Bamboo Lemon and Yuzu Tart

Soak the gelatine in the water.

Make a ganache: melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie until it just begins to melt.

In a small saucepan, heat the 60 g (2.1 oz) of cream. Off the heat, add the soaked gelatine.

Pour one third of the cream over the white chocolate and stir to create an emulsion. Add a second third, then a third, until the mixture is perfectly homogeneous.

Add the yuzu juice and the 125 g (4.4 oz) of very cold cream.

Blend with a stick blender, press cling film directly onto the surface and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, whip the ganache like a chantilly cream, then transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle. Fill the bamboo kit mould, taking great care to fill the cylinders fully, fill all the gaps, and finish by smoothing the ganache with a large offset spatula. Cover with cling film and freeze overnight. Note: a whipped ganache is denser and slightly firmer than a white chocolate mousse or Bavarian mousse. The challenge is filling the mould well to avoid unpleasant surprises when unmoulding (air pockets here and there). Make sure to tap the mould firmly to bring air bubbles to the surface.

Place the softened butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and mix on low speed. Add the ground almonds, vanilla powder and fleur de sel, then mix again.

Add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula this time (it will be easier than using the mixer).

Add the flour last and mix in the stand mixer until a homogeneous dough comes together. Do not over-work the dough. Bring together into a ball without kneading. Divide into 2 equal pieces.

Wrap each piece of dough in cling film, shaping it into a flat rectangle. Place one in the fridge overnight and the other in the freezer (for another tart). The next day, roll the dough out to 2–3 mm thick with a rolling pin. Cut a rectangle slightly larger than the Bamboo kit mould.

Place the pastry in the mould, taking care to form clean right-angle corners, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (ideally).

Once the pastry is well chilled, trim the overhanging edges with a small knife.

Place a sheet of baking paper inside the tart case and fill with baking beads or dried beans for blind baking (normally, if the tart case has been refrigerated overnight, baking beads are not necessary — the pastry will not shrink).

Bake for approximately 30 minutes (or a little longer if the pastry is not golden enough).

In a small bowl, mix the pectin with 24 g (0.8 oz) of sugar.

In a small saucepan, mix the bergamot lemon juice and vanilla powder.

Heat, then add the sugar/pectin mixture and bring to the boil. Stir with a whisk.

Blend with a stick blender, transfer to a container, press cling film directly onto the surface and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.

Melt the butter in the microwave and leave to cool.

Sift all the dry ingredients: ground almonds, hazelnut powder, flour and icing sugar.

In the stand mixer bowl, whisk the whole eggs, then add the sifted dry ingredients. Whisk for two minutes until the mixture is perfectly homogeneous.

Add the melted butter and fold in gently with a spatula.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the sugar in 3 additions, then fold gently into the previous mixture.

Pour the batter onto a 30 × 40 cm (15.7 in) tray lined with a lightly greased sheet of baking paper and smooth the surface with a spatula. If I were doing it again, I would not use all the batter — I would keep a small amount back to ensure the sponge is not too thick (see introduction).

Bake for approximately 12 minutes. The sponge should be golden and not stick to the finger.

Remove from the oven, flip the sponge onto a fresh sheet of baking paper and peel away the paper from the top. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool.

Cut a rectangle slightly smaller than the Bamboo kit mould. You will have leftover sponge. You can cut another, larger circle for another entremet, or small circles for individual entremets — which is what I did (and I put them in the freezer). Otherwise, it goes very nicely with coffee!

If you are making this recipe with the Joconde as I did, you can halve the following quantities (or keep them as is and use the remainder for another dessert, verrines…). However, these quantities will be just right if you skip the Joconde step, as mentioned in my introduction.

Soak the gelatine in the water.

In a saucepan, combine the lemon juice, eggs and sugar and stir together with a whisk.

Heat to 83°C / 181°F, stirring constantly. The cream will thicken. This is like cooking a crème anglaise — be careful not to exceed that temperature. If you do not have a thermometer, here is Chef Michalak’s trick: whisk quickly then stop. If the “whirlpool” stops abruptly, the cream is at the right temperature.

Off the heat, add the soaked gelatine and stir.

Transfer the mixture to a jug (or any tall container). When it reaches around 35°C / 95°F, add the cold butter and blend with a stick blender. The cream should be homogeneous.

Press cling film directly onto the surface and set aside at room temperature.

Melt the chocolate and cocoa butter in a bain-marie or microwave.

Add the yellow colouring and mix.

As the spray gun reservoir is really too large, the trick is to place the chocolate mixture in a small container that you insert into the large reservoir, making sure the tube reaches into the small container. I use a small glass jar.

Pour the mixture into the small container through a sieve to remove any impurities that might clog the spray gun. Then place the small container inside the spray gun reservoir (are you following?).

Close the spray gun and do a test spray to clear any large splats, which would look very unattractive (I tested it — it looks very ugly!).

Remove the yuzu whipped ganache from the freezer, unmould carefully and place on a wire rack. Personally, I stopped spraying inside my dishwasher because it still left marks after washing — and we have a new dishwasher now so I want to take care of it. I use whatever I have at hand to protect the worktop (cardboard, packaging, a plastic bag or baking paper…). Spray in waves, from left to right then right to left, without stopping, turning the cake as you go (a turntable makes this even easier).

Take out the bergamot lemon confit and stir with a whisk to loosen it to a more fluid texture.

Spread the confit into the tart case and smooth with a small offset spatula.

Cut a rectangle of Joconde slightly smaller than your mould. Place it gently on the confit, pressing lightly. The sponge must be very thin, otherwise there will not be enough room for the lemon cremeux.

Cover the sponge with lemon cremeux and smooth with a large spatula. The cream should come right to the edges. Set aside for about fifteen minutes.

Using a large offset spatula, place the yuzu whipped ganache on the tart, perfectly centred.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, to allow the whipped ganache to thaw.