Strawberry-Goat Cheese Tart with Lavender-Citrus Confit
Pretty, silky smooth, with an interesting mélange of flavors from Provence, these tarts are cheesecake in best dress. Instead of individual tarts, a single 10-inch tart may also be made from this recipe.
Ingredients
- White Chocolate Lace
- White Chocolate - 6 ounces
- Cornmeal Sweet Dough
- Corn Meal - 1-1/2 cups
- All-Purpose Flour - 1-1/2 cups
- Sugar - 6 tablespoons
- Salt - 1-1/2 teaspoons
- Baking Powder - 3 teaspoons
- Cold Unsalted butter - 4-1/2 ounces, cubed
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 cup
- Lavender-Citrus Confit
- Lemons - zest and segments of 6 lemons
- Oranges - Zest and segments of 4 oranges
- Lavender Leaves - 2 teaspoons, freshly chopped
- Sugar - 1 cup
- Water - 1-1/2 cups
- Marinated Strawberries
- Strawberries - 2 pints, hulled and sliced
- Lavender - 2 teaspoons, freshly chopped
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Vodka - 3 ounces
- Goat Cheese Filling
- Goat Cheese - 20 ounces, soft
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons, softened
- Sugar - 2/3 cup
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 tablespoon
- Eggs - 4
- Fresh Blackberries - 20
- Aged Goat Cheese - 1/4 pound, shaved
- Lavender - 4 sprigs
Instructions
To make the chocolate lace: Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. In the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, melt the chocolate. Put the chocolate in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip (or, put the chocolate in a strong plastic bag and make a small snip in one corner). Pipe thin lines of chocolate in a tight zigzag across the foil. Make a second series of zigzags in the opposite direction. Swirl any remaining chocolate over the top of the zigzags. Freeze until ready to use.
To make the dough: Sift all dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Cut in the butter with your fingers or a pastry blender until the dough resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and mix just until the dough comes together. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide in two. Flatten as much as possible with your hands, then roll out on a floured surface. Cut into circles one inch larger than the diameter of the tart molds and fit into the molds, letting the top edges ruffle. Bake 10 minutes, or until just browned. Remove and let cool.
To make the confit: Combine the zests, lavender, sugar, and water in a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook about 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup. Add the segments and cook 3 more minutes; do not break up the segments. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
To marinate the strawberries: Combine all ingredients in a non-aluminum bowl and let stand at least 30 minutes.
To make the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 F. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the cheese, butter, and sugar together with the paddle attachment until fluffy. Beat slowly at first, increasing the speed as the mixture blends. Beat in the flour. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined and scraping the sides of the bowl between each addition. Pour the filling into the baked tart shells. Put the shells on a baking pan and place in the oven. Reduce the heat to 300 F and bake until the filling is just firm and the shells are golden, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
To serve: Pop the tarts out of the molds. Place a tart on each plate. Add drained strawberries to the top, and spoon confit around the plate. Sprinkle the plates with confectioner’s sugar. Garnish the plates with blackberries, shavings of goat cheese, and sprigs of lavender. Break the chocolate lace into individual pieces and lay on top of the tarts.
