tart au pamplemousse et poivre meringues

 

 

 

 

This lovely book was purchased in 2012 after the TV series; how could I not buy it? Rachel Khoo's easy and unfussy approach cooking her own take on classic French recipes is such a inspiration to get in there and start cooking. Fulfilling a dream (every cook's dream?) of studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Rachel soon went from graduation to tutor to cook book writer to TV star. It is her lifestyle, her love of food and her very down-to-earth approach which has won her many fans, me included. So flipping through her book, the question is only which recipe to start with?

First it was the 'pepper meringue' in the heading of this recipe that made me stop. Then it was the image of what looked like sponge, oozing curd topped with a thick meringue. But that weird addition of pepper in the meringue ... Quoi?! But what finally got me in was that wonderful French word for grapefruit - pamplemousse. There always comes a point when I am deliberating about what to bake or eat where I suddenly know what I want. C'est tout! What does grapefruit and pepper in meringue taste like ... ?

Not unlike the passion fruit meringue tarts I made a couple of weeks ago, this recipe has exactly the same elements, but with a biscuit base which looks sponge-like and a curd which should be soft and oozy but not set as a mousse in my pasionfruit tart recipe. I happened to have bought a bag of pamplemousse at le supermarche yesterday, and I had all other ingredients already. Excellent.

First the grapefruit curd. Un pamplemousse was zested (is that a word?) and juiced, and was heated and whisked in a saucepan with sugar, salt and an eggs over a gentle heat. Then sifted corn flour was added and whisked in. At the bubbling stage, the saucepan was taken off the heat and then cubes of butter were mixed in. Finally the curd was poured into a bowl, plastic wrap covered and refrigerated overnight.

I preheated the oven to 180 deg C. The biscuit base was made creaming butter and sugar with salt and lemon zest until it was fluffy and pale. Egg yolks were added with more beating.

Sifted flour and baking powder were added to the creamed mixture until a smooth paste formed. I made one large instead of 8 small tarts, so the biscuit base was spread in a spring form pan, then baked for approx 20 minutes.

To make my favourite, Italian meringue, I poured caster sugar into a saucepan with water and placed it on a high heat and it was brought to the boil - at 118 deg C (how I do this without a thermometer, I don't know but I seem to guess correctly).

sugar and water to make sugar syrup



 

Then meringue was made whisking the egg whites until soft and then when the syrup had cooled I poured it carefully down the side of the bowl before it could hit the beaters. It was now I added the pepper. Then about 8 minutes whisking produced gorgeously fluffy meringue which I could have eaten then and there, but refrained.

 

There was just the assembly (sans image which I forgot) to complete once the biscuit base had cooled. The pamplemousse curd was spread over it, and then the meringue which was so gorgeous and fluffy it was almost like marshmallow. Under the grill it went for not even two minutes, and here's the result.



 

Once it had cooled ...

(need a proper cake fork)

 

 

The Verdict: Very very good and surprising. Overall, sweetness meets bitter, with a touch of sour and then marshmallow sweetness with pepper! I especially like the base which is a traditional Breton biscuit base, which didn't need chilling or rolling. The addition of the lemon zest in the dough married well with the bitter grapefruit curd which was creamy sweet at the same time.

 

There are so many more recipes yet to be tried from this delightful book.

 

Grapefruit and pepper meringue tart
The Little Paris Kitchen, Classic French recipes with a fresh and simple approach Rachel Khoo, Michael Joseph, London, 2012