Tarte Conversation

Cracks run through the pale icing, and thin strips of puff pastry cross it diagonally in a lattice. Tarte conversation is a French pastry in which almond cream is enclosed in laminated puff pastry and baked with a white icing already on top. The surface has thin bands of pastry and dried icing; beneath them lie many layers of pastry and moist almond cream. Whether it is made as a large tart or as tartlets, the cut face reveals layers of differing firmness.

A name said to come from “Les Conversations d’Émilie”

Conversation is the French word for “conversation.” The name is linked to “Les Conversations d’Émilie,” in which Louise d’Épinay depicted, in the form of dialogues, a mother’s education of a young girl named Émilie. The first edition was published in 1774, and before long further editions appeared in Paris as well.

“Le Larousse des desserts” relates that a small almond pastry was created in the late 18th century, named after that popular book. Neither the first shop to make it nor the year sales began is known, and 1774 is the publication year of the book, not of the pastry. The pastry, whose connection to the book is told in this way, has kept a name that evokes “conversation” at the table.

Not over-whipping the almond cream, and not overfilling

The filling is a cream made by combining soft butter, sugar, almond flour and eggs. Some formulas round out the flavor by adding dairy cream, rum or citrus zest. The recettes (formulas and methods) of Mercotte and of the specialist magazine Saveurs agree on not whipping this cream too vigorously. The fat is softened before mixing, but not melted into a liquid.

If the mold is overfilled, the filling can rise during baking and overflow at the edges. In Mercotte’s method, the cream is kept to about half the height. Rather than packing the thin shell to the brim, the method leaves room for the filling to rise as it bakes.

One home-style example combines the almond cream with custard and adds brandy for aroma. Changing the filling formula changes the dairy flavor and the mouthfeel, even within the same pastry casing.

At Chez Tomitaka, a pastry shop in Beppu, both the pastry and the confiture are made in-house, and there is an example with raspberry confiture sandwiched inside. It is a maker’s own touch that layers the tartness of fruit over the almond flavor.

Spreading icing on the pastry lid and laying the lattice

Cream goes into the pastry base, a second sheet of pastry is laid on top as a lid, and the edges are sealed tightly. Apart from the lattice visible on the surface, there is another sheet of pastry underneath it, so the filling is enclosed by pastry above and below.

The strips for the lattice are cut separately, brushed with egg and chilled. Even thin dough that stretches easily is less likely to lose its shape when moved if it is cold. The icing is spread thinly over the assembled lid, the strips are laid diagonally across it, and the pastry is chilled before baking.

Tarte conversation topped with white icing and strips of dough. Photo: Rystheguy, 2016-02, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 3.0. Original size, no additional processing.

Baking that dries the icing and expands the pastry layers

For this pastry, the glace royale is applied before baking. Powdered sugar and egg white are combined and spread thinly, and thin strips of puff pastry are laid over it. As it bakes, the icing dries and the pastry underneath puffs up, producing a surface marked with cracks.

Some recettes add a small amount of flour to the icing. In Mercotte’s formula, it is used to give a pale color during baking and can be omitted. A little lemon juice is also used to adjust the softness of the icing. It is not that only icing containing flour counts as glace royale; the version with flour is one formula adjusted for baking this pastry.

In laminated dough, steam generated by the heat pushes apart the layers of thin dough and butter. Cutting the dough without crushing its edges and baking without making the icing too thick give a clean lattice outline and layers that break crisply. The pastry is baked while watching the color of the surface and cooled slightly before it is removed from the mold. Rather than being decorated in white afterward, this is a pastry in which the icing and the pastry change in different ways in the same oven.

Glossary