Valentine's Day recipe:
White poppy seed tartlet

Using the paddle attachment, cream the butter, salt and sugar. Add the flour and ground almonds, then gradually add the egg. Mix until the dough is smooth. Shape into a ball, cover with plastic film and refrigerate for 1 hour. Butter 8 cm Ø tartlet rings. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to about 3 mm thick. Stamp out discs 5 cm larger in diameter than the rings, about 13 cm. Line the tartlet rings with dough and place onto a silpain lined baking tray. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 160°C. Bake the tartlet shells in the oven for 14 minutes. Cool and unmould. Mix together the egg yolks and cream for the egg wash. Brush the tartlet bases and return to the oven for 4 minutes. Cool on a cake rack.

Roast the almonds, poppy seeds and vanilla pods in the oven at 160°C for 15 minutes. Cool on parchment paper. Prepare a dry caramel with the sugar, pour onto the roasted almonds, poppy seeds and vanilla pods. Cool completely. Mix to a paste in a food processor. Add the fine ‘fleur de sel’ sea salt. If praline is too thick add grapeseed oil and mix again. Put a thin layer of poppy seed praline into the base of the tartlet shells.

Increase oven temperature to 180°C. Whisk the eggs with the sugar and lemon zests. Add lemon juice, then the flour and baking powder sifted together followed by the oil. Add the butter, then the poppy seeds. Pipe into paper lined 6 cm Ø pastry circles, set upon a silpat lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for 7 à 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and imbibe with hot lemon juice. Cool, remove circles and paper, stamp out the centres with a 2.5 cm Ø biscuit cutter.

In a saucepan, heat the raspberry purée and lemon juice to 40°C. Remove from the heat add the sugar and pectin mixed together and bring to the boil. Pour into a bowl, cover in contact with plastic film and cool in the refrigerator. Pipe coulis into 10 x 2.5 cm Ø half-sphere imprints and smooth with a spatula. Freeze. Transfer the remainder to a pastry bag and set aside.

Rehydrate the gelatine in water. Bring the first quantity of cream with the vanilla to the boil. Blend with a hand-held blender. Strain the hot cream onto the chocolate and gelatine mass, mix well. Add the second quantity of cold cream, mix well, cover in contact with plastic film and chill in the refrigerator.

Place the soft lemon-poppy seed cake on top of the poppy seed praline layer. Pipe a little jellied raspberry coulis into the centre, add a raspberry. Whisk the vanilla ganache to soft peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a stainless-steel petal tip. Pipe petal shapes all around the tartlet and into the centre. Heat the glaze to between 25 and 35°C. Unmould and coat the jellied raspberry coulis half-spheres. Place one in the centre of each tartlet. Sprinkle poppy seeds around the half-spheres.