Ice Cream Filled Sable

Pâte sablée is the richest of all French short pastry crusts and translates to “rich sugar pastry crust” in English. It is commonly used to make tarts and flans and traditionally made with butter, eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, and powdered almonds. In this gourmet recipe by Chef Georges Wenger, pate sablee is flavored with grated lemon peel for a zesty flavor. The very delicate and nicely crumbly pastry is served with an array of exotic fruits including bananas, coconut flakes, dried banana, coconut meringue, passion fruit, and preserved kumquat. Cardamom ice cream and vanilla cream complete this tantalizing dessert dish. This makes a very colorful and festive dessert for special occasions. It has a tropical flavor and vibe that is ideal for summer dinner parties. Pair this with a bottle of Côtes du Jura Vin de Paille 1996 for a gloriously unforgettable night.

You need to prepare the dough ahead of time since you will need to chill it in the refrigerator of a couple of hours. You can even make the dough as much as four days ahead if you wish. To get very smooth and fine dough, use an electric mixer. The sugar and the butter should be creamed to get a light and fluffy consistency before the other ingredients are added. Use a low speed for mixing the ingredients slowly but evenly. Once the ingredients are well incorporated but not overly mixed, you can form it into a dough, shape it into a ball, and flatten it into a disc. Wrap the disc in a thin plastic film and chill in the refrigerator.

The coconut meringue also takes some time to make and can be prepared in advance. It is simple to do but takes some care and a light hand. You need to whisk the eggs and add castor sugar and whip until the mixture is glossy and fluffy, spread into the shape of disks and bake in a 284 degrees F oven until golden and crisp.

Ingredients

For the pate sablee (cookie dough):
7 tablespoons flour
7 tablespoons butter
3 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 grated lemon peel
1 salt grain

For vanilla cream:
1/2 cup cream
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla pod

For cardamom ice cream:
See Damassine ice-cream
Replace the alcohol with 4 green cardamom grains
crushed and soaked for 10 minutes in milk

For garnishing:
4 round coconut meringue discs
12 round, dried banana slices, fresh coconut flakes
12 preserved kumkats
4 passion fruits (emptied)
1 banana

For the topping:
¼ cup water
11 lbs. sugar
pulp from 1/2 an orange
juice from 1 orange
juice from 1 lemon
1 mature banana

To make the pate sablee, mix the butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat with a whisk. Stir in flour and lemon peel and mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. Shape dough into a ball, flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic film. Chill in the fridge for four hours.

1. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/10 inch and cut 4 circles of about 3 ½ inches in diameter. Cook in a buttered plate in a 350 degree F. oven. Store.

2. To make the vanilla cream, whisk the egg yolk with sugar over a bain-marie. Pour over the warm, vanilla-flavored milk. Warm and bind until it’s 187 degrees F. Strain and store cold.

3. To make the topping, heat water with sugar. Add orange peel, orange juice, and lemon juice. Add the banana and cook it again. Stir.

4. To serve, place some vanilla cream on the pate sablee and make a decorative flower with the banana pieces. Place on a serving dish and cover with some sauce. Place a scoop of cardamom ice cream next to it, garnished with coconut flakes, dried banana, and coconut meringue. Sprinkle some preserved kumquat and passion fruit around the dish.