Smoked Rosemary & Honey...Smoked Rosemary & Honey Glazed Fig Tart with Whipped Chèvre

An exquisite harmony of smoky, herbal notes, sweet caramelized figs, and a velvety, tangy goat cheese mousse, set in a delicate, buttery pâte sablée shell and finished with a textured pine nut praline.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   To make the Pâte Sablée, cream the softened butter and powdered sugar in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the egg yolk. Fold in the flour and kosher salt until a cohesive dough forms. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

2. 02

   Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Roll out the dough to a 3mm thickness. Cut and fit into four 8cm tartlet rings. Prick the bottoms with a fork, line with parchment paper and pie weights, and blind bake for 12 minutes. Remove weights and bake for another 5 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely.

3. 03

   For the pine nut praline, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden. In a small saucepan, melt the granulated sugar with 15ml of water until it caramelizes into a deep amber. Stir in the toasted pine nuts and a pinch of fleur de sel. Pour onto a silicone baking mat, allow to cool completely, then finely chop into a textured praline crumble.

4. 04

   Prepare the whipped chèvre mousse by combining the goat cheese, heavy cream, 30ml of honey, and scraped vanilla bean seeds in a bowl. Whip using an electric mixer until light, airy, and holding medium peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip and chill.

5. 05

   For the smoked figs, warm the remaining 60ml of honey in a small saucepan with one sprig of rosemary to infuse. Gently toss the halved figs in the warm honey. Place the figs in a deep heatproof bowl, torch a dried rosemary sprig until smoking vigorously, drop it into the bowl (not touching the figs), and seal with plastic wrap for 5 minutes to cold-smoke.

6. 06

   Assemble the tarts: Pipe a smooth mound of whipped chèvre mousse into the baked tart shells. Arrange four smoked fig halves elegantly on top of each tart. Drizzle with the remaining rosemary-infused honey from the smoking bowl. Garnish generously with the pine nut praline and tiny fresh rosemary leaves.