BLiS Sherry Number Nine Lacquered Cherry Tart

Blis Sherry Number Nine lacquered cherry tart, black pepper pastry cream, and bitter chocolate crust

Crust:

215 g AP Flour

80 g sugar

12 g cocoa

2 g salt

2 g pepper

3 egg yolks

86 g butter, cold and cubed into 1/4 inch cubes

.5 C cocoa nibs

1. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, pepper, and butter in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients until a sandy dough has formed.
2. One at the time, add the egg yolks to the sandy dough mixture, pulsing thoroughly between each addition.
3. Once the final egg yolk has been added and the dough is a cohesive mixture, turn the sandy dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough together with your hands, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Once completely cool, take the dough from the cooler and unwrap from the plastic wrap. On a well floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. If the dough begins the crack, form into back together and use the heat of your hands to seal the crack.
5. Take a 9 inch nonstick tart pan, preferably with a removable bottom, and place it on the dough. Cut a flat disk of the dough the size of the bottom of the tart pan, and place in the pan. Then, using the knife, cut a 1 inch thick ribbon of dough roughly about 20 inches long. This piece will be formed around the edge of the pan to form the wall of the crust.
6. Once you have your bottom and wall in place, take a fork and dock the bottom of the dough. Sprinkle your cocoa nibs in the bottom of the tart shell and pat down firmly with your hands. This move adds a nice bitterness to the crust as well as additional texture.
7. Cover in parchment paper and fill with pie beans. Blind bake the tart shell for 25 minutes at 350, or until the bottom is cooked throughly. Cool completely at room temp.

Black Pepper Pastry Cream

2 c whole milk

.5 c sugar

.25 c corn starch

4 egg yolks

2 T butter

1 t kosher salt

1 T freshly ground black pepper

1 c heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks (yield 2 c whipped cream)

1. Heat 1.5 c milk over medium heat in a thick bottomed saucepan until scalding.
2. While the milk is heating, whisk the other .5 c milk, sugar, corn starch,egg yolks, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl (make sure to whisk until the sugar is dissolved).
3. Once the milk is scalding, remove from the burner and slowly pour into the egg mixture making sure to be constantly stirring to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
4. Place the mixture back in the saucepan and return to the heat. Never stopping stirring continue to cook until thick and ribbons have formed through the pastry cream as you stir.
5. Quickly, remove from the heat and strain into a cold bowl over a ice bath.
6. Stir the mixture until completely cool. Then fold in the whipped cream in 3 additions. Set the pastry cream in the fridge until assembly.

BLIS Number Nine Sherry lacquered cherries

1 Bottle BLIS number nine sherry vinegar

1 C Sugar

1 12 oz bag of pitted cherries, frozen or fresh

1. Combine the bottle of sherry vinegar and sugar in a thick bottomed saucepan over medium heat.
2. Begin by stirring until the sugar has dissolved, continuing to cook until the liquid reached the consistency of a thick syrup (much like a balsamic reduction).
3. At this point, add your cherries and continue to cook until the cherries and coated in a thick and moderately sticky layer of the lacquer.

Assembly

1. Fill your tart shell with the pastry cream, using an offset spatula to level.
2. Separate the cherries from the lacquer, as best you can, and place them on top of the pastry cream in rings beginning from the outside of the tar shell moving inwards.
3. Spoon some of the additional lacquer over the cherries to create a beautiful glossy finish. Garnish with edible flower petals, a sprinkle of black pepper, or a flakey sea salt.