Chocolate

Method

White Chocolate Namelaka

1. Into a small dish, add the powdered gelatin and cold water. Stir them together and allow it to bloom for 10 minutes at room temperature. If using leaf gelatin, soak this in a bowl of cold water.

2. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and then set this to one side.

3. Meanwhile, add the milk and glucose/honey to a small saucepan. Stir it occasionally over a medium heat, until it is steaming and the glucose has dissolved.

4. Scoop in the bloom gelatin (or squeeze the excess water from the leaf gelatin and drop this in). Stir it together until the gelatin has completely dissolved.

5. Pour the hot milk mixture over the melted white chocolate in three parts, stirring in tight circles in the centre with a rubber spatula, to emulsify the mixture. Initially it will look slightly split but it will pull together.

6. Finally, pour in the cold cream and blend it with a hand blender, until smooth. Cover the surface with cling film and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 6 hours. 

Lemon Confit

1. Add the lemon zest into a small saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring the mixture to the boil, then immediately pass it through a sieve. Repeat this two more times, to remove the bitterness from the zest.

2. Add the blanched zest, lemon juice and sugar into a saucepan, and note the total weight of the ingredients in the pan, on a digital scale. 

3. Place the pan on a medium low heat, and simmer until the total weight of the pan has reduced by around 100g. 

4. Pour the mixture into a small dish, covered with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight. 

Lemon Sweet Pastry

1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, icing sugar, salt and lemon zest. With the paddle attachment, beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes, scraping it down a few times in between, until you have a smooth paste.

2. Add in the egg yolks, and beat again, until the mixture is evenly combined, you will need to scrape down the bowl a few times again.

3. Tip in the flour, and use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure the butter doesn’t get stuck. Scrape the sides, and then mix on a low speed until it pulls together to form a dough.

4. Scoop the dough out onto your work surface, and give it a quick knead just to bring it together. 

5. Place the dough onto a large silicon mat. Place a second silicon mat on top and roll the mixture into a rough circle, getting it as thin as possible (around 3-5mm). If you don’t have silicon mats you can roll the dough between parchment paper but it will be very difficult as it will slip and slide all over the place!

6. Once you have a rough circle of dough, place it into the freezer for 30m.

7. Once chilled, remove it from the freezer and working quickly, peel the silicon mat off of the dough. Take 2 of the 4” perforated ring molds (very lightly greased with soft butter) and press these into the dough. 

8. Lift them up and place them onto a perforated tray lined with a perforated baking mat.

9. Using a multi-wheel pastry cutter (or a ruler and a sharp knife) cut 2 long strips of dough, ensuring the width is slightly more than the height of your tart shells. Take the strip of dough and place it inside the tart ring, using your fingers to carefully press the walls against the base of the pastry. If at any point you feel the pastry is getting too warm, place it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes then carry on. Place the tarts into the freezer for 30 minutes. 

10. Take the spare dough and form it back into a dough ball. Repeat steps 5-8 to make two more tart shells.

11. Preheat the oven to 175C/345F Non-fan assisted (160C fan-assisted).

12. Use a knife to trim the excess pastry from the tart rings so it is flush, then place the tarts into the centre of the oven for around 20 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown colour. 

13. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing the tart rings. 

14. Mix the egg wash ingredients together and use a pastry brush to paint this over the entire surface of the tart shells. Place them back into the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes, until the tarts are a deep golden brown colour. Set aside to cool. 

Lemon Filling

1. Into a medium saucepan, add all of the ingredients for the lemon filling, excluding the butter. 

2. Whisk it constantly over a medium heat, until it reaches a temperature of 82-84C (179-183F) on a digital thermometer. 

3. Immediately remove it from the heat and pass it through a sieve, into a tall measuring jug.

4. Add in the cold butter and blend until smooth with a hand blender. 

5. Pour the mixture onto a baking tray and cover the surface with clingfilm. Refrigerate it for 1-2 hours (or longer) until it is a thicker, more pipeable consistency. 

Almond Mirliton

1. Into a small saucepan, add the butter and over a medium heat, until it has melted. Remove it from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine, before pouring in the melted butter and whisking to combine.

3. Cover the surface of the mixture with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour. Meanwhile, set the oven to 160C/320F non-fan assisted (145C fan-assisted).

4. Once it has cooled, pipe the mixture into the tart shells, filling them up just above ¾ full. If you want you can also sprinkle some toasted flaked almonds on.

5. Place the tarts into the centre of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until it is a golden colour on top. Allow to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Assembly

1. Remove the lemon confit from the fridge which should now be a thicker, marmalade like consistency. 

2. Pipe a few dollops onto the top of the cooled tart, and spread this to the edges with the back of a spoon. It is quite sharp so you don’t need to overload the tart. 

3. Remove the white chocolate namelaka from the fridge and add into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on a medium speed until the mixture holds a medium stiff peak.

4. Add it into a piping bag fitted with a basket weave nozzle.

5. Place the tart into the centre of a rotating cake stand and holding the piping bag at about a 60 degree angle, apply even pressure, then push the nozzle slightly forward to create an initial ruffle of buttercream, before pulling it back to fold the buttercream over itself. Continue this motion in one direction without stopping so the folds connect smoothly, creating an even, continuous ruffle/weave. Because of the type of nozzle it is a little difficult to join the lines up seamlessly, so you just have to neatly pull the piping bag away to create a tail. 

6. Remove the lemon filling from the fridge and add this into a piping bag, pipe it into the centre of the tart, filling it just below the rim of the cream.

7. They are now ready to serve.