Creamy decadence. I can’t think of a better way to describe Puits d’Amour. Read on to learn about this traditional Mauritian cream tart. And find out how you can make it yourself at home.
INGREDIENTS
14
RECIPE STEPS
21
TOTAL TIME
3 h 30 m
Why You Need This Recipe
- You will melt at the irresistibly creamy filling of these tarts
- This is a fun and easy recipe to make
- You can easily substitute the home-made pastry crust with a store-bought pastry if you’re short on time
About Puits d'Amour
Puits d’Amour are a sweet tart filled with a creamy centre and topped with desiccated coconut and a glacé cherry. Undoubtedly, these desserts are very popular with afternoon tea or served as a petit four at birthdays or dinner parties.
But, what’s in a name? Puits d’Amour are found in almost all patisseries across Mauritius and their name translates directly to mean “Wells of Love”. Once you have had the pleasure of one of these delights melt in your mouth, you will understand how aptly named they are!
What You Will Need
Baking Beads
Our recipe for Puits d’Amour utilises a technique called baking blind. This involves lining an uncooked pastry shell with baking paper and filling it with weights. Those weights (called baking beads/beans) can be purpose-made beads or even dried beans or rice. As a result of using those beads, the pastry keeps its shape while baking.
Star Ingredient
Vanilla Beans (Lavani)
Vanilla beans are a long, narrow, dark-brown bean pod that come from the vanilla bean orchid. This plant thrives in areas with tropical climates including Mauritius, Réunion, Mexico, Tahiti, Comoro, Indonesia, Uganda, and Congo. Interestingly, almost 75% of the world’s supply of vanilla comes from Madagascar.
More often than not, vanilla beans are processed to produce vanilla extract which is a common ingredient in baking. Undoubtedly, you will be familiar with the flavour of vanilla as it can be found in sauces, icing, syrup, ice cream, drinks, and a variety of desserts.
Because they are more expensive, whole vanilla beans or their seeds are used less frequently in recipes. The bean has a strong flavour and the tiny seeds add texture. Moreover, they also enhance the aesthetic of any light-coloured dessert. Also, vanilla beans are frequently used whole to add the natural taste to sugar, syrups, and drinks, particularly alcoholic beverages
Scroll to the bottom to find the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe.
Prepping Tips
Rubbing Butter into flour is a technique used to make shortcrust pastry, scones or apple crumble topping. It requires a gentle touch (and some patience) to delicately rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips.
If you’ve never done it before, I’ve put together some steps to help you make sure you get it right the first time and every time.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.
- Cut the cold butter into 1cm cubes and add to the bowl. For a lighter pastry, the butter needs to be very cold.
- Using your fingertips only, gently but quickly rub the flour and butter together until your mixture looks like breadcrumbs
- As you are rubbing the mixture, raise your fingers above the bowl to allow air into the mixture. This will help you get a lighter result.
Complete Recipe Steps
Here’s a summary of the steps you need to follow to make Puits d’Amour.
Making the Tart Crust
1
Start by making the tart crust. Put the bowl of your food processor or stand mixer into the fridge for 20-30 minutes to chill.
2
After 30 minutes, add both flours, baking powder and cubed butter together, to the chilled bowl of your food processor or stand mixer.
Scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe card
3
Mix until combined. If you are using your hands, mix the flours and baking powder together well, then add the cubes of butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. You should end up with a mixture that looks like breadcrumbs. Be careful not to knead or over mix. We do not want dough yet.
4
5
6
7
8
Making the Cream Filling
9
10
Sift the plain flour and the corn flour together into the egg and sugar mixture. Use a spatula to mix until you get a smooth paste.
11
Add the milk to a saucepan and heat it on a medium heat with the vanilla bean. Turn off the heat just before it boils.
12
13
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and continue to simmer on medium heat while rapidly whisking.
14
Baking the Tart Crust
15
16
17
Whipping the Cream
18
19
20
Assembling the Puits d'Amour
21
How to Serve Puits d'Amour
Once you have garnished your Puits d’Amour with coconut and half a glacé cherry, brew yourself a strong cup of tea and enjoy an afternoon delight.
Alternatively, these are great served at birthday parties and dinner parties as a dessert but bear in mind, they usually don’t last very long in my household.
Recipe FAQs
I haven’t got enough time to make the pastry from scratch. Can I use the supermarket frozen pastry?
Yes of course! Sometimes when I simply don’t have the time to make the pastry myself, I’ll buy a packet of frozen shortcrust pastry from my supermarket to bake as the tart shell.
I don’t have baking beads. What should I do?
Don’t worry, there are a few alternatives to baking beads that you can use. I usually recommend these as every kitchen should have at least one of these: rice, dried peas, beans, or any other lentil.
