Cremeschnitten Mess

Makes: 4 - 6 small individual-sized crèmeschnitten tartlets. Approximate serving size as seen.

An Eton mess is a traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries or other berries and whipped cream dolloped on a crunchy meringue base. A cremeschnitte, also known as vanilla slice or custard slice, is a dessert with 2 layers of flakey puff pastry sandwiching silky custard or chantilly cream.

A cremeschitten mess, then, is a lovechild - a base built with phyllo pastry, topped with a custard-based cream, whipped cream, and dried fruit.

Ingredients

GROUP A: MANGO MOUSSELINE

• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature (use the egg white to make a sour cocktail)

• 23 g granulated sugar

• 20 g cornstarch

• Pinch of fine sea salt

• 4 oz whole milk

• 21 g salted butter, room temperature

• 2 medium-sized Ataulfo mangoes

• 3 tbsp passion fruit puree (optional)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 85 g unsalted butter, room temperature

GROUP B: LIME SAUCE

• 1/4 tsp cornstarch

• 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

• 2 small limes, juiced and zested

• 2 tbsp water, divided

• Green food colouring

GROUP C: EVERYTHING ELSE

• Store-bought phyllo dough sheets

• Whipped cream

• Dried mango

• Lime zest

• Tajin spice mix

Notes

• If there is mousseline left over, either refrigerate it for upto a week, or freeze it for upto 6 months.

• These mess tarts are meant to be consumed immediately or the mousseline will make the flakey phyllo crust, soggy. If you do not plan to consume the entire quantity at once, either bake only as much pastry as desired, or bake it all, and store it in an airtight container at room temperature, for upto 2 days at best.

Method

Make the mousseline:

• Peel and pit the mangoes. Dice the flesh into small cubes. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sugar, cornstarch and salt aggressively, until the mixture becomes smooth and runny, with no more chunks.

• In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, mango pieces, and passion fruit puree (if using) over medium heat, just until it comes to a low boil. Turn off the heat and let the milk steep for about 30 minutes.

• Turn the heat under the saucepan back on and bring the steeped milk to a simmer. Temper the egg by streaming half of the milk into the egg mixture while continuing to whisk.

• Dump the whole mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, while whisking continuously. Within a couple of minutes, the mixture should start to thicken. DO NOT stop whisking.

• Once it becomes thick enough that it resembles thick oatmeal porridge, remove from the heat and strain through a sieve into a bowl with the salted butter and vanilla.

• Allow the heat from the pastry cream to melt the butter for a second and then gently whisk it. It may separate at first but it'll come back together as you whisk it. The pastry cream should be smooth and silky now, if there are any lumps, feel free to push it though a sieve.

• Cover the surface with plastic wrap and allow it to cool completely to room temperature. If you refrigerate it to hasten the cooling, gently whisk it to get rid of any lumps before adding it to the whipped unsalted butter.

• Place the unsalted butter in a large bowl and whisk on high speed till the butter is fluffy and light.

• Add the cooled pastry cream to the butter in 3-4 increments and whisk after every addition, on medium speed. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure it's all mixed well.

Make the lime sauce:

• In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside.

• In a small non-stick pan stir together the sugar, the lime juice and remaining tablespoon of water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat to dissolve the sugar.

• Stir in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a low boil, stirring, for about 30 seconds or until the lime sauce thickens.

Assemble the messy tarts

• Make sure the pastry dough is thawed per the manufacturer’s instructions.

• While making the mousseline, preheat the oven to the recommended temperature on the phyllo box. Cut out 3” - 4” circles in the sheet and bake per the given instructions. Let the circles cool down completely on a wire rack while prepping the rest.

• Fill the mousseline in a piping bag and pipe squiggles or a pattern of choice over each flakey “tart base”. Top up with a dollop of whipped cream. Drop little droplets of the lime sauce in between the squiggles.

• Chop up some dried mango into thin, tiny slivers, and scatter over the mousseline. Dust off some lime zest and sprinkle some tajin. Enjoy immediately!

Mousseline recipe adapted from Baran Bakery’s Crème Mousseline.