Troubleshooting tarte à la banane from Ducasse's "Grand Livre

[hansjoakim]

Hi everyone!

Last weekend I decided to try the recipe for banana pie (tarte à la banane) from Ducasse's amazing pastry and dessert volume of «Grand Livre de Cuisine». The recipe is given on page 86 in the English edition of the book, and it looks pretty straight forward; as a matter of fact, it's probably one of the very easiest recipes in the entire book.

In short, the tart consists of a yeasted pâte sucrée dough, a banana-raisin filling and a layer of vanilla flan. When I read through the instructions and compare them with photos and presentation given in the book, I have a feeling that something is missing. Looking at the cross-section of the tart, it looks like the tart has a lid on the top as well; either the tart dough is rolled out with enough overhang so this can be folded over the top to make a lid, or a separate dough is rolled out and cut to make a lid prior to baking the tart. I tried the latter for my try on this tart, but the top layer did shrink a bit, causing some of the flan to spill out and making the whole tart not very elegant (although no less delicious). Do any of you have any idea how this tart could be put together to approximate the lovely photo in the book?

Also, the recipe for the flan – is there a typo there? I whipped it together, and it turned out way too liquid, so I replaced it with some vanilla-flavoured pastry cream instead... The recipe for the flan reads:

1 cup milk (25 cl)

1/2 cup heavy cream (12.5 cl)

2 egg yolks

1 egg

3 ounces sugar (85 g)

1 1/3 ounces flour (37 gr)

2 1/3 ounces egg whites (65 cl)

1 pinch salt

1/2 vanilla bean

The milk and cream is brought to a boil with the vanilla bean, then cooled. Egg and yolks combined with sugar and flour, then combined with milk and cream. Egg whites whipped and folded in.

Thanks for any tips!

[AAQuesada]

yeasted pâte sucrée dough?? That sounds cool! how did it turn out and how would you describe the differences with a 'normal' pâte sucrée . The flan recipe looks like it will work out. Did you cook it more after adding the eggs/flour mixture to thicken? before folding in the egg whites?

[hansjoakim]

It turned out quite alright actually. The dough uses a bit more eggs than a pâte sucrée, so it's easier to use to line a deep pan with it (in this recipe, I used a 6 cm deep cake pan). There's not too much sugar in the dough, so with the higher hydration, it's a bit like a hybrid between brioche and a regular pâte sucrée. Not quite as sweet and crisp as a pâte sucrée, but not as buttery as a brioche.

I was quite surprised as well that there was no mention of cooking the flan batter after adding the flour to thicken it. I didn't cook it, because I was hoping it would set up during baking and because I wanted to try the formula "as written" in the book before fiddling around with my own takes and twists on it. I tried one tart with the flan, as written in the recipe (i.e. not cooked), and (naturally) this turned out to be way loose and jiggly, with no real structure to it whatsoever. For the second attempt I switched it out with a vanilla pastry cream (thickened with cornstarch) and that worked.

[AAQuesada]

It sure looks like a pastry cream base lightened by beaten egg whites.

I am going to have to see if I can find the yeasted PS recipe (or equivalent) on line somewhere.

Edited June 15, 2012 by AAQuesada (log)

[AAQuesada]

Or if you could post the ingredient list with out instruction I would appreciate it!

[hansjoakim]

Certainly! Here you go:

7 ounces flour (200 g)

1 3/4 ounces corn starch (50 g)

4 ounces butter (110 g)

5 Tbsp milk (7.5 cl)

2 whole eggs

3 tsp fresh yeast (12 g)

3 tsp sugar (12 g)

1 1/4 tsp salt (5 g)

After the dough is mixed, refrigerate it for at least 1 hour before rolling it out.