Happy happy springy warm weathered goodness!
This weekend has been absolutely beautiful! Spring has more than sprung. And I thought what would be more appropriate than a bountiful spring tart to celebrate!
My family has been on a health kick for the past few weeks, trying to get into a more healthy lifestyle with eating and exercise. This has inspired me to make a lightened up treat for this little blog.
Being a baker, it’s always a struggle between wanting to bake and eat all the sugary buttery things, and then also living a balanced life with healthy eats.
When I was in culinary school, we made these wonderful flamiche tarts for the cafe in our production baking class. They’re sort of like a quiche, but made with a brioche crust and a slightly different custardy filling.
I thought it would be the perfect bake to try and lighten up, and also feature some of spring’s best veggies. And this light brioche has buckwheat flour in it to give it that amazing color, and has less butter/sugar than a typical brioche. So tender and nom.
Of course you can make this much more decadent by using full fat cream or milk, adding all the yummy cheeses you want etc. But this light version is so so so tasty! I don’t think you’ll miss the decadence here.
Brioche Crust: (Adapted from Cooking Light) <Nutrition Info>
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup nonfat milk (any milk would do here), warmed to 100-100 degrees
10 ounces ap flour
5 ounces buckwheat flour (or just do all ap if you don’t have buckwheat)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons butter, soft
Flamiche Filling:
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup nonfat milk (or any milk/cream would do)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 leeks, washed and sliced (sauté in a bit of olive oil until softened)
6 spears asparagus, sliced into 2 inch pieces
2 full leaves rainbow chard, sliced
Crumbled feta cheese for topping
Make the brioche the day before you plan to bake your flamiche. In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and let sit for about 5 minutes to activate. Add the dry ingredients and eggs, and beat together with the paddle attachment until smooth. Switch to the hook attachment and mix on low speed for five minutes until a nice smooth dough develops and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the butter and continue mixing until incorporated. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil or butter and let your dough sit in it for about an hour to rise until doubled in size. Lightly punch dough down, recover and chill in the fridge overnight. You can also prep your leeks the day before to make the bake day quicker.
Day of baking: Butter a 9×2 inch cake pan. Weigh out 20 ounces of your brioche dough (should have a roll sized piece left to bake as you want). On a lightly floured surface, roll the 20 ounce dough into a 1/4 inch round. Add your round to the pan, trimming the edges so there’s about a 1/2 inch overhanging. Layer in your veggies as you see fit. Pour in the custard filling, and fold the overhanging dough over the custard so it lays flat on top. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and let your tart rise for about 15 minutes. Bake the flamiche on a parchment lined sheet pan for ____ minutes until the custard is set. Allow to cool enough to handle, and then disengage the crust with a knife to flip it out of the pan. Serve while warm or cooled with more feta or hot sauce.
Isn’t it just gorgeous?
This would be the best treat for a lovely spring picnic! Just imagine sitting on a blanket and diving into this yummy tart.
Or for a brunch! Omg yes!!! I’m all about brunch. And brunch is always better with mimosas. Okay, that’ll be for when we’re feeling indulgent.
Leave a Reply