An Ocean Blue Sea Tart That Is Not AI Generated

I did an experiment based on an AI-generated image which I recently saw on Pinterest. And I immediately thought of trying it out at home, at least as an experiment first before I think about whether it’s even possible to make it into a proper cake. It went better than I thought, and I am writing down the steps and reminders for myself what to do and what not to do the next time round.

For the pastry base and crust:

DO NOT ever get ready-made shortcrust pastry sheets from the frozen section of supermarkets. They taste really artificial, and do not bake well as well. The crusts become thin after they are baked and do not hold well as a tin tart pastry base at all. They taste funny – salty and sweet at the same time. I got a box of ready-made shortcrust pastry this time round for my experiment (because it was meant to be an experiment) and regretted it so much! The base also turned soggy after I poured in the panna cotta and sea jelly.
Make your own pastry base and crust from scratch. It’s easy! Use either the recipe for a basic butter base from my Tarty Lemon Tart recipe, or a nutty base from my Pistachio & Vanilla Panna Cotta recipe.
Use a 4.1cm tall tart ring instead of the 2cm tall one. Not only does it allow you to put in more decorations and fill in more ‘sea water’, it also allows you to put in enough panna cotta base and jelly to form a clearly distinguished sea base from the sea. My tart ring wasn’t deep enough, so my panna cotta blue base could only form a very thin line right above the tart base which is not very visible as it’s the same colour as the sea.

For the panna cotta base:

Make the creamy panna cotta sea sand using the panna cotta recipe from my Pistachio & Vanilla Panna Cotta recipe. You can add in a drop or two of yellow or red or both to make a slightly orange/brown base. I have decided that a blue base against a sea of blue water doesn’t really work that well after all. With a taller tart ring, you can use the full amount of milk and cream (250ml each) suggested in this recipe as well.
Make the sea of jelly using gelatine, sugar and just plain water. It’s still the same recipe as above, using 2.5 cups water, 2.5 tsp gelatine, 6 tbsp sugar and 1 drop blue colouring. I think the effect went well and the ocean was clear and blue. For a taller tart ring pan, you will need at least double the amount. The sea was clear and transparent and blue, just how I wanted it to be.
You can try using a box or two of Jell-O – not sure how clear or blue it will turn out to be so I’ve got to give it a try next time to find out.

For the decorations:

I used ready made sea shell chococlates and edible flowers (plus some plastic ones which I washed beforehand). The edible flowers work fine, but I think I will buy fondant and craft out sea shells and fishes that are smaller and more befitting of the scale of this ocean next time.