Why do you line the tart shells with baking paper?
The paper prevents the beads or beans from baking into the tart shells. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that you don’t want this to happen!
If using beans or rice, do I have to throw them out afterwards?
The great news here is that you can cool them down and store them in an airtight container until you need them again.
I can’t find cake flour at my local shops. What should I use?
An easy trick to get the ½ cup cake flour is to add 1 tablespoon of cornflour in the bottom of a ½ cup measure then fill in the rest of the space with all-purpose flour.
Printable Recipe Card
Puits d'Amour
Equipment
- Food processor
- Mini tart moulds
- Cookie cutter
- Baking beads
Ingredients
Crust
- 1¾ cups plain flour
- ½ cup cake flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 225 g unsalted butter cold
- 2 tbsp water cold
Filling
- 2 egg yolks
- 40 g sugar
- 25 g plain flour
- 1½ tbsp corn flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ pod vanilla bean split lengthwise
- ¼ cup thickened cream
Garnish
- 5 glacé cherries cut in half
- desiccated coconut
Complete Recipe Steps
Making the Tart Crust
- Start by making the tart crust. Put the bowl of your food processor or stand mixer into the fridge for 20-30 minutes to chill.
- After 30 minutes, add both flours, baking powder and cubed butter together, to the chilled bowl of your food processor or stand mixer.1¾ cups plain flour, ½ cup cake flour, ¼ tsp baking powder, 225 g unsalted butter
- Mix until combined. If you are using your hands, mix the flours and baking powder together well, then add the cubes of butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. You should end up with a mixture that looks like breadcrumbs. Be careful not to knead or over mix. We do not want dough yet.
- Add 2 tbsp of cold water to the mixture and then mix to form a soft dough.2 tbsp water
- Roll the dough into a ball and then use a rolling pin to flatten the dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate until firm. This can take anywhere between 20 minutes to 1 hour.
- Roll the refrigerated dough into a 1-1.5 cm (½ inch) thickness. Then cut out the dough with a cookie cutter.
- Gently place the dough into the tart mould and trim the excess dough around the edges.
- Place the tart shells into the fridge and allow to rest for another 30 minutes.
Making the Cream Filling
- Meanwhile, make the pastry cream for the filling. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is a pale yellow colour.2 egg yolks, 40 g sugar
- Sift the plain flour and the corn flour together into the egg and sugar mixture. Use a spatula to mix until you get a smooth paste.25 g plain flour, 1½ tbsp corn flour
- Add the milk to a saucepan and heat it on a medium heat with the vanilla bean. Turn off the heat just before it boils.1 cup milk, ½ pod vanilla bean
- Very slowly add the milk to the egg mixture while making sure you keep whisking. This will stop the eggs from cooking.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and continue to simmer on medium heat while rapidly whisking.
- The mixture will start to thicken as it cooks. When you are having trouble whisking the mixture, this is a sign that it is ready. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Set aside.
Baking the Tart Crust
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F) and take the tart shells from the refrigerator.
- Using a fork, put little pin-prick holes in the centre and the bottom edges of the tart shell dough. Line the tart shells with baking paper and pour some baking beads into the bottom. This is important as it helps to keep the pastry in shape as it bakes. (See our useful recipe notes for alternatives if you don’t have baking beads).
- Bake for 30 minutes until the tart shells are golden brown. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Whipping the Cream
- Add the thickened cream to your stand mixer and whip into soft peaks. You will know you have soft peaks when you remove the whisk and the cream does a little ‘bow’.¼ cup thickened cream
- Use a whisk to mix the whipped cream with the pastry cream. The filling should be smooth and free from lumps.
- Once the tart shells are sufficiently cooled, remove them from the tart moulds and line them on your bench.
Assembling the Puits d'Amour
- Dollop a generous spoonful of pastry filling into the tart shells, sprinkle with desiccated coconut, then top with half a glacé cherry. Alternatively, for a more professional finish, you can use a piping bag to pipe the cream filling into the tart shells before sprinkling with desiccated coconut.5 glacé cherries, desiccated coconut
Notes
- An easy trick to get the ½ cup cake flour is to add 1 tablespoon of cornflour in the bottom of a ½ cup measure then fill in the rest of the space with all-purpose flour.
- Baking beads are very useful for blind baking to get perfectly-shaped pastries and tarts. If you don’t have baking beads on hand, there are a large number of alternatives that you may have in your kitchen already. You can use rice, dried peas, lentils, beans or other pulses.
- If I’m running low on time, I usually buy the shortcrust pastry from the freezer section of my local supermarket to use for the tart shells and the tartlets turn out just as delicious!
