That’s it, the sun is finally back and with it, the urge to make pastries full of freshness. I find that this year, it’s quite hard to find good French strawberries at an affordable price (because 20e/kg is NOT AT ALL affordable…). It’s my favourite fruit and every year, I can’t wait to use it in my desserts. This time, I wanted to pair strawberry with yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit I particularly like, but to bring even more freshness, I added verbena.
These strawberry, yuzu and verbena tartlets are made up of a vanilla pâte sucrée, a strawberry almond cream, a strawberry verbena confit and an Inspiration yuzu and verbena whipped ganache. Believe me, it’s a pairing that works really well!
What is yuzu?
Yuzu is a citrus fruit originating from Asia. Its taste sits somewhere between lime, yellow grapefruit and mandarin, with a pronounced acidity. Yuzu juice can be hard to find for some people. Personally, I buy yuzu juice at Grand Frais (count on about 10€ for 100 mL). But to make this recipe, I didn’t have any. I simply used Valrhona’s Inspiration yuzu chocolate, it’s absolutely astonishing! It’s “just” a blend of cocoa butter, sugar and yuzu, with no colouring or flavouring. For this dessert, I therefore made a whipped ganache based on this inspiration chocolate and whoaaa… it’s truly stunning! You get the taste and acidity of yuzu… without yuzu juice! And for your information, there’s also inspiration passion fruit, strawberry and raspberry 🙂
Ingredients & method
5 components · Full recipe
Yuzu Inspiration Whipped Ganache and Verbena (to start the day before)
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Valrhona Inspiration Yuzu chocolate
- 60 g (2.1 oz) liquid cream (1)
- 160 g (5.6 oz) whole liquid cream (2)
- 2 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine
- 12 g (0.4 oz) water to rehydrate the gelatine
- 7 g (0.2 oz) fresh verbena
Method
1
The morning before, finely chop the fresh verbena then steep it in the cream (1+2). Cover with cling film and refrigerate until the evening.
2
In the evening, strain the cream to remove the verbena leaves then pour 50 g (1.8 oz) of liquid cream into a small saucepan. Keep the rest refrigerated (remember to weigh, you may need to top up).
3
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water. Heat the 50 g (1.8 oz) of cream and bring slowly to a boil then off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine and mix.
4
Pour one third of the cream over the yuzu Inspiration chocolate and mix with a spatula to create an emulsion. Then pour a second third then a third to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.
5
Add the 160 g (5.6 oz) of well-chilled cream, mix again. Blitz for a few seconds with an immersion blender to fully homogenise everything.
6
Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
Sweet Pastry
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) softened butter
- 95 g (3.4 oz) icing sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) ground almonds
- 60 g (2.1 oz) egg (one large egg)
- 250 g (8.8 oz) flour
- a pinch of fleur de sel
- a pinch of vanilla powder
Method
1
Place the softened butter and icing sugar in the mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment and mix at low speed. Add the ground almonds, vanilla powder and fleur de sel and mix again.
2
Then add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula this time (it will be easier than with the stand mixer).
3
Finish with the flour and mix with the stand mixer until you obtain a smooth ball of dough. Do not overwork the dough. Bring the dough together to form a ball without pressing too hard. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
4
Wrap the 2 portions in cling film, forming a flattened rectangle of dough. Place one portion in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight and the other in the freezer (for another tart).
5
The next day, roll out the dough to 2–3 mm thick using a rolling pin then cut out 8 circles of dough larger than your moulds.
6
Grease 7 cm (2.8 in) diameter tartlet rings then line with the dough, taking care to create a right angle. Prick the tart bases.
7
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (ideally overnight). With these quantities of dough, you can make the tartlets but will have dough left over which you can freeze for another dessert. It's always very handy to have sweet pastry in stock in the freezer.
Almond Cream
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) softened butter
- 50 g (1.8 oz) icing sugar
- 5 g (0.2 oz) flour
- 50 g (1.8 oz) eggs
- 50 g (1.8 oz) ground almonds
- about 8 strawberries
Method
1
Wash the strawberries then cut them into rounds. Set aside.
2
Meanwhile, beat the butter with the mixer (with the paddle attachment) to reduce it to a cream.
3
Add the sifted icing sugar and mix.
4
Add half the eggs. Mix then add half the ground almonds. Mix again.
5
Add the rest of the eggs and mix then add the rest of the ground almonds and the flour. Mix until you obtain a smooth cream.
6
After 15 minutes of baking, remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
7
Remove the ring then smooth any imperfections in the pastry with a microplane grater.
8
Mix an egg yolk with 4 g (0.1 oz) of liquid cream and brush the outside of the pastry with a brush to obtain a glossy tart base. Pipe the almond cream into the tart bases, taking care to distribute evenly and not to use too much (I used 18 g (0.6 oz) per tartlet).
9
Place 3 or 4 strawberry rounds (depending on their size) in the almond cream, pressing gently.
10
Bake again for 15 minutes at 160°C / 325°F (the almond cream should be slightly golden and soft).
11
Once out of the oven, place the tart bases on a rack to cool. Set aside.
Strawberry and Verbena Compote (can be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) strawberry purée (or fresh blended strawberries, allow a little more)
- 50 g (1.8 oz) strawberry brunoise
- 8 g (0.3 oz) lemon juice
- 15 g (0.5 oz) sugar
- 3.5 g (0.1 oz) pectin
- a handful of verbena leaves
Method
1
Wash the strawberries. Cut 50 g (1.8 oz) of strawberries into small dice.
2
Finely chop the fresh verbena then heat it in a saucepan with the strawberry purée, the strawberry dice and the lemon juice for a few minutes.
3
Add the sugar/pectin mixture (previously mixed together) and bring the whole thing to the boil for one minute.
4
Pour the strawberry compote into a wide dish, cover with cling film and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. The compote should set firm under the action of the pectin. Once the compote has set, blitz it with an immersion blender and transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle.
5
Refrigerate while waiting for the assembly.
Assembly
Ingredients
- a little strawberry compote
- a few verbena leaves
Method
1
It is also possible to make a sharing version:
2
Spread some strawberry compote in the tart bases up to the rim and smooth with a small spatula. Whip the yuzu Inspiration ganache with the beater — it should be firm enough to pipe but not too stiff, it should remain supple. Transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle that you will cut in this way. This allows you to obtain a Saint-Honoré style piping without a nozzle and at the size you wish. Pipe lines of ganache as evenly as possible.
3
Add a few dots of strawberry compote and a verbena leaf.
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