Mint and Yuzu Tart

Rehydrate the gelatin in the water.

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

In a small saucepan, heat the 120 g (4.2 oz) of heavy cream. Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatin.

Pour one third of the cream over the white chocolate and stir to create an emulsion. Then pour in a second third, then a third, to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.

Add the yuzu juice and the 250 g (8.8 oz) of well-chilled heavy cream.

Blend with an immersion blender, cover with cling film directly on the surface and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, whip the ganache like a chantilly then transfer it to a piping bag with no tip. Fill the graphic tart kit mould, taking great care to properly fill the ridges, then fill in all the gaps and finish by smoothing the ganache with a large offset spatula. Cover with cling film and place in the freezer overnight. Note: a whipped ganache is denser and slightly firmer than a white chocolate mousse or a bavarian mousse. The challenge is to properly fill the mould to avoid unpleasant surprises when unmoulding (air pockets here and there). Remember to tap the mould 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 attachment and mix on low speed. Add the hazelnut powder, vanilla powder and fleur de sel and mix again.

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

Finish with the flour and mix with the stand mixer until a smooth ball of dough forms. Do not overwork the dough. Bring it together to form a ball without kneading too much.

Wrap in cling film, shaping it into a flat rectangle. Refrigerate overnight. The next day, roll out the dough to 2–3 mm thickness using a rolling pin. Cut out a rectangle slightly larger than the graphic tart kit mould.

Place the dough taking care to create a right angle, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (ideally).

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.

Once the dough is well chilled, trim the excess dough with a small knife.

Place a sheet of baking paper and baking beads or dried beans on top to blind-bake the pastry (normally, if the tart shell spends the night in the fridge, there is no need for baking beads as the dough won’t move).

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

In a small bowl, mix the pectin and agar-agar with the sugar.

In a small saucepan, heat the yuzu juice (or lemon juice) then add the sugar/pectin/agar-agar mixture and bring to a boil for 1 minute while whisking.

Transfer to a container, allow to cool slightly, then cover with cling film directly on the surface and refrigerate until the confit has set.

Once the confit has fully set and is cold, pour it into a tall container (like a jug) and add the finely chopped fresh mint, then blend with an immersion blender until a gel-like texture is achieved.

Set aside until assembly.

Rehydrate the gelatin in the water.

In a saucepan, heat sugar 1, the lemon juice and the finely chopped mint just long enough to completely dissolve the sugar (be careful not to let the contents of the saucepan boil).

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar 2 and the whole eggs, then add the still-hot previous mixture. Whisk well and pour everything back into the saucepan.

Bring to a boil for 2 minutes while whisking, then, off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatin and stir.

Pour the mixture into a jug (or any tall container). Allow to cool, and when the cream is at around 35°C / 95°F, add the cold butter and blend with an immersion blender. The cream should be smooth and homogeneous.

Set aside until assembly.

Take the mint lemon gel and stir again to loosen it.

Pour the gel into the tart shell and smooth with a small offset spatula (ideally the layer should be about 5 mm thick). Be quick!

Place in the freezer for about ten minutes to set the mint lemon gel.

Pour the mint lemon cream over the gel through a fine-mesh sieve (I preferred to keep the chopped mint in the gel but remove it from the cream) and smooth with a large spatula. The cream should come right to the rim. Refrigerate for at least one hour. To better organise myself, I completed all these steps the evening before. I covered the cream with cling film and kept the tart shell in the fridge. So I waited until the next day to finish the tart, i.e. spray the yuzu whipped ganache with velvet spray and place it on the tart. The next day, or at least one hour later, remove the yuzu whipped ganache from the freezer, carefully unmould it and place it on a wire rack. Personally, I stopped spraying inside my dishwasher as it still left marks after washing. And we have a new dishwasher, so let’s take care of it. I use whatever I have on hand to protect the work surface (cardboard, packaging, plastic bags or baking paper…) Whether using a paint gun (used only for this purpose, obviously) or a velvet spray, spray in waves at 30–40 cm (15.7 in) distance, from left to right and right to left, without stopping and rotating the cake (a turntable helps). I first covered the entire yuzu whipped ganache disc with yellow velvet then sprayed a little green on top, quite subtly.

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

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