Cardamom Cream Tart

I've decided to invest in a tripod in a bid to improve my mundane photography as you can see in the picture above.

"Look Ma! No hands‼"

I can definitely see the improvement already. There's more of myself in every picture (Har! Har!). But seriously now, I think it's proved super handy in dingy situations where the natural light source was blocked off by the side of the oven. Oh oh! And especially when I'm busy getting my hands dirty, I've figured out that I can just set my camera on timer to take happy snaps automatically instead of coating everything in flour and getting gluggy bits stuck in all the grooves of the focusing ring. How cool is that!

I was flicking through my copy of 'Tartine' and realised that it's been quite a while since I've made a tart. Without any cream or fresh fruit on hand, I decided I'd try whipping up something cardamom flavoured. The batter is a little like frangipane but not overtly so and when baked, it jiggles around in the pan like crème brûlée. It sets a little more solidly and just enough so to slice neatly with the addition of almond meal yet still retains a lovely soft cream-like texture.

Pâte Sablée

127 g unsalted butter, chopped
100 g castor sugar
1 g salt
1 egg
250 g flour

Combine butter, sugar, salt and egg in a food processor.
Add flour and pulse until just combined.
Flatten into a disc then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Lightly dust benchtop with flour and roll into a circle of 3mm thickness.
Roll pastry around rolling pin and gently lower onto a 20cm tart pan.
Press in the corners with a pastry brush or spare dough.
Cut off excess dough with a sharp knife.
Cover and freeze for half an hour.
Blind bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes.
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Cardamom Cream Filling

130 g unsalted butter, room temperature
130 g castor sugar
2 g salt
2 g cardamom
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
1 egg
80 g almond meal
12 g potato starch
140 g milk, room temperature

Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer with paddle attachment until light.
Add salt, cardamom, vanilla seeds, egg and beat for a few minutes until thick.
Blend almond meal and potato starch in a bowl.
Add almond blend to mixer and mix until combined.
Add milk and stir to combine.
Pour into the pre-baked tart case.
Bake at 180ºC for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 140ºC and cook for a further 25 - 30 minutes or until set.