Pierre Herme’s Vanilla Tart
… A.k.a. the tart that almost wrecked my kitchen. I’m not mincing words here, if you do not like multi-step recipes, do not even think about making this. If you do not like reading recipes 3x before starting, do not even think about making this. But if you want a piece of vanilla heaven – especially if you love the taste of real vanilla beans – then proceed, for this dessert is one you shall savor with every little bite.
This tart recipe is from the Pierre Herme class I attended last year. Don’t let me daunt you with my initial ramblings, but let me at least paint you a picture of the kitchen carnage that may follow should you choose to make this: a sticky mess of pots and pans including countertops, a calculator whose keys were frozen in time because some random syrup decided to drip on it, burnt spots on the stove from unknown sources – maybe syrup, maybe cream and then just a whole lot of “Oh shit! The cream!”
This recipe is lengthy in ingredients and has lots of stages (instructions are very brief) but most of them are as simple as boiling the ingredients together. The reason I made such a big mess in my kitchen was lack of foresight. First, I did not read the recipe carefully to plan the steps ahead of time and second, I did everything in one day. I fully planned on making the mascarpone layer the night before but failed miserably because I glossed over the brief instructions in the recipe. And whoever thought one could whip the crème anglaise to stiff peaks must be smoking something, or as Helen said, drinking. My only excuse was that it was late at night and I just came back from the movies and must have had some “Hangover” (hilarious flick, by the way) too.
What you need for creme anglaise
Cooking Notes:
I was apprehensive about two recipes, the vanilla mascarpone cream and the vanilla glaze.
For the mascarpone cream, do not, I repeat do not overwhip the mascarpone otherwise, you will not be able to form the discs – mine was too liquid the first time. As you whip your chilled crème anglaise (again, not too chilled because the gelatin will start to set), start incorporating the mascarpone a tablespoon at a time and use immediately. Have pan of hot water ready with your circular molds in them. I did not have the right molds at hand and just used 3-inch tart rings (same ones I used for the shell) for this stage which was why the discs were not as defined as I wanted them. Smoothing the cream out is essential because your glaze will follow whatever shape your discs will be. This is a case of what you do now will come back to haunt you later. Work quickly before your mascarpone cream stiffens too much. It’s delightful to see the stocky cylinders form as you lift the mold.
The glorious vanilla glaze is my favorite part of the recipe
The vanilla glaze is a patissier’s dream glaze. It is gorgeous and damn tasty! Who knew white chocolate could enrobe a dessert in such silky luxury. It uses an ingredient called NH pectin which is available at L’Epecerie . The neutral glaze recipe is one I just deduced from PH’s exotic glaze, leaving out some flavoring ingredients – after all it is supposed to be neutral. It was not hard to put together at all but used a lot of dishes because I had to make a white chocolate ganache, a neutral glaze, white colored paste etc. and this easily threw off my game (especially when a steak dinner fast approaching.) You can very well make the glaze beforehand and microwave in 30 second increments to restore fluidity. This is also the case with the neutral glaze because the NH pectin is reversible and you can just reheat before using.
Components in assembling the tart
To coat your disc, insert a knife into the bottom center of the frozen mascarpone cream and dip into the glaze, let the excess drip off and lay on a wire rack to set. Use a spatula, dipped in warm water, to transfer the mascarpone layer to the tart.
A note about the recipe amounts. Most of the recipes ingredients are half of the original measurement. For the lady finger (biscuit cuillere), you could halve the recipe further as it made a half-sheet and 1/3 sheet. I think I underbaked mine but I’ve never made lady fingers before and was not sure what to expect. You must pay attention to how much of one recipe to use in another recipe. For example, in the mascarpone cream, you only use 375 g of the crème anglaise but the recipe for it makes more than that. I used pastry flour for flour type(55) and sucrose is just sugar. Trimoline is also available at L’epicerie.
I did spend a fortune on vanilla beans but it was worth every penny. The only recipe that I used vanilla extract and paste was in the soaking syrup for the lady finger. I did not have Tahitian vanilla bean so I used 2 Madagascar bourbon and 1 Mexican for recipes that called for all three beans. The reason PH uses three different types of vanilla pods are because of their different properties. Madagascar bourbon has the best flavor, in my opinion, and has the distinctive taste of vanilla that I look for. The Mexican beans add a spicy undertone. Tahitian vanilla beans’ contribution are their floral fragrance but because of fewer beans, their flavor is more muted – they are also the most expensive. If you are having problems working with vanilla pods because of their irregular shape, a technique I learned from PH was to flatten the beans very well with the back of a paring knife and then use the tip of the knife to cut through the center. Because the pod is now flat, it’s easier to scrape the seeds out.
