very important not to leave it on the heat too long, otherwise it will become dark and bitter.
   Once the sugar is melted, add the leftover sugar in 2 intervals and stir with a rubber spatula at each addition to combine together the caramelized sugar with the unmelted sugar. The addition of new sugar lowers the temperature of caramel without burning it.
3. Once the sugar is completely melted, pour it over the toasted nuts and the dried vanilla beans. Let them cool at room temperature.
4. Once the caramel is hardened, place both nuts and vanilla beans into a food processor. Add salt and grind to a powder. Place your hand on the bowl and as soon as it starts to warm, place the mixture into the freezer. Be careful to not overheat the praline paste, otherwise it gets bitter. The praline paste should not exceed 40°C.
   Continue to grind the mixture until you achieve a fluid and homogeneous paste, using the freezer as required.
5. Once the paste is finely ground and almost smooth, place the praline paste in an airtight container and store it at room temperature and away from the light. If stored for an extended period the oil may separate from the solids. Ensure you mix it well before using.
   It is difficult to create a completely smooth paste with a food processor, a stone grinder will give you a really fine smooth praline.

Gluten-free pistachio praliné sponge biscuit

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, static mode. Grease a 32,5 x 32,5 cm silicone swiss roll mat (Silikomart tapis roulade) and place it on a baking tray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment add pistachio praliné, eggs and salt and beat on medium-high speed till obtaining a creamy, homogeneous and almost thick batter.
3. Add pistachio oil, slowly and little at a time. Once it is incorporated, add almond milk, slowly and little at a time. Beat on medium speed until obtain a creamy, homogeneous and this time more fluid batter.
4. Add powder ingredients (brown rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder and Matcha), previously mixed and sifted and beat on low speed, just to combine everything.
5. Pour the batter into the greased silicone mat and spread it out evenly with a palette knife, so that it is level with the top of the mat (I mean, 1 cm high, as the height of the silicone mat). The batter will cover only halfway the silicone mat.
   Bake for 12 minutes, until the sponge biscuit is puffed, lightly golden in color, soft and slightly springy to touch.
6. Remove from the oven and cover immediately with clingfilm to keep the sponge biscuit from drying out and to preserve the moisture. Allow to cool completely before cutting 6 circles with a Ø 6 cm cookie cutter.
   I suggest to put the sponge biscuit in the freezer for 1h before cutting. In this way it will be cold but not fully frozen and you can cut it without ruining it. Place the sponge biscuit circle on top of the croustillant.

Pistachio praliné crémeux

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2. In a bowl stir together pistachio paste and pistachio praliné.
3. Heat almond milk in the microwave without boiling. Add the soaked gelatin sheets and stir until it is dissolved.
4. Add the hot almond milk to the pistachio mixture and stir vigorously with a rubber spatula, forming circular patterns, just to obtain a smooth cream.
5. Add the cold heavy cream in 2 times, stirring at each addition, until obtain a smooth, homogeneous and fairly supple cream.
6. Transfer the crémeux into a mixing glass and emulsify with a hand blender to stabilize the emulsion and to make the crémeux even more smooth and homogeneous.
7. Transfer the crémeux into a disposable piping bag and fill each tartlet, leaving enough space for the chocolate mousse. Freeze for at least 2h in a domestic freezer or for about 1h in a blast freezer.

Caranoa 55% dark chocolate crunchy glaze

1. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave to 50°C and mix through the grape seed oil.
2. Transfer the glaze to a jug with a diameter just slightly wider than the tartlet. Let the glaze to cool down to 35°C.
3. Insert the tip of a knife in the centre of the frozen tartlet (I mean, in the centre of the pistachio praliné crémeux) and gently dip it into the glaze.
4. Wipe off the base of the tartlet on the side of the jug, then wipe off the base on a parchment paper to remove any excess glaze. Place the tartlets in the fridge.

Caranoa 55% dark chocolate mousse

1. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave to 50°C.
2. Heat together almond milk and heavy cream (1) in the microwave without boiling and add them to the melted chocolate in 3 times, stirring with a spatula at each addition in order to obtain a smooth, glossy and creamy ganache.
3. Semi-whip the cold heavy cream (2) until it forms soft peaks. Check the temperature of the ganache: when it is 40°C, add the semi-whipped cream in 2-3 times, folding gently with a rubber spatula in order to obtain a light, smooth and shiny mousse.
4. Pour the mousse into a silicone mould with 6 round cavities of Ø 6,7 cm x h 2 cm (I've used the Kit Tarte Ring Ø80 from Silikomart) and freeze for at least 2h in a domestic freezer or for about 1h in a blast freezer.

Cocoa powder and Caraïbe 66% dark chocolate mirror glaze 

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for at least 10 minutes.
2. Weigh out the chocolate in a mixing glass.
3. Heat milk, caster sugar, trehalose sugar, glucose syrup and cocoa powder in a saucepan to 104°C.
4. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Set aside for about a minute to let the hot liquid melts the chocolate, then emulsify with a hand blender without adding air bubbles and in order to obtain a smooth and shiny glaze.
5. Heat the Absolu Cristal in the microwave to 65°C and add into the glaze, followed by the drained gelatin sheets (add only the gelatin and not the soaked water). Emulsify once more without adding air bubbles.
6. Pass the glaze through a sieve and pour into a baking dish. Cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the glaze and chill in the fridge for at least 12h or overnight.
7. Heat the glaze in the microwave to 45°C then pour into a mixing glass and emulsify with the hand blender. Keep the blade of the hand blender on the bottom of the mixing glass, to avoid air bubbles. Allow to cool down to 32-35°C. If you directly melt the glaze to 32-35°C, it will not be shiny and glossy. Place cling film on the surface of the glaze and cool it to 32-35°C. You can put the glaze in the fridge or take it at room temperature.
8. In the meantime, cover the working surface with two sheets of clingfilm, slightly overlapping. They will serve to collect the excess glaze. Place on a cooling rack.
9. Once the glaze is 32-35°C, unmould the frozen chocolate mousse discs and place them on the cooling rack. Pour over the glaze at 32-35°C. Wipe off any excess glaze on top of the discs with a small flat palette knife, angling it slightly and lifting it up at the edge.
   When the glaze stops dripping, gently place the mousse disc over the pistachio praliné crémeux by using a toothpick skewered in the centre. Place the finished tartlets in the fridge.

Assembly and decoration

Garnish the tartlets with some tempered chocolate swirls and edible flowers.