Yuzu-chamomile tart with mezcal gelé, fresh elderflowers & cucumber sherbet
Serves 8
CUCUMBER SHERBET
115g sugar
3 grams ice cream stabiliser
35g glucose syrup
450g cucumber juice (from about 3 cucumbers)
15g yuzu juice
300g full fat plain yogurt
Pinch of salt, to taste
Mix 15g of sugar with stabiliser, and set aside. Add 100g sugar, glucose syrup, cucumber juice and yuzu juice to a pot and warm up to 36C. Add stabiliser and warm up to 83C while stirring continously. Remove from heat, cool down to 60C, then blend in yogurt with an immersion blender. Season to taste with salt.
Age the sherbet overnight in the fridge, then churn in an ice cream maker. Chill the sherbet in the freezer at least an hour before serving.
YUZU-CHAMOMILE FILLING
180ml heavy cream
2 Tbsp. dried chamomile blossoms
275g eggs (about 5 eggs)
1 egg yolk
200g granulated sugar
150ml yuzu juice
Pinch of salt
Bring heavy cream to just below boiling in a small saucepan, remove from heat and whisk in chamomile blossoms. Leave to infuse overnight in the fridge.
Stir together eggs, yolk and sugar, then set aside until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the heavy cream through a fine meshed sieve into the egg syrup and stir gently to combine. Stir in the yuzu syrup and a pinch of salt.
PÂTE SUCRÉE
75 g butter at room temperature
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg
15g almond flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, almond flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough and line four 10cm tart rings with the pastry. Trim excess dough along the edges and rest the tart shells for 15-30 minutes in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 175C and preface the tart shells for about 15 minutes, until golden.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack, meanwhile lower the heat to 140C.
Gently pour in the yuzu custard, then bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the custard is just set but there is a wobble in the center of the tarts. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
MEZCAL GELÉ
100ml water
50ml mezcal
1g agar agar
Add water and agar to a small saucepan and leave to hydrate for 5 minutes. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes while whisking, whisk in mezcal and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and leave to set for an hour. Purée until smooth, pass through a fine meshed sieve and transfer to a small piping bag or squeeze bottle.
TO ASSEMBLE AND SERVE
Fresh elderflower blossoms or baby leaves of herbs such as lemon thyme, basil, cilantro or mint
Cut the tarts in half and pipe 12-13 small dots of mezcal gelé on the set custard. Place a single elderflower blossom or herb leaf on the gelé dot.
Serve with a quenelle of cucumber sherbet.