Green Tea Tart with Lychees & Raspberries ... and the winners!

I don't like to pick a winner, i really don't. So i picked two! haha. I really did. I'm a danger to myself... someone please stop me!! Let's cheer and do the hula dance for both Anali and Mia King who take the prize in the jammin' giveaway. They will receive a trio of homemade jams by the zen-man. Congrats Anali and Mia, contact me at the e-mail address in my profile before breakfast or your prize will be... eaten!!

Thank you all very much for participating and please try your luck again next time. I promise i won't stop blogging until you all win something. It might take a few years, you might even see me grow a long white beard a la Gandalf but one day you'll leave this blog victorious.

In the meantime, rejoice my friends and enjoy this Green Tea Tart with Lychees and Raspberries i made especially for you. It's a French tart with an Asian twist i saw at Payard in New York and tried to recreate at work, i added quite a bit of zen-ness to it of course. It starts with a coconut sable crust with a raspberry jam on the bottom, a delicious green tea cream goes on top garnished with lychees, raspberries and fresh mint. It got a good review from the Big Bossman. I hope you'll enjoy it too!

Green Tea Tart with Lychees & Raspberries

(serves 6)

For the coconut sable crust:

• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 4 oz butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 ¾ cup sweetened coconut flakes
  

For the green tea cream:

• ½ cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 5 eggs
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon green tea powder (maccha)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• a few drops green food coloring (optional)
  

To assemble and garnish:

• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 2 cups drained lychees, cut in half
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chiffonade

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For the coconut sable crust:

Preheat oven to 400’F. Butter an 8-inch tart pan and set aside.
Whisk the cream and egg yolk together in a small bowl.
In a mixer fitted with the dough attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter and mix on medium speed until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add the coconut flakes, and mix until just combined. Add the cream and yolk and mix until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough and chill for one hour.
When ready to proceed, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a ¼-inch circle. Roll and wrap the dough around the rolling pin to pick it up and unroll over the tart pan. Gently fit the dough into the pan and cut-out the excess. Prick the bottom with a fork and line it with a piece of aluminum foil. Fill the lined tart shell with dry beans or pie weights, and bake 12 minutes. Remove the aluminum with the beans and bake another 12 minutes, until the crust is evenly light golden brown. Set aside on a rack to cool completely.

For the green tea cream:

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch, then whisk in the eggs until well combined.
In a small saucepan, combine the cream and the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk in green tea powder and remove from heat. Add half of cream mixture to eggs while whisking constantly. Whisk mixture back into remaining cream and place over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches a pudding-like consistency (if mixture gets lumpy blend for 30 seconds).
Remove from heat, stir in butter, strain through fine mesh sieve and cool over ice bath. Whisk in a few drops of green food coloring (if using).

To assemble and garnish:

With small offset spatula, line the bottom of the coconut sable crust with an even layer of raspberry jam.
Fill the shell with the cool green tea cream and spread evenly.
Garnish with lychees, fresh raspberries and mint. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.