Individual portions or family size Fig and Pistachio tart

Level: Intermediate
Total Time: 2h + 2h cooling and overnight in the fridge

When a neighbor offers you a bag of figs jokingly challenging you to get something cooked with it in return, what do you do? Challenges are fun! But I am not really used to cooking with figs so I went looking for inspiration. I found the blog Pastry Freak who proposed a fig and pistachio tart that looked amazing. This recipe inspires from the Pastry Freak’s pistachio cream and fig marmalade but I used my usual recipe for the shortbread dough and I created a fig mousse as the last layer.

I am not going to hide that making this tart was a bit time consuming, but it was definitely worth it! It is sweet, crispy and creamy but neither too sweet nor too heavy. I will definitely make it again. The recipe is for two 22cm tarts or eight 8cm individual tarts (I wanted to make sure I made enough for both the neighbor and us!:-)). You can split the recipe in two if you only want to make one small tart.

THE TIPS TO SUCCEED

1: The shortbread dough is easiest to work if you leave it in the fridge for the night. If you can’t wait that long, leave it at least one hour.

2: The fig mousse needs time to set, so it is best to make it a few hours ahead.

3: If the top edges of your shortbread is a bit uneven you can use a Microplane grater to very carefully even it out

Let’s get started

Ingredients

Shortbread

• 180 g Flour
• 25 g Potato starch
• 25 g Almond poudre
• 100 g Icing sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 pinch Baking powder
• 3 pcs Egg yolks (small eggs, if large reduce to 2)
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract

Pistachio filling

• 80 g Pistachio powder
• 130 g Butter
• 40 g Sugar
• 3 pcs Eggs (small, if large reduce to 2)
• 50 g Almond powder
• 2 tsp Pistachio paste

Fig marmelade

• 200 g Fig
• 80 g Water
• ½ pcs Lemon (the juice)
• 40 g Sugar
• 7 g Pectin

Fig mousse

• 200 g Fig
• 2,5 tbsp Sugar
• ½ pcs Lemon (the juice)
• 1 pcs Gelatine sheets
• 160 g Whipping cream

Decoration

• 12-16 pcs Fig
• 60 g Pistachios

How to do it?

Shortbread

Add flour, potato starch, almond powder, icing sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Then add the butter in small pieces and crumble it in using your hands.

Mix the egg yolks and the vanilla extract with a fork and add it to the dough using your hands.

Put the dough on the table and use a silicone pastry scraper to press the dough towards the table, little by little. Do this twice.

Put the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for min 1 hour, but preferably overnight.

Roll out the dough until it is 2-3mm thick.

Lift the dough gently into your pastry circles, placed on a baking tray covered in baking paper or a silicon mat, and carefully fit it in the circles. Cut off the remaining dough.

Pick the dough evenly with a fork, cover in plastic and leave 30 minutes in the fridge.

Put the oven to 160°c.

Cover the dough with a baking paper and cook for 15 minutes. If you are making the 22 cm size I advice you to put ceramic beans on top of the baking paper. If you don’t have ceramic beans you can use rice or pasta.

Let the dough cool down in room temperature

Pistachio filling

Mix the butter until airy, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix.

Use a piping bag to spread the filling into the shortbreads and a spatula to equal it out.

Cook at 180°c for 10-12 minutes.

Fig marmalade

Cut the figs in large pieces, add them to a saucepan together with the water and lemon juice.

Drizzle in the sugar and pectin while stirring and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Let the mixture cool down slightly before to mix it with a hand blender and set to cool down further in the fridge.

Fig mousse

Cut the figs in big pieces and add them to a saucepan together with the lemon and 1 ½ tbsp sugar. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Put the gelatine sheets to soak in water for 10 minutes.

Ince the figs are cooked, turn off the heat and mix with a hand blender. Add the gelatine to the mixture and stir well.

Keep the mixture in the fridge until it has cooled down completely.

Mix the whipping cream and the remaining sugar until a firm cream.

Once the fig mixture is cold, mix it gently with the cream using a spatula.

Put the mousse in the fridge for 2-3 hours and stir it now and them.

Decoration

Cut the figs in 8 pieces.

Chop the pistachios with a knife.

Use a piping back to add a thin layer of fig marmalade and a spatula to spread it out.

Use a piping bag to add the fig mousse and remove the excess with a spatula. The mousse should be in line with the edge of the shortbread

Add fresh fig pieces on top of the fig mousse and end by drizzling the chopped pistachios on top.

How to serve the fig and pistachio tart?

Serve it as a dessert or with the afternoon tea or for a birthday celebration.