Clementine Tart

Yield: 1 (8-inch/20.5 cm) tart

Ingredients:

Pink peppercorn shell

• 1 ½ cups (350 ml) flour
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) crushed pink peppercorns
• 1/8 teaspoon (.75 ml) salt
• ¾ cup (180 ml) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream, cold

Clementine curd

• ¾ cup (180 ml) sugar
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) clementine zest
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups (350 ml) strained clementine juice
• ¼ cup (60 ml) cornstarch
• ½ cup (120 ml) butter

Candied edible flowers

• 1 egg white
• 20 edible sweet violets, cleaned and dried carefully
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) white sugar

Whipped cream

• 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sugar

Method:

Let’s get baking! Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).

To make the crust, mix together flour, icing sugar, crushed pink peppercorns, and salt in a bowl.

Cut the butter into the flour mixture.

Gradually add cream.

Flatten the dough into a disc.

Roll the dough out into a large circle.

Press it into a tart pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cover with tin foil.

Pour in pie weights.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil and weights, and bake a further 10 minutes.

Let cool.

To make the curd, add sugar and clementine zest to a bowl.

Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to press the clementine zest into the sugar and release the oils.

In a bowl set over boiling water (bain marie), whisk together egg yolks, eggs, vanilla, clementine juice, and sugar with clementine zest.

Cook, stirring until it starts to thicken, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from heat and strain.

Place the bowl back over the boiling water (bain marie) and add cornstarch.

Whisk until thickened.

Remove from heat.

Add butter and whisk through.

For edible flowers, whisk egg white.

Brush whisked egg whites onto the flowers.

Lay flowers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Sprinkle sugar over flowers and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

To assemble, spoon curd into tart shell.

Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Add cream to a cold bowl.

Whip cream to soft peaks.

Gradually add sugar.

Whip cream to stiff peaks.

Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag.

Pipe onto tart.

Place flowers on tart.

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