Puits D'amour [Mauritian Recipe]

Mauritius was first settled in the 1638 by the Dutch, in the year 1715 it was overtaken by the French and later, by the British. However, Mauritius finally celebrated its first Independence day on the 12th of March 1968. Today, Mauritius is celebrating its 45th Independence Day! Coincidentally, it is also rejoicing its 21st Republic Day! Every year, there is the flag-hoisting ceremony held at Champ-De-Mars, and this year, the Chief Guest was the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee.

On the eve of the Independence Day, school and college [high school] students are released early after having celebrated the Independence Day at their respective school. On this day, small bricks of juice and French/Mauritian pastries are distributed to the students. My favourite cake to pick was the Puit D'amour. The Puit D'amour consist of pie crust with a sort of crème patissière on top. And yes with a glacée cherry for the finish!




Equipment:

  • Measuring Scale
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Oven
  • Cling Film
  • Food Processor / hands (if you dont have one)
  • Mini Tart Shells
  • Beans (optional)
  • Cookie Cutter

Ingredients:

1. For the Pie Crust:
  • 1¾ cups of all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup cake flour
  • 1/4 tsp of baking powder
  • 226g of cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 2 tbsp of cold water
2. For the Filling:
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 40g of sugar
  • 25g of flour
  • 1½ tbsp of corn flour
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthwise
  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream
3. For the Finish:
  • Glacees Cherries
  • Dessicated Coconut - desired

Method:
  • Begin by making the pie crust. If you are using a food processor, refrigerate the bowl for 20-30 minutes.
  • Combine the flour, baking powder and cubed butter together, in the bowl of the food processor.




  • If you are using your hands, rub the butter into the well-mixed flour/baking powder mixture. DO NOT KNEAD.
  • Do not over process/mix.
  • You should obtain a slightly powdery butter mixture.
  • Add the 2 tbsp of cold water. Form a soft ball. 
  • Using a rolling pin or the palm of your hands, flatten the dough.
  • Wrap in cling film and let refrigerate until firm. [Mine did not take long, about 20 minutes, however it might take upto 1 hour for yours to firm up.]
  • Roll the refrigerated dough into a 1/2 inch thickness. 
  • Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough.
  • Fit cut dough into tart shells. 
  • Trim excess dough along edges.
  • Refrigerate for another half hour.
  • Meanwhile, make the crème patissière by first combining the egg yolks and sugar.
  • Whisk well, until pale yellow (not to much).
  • Add the flour and the corn flour together. And pour into egg/sugar mixture.
  • Mix until a smooth paste is obtained.
  •  Boil the milk with the vanilla bean.
  • Slowly add the milk to the egg mixture. Make sure you keep whisking, so as not to cook the eggs.
  • Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and continue to simmer on medium heat while continuously whisking.




  • When the mixture starts to set and becomes thick enough not to be able to whisk, remove from the heat.




  • Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C.
  • Take the tart shells from the refrigerator.
  • Use a fork to prick the centre and bottom edges of dough.
  • At this point if you don't want the crust to rise too much, pour some beans into the tart shells. You can skip this part if you want.
  • Bake for half an hour or until brown enough.
  • Whisk the heavy cream into soft peaks. And mix well with the crème patissière to get rid of lumps.
  • Allow cooling and then remove crust from shells.
  • Pour the light crème patissière into the prebaked tart shells. 




  • Sprinkle the dessicated coconut and top with half a glacee cherry!





Happy Independence Day!




25 comments

  1. This looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and Yummy!:)

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    Replies
    1. Thank You Nisha ;) I used to have 3 at a time when I was in school!

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  2. Happy Independence day to you. These cutie pastry are yumm.

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  3. Thank you very much Swathi ;)

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  4. looks really amazing... great effort!!!

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  5. Hi reva,How are you?Long time,I haven't seen any posts from you.Hope things are fine.Take care :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey Nisha, how are you? Yes, its been a long time, a month, I'm actually having some health issues, which are keeping me away from food and blogging at the moment.. But I am checking out on your posts and your Jangiri, yaarr, made me literally drool over my laptop! Thank you for passing by and asking, im really appreciative of that.. Kinda makes you think, we might not personally know each other, but the people from the blogging world are wonderful - you are! You too take care ;) and have some jangiri on my behalf please!

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    2. Thanks dear for coming back.You know that I am a fan of your recipes and personally I feel you too are one of my good friends.Do take care of your health,Reva.Happy that you are back with a bang.Take care.do keep in touch Reva.

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  6. hi! Glad I found your blog, your recipes are great! I have to try this one for sure :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey, Im pleased that you like the recipes ;) Do try it out and let me know how it turns out ;)

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  7. These have always been a bakery treat, never ever thought of attempting to make myself.
    Yours look lovely, thanks for the recipe to try.

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  8. Hi Revan,
    Please visit my blog because I have an Very Inspiring Blogger Award for you. Come and collect it. My blog is Elly's Kitchen (http://free-advertising-ey.blogspot.com)

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  9. Hi Reva,How are you feeling now??Hope you are fine...

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    Replies
    1. Hey Nisha how are you? It feels like you have psychic powers, like you read minds and know exactly when to ask about someone's health! Seriously, you amaze me! Ive been on medication, now I am almost recovered, and I was thinking of making croissants today!!! I hope everything's good on your side as well :D

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  10. Psychic powers for me,don't make me laugh Reva..:-) Glad you came back and presented such lovely food posts..

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    Replies
    1. Hahaha! Seriously, maybe they are innate, or just comes natural to you!!! Thank you, like always I keep on thanking you :D

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  11. Great blog Disha ;)

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  12. Hi and thank you so much for the recipe.
    I was just wondering how many of these does this recipe make?

    thanks a lot.
    Leena

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    Replies
    1. Hey Leena, thanks for stopping by! This should make around 10 puit d'amours ;)

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  13. Although I also have to make the cooking this is so beautiful and I’m sure it’s all super delicious! Looks so pretty, so good and sounds so awesome!
    Your Personal Chef

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  14. Hiiii..can u make the puit d'amour in one large ramekin?

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  15. Hello the recipe calls for cake flour. But where can I find cake flour in Mauritius. La Concorde has patisserie flour but that is not the same as cake flour isn’t it?

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    Replies
    1. Hey Anon, cake flour is actually self-raising flour. :)

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