Gluten-Free Lemon, Basil & Strawberry Tartlets

For the gluten-free rich shortcrust pastry (make the day before): Prepare all the ingredients: butter at room temperature (diced), icing sugar, blended dry ingredients (fleur de sel, corn starch, potato starch, rice flour and almond powder) and the whole eggs at room temperature.

Place the butter (at room temperature) in the stand mixer recipient.

Add the icing sugar.

Fit the stand mixer with the flat beater.

Start beating at low speed then increase gradually. Beat the ingredients until pale.

Stop the mixer and make sure there are no whole chunks of butter.

Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the eggs at room temperature...

... and mix at low speed for 30 seconds to avoid splashes.

Increase the speed and beat for 2 minutes.

Add 1/3 of the blended dry ingredients and combine.

Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients.

Beat again, starting at low speed then increasing to maximum.

30 seconds later, the pastry should be ready.

Transfer on a sheet of cling film. At this stage, the pastry is too soft to be handled. I recommend making this recipe the day before.

Wrap it in cling film...

... and store in the fridge overnight.

#For the strawberry confit (make the day before): Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Place the stemmed strawberries and brown sugar into a saucepan.

Add the lemon juice.

Scrape the seeds of half vanilla pod...

Add the vanilla to the saucepan (seeds only).

Place the pan over medium heat and let the strawberries candy slowly.

Combine the strawberries and sugar gently without crushing.

Continue until the strawberries are cooked but still whole. The strawberries will release their moisture but will hold together.

After a few minutes, the confit should start forming. The consistency should be syrupy at this stage.

Check one strawberry using a spatula. It should feel soft with a firm centre.

Continue cooking until the strawberries have released all their moisture. Cooking time can vary according to the variety and how ripe the strawberries are.
With good-quality, freshly picked strawberries, this should take about 10 minutes.

Check again until the consistency is very soft.

When pressing on the strawberry, it should feel soft without disintegrating.

Take the pan away from the heat and pass the strawberries through a fine sieve.

Strain without crushing the strawberries. Set aside.

Use a little strawberry juice to blend with the corn starch.

Combine carefully, making sure there are no lumps.

Pour the mix into the remaining syrup.

Place the pan on the stove and cook like pastry cream. Unlike flour, corn starch will bind the preparation without giving it a opaque finish.

Bring to a boil then turn the heat off. Add the strawberries...

... and combine gently.

This strawberry confit with whole candied strawberries makes a delicious addition to cakes.

Transfer the preparation into a large recipient and spread to a thin layer.

Place cling film on the surface of the preparation...

... and reserve in the fridge.

Lining the oval rings with pastry (make the day before) Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Using a brush, apply a thin layer of melted butter over the Mozaïk oval tart rings. Let set in the fridge.
This will help the pastry stick to the rings.

Flour a Silpat baking mat with rice flour. It is important to use rice flour to ensure the recipe is gluten-free.
Place two rulers with a thickness of 2mm on each side of the silicone mat.

Sprinkle the pastry with rice flour and place it in the centre of mat.

Roll out the pastry with a rolling pin. The silicone mat will allow you to easily detach the pastry later. If you're making this recipe on a hot day, use two silicone mats: one at the bottom and one on top.

Place the oval rings over the pastry and use them like cutters.

Press on the rings to cut the pastry.

Arrange the pastry shapes on a Silpat baking mat, with the oval rings around them.

With the rest of the pastry, cut strips to a width of 1 cm using the rulers.

Line the sides of each ring with a pastry strip.

Repeat the operation for all oval rings. Ease with your fingers so the pastry sticks to the sides of the ring.

Place 40 grams of strawberry confit at the bottom of each pastry case.

Repeat the operation with all rings.. Reserve in the fridge.

For the cake batter (make the day before): Prepare the following ingredients: blend of dry ingredients (rice flour, corn starch, almond powder, baking powder, castor sugar, locust bean gum and lemon zest), grape seed oil, whole eggs (beaten), basil leaves (sliced) and candied yuzu zest.

Instead of a regular food mixer, I recommend using an emulsion processor. Since we're not using gluten, the emulsion will bind the ingredients to create a homogeneous consistency.
Pour the eggs in the processor bowl.

Add the blended dry ingredients: rice flour, corn starch, almond powder, baking powder, castor sugar, locust bean gum (thickener) and lemon zest.

Close the lid and mix until you get an emulsion of the ingredients.

The ingredients should be perfectly incorporated. This should take about 1 minute.

Add the grape seed oil into a thin stream. Grape seed oil has a neutral taste and health benefits, and it won't give your preparation a bad taste. This is the secret to gluten-free cakes with a super moist consistency.

Mix again between 30 seconds and 1 minute until homogeneous.

Stop the mixer and remove the lid.

Check the consistency with a spatula. The small grains are the lemon zest.

Transfer the preparation into a mixing bowl.

Add the candied yuzu zest, cut into cubes.

Add the sliced basil leaves.

Combine gently, using a rubber spatula.

Filling the tartlets: Pipe the cake batter over the strawberry confit, using 25 grams per tartlet.

At this stage, the result should look like this. Precise quantities are important to get a dessert with balanced flavours.

Bake in a fan-assisted oven preheated at 160°C (gas 3) for 27 minutes. This is the result after baking.

Remove the rings once the tartlets have cooled down. The rings should come off easily. The strawberry confit might overflow a little during baking.

The result should be perfectly neat.

Icing the tartlets: Apply royal icing on the surface of the tartlets with a spatula.

Spread the icing over the whole surface with your finger.

Wipe around the icing for a neat result.

Repeat with all tartlets.

For the finish: Sprinkle white chocolate pearls over the surface of the tartlets.

Cut the candied yuzu peel into small sticks.

Arrange them carefully over the fresh royal icing.

Finish with a head of dwarf basil.

Our lemon, basil and strawberry tartlets are ready! Set aside at room temperature for one hour to let the royal icing dry, then reserve in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!