Peach, Verbena And Raspberry Tart
This dessert is a creation by a renowned french pastry chef, Christophe Michalak, he named it “Fantastik”. It’s a mix between a tart and a cake that you can customize depending on the season. The possibilities are endless!
I wanted to enjoy the last bit of summer to make a very fruity and colorful cake. Lemon verbena, peaches and raspberry pair so well together…
Fantastik tarts typically have a round shape but this time I decided to use a loaf pan (8×4 inch – 20×10 cm). If using a round baking pan, this recipe will fit a ⌀ 7 inch – 18 cm.
How to make a Fantastik tart ?
Because there are a few layers, it may sound tedious but all the recipes are very easy to follow. It is made of a sweet pastry dough, a lemon sponge, a raspberry syrup, a verbena whipped cream, peaches and jam/fresh raspberries.
Verbena whipped cream
The first thing to make, the day before, is the verbena whipped cream. It needs time to infuse and for the cream to cool down before whipping.
In a pot, heat up the cream with the sugar. Remove from the stove, add the chopped verbena, cover and allow to cool down before refrigerating. The next day, strain and add a bit of green food coloring before whipping to stiff picks. Fill a piping bag with a star tip and keep in the fridge until use.
Sweet pastry dough and lemon sponge
Grease the pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
The pastry dough is the crunchy part of the cake. I really like this recipe because it is so easy and fast to make, I already used it in one of my previous baked goods, The Chocolate And Peanut Caramel Cups.
It requires only four ingredients that you combine together, no rolling and no resting time. You can either pipe it or simply press it down like you would for a cheesecake (1). Bake for 12 minutes at 350°F – 180°C.
Once the dough is baked (2), prepare the lemon sponge. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg with the sugar and the lemon zests until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and mix for a few seconds. Add the sifted flour and baking powder, mix until incorporated. Lastly, pour in the olive oil slowly. Pour the lemon sponge batter on top of the sweet pastry dough (3) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F – 180°C.
Make the raspberry syrup by bringing to a boil the water and sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn off the stove and add the raspberries, crush them and let infuse for 10 minutes before straining.
Wait a few minutes before removing the cake from the pan. Put on a cooling rack and brush a couple of times with the raspberry syrup. Allow to cool down completely.
Garnishing the tart
Prepare everything (5) : lemon verbena whipped cream and raspberry jam in piping bags, rinse and dry the raspberries and slice the peaches.
Pipe the jam on top of the sponge (6), and the verbena whipped cream (7). Garnish with the fruits (you can pipe some jam in the raspberries) and zest lemon (8). If you have some verbena left, place a few leaves here and there.
What if I don’t have all the ingredients?
For the sponge, the recipe initially requires creme fraiche, but I know it’s not an easy thing to find in North America. I substituted it with sour cream, you can also use Greek yogurt or Skyr. If you don’t have olive oil, replace by a neutral oil like canola or grape seed.
Depending on the season, you might want to try other pairings, for example :
Fall : caramel syrup, cinnamon whipped cream, caramelized apple and nuts ;
Winter : passion fruit syrup, coconut whipped cream, mango, lime zests ;
Spring : cherry syrup, pistachio whipped cream, cherries and strawberries.
Here is a picture of a Fantastik cake I made a while back with a passion curd, orange supremes, candied almonds and mint leaves.
Peach, verbena and raspberry tart
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- Piping bags and tips
- Loaf pan 8×4 inch – 20×10 cm (or ⌀ 7 inch – 18 cm round pan)
Ingredients
Lemon verbena whipped cream
- 2/3 cup whipping cream 165 ml
- 4 tsp sugar 20 g
- ⅓ cup verbena leaves 7 g – rinsed and chopped
- green food coloring optional
Sweet pastry dough
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter 90 g – room temperature
- ¼ cup icing sugar 35 g – sifted
- ¼ tsp sea salt flakes 1 g
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour 80 g – sifted
Lemon sponge
- 1 egg 50 g
- ⅓ cup sugar 80 g
- ½ lemon – zests
- 2 ½ tbsp sour cream 40 g
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil 20 g
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour 60 g – sifted
- ¼ tsp baking powder 1 g – sifted
Raspberry syrup
- 3 ½ tbsp water 50 ml
- 2 tbsp sugar 25 g
- 5 raspberries
Garnishing components
- 1 peach
- 1 dz raspberries
- 2 tbsp raspberry jam
- lemon zests
Instructions
Lemon verbena whipped cream – start the day before
- In a pot, heat up the cream with the sugar. Remove from the stove and add the chopped verbena, cover and allow to cool down before refrigerating.The next day, strain and add a bit of green food coloring before whipping to stiff picks. Fill a piping bag with a star tip and keep in the fridge until use.
Sweet pastry dough
- Preheat the oven to 350°F – 180°C.Grease the pan and line with parchment paper on the bottom. In a bowl (you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment), cream the soft butter and the salt with a rubber spatula. Mix in the flour and icing sugar until incorporated.Press evenly into the baking pan and bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool down.
Lemon sponge
- Keep the oven on at 350°F – 180°C.In your stand mixer, whisk the egg, sugar and lemon zests on medium to high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the sour cream (just a few seconds) and the flour with the baking powder until incorporated. Lastly, pour the olive oil in slowly while mixing. Pour the batter on top of the dough and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F – 180°C.Allow to cool down for a few minutes and unmold on a cooling rack.
Raspberry syrup
- While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup.In a small pot, bring to a boil the water and sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, remove from the stove and add in the raspberries. Crush them with a whisk or a fork, let infuse for 10 minutes and strain.Brush the warm sponge.
Garnishing the cake
- Put the raspberry jam in a piping bag, rinse and dry the fruits and slice the peach.Cut the tip of the raspberry jam piping bag (a few millimeters) and pipe randomly on top of the sponge.Pipe dots of verbena whipped cream and place raspberries and peach slices here and there. Pipe some raspberry jam in the raspberries and zest lemon.
Notes
If you only pipe a few drops of whipped cream like I did, you will have leftover. Pipe some next to the tart on the plate of each guest!
For the sponge, the recipe initially requires creme fraiche, but I know it’s not an easy thing to find in North America. I substituted it with sour cream, you can also use Greek yogurt or Skyr. If you don’t have olive oil, replace by a neutral oil like canola or grape seed.
Depending on the season, you might want to try other pairings, for example :
fall : caramel syrup, cinnamon whipped cream, caramelized apple and nuts ;
winter : passion fruit syrup, coconut whipped cream, mango, lime zests ;
spring : cherry syrup, pistachio whipped cream, fresh cherries and strawberries.