Vanilla glaze, mascarpone layer, lady finger, ganache, tart shell
The question is: will I make this again? YES!!! Besides being an elegant dessert, it is just as delectable on the inside – velvety glaze, creamy mascarpone, crunchy tart shell and lady fingers soaked in rum-vanilla…need I say more? Now, that I have made it once, I can see where I can break up the steps to preserve my sanity in the future.
Pierre Herme’s Vanilla Tart
Sugar dough
150 g Butter
30 g Almond Powder
95 g Confectionary Sugar
0.5 g Vanilla Powder
60 g Eggs
1 g Sea salt
250 g Flour type (55)Method:
Soften butter and add the ingredients one by one. Keep the dough in the cooler wrapped in plastic wrap.Sugar dough Tart Shells
Roll out the dough 2mm thin and cut with round cutter to the desired size. Line tarts on a tray covered with a silpat and poke the bottom with a fork. Let the shells set in the freezer.
Place some beans into the bottom of the shell and bake at 335F for 25 minutes, remove the beans and bake for another 5-8 minutes until golden brown.Biscuit cuillere
360 g Egg white
5 g Egg white powder
225 g Sugar
200 g Egg yolk
20 g invert sugar
125 g Flour type (55)
125 g Potato starchMake meringue with the egg white, egg white powder and sugar to stiff peaks. Add in the egg yolks and trimoline slowly. Fold in the flour. Layer on a pan and bake at 445F for 10 minutes and let cool on a cooling rack. Store wrapped in plastic.
Titanium dioxide paste
25 g Titanium dioxide powder
15 g WaterMix well and set aside
Syrup 30B
50 g Sucrose
45 g Water
Boil Together.Neutral Glaze
500 g water
2 already used vanilla beans
200 g sucrose
20 g NH pectin
10 g lemon juiceMix the sucrose with the NH pectin, add the water and vanilla beans and bring to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat, add the lemon juice. Let steep for 30 minutes before straining into a container. Keep refrigerated, reheat before use.
Vanilla Glaze
480 g White chocolate couverture
180 g Cream
10 g Glucose
25 g Syrup 30b
360 g Neutral glaze
0.5 g Vanilla bean Madagascar
12.5 g Titanium dioxide pasteMelt the chocolate. Boil the cream with the grated vanilla bean and pour into the chocolate in three additions. Boil the neutral glaze with the sugar syrup and glucose. Pour this sugar mixture into the ganache and add the titanium dioxide paste. Blend the mixture to obtain a smooth and homogeneous texture; avoid incorporating air. Keep in cooler until ready to use.
English Vanilla cream
500 g Cream
1 Vanilla bean, Mexican
1 Vanilla bean, Madagascar
1 Vanilla bean, Tahitian
100 g Egg yolks
125 g Sucrose
7 g Gelatin leaves gold qualitySoak the gelatin leaves in cold water. Mix the egg yolk and sucrose together. Bring the cream to a boil and pour half of it on the egg yolk/sucrose mixture. Pour this mixture back into to the remaining cream and cook until the it coats the back of a spoon. Strain this mixture onto the squeezed gelatin leaves and blend. Keep in the cooler
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
375 g English vanilla cream
250 g MascarponeVanilla ganache
225 g Cream
1 Vanilla bean, Mexican
1 Vanilla bean, Madagascar
1 Vanilla bean, Tahitian
4 g Vanilla extract – none alcoholic
2 g Vanilla powder
250 g White chocolate couvertureSplit open and scrap out the vanilla beans and place in the cream. Bring to boil and infuse for about 20 minutes. Melt the chocolate.. Take the vanilla beans out of the cream and add in the vanilla extract and vanilla powder. Bring to boil, pour the cream in 3 additions over the chocolate, mix well Blend the ganache to a smooth consistency. Store in cool place before using.
Vanilla Syrup
500 g bottled water
0.5 g vanilla bean, Mexican
0.5 g vanilla bean, Madagascar
0.5 g vanilla bean, Tahitian
10 g Vanilla extract
250 g Sucrose
25 g Brown rumBoil the water with the sugar and vanilla beans and let infuse for 30 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the rum. Keep in the cooler.
Assembly:
Fill the baked sugar dough shell with a little melted vanilla ganache. Then place a piece of biscuit cuillere soaked in the vanilla syrup on it. Fill the rest of the tart with vanilla ganache. Let cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Coat the vanilla mascarpone cream disc with vanilla glaze and place it on the tart.
