Sichuan pepper, rhubarb and strawberry tartlet rings

Hello!

I decided to try something different and I ended up doing these ring (?) tartlets (not sure how to call these). Despite my love for tarts and derivates, sometimes you just want to change things up and challenge yourself. These were not easy to make 😰 probably because as usual my most sophisticated kitchen utensil is an electric beater and this forces me to McGyver my way into making things work 😅 still, it was fun, especially when I managed to make these things roll (video coming soon! I will upload the video in a couple of days, so you can see a bit of the procedure).

These cuties have a few elements:

-a sweet shortcrust ring

-a Sichuan pepper cake 

-a rhubarb compote

-a strawberry Sichuan pepper mousse with fresh strawberries 

Recipe (makes 8):

Sweet shortcrust pastry 

150g flour 

75g vegan butter, cold and cubed

20g water

Pinch of salt

20g almond flour 

50g icing sugar 

Incorporate the butter in the flour, then add the sugar, salt and almond flour and when all resembles a mix of breadcrumbs add the water. Let rest 1h in the fridge. Line pastry rings and freeze for 20’. Bake at 160C fan for 8’ minutes. 

Sichuan pepper sponge 

160g brown sugar

180g all purpose flour

2g baking powder

2g baking soda

2g salt

4g Sichuan pepper, crushed

Zest of 3 lemons

120g almond milk

1 flax egg (2.5g flax seeds + 40g lemon juice)

80g rapeseed oil

Sift the flour and the baking powder and soda together in a bowl, then add the brown sugar and the salt. Add the zest of lemon and the flax egg, whisk well. Finally add the milk and the oil, combine with a balloon whisk and then use a spatula to check that you have scraped everything from the bottom of the bowl. Add the pepper. I used tin foil to create a band in the pastry ring. Pipe in the space and bake for 7-10’ at 135C fan.

Rhubarb compote

100g rhubarb puree (I oven baked it at 170C and blended it)

1 tsp agar agar 

40g sugar 

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Cook all the ingredients until the mixture reaches 80C, then set aside until ready to assemble.

Pipe on top of the cake insert and let set. 

Strawberry Sichuan diplomat cream 

125g coconut milk + 5g ground Sichuan pepper: warm up together and let sit for 20h.

1/2 tsp vanilla paste

Zest of 1 lemon

20g light brown sugar

10g cornflour

15g strawberry powder

1 g agar agar + 10g water (cold)

75g whipping cream (I used emlea plant)

Heat the coconut milk with the vanilla paste and the lemon zest. Once warm, pour on the sugar+cornflour+strawberry powder in a bowl and combine well with a balloon whisk. Put back on the heat and stir in the agar agar. Whisk until the mixture thickens and refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to assemble, whip the whipping cream and fold in 3 batches in the coconut creme pat.

Pipe above the rhubarb compote layer, after having carefully placed the fresh strawberries. Let set 2h in the fridge. 

Here’s a short video summarising the steps:

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