Kalamansi Mango Tartlettes

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Kalamansi, also known under the name of Golden lime or calamansi, is a mix between lime, kumquat and mandarin and it grows mostly in the Philippines and Malayasia, which makes them incredibly hard to source in Romania. But once in a blue moon, I do get the chance of finding them – either fresh or puree – and it’s pure joy! I’m a huge fan of citrus fruits as they are, but this mix of lime, orange, mandarin it has me all hooked up! I absolutely love the sweet and sour flavor, it’s truly unique and so versatile when it comes to dessert making. As a side note, kalamansi can be replaced with 1 part mandarin juice, 2 parts lime plus a bit of zest from each to boost the taste and flavor.

Imagine my happiness when I found frozen kalamansi puree! It wasn’t even in my freezer that I was planning desserts, searching recipes and imagining the final taste. I do love this bit of prepping before the actual recipe – it’s exciting because it involves lots of research about the actual ingredients, it involves sketches over sketches and simply imagining desserts over and over until I come up with a version that complies to my terms. It’s a fairly laborious work, it takes time and patience, but that’s one of the reasons I love it so much.

Not every dessert has an emotional story behind it – mines often don’t because they are designed just a few days prior to making them, they are well thought through and well planned and I believe they don’t need an emotional story to do with, but they do need precision, flavor, color, texture and taste. And that’s what I’m guiding myself after!

Kalamansi Mango Tartlettes

Servings :10 tartlettes

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Ingredients

Crust:

140 g butter (softened)
70 g powdered sugar
1 egg (room temperature)
30 g almond flour
280 g all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt

Mango cremeux:

125 ml mango puree
3 egg yolks
30 g white sugar
2 g gelatin + 10ml cold water
80 g butter (softened)

Kalamansi curd:

70 g kalamansi puree (or juice)
20 ml lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
180 g white sugar
110 g butter (cubed)
1 pinch salt
5 egg yolks

Crumble:

50 g butter (melted)
100 g all-purpose flour
10 g powdered sugar
1 pinch salt

Fluid berry gel:

100 g mixed berry puree
20 g white sugar
1 g agar agar

Swiss meringue:

4 egg whites
180 g white sugar
1 pinch salt

Instructions

Crust:

Mix the butter with the sugar for a few minutes until creamy.
Add the egg and mix well, then stir in the almond flour and give it a good mix.
Add the flour and salt and mix to form a dough.
Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Place the dough on a floured working surface and roll it into a thin sheet.
Cut small pieces of dough and use them to line your tartlette molds – 8cm diameter are mine.
Prick the dough with a fork and bake in the preheated oven at 350F -180C for 15-17 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Allow to cool down in the molds then carefully remove and place aside.

Mango cremeux:

Bloom the gelatin in cold water.
Bring the mango puree to the boiling point over low heat – be careful as it tends to stick to the bottom of the pan, especially if it’s a thick puree.
In the meantime, mix the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until pale. Pour the mango puree over the egg yolks and mix well.
Return to the pot and place over low heat – cook until it reaches 82C and it looks thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin.
Allow to cool down to 40C then add the butter, mixing well to incorporate it.
Pour about 1 tablespoon of mango cremeux in each tart shell/crust and refrigerate to set.

Kalamansi curd:

Combine all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl and place over a hot water bath.
Cook, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 80C and it looks thickened.
Remove from heat and allow to cool down to room temperature then pour over the mango cremeux, filling the shells to the top.
Refrigerate until set once again.

Crumble:

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
Pour the melted butter over and mix well.
Spread the crumble in a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 350F – 180C for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Place aside until needed.

Fluid berry gel:

Combine the berry puree, sugar and agar agar in a saucepan.
Place over low heat and cook for about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool down then transfer in a blender and pulse until smooth.
Spoon into a pastry bag and place aside.

Swiss meringue:

Combine all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl and place over a hot water bath.
Keep on heat until the sugar has fully dissolved then remove and mix with an electric mixer until it’s stiff and glossy.
Spoon the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip.

To assemble the tartlettes:

Decorate the mango kalamansi filled tartlettes with whipped meringue, crumble, drops of berry fluid gel, fruits, mint leaves and chocolate shards.

Kalamansi Mango Tartlettes