Dust the left side of the tart with some vanilla powder.
For printable version of recipe.
I cannot WAIT to make this! I’m so jealous you got to meet him!
wow!! I love that tart!!! I’ll try it sooner than later!!!!
thanks
OMG, this looks amazing. When I read your post last year about the PH class, I was so green with envy!
It’s very nice of you to share Pierre’s recipe with us. I know you have Pierre’s Macaron book. Can you tell me where you got that? Amazon.com doesn’t carry it.
Holy cow! Kitchen carnage indeed, veron! I can’t get over how amazing the end product looks though, especially in that cross section picture.
Hi ABowlofMush – make it!make it! This is classic pierre herme in the details of his genius.
Hi Nico – report back on how it works for you.
Thanks Julia! PH class was amazing and I try to relive it every time.
Hi Winnie – I bought mine from Amazon france but they don’t seem to be selling it at a reasonable price any longer
Thanks Marvin – I’m enjoying the last of the tart and the different textures and infinite vanilla flavor are such a guilty pleasure.
It must have all been worth it for these little beauties!
These are perfection Veron…you are so talented!
Wow – that is one seriously long recipe, but it looks like the end result is well worth it. Yum!
Thanks for such a thorough post; I think I am going to give these a try. I was wondering about the titanium dioxide, though. Is it available anywhere in small quantities? If not, is it skip-able or substitute-able?
That looks heavenly – even if you had to go through a little bit of hell to get there! I’m so glad you’re out there blazing these trails for us!
OMG, this is an artful tart! I can only dream about it since it’s darn hard to get all the ingredients. But I will try… some day
Simply incredible…I can only dream about creating such elegance. Your step by step instructions and commentary are gratefully welcomed, Veron.
Thank you so much for sharing…
I have one word for you: dreamy.
Aw, Joey, thanks!!
Hi Kristen, that’s why it took me a while to make it, everytime I look at the recipe, I chicken out.
Lee- Try doing a search on white powder food color, they have it on Amazon. Most if not all white color is made of titanium dioxide and is available in small quantities.
Thanks T.W. – and I thought I was done with this multi-step recipes!
Thanks Anh- hope you can get the ingredients where you are and try it one day, the taste is totally worth the effort!
My pleasure Louise! Glad you find the instructions helpful
Thanks Lucy!
Lucky you! You gotta to learn from THE master of baking. All I can say is he’s a wonderful teacher. Your dessert rocks!
I really simply love the taste of real vanilla beans. What else… baking I can but still need to learn a lot from you and especially this nice blog of yours.
wow! so slick just like the baker herself, let’s toast to such a lovely creation by Veron! yummy!
This. Is. So. Beautiful. !
I’m seriously tempted to make this vegan as well… It’s a very intimating recipe though!
Simply stunning, Veron! And you’ve done such a great job of explaining the processes and pitfalls, thank you.
I love multi-step recipe, and I especially love recipes that require a lot of hard work and time put into them. Fine, call me nuts, but I don’t know what it is, but it’s really rewarding to have made a confectionary masterpiece that most people wouldn’t have the patience to make.
I love this recipe and I will definitely be trying it out soon. It’ll be very therapeutic.
Great post and lovely photos!
Holy Smokes! They turned out perfectly!! The best part for me is that I can hear you through the post whipping and cussing
Fantastic job! Can’t wait to do those with you one day!
oh i love pierre herme!! and this vanilla tart looks heavenly!!! your photos are magnificent too!
I know I said this last time …but you are seriously a food artist! You would never know from the beautiful looks of that end product that this recipe caused you any bit of trouble. mmm delicious too
What magnificent tarts! They must taste just heavenly! I love your dreamer pictures and presentation!
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks Jackie! PH was indeed very generous with his ideas in dessert!
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Thanks Indian – I agree, nothing compares to the flavor of real vanilla beans!
Thanks big boys oven – your desserts are equally lovely!
thanks Hannah – Let me know if you are able to veganize it!
Thanks Duncan – because PH recipes are very brief, a lot is left unsaid and could make it sound more difficult than the recipe really is. So I’m happy if one finds my extra explanations useful
Thanks Kamran – do let me know if you decide to make this!
Thanks Helen! you know this felt like my final exam. Ha.ha..yes I was cursing while whipping that creme anglaise the first time. I would love to make this again with you!
Thanks Dhanggit! Great to know someone who loves PH too!
Aw, thanks Erica! I was very determined to be careful with assembly…especially after the chaos this tart caused me.
Thanks Rosa! Biting into this tart is like is definitely heavenly – vanilla nirvana in every sense of the word!
