It all starts with a rosewater tart. The guy takes the girl to his favourite bakery that's known for its spectacular rosewater tarts. She tries the tart and of course, falls in love with it, with him and they live happily ever after.
Lucky me - all ingredients were on hand but not the time. Nor an oven! There was nothing wrong with old faithful but it was time for a change after almost 20 years of service. The new oven came just in time for me to bake my version of a rosewater tart.
The base of the tart was a sweet pastry with ground pistachios and baked in a perforated tart pan. Even though I had greased it, but not too well in hindsight, the tart stuck to the sides after baking. Well, patience, and a sharp knife pays and I managed to get the shell out without damage. It's another matter that I spent the rest of the afternoon pushing out bits of pistachio from the holes 🙄
The filling is simplicity itself - white chocolate ganache flavoured with rosewater. You could use rose essence in a pinch but I prefer rosewater. (Do go easy on the flavouring as the dried petals you will use later will add to the aroma and flavour.) I had some extra ground pistachios and decided to add it to the ganache for texture. It took on a slightly greenish hue which I thought looked real pretty, and contrasted beautifully with the red of the preserve.
A couple of months ago, a good friend from Coonoor gifted me a jar of strawberry preserves that she had made. She had used only half the amount of sugar and for my tart, that was the perfect amount of sweetness since I didn't want a cloyingly sweet one. If you're making this recipe, you could make a strawberry compote and use that. The combination of rosewater and strawberries is a perfect summer dessert.
Rosewater tart with pistachios and white chocolate
Ingredients for the tart base
225 gm flour
Pinch of salt
110 gm cold butter, cut in small pieces
50 gm sugar
30 gm raw pistachios
Yolk of 1 egg, beaten
A little ice water to mix
8" tart pan
Rosewater white chocolate ganache
140 ml fresh cream
350 gm white chocolate, chopped
About 2 - 3 tsps rosewater
30 gm ground pistachios
1/2 cup strawberry preserve or strawberry compote
To decorate
Sliced pistachios
Dried rose petals
Method
Grease the base and sides an 8" tart pan.
(My tart mould measured 9" x 3". I had enough pastry left over to make a smaller 5" tart).
Place the sugar and pistachios into a grinder or food processor, process them together till finely ground.
Sift together the flour and salt. Rub in the butter, add the ground sugar and pistachio. Mix together, add in the beaten yolk and enough ice water to form a dough. ( I use a food processer to combine all the ingredients together.)
Once the dough is formed, roll it out on a lightly floured worktop. (For the rectangular mould, I placed the tray on the pastry and pushed it down to cut out the base). The remaining pastry was cut into broad strips, brushed with water and placed along the sides. Use a sharp knife to cut out all the extra bits of pastry sticking out along the side. Dock the centre with a fork to prevent the pastry from rising.
Chill the pastry for about 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 175°C and bake blind for about 20 minutes. Once the pastry takes on a warm golden hue, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Gently remove the pastry from the mould and place on a plate. Keep aside.
Rosewater white chocolate ganache
Warm the cream.
Pour it over the chopped white chocolate.
Leave aside for about 5 minutes and then gently stir them together till the chocolate has melted completely.
Chill the pastry for about 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 175°C and bake blind for about 20 minutes. Once the pastry takes on a warm golden hue, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Gently remove the pastry from the mould and place on a plate. Keep aside.
Rosewater white chocolate ganache
Warm the cream.
Pour it over the chopped white chocolate.
Leave aside for about 5 minutes and then gently stir them together till the chocolate has melted completely.
Add in the rosewater, taste as you go along to avoid using too much.
Stir in the ground pistachios and mix well.
To assemble
Apply a thin layer of strawberry preserve or compote on the base of the tart shell.
Pour the ganache over this till the very top of the tart.
Chill the tart for an hour or so.
Decorate with sliced pistachios and rose petals.
Chill for another 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Stir in the ground pistachios and mix well.
To assemble
Apply a thin layer of strawberry preserve or compote on the base of the tart shell.
Pour the ganache over this till the very top of the tart.
Chill the tart for an hour or so.
Decorate with sliced pistachios and rose petals.
Chill for another 2 hours before slicing and serving.
