Chestnut tart with blackcurrant confit and whipped cream

This recipe for Tarte aux marrons au confit de cassis et chantilly by Frédéric Simonin, chef of the eponymous restaurant in Paris, is from Gault&Millau n°11. Discover the ingredients and step-by-step preparation instructions.

• Serves 4
• Preparation time: 2 h
• Cooking time: 35 minutes
• Chilling time: 1 h

Ingredients for Frédéric Simonin's Chestnut Tart with Blackcurrant Confit and Chantilly Cream

This recipe consists of a sweet pastry base, a cookie, a chestnut mousse, a blackcurrant confit and a chantilly cream. Here are the ingredients.

For the sweet pastry base

• 150 g butter
• 75 g powdered sugar
• 2 g salt
• 1 egg + 1 yolk
• 25 g almond powder
• 230 g flour

For the chestnut mousse

• 7 cl milk
• ½ sheet gelatine
• 270 g store-bought chestnut cream
• 20 cl 35% fat-free liquid cream
• 5 candied chestnuts

For the whipped cream

• ½ vanilla pod
• 20 cl 35% fat-free liquid cream
• 10 g caster sugar

For the blackcurrant confit

• 1 leaf gelatin
• 55 g commercial blackcurrant purée
• 10 g blackcurrant seeds
• 10 g caster sugar
• 1 g pectin
• juice of ½ lemon

For the chestnut filaments

• 30 g softened butter
• 70 g store-bought chestnut cream
• 200 g chestnut paste
• 1 tsp. rum

For the cookie

• 1 egg
• 50 g chestnut paste
• 50 g chestnut cream
• 12 g softened butter
• 20 g flour
• 20 g caster sugar

Steps for Frédéric Simonin's Chestnut Tart with Blackcurrant Confit and Chantilly Cream

Here are the steps to follow to make Frédéric Simonin's Chestnut and Blackcurrant Tart.

1. The sweet pastry. Place the butter (previously removed from the fridge and cut into small cubes), powdered sugar and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat to set. Add the whole egg and almond powder. Beat again until creamy. Add the flour and knead to form a homogeneous ball. Place in the fridge for one hour. spread it out on the work surface, place it in a buttered circle on a baking sheet and darken the edges. Trim any excess to give a clean edge. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for 2 minutes, then remove from the oven. Brush with egg yolk and return to the oven at 150°C for 18 minutes.
2. The chestnut mousse. Heat the milk but do not let it boil. Stir in the softened and drained gelatine. Pour the milk over the chestnut purée and stir. Place the cream in a chilled bowl and whip with a mixer. As soon as it has set, add it to the chestnut purée. You'll have a chestnut mousse that you can chill. Set aside one candied chestnut for presentation, and cut the others into pieces.
3. The whipped cream. Split the vanilla bean half and remove the seeds. Pour all the ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and whip to obtain a whipped cream.
4. Blackcurrant confit. Soak the gelatine in a little water. Place the purée and blackcurrant berries in a saucepan. Add the sugar and pectin, and heat over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and drained gelatin. Leave to cool.
5. Chestnut filaments. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a leaf, mix the butter, cream and chestnut paste. Add the rum. Pipe into a pastry bag using a vermicelli nozzle.
6. The cookie. Break the egg, separating the white from the yolk. Mix the yolk with the chestnut paste and cream, then the softened butter. When the mixture is smooth, add the flour. Beat the egg white with the sugar until stiff and add to the mixture. spread the mixture evenly on a silicone mat, 5 cm thick. Bake at 170°C for 15 minutes. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookie slightly smaller than the bottom of the sugar dough.
7. Finishing and decorating. Spread the blackcurrant confit over the sweet pastry, then add the cookie and chestnut mousse. Sprinkle with pieces of chestnut confit and chantilly. Using a pastry bag, cover the tart with chestnut filaments. Place the chestnut confit on one side.

Has this recipe inspired you to discover the chef's cuisine? Read the Gault&Millau review of Restaurant Frédéric Simonin (16/20).

• 25, rue Bayen, 75017 Paris
• Tel. : 01 45 74 74 74
• www.fredericsimonin.com