Walnut and Armagnac tart

1.Macerate muscatels in half the Armagnac until plump (1 hour).

2.Meanwhile, for walnut and date ice-cream, preheat oven to 180C. Roast walnuts on a baking tray until golden (5-7 minutes). Cool, coarsely chop, then combine with milk in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then stir over low heat until infused (30 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan (discard solids) and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk sugar and yolks in a heatproof bowl, then gradually stir in milk. Return to pan and stir continuously over medium heat until mixture reaches 85C and coats the back of a wooden spoon thickly (5-7 minutes). Add cream, strain into a heatproof bowl over ice, stir occasionally until cool. Freeze in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions, stir through dates, freeze until firm. Makes about 1 litre.

3.Meanwhile, for chocolate sable, beat butter, icing sugar and cocoa in an electric mixer until smooth (2-3 minutes), beat in egg until just incorporated. Sift over flours and almond meal, stir until combined. Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for 1 hour to rest. Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick, then cut six 12cm-diameter rounds and line six 10cm-diameter fluted tart tins, trimming edges. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Blind bake until just crisp (10-12 minutes), remove paper and weights, bake until crisp (5-7 minutes).

4.Reduce oven to 150C. Drain muscatels (discard liquid), scatter over base of tart shells. Whisk cream, walnuts, sugar, and egg in a bowl to combine, pour into tart shells, bake until just set (10-12 minutes), set aside to cool.

5.Meanwhile, combine icing sugar and remaining Armagnac. Brush tarts with glaze, cool to room temperature, serve with walnut and date ice-cream.