Talented young pastry chef Will Torrent is a rising star of the food world. Having a grandfather who trained as a chef and a family who owned a patisserie in Paris, it came as no surprise that Will wanted to pursue a successful career in hospitality which then got off to a flying start with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck when he was 15. Following on from a first class honours degree at Thames Valley University, Will represented the UK at the International World-Skills Competition in Japan in 2007, mentored by Yolande Stanley MCA, where he was awarded a coveted medallion of excellence – the first for any British pastry chef beating France, Germany and Switzerland. On return from Japan, additional awards have included Craft Guild of Chefs Young Chef of the Year Award in 2009, Acorn Scholarship 2010 and the Academy of Culinary Arts Annual Award of Excellence 2007. For the past two years Will has been perfecting his skills at the award winning Bachmanns Patisserie in Thames Ditton and is now in a consultancy role at Waitrose.
He has just published his first book; Patisserie at Home featuring this great recipe.
Recipe – Lemon and Yuzu Meringue Tart
You will need:
The French are known for their Tarte Au Citron, but for me, I wanted to reinvent it with a flavour that is quite unusual and an old fashioned technique that everyone loves! Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit, kind of like a cross between a lemon and a lime with a hint of mandarin, and was first introduced to it by William Curley, one of the UK’s top Chocolatiers when I was training with him for WorldSkills. I like to top my lemon tart with meringue, piped high and flambeed at the table with a blowtorch – you can’t beat a bit of theatre at the table.
- 1 x batch of sable pastry (to line an 8″ loose bottomed tart tin)
- Lemon and Yuzu curd
- 40g yuzu juice (you can buy this online or in good Japanese supermarkets)
- Zest and of 2 lemons
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 100g golden caster sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 25g cold butter (unsalted)
- Meringue
- 3 egg whites
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 200g caster sugar
- 50 ml water
- You will need a thermometer or electric probe for the meringue to ensure perfection!
- Oh and a blowtorch from a DIY shop!!!!
Method:
- Make the sable pastry as previously instructed
- Place on a baking sheet and
- place some greaseproof in the tart. Place some flour or some baking beans to
- stop the pastry from rising when blind baking.
- Bake in a 180C oven for approx. 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the greaseproof paper and return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes at a temperature of 160C just to cook out the base.
- Once cooked, brush with white chocolate to insure the pastry doesn’t go soggy
- To make the lemon and yuzu curd, place the yuzu juice, lemon zest and juice into a saucepan and slowly heat.
- In a separate bowl, combine the caster sugar and egg yolks and beat till the sugar dissolves.
- Once the citrus juices have boiled slowly whisk onto the egg yolks and sugar mixture, till it all combines.
- Return back to the pan and place on a medium heat, stirring constantly.
- The mixture will start to thicken and begin to resemble a thick curd like texture. This mixture should also become glossy and shiny
- Once it really starts to thicken remove from the heat and whisk in the cold diced butter one piece at a time.
- At this point, pour into the cooled tart case to cool completely or pour into a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave this to cool before piping into the tart case.
- Making the meringue:
- Begin by placing the egg whites in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment along with the juice of the remaining lemon. Start whisking
- Place the water and sugar in a saucepan and slowly heat to 121C (you can measure this with a thermometer or probe, available from supermarkets or specialist kitchen shops)
- Once the syrup reached temperature slowly pour the syrup on the whisking whites, being very careful as this is very hot.
- Continue to whisk until the sides of the bowl are cold.
- The white will have nearly trebled in volume, become very glossy and thick.
- Once the bowl is cold, place the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe onto the set lemon and yuzu curd.
- When you are ready to serve, use a blowtorch or very hot grill to flambé the meringue, you;ll then get that classic, toasted marshmallow type topping!
For more recipes from Villeroy & Boch click here