Plantain Tart with Cocoa-Bean Purée, Honey Bean White Chocolate Ganache, Crispy beans and Aquafaba Meringue. By The Atije Experience
The Cowpea is a prized bean in West Africa. Honey beans or Ewa Oloyin is a favourite in Nigeria.
They are high in fiber and very versatile. From soups and stews to portages and steamed puddings.
This time we took an unconventional approach to make a dessert with a classic combo: beans and plantain with garri.
This dessert was inspired by our decision to try an and Aquafaba meringue made with honey bean cooking liquid, instead of chickpeas, and a comment on the post we shared about this developed by the lovely Chef Sia.
Ingredients:
- For the tart
- 40g plantain
- 15g sugar
- 56g butter
- 100g flour
- 1 egg yolk
- For the cocoa bean purée
- 50g cooked beans
- 50g milk
- 35g sugar
- 10g cocoa powder
- For the honey bean white chocolate ganache
- 50g cooked beans
- 50g milk
- 200g white chocolate
- 30 butter
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- For the crispy beans
- 50g cooked beans
- 25g sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Masala spice (optional)
- For the meringue
- 100ml honey bean cooking liquid
- 100g sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
Method:
For the tart, peel and chop the plantain into small cubes, add the plantain and sugar into a pan and cook together whilst mashing the plantain until you have a smooth mixture. Leave to cool.
Cut the cold butter into small cubes, rub into the flour along with the cooled plantain, until you have a sandy texture. Add the egg yolk and bring together to form a dough, knead lightly to bring it together. Rest in the fridge for an hour.
Preheat your oven to 180C. Once rested, roll out into your tart moulds. Blind bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool.
Rinse the beans and place in a medium pot. Cover with water and boil for 5 minutes. Leave to soak in the hot water for 1 hour. Boil for a further 15 minutes, adding extra water if need be, or until soft and tender.
Reserve the cooking liquid from the beans and leave to cool. Measure out 100ml of the liquid and add in a pinch of salt and cream of tartar. Whisk by hand or using a mixer for about 10 minutes, until soft peaks form. Add in the sugar in three additions until the meringue is shiny.
Preheat your oven to 120C. Spread the meringue thinly using an offset spatula on a lined baking pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until crispy when cooled.
For the crispy beans, pick out some whole beans from the cooked beans. Preheat your oven to 150C and bake the beans for 10-15 minutes until crispy.
In a small pan, add your sugar, pinch of salt, spice and a drizzle of water along with your dried beans. Cook on a medium heat until the sugar caramelizes and then crystallizes. Leave to cool.
For the cocoa bean purée, combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Reserve in a container or piping bag and leave to cool in the fridge.
For the ganache, blend the beans and milk until smooth and pass through a fine mesh sieve. Bring this mixture to a simmer, turn off the heat and add in the white chocolate, butter, salt and cinnamon. Leave the chocolate to melt for about a minute and then whisk until completely dissolved and you have a homogenous mixture. Reserve in a container and leave to set in the fridge for at least one hour, but up to 6 hours.
For garnish, we used Garri (fermented cassava) crumble, passion fruit and tree tomato jam, and fresh mint.
Place your tart onto your desired plate. First, pipe the cocoa-bean purée and then the white chocolate honey bean ganache, add some dots of the passion and tree tomato jam or any jam or compote of your choice. Decorate with some spoons of garri crumble, followed by the crispy beans, fresh mint and Aquafaba meringue. Enjoy!
