Chef Juliette
Allumettes
Allumettes make one demand before the tray reaches the oven: reduce the Gruyère Béchamel until it holds on a knife, so the puff paste rises into butter-gold layers instead of soaking flat.
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Tartelettes à la Florentine
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2330, Tartelettes à la Florentine, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Twelve pale tartlet shells carrying Parmesan soufflé, black truffle, and sweet crayfish, baked for three breathless minutes and sent straight to the table while their golden caps still stand.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
15 min
Active Time
3 min cook•18 min total
Yield12 tartlets (4 servings)
Tartelettes à la Florentine (small tartlets filled with Parmesan soufflé, truffle, and crayfish) teach the discipline of last-minute service. The one true thing to know before you touch a pan is this: a soufflé waits for no one. Have the oven fully hot, the shells ready, and your guests near the table before the filling meets the pastry.
The classical entry assumes colourlessly baked shells from the pastry station, Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a) waiting in another section, cooked crayfish dressed by hand, truffle close by, and a clear path from oven to dining room. It asks for neither a stockpot nor a saucier, and its brief oven finish is not a salamander trick. For one cook, I keep twelve small shells on one tray, use a fiercely preheated home oven, and fold the garniture into only enough prepared soufflé for four people. The brigade batch is scaffolding and can shrink; the pale shell, airy filling, truffle, crayfish, mignonette, and three-minute bake are the dish.
Done correctly, the crust stays pale and crisp while the filling lifts into a soft golden cap, smelling first of Parmesan, then truffle, with sweet crayfish underneath. Fold lightly, fill cleanly, and bake at once. The clean rim is the small step that decides the rise.
Tartelettes à la Florentine belong to the classical Parisian table of petits hors-d’œuvre chauds, small hot appetizers built in pastry cases and sent out the instant their filling rose. Although à la florentine usually signals spinach in French culinary grammar, this named formula is a striking exception: its garniture is Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a), truffle, crayfish tails, and mignonette, with no spinach at all. The dish moved naturally from brigade service to the home dinner party because the essential work is not equipment but timing, a small oven batch carried directly to waiting guests.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small tartlet shells
Quantity
12 (2-inch / 5-cm)
colourlessly blind-baked and fully cooled
Soufflé au Parmesan
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 300 g) Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a)
prepared and ready to bake
cooked crayfish tail meat
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 100 g)
patted very dry and cut into ¼-inch / 6-mm dice
black truffle
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g)
finely grated
mignonette
Quantity
¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 1.5 g)
black peppercorns coarsely crushed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small tartlet shellscolourlessly blind-baked and fully cooled | 12 (2-inch / 5-cm) |
| Soufflé au Parmesanprepared and ready to bake | 1½ cups (360 ml / 300 g) Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a) |
| cooked crayfish tail meatpatted very dry and cut into ¼-inch / 6-mm dice | ½ cup (120 ml / 100 g) |
| black trufflefinely grated | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g) |
| mignonetteblack peppercorns coarsely crushed | ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 1.5 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Light-coloured rimmed baking sheet
- •Medium broad mixing bowl
- •Flexible silicone spatula
- •Two teaspoons or a 1-ounce portion scoop
- •Mortar and pestle for the mignonette
Instructions
- 1
Ready oven and table
Heat the oven to 450°F / 230°C, or 425°F / 220°C with a fan, with a rack in the upper third. Arrange the pale tartlet shells on a light-coloured baking sheet and clear the path from oven to table. The filling will not wait while glasses are poured or guests are found; everything else must be ready first.
Use the oven, not the broiler. Fierce surrounding heat lifts the filling quickly, while direct top heat colours it before the centre can set. - 2
Season the garniture
Blot the crayfish tails once more, then combine them gently with the grated truffle and mignonette. Mignonette means coarsely crushed pepper here, not the shallot-and-vinegar condiment. Taste a piece of crayfish: the pepper should be unmistakable because the soufflé will soften it. If packaged tails taste briny, rinse them quickly and press them thoroughly dry before continuing.
- 3
Fold without crushing
Place the Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a) in a broad bowl. Scatter the crayfish mixture over it in three additions, folding from the bottom over the top with a flexible spatula while turning the bowl. Stop as soon as the garniture is distributed. A few uneven flecks do less harm than repeated stirring, which drives out the air the tartlets need.
- 4
Fill cleanly
Spoon about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of filling into each shell, mounding it slightly above the rim without pressing it down. Keep the pastry rims bare. If filling smears across one, ça se rattrape: wipe the rim clean with a damp fingertip so the soufflé has a clear path upward. Once all twelve are filled, put them into the oven immediately.
- 5
Bake and serve
Bake for about three minutes without opening the door. The filling should lift into a tender golden cap, set around the edge, and retain a slight tremble at the centre; the pastry should remain pale rather than toasted brown. If a cap is still flat and visibly wet after three minutes, give it thirty seconds more, but do not chase deep colour. Transfer the tartlets straight to the platter and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Frozen cooked crayfish tails are an honest choice when fresh ones are unavailable. Thaw them slowly in the cold and dry them with determination; excess liquid weighs down the soufflé and softens the pastry.
- •Use fresh black truffle or a good whole preserved truffle that can be grated. Truffle paste brings extra fat and seasoning the source never asked for, and it disappears into the Parmesan rather than carrying its own perfume.
- •Mignonette is a texture as well as a seasoning. Crush peppercorns until they resemble coarse sand, not powder; fine pepper turns harsh before the tartlets taste properly seasoned.
- •Serve with brut Champagne or a dry Crémant. The bubbles and acidity answer the Parmesan and butter, while the wine stays out of the truffle's way.
- •These do not improve by waiting or reheating. Once baked, their proper storage place is in the hands of your guests.
Advance Preparation
- •The tartlet shells may be colourlessly blind-baked one day ahead, cooled completely, and kept airtight at room temperature. Do not refrigerate them, which invites dampness.
- •The crayfish tails may be diced and dried up to four hours ahead, then covered and chilled. Grate the truffle only when the oven is heating so its perfume remains in the filling.
- •Prepare the Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a) at the last possible moment allowed by its own recipe. Once its egg whites have been folded in, fill and bake these tartlets within ten minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 120g)
Calories
325 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
135 mg
Sodium
550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
20 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
14 g
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