Yuzu curd tarts
MAKES 16
For the pastry 35g pistachio nibs
1tbsp caster sugar
125g plain flour
80g chilled salted butter, cubed 1 large egg yolk
2tbsp yuzu juice
For the yuzu curd (makes around 350ml) 100g full-fat natural yoghurt 45g salted butter
3tbsp caster sugar
4tbsp yuzu juice
1 large egg plus 2 egg yolks
To serve approx. 2tbsp candied yuzu peel, finely chopped
1 sheet edible silver leaf
16 x 6cm fluted tartlets tins
Put the sliced pistachios in a mini processor with the sugar and whizz to a fine powder. Put the flour and the pistachio mixture in a bowl and rub in the butter cubes, to create a fine crumb.
Mix in the egg yolk and yuzu juice. Bring the mixture together into a ball of elastic dough. Flatten out a little on a sheet of non-PVC cling film, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C F/Gas 6. Roll out a quarter of the dough at a time, stamp out 7-8cm circles and use to line the tartlet tins. Put them on a baking tray and chill for 10 minutes.
Line the tins with circles of scrunched-up baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 12 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 3 minutes until lightly golden and crisp. Cool for 5 minutes, then carefully remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack. At this stage they can be stored for a week in an airtight container.
To make the yuzu curd, put the yoghurt in a sieve (preferably nylon) set over a bowl, chill and allow to drip for a few hours.
Put the butter, sugar and yuzu juice in a small pan and slowly melt the butter over a low heat.
Mix the egg with the egg yolks and add to the pan. Stir with a whisk continuously over a very low heat until the mixture thickens. This takes only a few minutes, so do take care that it doesn’t curdle. Remove from the heat and plunge the base of the pan into a basin of cold water. Transfer to a bowl and leave to get cold.
When ready to fill the pastry cases, fold the strained yoghurt into the yuzu curd. Spoon around 1tsp into each case and top with some chopped candied yuzu peel and a sliver or two of silver leaf.
Yuzu snow
MAKES 350ML 75g caster sugar 150ml pure yuzu juice
Put the sugar and 125ml cold water in a pan and heat gently for around 3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Swirl the liquid to dislodge any sugar crystals still on the bottom, then transfer to a bowl to cool.
When cold, mix in the yuzu juice. Pour the mixture into a shallow freezer-proof container and freeze for 2 hours. Remove and, using a fork, scrape the outer frozen edges into the centre and refreeze. After around 3 hours, mash with a fork and whizz up in a mini processor to get a texture like snow. Put in a small container and freeze again until needed.
When you come to use it, mix with a fork and serve in little bowls around the size of the tartlets, or put into one big single bowl and put out lots of spoons.