Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse Tart

Tala Abujbara, tartJanuary 23, 2014No comments

I made my first ever tart this week!

The first thing I did was make the crust. It was a variation of the basic flaky pastry that we’ve been using so far. I also tried my hand at the vodka trick; the liquid in the crust was made my substituting half of the water for vodka. It’s a good thing I did this, because I think I might’ve added a little too much liquid to the pastry.

It was surprisingly easy to roll out the pastry. I then pressed it into the tart pan and folded over the edges in order to make a doubly-thick crust around the sides, as seen here:

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The crust was frozen for half and hour and then pre-baked for 45 minutes. Boom:

 

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The next part of the process was to make the white chocolate mousse. I used a double boiler method to prevent scorching while melting the white chocolate. After melting, the white chocolate mixture was set aside to cool.

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In the meantime, I beat the egg whites and the whipping cream mixture.IMG_1310

 

These were each folded into the melted white chocolate. This mousse was then poured into the tart shell and left in the fridge to chill.

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This is where the decoration part of the tart began. I cut the 16 oz of strawberries into thin slices and carefully arranged them into concentric circles on top of the mousse.

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I thought that the tart needed a little contrast in color, so I thought it would be a good idea to put some dark chocolate on there. I’ve always wanted to try making decorations out of chocolate drizzle, so I melted some semi-sweet chocolate pieces with shortening over a double boiler and made a makeshift piping bag.IMG_1315

I played around with some shapes and left them to cool/harden.IMG_1316

 

And then arranged them on top of the tart. I finished it off with the tart strawberry-jam-and-lemon-juice glaze, which gave the tart a shiny look.

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I’m happy with how it turned out!I was a little nervous about it, but everything went pretty smoothly and I think the final product looks nice. I hope it tastes good. I tasted the chocolate mousse and it was super sweet, so I’m hoping that the strawberries and the glaze add a little tartness to counteract the overwhelming sweetness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse Tart

  • Prep time:
  • Cook time:
  • Total time:
  • Yield: 8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients:

  • CRUST
  • 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon (or more) ice water
  • MOUSSE
  • 6 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker’s), chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 16-ounce basket strawberries, hulled, thinly sliced lengthwise

Directions:

  1. FOR CRUST
  2. Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk egg yolk and 1 tablespoon ice water in small bowl to blend; add to processor and process until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Roll out dough on floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in and press onto sides, forming double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze crust 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust sides are light brown, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and beans; bake until crust is cooked through and golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Cool crust completely in pan on rack.
  4. FOR MOUSSE
  5. Combine white chocolate and 1/4 cup whipping cream in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water) and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; cool chocolate mixture until lukewarm, about 15 minutes.
  6. Beat remaining 1 cup whipping cream and vanilla in large bowl until peaks form. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with cream of tartar in medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into chocolate mixture, then fold in whipped cream. Transfer mixture to cooled crust; smooth top. Chill overnight.
  7. Combine jam and lemon juice in small saucepan; bring to simmer, stirring over medium heat until jam melts. Remove from heat. Arrange sliced strawberries in concentric circles atop tart. Brush berries with melted jam mixture. Chill tart up to 2 hours and serve.

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