#EatYourCocktails my grandma used to say.
Ok, no. But.
These carrot and ginger spritzer tarts are inspired by a cocktail recipe. Actually, a mocktail.
A few months ago, I found a recipe for a carrot and ginger “spritzer” in a magazine made with well, carrot juice, ginger beer and lemon juice. It caught my attention, particularly because I really love ginger beer and I decided to give it a go.
I must say that, to my surprise, it was really good. Enough to totally compensate for the lack of any booze in it. I really mean it. The carrot juice gave it some sweet notes, but not sickly sweet, the lemon juice made it very refreshing, and the fiery note brought by the ginger beer gave it character and brought all of the flavours together.
Now, am I planning to be a mixologist though? No, not yet.
So, I thought it would have been a great idea to get the same flavour combination into a dessert, retaining the ginger kick, as well as the sweetness and the refreshing taste.
After a few tweaks and attempts with ginger beer (including a not-so-good ginger beer jelly, but please don’t tell anyone), I went for a ginger-infused syrup instead and decided to incorporate that into a curd-like filling, but without eggs as they were downsizing the flavour and taking away all the fun.
What about the tart case itself?
Well sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go (and again I am pretty sure my granny said this at some point), particularly if you want the filling to be the star of the show. The tart shells are made of sablé pastry, which is more neutral in flavour and the perfect container for it.
My carrot and ginger spritzer tarts are very simple but, like the drink that inspired it, striking in both look and flavour. The best part is that you can serve them simply as they are or decorate them with slices of fruit and some leaves, as they were your favourite cocktail.
If you are a fan or tartlets, why dont’ you try to remake my apple curd tart, but in a miniature version. I have done it a few weeks ago, and they work equally well.
Makes 6 tartlets
Ingredients
FOR THE SABLÉE PASTRY
- 220g plain flour
- 120g butter
- 80g icing sugar
- 1 large egg (50g)
- 40g corn flour
- 1g salt
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
FOR THE GINGER SYRUP
- 300ml water
- 300g caster sugar
- 225g fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (about ½ cup)
FOR THE FILLING
- 280ml carrot juice
- 210ml ginger syrup (see above)
- 90ml lemon juice
- 20ml fresh ginger juice (I grate some ginger and then squeeze the juice out through a muslin)
- 100g evaporated milk
- 50g corn starch
- 15g butter
- 1g salt
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
- 6 tart rings or fluted tart cases (I used 8 cm / 3 inch rings)
Method
MAKE THE SABLE PASTRY (at least 2 hrs ahead of baking)
- Pour all dry ingredients (flour, corn flour, icing sugar, lemon zest) in a bowl. Add the cold butter and rub in with your fingers until the mixture resemble breadcrumbs. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the salt and vanilla extract. Add to the crumbly mixture and bring the dough together with a spatula and then using your hands, until it has a uniform consistency (resist the temptation to knead the dough for too long). Flatten the dough to a square shape, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 2 hours. When you are ready to roll it, take it out of the refrigerator and let it rest for 15 minutes (make it 10 if it’s quite warm in your kitchen).
BAKE THE SABLÉE PASTRY
- Prepare the tart rings or tins with butter and flour coating. Roll out to the pastry to about 3 or 4mm thick and cut out discs twice as wide as the moulds. Cut as many as you can, then once you are done with those you have, you can re-roll the leftover pastry and repeat the process. Working one by one, line each ring or tin making sure you use a leftover piece of dough to press the pastry discs nicely into the moulds to adhere perfectly with every tiny angle and corner. Trim the overhanging excess dough with a sharp knife. Pop the lined rings into the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up a bit. In the meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180˚C
- After 15 minutes, take pastry out of the fridge and blind bake the tart shells. Line the tart shells with some baking paper, so that the dough is completely covered. Fill each up with dried beans, uncooked rice or ceramic beans and bake in the centre rack of the oven for 18 minutes. Remove the beans and baking parchment and bake for another 5/7 minutes uncovered, until slightly golden. Take out of the oven and set on a rack to cool completely before removing from the rings/tins.
MAKE THE TART FILLING
- First make the ginger syrup. Mix the 300ml water and 300g sugar in a small pan and heat on a medium heat. When you notice the sugar has completely dissolved, add the chopped ginger and bring to the boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and keep on a gentle simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Filter and set aside. You should end up with roughly 210ml of syrup.
Make sure you have your tart shells lined up and ready before you begin this step, since you will need to pour the filling straight away in the tartlets before it starts setting.
- In a medium size pan, mix carrot juice, ginger syrup, lemon juice, ginger juice, evaporated milk, sugar and salt and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Once the liquid is simmering, pour a couple of tablespoons of it into the corn flour to make a smooth paste (this step is extremely important to avoid lumps). Pour the paste back into the pan and whisk to dissolve completely. Return to gentle simmer and keep on the heat for one minute, just the time it takes for the filling to thicken. Remove from the heat, add the butter and whisk to melt and dissolve. The filling should look shiny, thick but still pourable.
- Immediately transfer the filling to a pouring jug and carefully pour it into each tart shell, making sure to fill it all the way up to the top of the rim. Repeat with all the tartlets, you should have enough filling to complete 6. Leave to cool completely before refrigerating for at least 2 hours to fully set.
Tip: this filling forms a surface skin very quickly, so try to pour it all in one go in each tartlet, otherwise you might end up with and uneven surface.
MAKE THE CARROT TWIRLS AND FINISH THE TARTS
- Pour sugar and water into a small pan, wide enough to fit the carrots lengthways. While you bring the syrup to a simmer, cut long and thin strips of carrots using a vegetable peeler. Add the strips to the sugar syrup and let simmer gently for 15 minutes. In the meanwhile heat the oven to 100˚C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Line the glazed carrot strips on the baking sheet and dry in the oven for about 30 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes. When ready, the strips should be pliable but should not feel wet. To test if ready, open the door oven, take one strip out using some small tongs or tweezers and immediately twist it around the handle of a wooden spoon. It should cool down and harden in a matter of seconds, retaining its shape. If working, repeat the process with all the other strips, otherwise leave to bake a little longer.
Tip: Do not take the tray out of the oven, as you need to keep the strips warm in order to be able to twist them. If they cool down, they will snap when you try to bend them.
- Take the tartlets out of the fridge, decorate with one carrot twirl and some mint leaves and serve. Cheers!