Today, I’m offering you a recipe as delicious as it is tangy: a blueberry and yuzu tart. It’s made up of a crisp pâte sucrée, filled with a soft almond cream into which I added fresh blueberries that burst during baking. On top, I made a yuzu Inspiration whipped ganache, light and creamy, which brings all the tangy freshness of this unique Japanese citrus fruit. Finally, the tart is generously decorated with fresh blueberries, for indulgence and for an even fruitier look. At the very end of the article, you’ll see another way of presenting this dessert.
What is yuzu?
Yuzu is a small Asian citrus fruit that has been grown for centuries in Japan, Korea and China. It’s the size of a mandarin with a thick, uneven rind. Taste-wise, this is what makes yuzu so special: it offers a complex flavour that blends the acidity of lime, the sweetness of mandarin and a hint of grapefruit bitterness. In pastry, yuzu brings a refined and above all original tangy note. It’s mainly used in the form of juice or zest.
image source: la casa del lemon
How do you make a yuzu dessert without yuzu juice?
You can make a whipped ganache with yuzu juice, which I’ve already had the chance to do. That said, if you can’t find any, it’s now possible to make a yuzu dessert without yuzu juice, all you need is Valrhona’s Inspiration yuzu chocolate. Unlike a classic chocolate, the Inspiration range is made from pure fruit and not artificial flavourings: so you get all the intensity and natural freshness of yuzu, with a texture that works like white chocolate. Surprising, isn’t it? It’s a real joy to use in pastry, and it gives the ganache a flavour that is at once lively, tangy and perfectly balanced.
Note that the Inspiration range also includes strawberry, raspberry and passion fruit. And if you’re not a fan of these flavours, you can just as well make a vanilla whipped ganache or chantilly, you’ll easily find the recipes on the blog.
And what about the blueberries?
The blueberries bring the indulgence and sweetness that soften the liveliness of the yuzu. Baked in the almond cream, they almost melt into the pastry as they release their juice. Raw, placed on top, they bring freshness, bite and an even more appealing look. This play of textures makes every bite different and irresistible.
Ingredients & method
6 components · Full recipe
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (to start 2 days ahead or the day before)
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) butter
- 95 g (3.4 oz) icing sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) Pariani almond flour
- 60 g (2.1 oz) egg (one large egg)
- 250 g (8.8 oz) flour
- a pinch of fleur de sel
- a knife tip of vanilla powder
Method
1
Place the soft butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix at low speed. Add the almond flour, vanilla powder and fleur de sel and mix again.
2
Add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula this time (it will be easier than with the mixer).
3
Finish with the flour and mix with the mixer until you obtain a smooth ball of dough. Do not overwork the dough. Bring together into a ball without pressing. Divide into 2 equal portions.
4
Wrap both portions in cling film, shaping into flat rectangles. Place one in the fridge overnight and the other in the freezer (for a future tart).
5
The next day, roll out the dough to 2 mm thickness with a rolling pin. Cut out a piece larger than your tart ring.
6
Grease an 18–20 cm (7.9 in) diameter tart ring then place the dough inside, taking care to create a right angle at the base.
Yuzu Inspiration Whipped Ganache (to make the day before)
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Valrhona Inspiration Yuzu chocolate
- 60 g (2.1 oz) heavy cream (1)
- 160 g (5.6 oz) heavy cream (2)
- 2 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine
- 12 g (0.4 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Heat the 60 g (2.1 oz) cream and bring gently to a boil, then remove from the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine and mix.
3
Pour one third of the cream over the Inspiration Yuzu chocolate and mix with a spatula to create an emulsion. Then pour a second third, then the last third, to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.
4
Add the 160 g (5.6 oz) cold cream and mix again. Blend for a few seconds with a stick blender to thoroughly combine.
Blueberry Compote (to make the day before)
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) Adamance blueberry purée
- 20 g (0.7 oz) caster sugar
- 3 g (0.1 oz) NH pectin
- a dash of lemon juice
Method
1
Heat the blueberry purée, then add the sugar and pectin mixture and bring to a boil for at least 1 minute.
2
Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and leave to cool.
Baking the Sweet Pastry
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.
2
Once the dough is well chilled, trim any excess pastry with a small knife.
3
Place a sheet of baking paper and add baking beads or dried beans to blind bake (if the tart base has rested overnight in the fridge, there is normally no need for beads — the pastry won’t move).
Almond Cream
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) soft 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) Pariani almond flour
- a handful of blueberries
Method
1
Meanwhile, cream the butter in the stand mixer (with the paddle attachment) until smooth.
2
Add the sifted icing sugar and mix.
3
Add half the eggs and mix, then add half the almond flour and mix again.
4
Add the remaining eggs and mix, then add the remaining almond flour and the flour. Mix until smooth.
5
After 15 minutes of baking, remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
6
Smooth any imperfections in the pastry with a Microplane grater.
7
Pipe the almond cream into the tart shell, spreading it evenly (do not fill it too much as it will puff up during baking), then arrange blueberries in the cream evenly.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Pipe balls of whipped ganache all around the tart.
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