Your perseverance paid off – what a gorgeous dessert! Truly professional in every sense of the word. Wow!
Oh…my…
These look like exactly what I need to be eating right now! Your photography (and your blog altogether) is gorgeous, by the way.
Lot’s of work involved. They look so perfect, yummy. Beautiful pics.
OMG – this looks amazing!!! So worth the many steps.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
What a wonderful post with a great interpretation of PH’s recipe. I have his PH10 and definitely understand the lack of instructions part. Did he not specify a recipe for the glaze? I’ve had good luck with the Boston Vanilla Bean company for procuring the three types of beans PH uses. Cheers!
Wow. Just wow. Now I definitely have to do the pastry bootcamp thing with Helen – that looks gorgeous! I love the photos with the vanilla glaze dripping everywhere as well, and all of them just make the tart look practically ethereal!
I would be entirely happy to create something so beautiful! This is my sort of dessert. The new site looks fabulous too!
Thanks Dana- I tried very hard to recreate PH’s vision.
Thanks Nicole – I really wish I was having one right now too.
thanks Helene- It’s lots of work the first time you make it but once you go through the process once, I’m sure it’s easier.
thanks Cakelaw!
Thanks Miles! Let me know how this turns out for you! going over now to check for more vanilla beans at Boston vanilla bean company.
Thanks Caitlin – Pastry bootcamp with Helen certainly prepped me to tackle this tart!
Thanks Lori! It is a heavenly tart. The site is still needing some tweaks but I am loving it!
whoever said vanilla is boring needs to take a look at this post! Oh wow! SO lucious and light yet rich and decadent! I’m bookmarking this!
the pictures make me drool! i HAVE to try this some time soon.
good job! pierre herme would be so proud of you
looks fantastic!
The English Vanilla Cream part of the recipe lists 3 kinds of vanilla but doesn’t mention using them.
Daniel – the vanilla beans are boiled with the milk. Before you add it to the yolk, take out the pods. You can wash and reuse them. Or dry them and add to sugar to make vanilla sugar.
oh this looks so wonderfully decadent. of course i am jealous that your met PH
but at least you post the recipe! hugs!
wow, love this vanilla tart! looks so delectable & i’m 100% sure it tastes great!
Many thanks…
Still typing to meet the minimum character requirement to this will post…
oh my god! this definitely looks like something I am going to have devote this entire upcoming weekend to perfecting. is this tartelette’s influence? …and your photographs are absolutely beautiful. wow.
(megalie.wordpress.com)
NASCAR » Blog Archive » Pierre Herme’s Vanilla Tart | Kitchen Musings Aug 22, 2009 at 11:01 pm
[...] Pierre Herme’s vanilla tart is a study in different pastry techniques, from tarts to mousses and let’s not forget his fantastic white chocolate glaze! … If you do not like reading recipes 3x before starting, do not even think about making this. But if you want a piece of vanilla heaven – especially if you love the taste of real vanilla beans – then proceed, for this dessert is one you shall savor with every little bite. This tart recipe is from the Pierre Herme class I …Read More [...]
Hi Veronica,
Just noticed that PH used “confectionary” sugar for his pate sucre..interesting…was there a reason he used this instead of castor or regular granulated sucre. It’s almost like what you would use for the beginnings of a marcaron. Does the finished product have a springy type texture like a macaron instead a regular tarte shell? Just curious.
Also for the lady fingers, I noticed he used potato starch. Was there a reason for that? I sometimes use it to make my cakes finer grained, just wondering if that is why it’s in his recipe.
Love your new site and the Jiffy font =)
hi Veron, I’ve been dying to know this recipe for ages since I never got to taste the actual tart while I was working there (was not infiniment vanille fetish time, saddd).
any thank you so so much. I’m now totally planning on making it this afternoon.
by the way, how many tarts does the recipe yiel to?
xx fanny
WOW, that is amazing! Not sure I could do it myself, I think I’ll just bookmark for the first weekend I’m kid free, they are way too big a distraction for a recipe like this. Great job, they look FABULOUS!
Sorry to leave a 2nd message, but I just realized that you too are in Richmond (I’m in the Southside)? Not often I run into a foodie from around here…good luck with everything!
For something so hard to make, you made it look beautiful. I, will have to leave this recipe for you to make again. I, am not that great of a cook.
Not often I run into a foodie from around here…good luck with everything!
I finally made them. Quite delicious and well worth the effort! I agree that the recipe makes too much biscuit cuillere and I could probably half the glaze recipe too. One again thank you so much for posting the recipe. Cheers