Lemon and yuzu meringue tart

A show-stopping lemon meringue pie with a fashionable twist from Will Torrent's Patisserie at Home - a great book if you aspire to cook like a pastry chef (but don't be daunted. The instructions are particularly clear.)

Will writes: I wanted to update the classic tarte au citron with an unusual flavour and an old-fashioned technique. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit, like a hybrid of lemon and lime with a hint of mandarin. I like to top my lemon tart with meringue, piped high and flambéed at the dinner table with a blowtorch!

1 x quantity Pâte Sablée (see below)

25 g white chocolate

Lemon and yuzu curd

2 tablespoons yuzu juice (available online or in good Japanese supermarkets)

juice and grated zest of 2 lemons

3 egg yolks

100 g raw cane sugar

2 tablespoons butter, chilled and diced

Meringue topping

100 g sugar

2 tablespoons water

3 egg whites

You will also need:

a 20-cm fluted tart pan, greased and lightly dusted with flour

baking beans

sugar thermometer

piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle

kitchen blowtorch (optional)

Serves 6–8

Preheat the oven to 180ËšC (350ËšF) Gas 4.

Take the Pâte Sablée out of the fridge and put on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to a rough circle at about 25 cm in diameter.

Loosely wrap the dough around the rolling pin and transfer it to the prepared tart pan. Unravel the dough into the pan. Gently coax the dough neatly into the curves and angles of the pan, press lightly into the sides and cut off any excess with a small, sharp knife.

Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper over the pan and fill it with baking beans. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 10–15 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 160ËšC (325ËšF) Gas 3. Remove the paper and beans from the tart pan and return the tart case to the oven for 5–10 minutes. Remove the tart case from the oven and allow to cool completely, then remove from the pan.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate on low power in a microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (not letting the base of the bowl touch the water). Brush the melted chocolate inside the cooled tart case.

For the lemon and yuzu curd

Put the yuzu juice, juice of 1 lemon and all the lemon zest in a saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat.

Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk with a balloon whisk until it looks like the sugar has dissolved. Very slowly pour the boiled citrus juice into the mixing bowl, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan, set over medium heat and stir. It will start to thicken and resemble thick, glossy curd.

Now remove it from the heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time. Mix until all the butter has melted. Finally, pour the curd into the tart case and allow to cool completely.

For the meringue

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer over low heat until the syrup reaches 121ËšC (250ËšF) on a sugar thermometer.

Meanwhile, put the egg whites and remaining lemon juice in a stand mixer and begin whisking until stiff peaks form. Once the syrup has reached the right temperature, slowly pour it in a steady stream into the meringue bowl with the beaters still running. Avoid letting the syrup touch the beaters. Keep whisking until you have used up all the syrup and the meringue is glossy, thick and has cooled substantially – this may take several minutes of whisking. The bowl itself must have cooled too.

Fill the piping bag with meringue and pipe bulbs of different sizes onto the curd in the tart case (see picture - love this effect FB)

To serve, blast the meringue with a kitchen blowtorch or under a very hot grill.

Pâte sable

This is one of my favourite types of pastry. It’s a rich, sweet shortcrust but made with icing sugar to achieve a really lovely crisp, crumbly texture (‘sablée’ means sandy) that works perfectly with rich cream and fresh fruit. It’s so versatile that you can use it for tarts and biscuits but also as the base for gâteaux.

200 g butter, softened

100 g icing sugar

a pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs, lightly beaten

250 g plain flour

Makes enough to line a 20-cm tart pan

Beat the butter, sugar and salt together in a stand mixer or in a bowl with an electric whisk until pale – about 5 minutes.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise using a small, sharp knife and scrape the seeds out into the creamed butter mixture. Add the lemon zest and beat again to incorporate.

With the whisk running, gradually add the eggs, mixing until fully incorporated.

Gently mix in the flour but do not over-work the dough otherwise the gluten will develop and you will end up with pastry that is tough rather than crisp and light.

Bring the dough together into a ball with your hands, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate until needed – at least 2 hours, but overnight if possible.

What to drink:

Lemon is quite a tricky ingredient to pair with wine - it needs something with a similar acidity. I'd go for a beerenauslese Riesling myself or a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Alternatively you could go for something a little lighter like a well-chilled Moscato d'Asti.

Recipe from Patisserie at Home by Will Torrent, photography Jonathan Gregson published by Ryland Peters & Small £19.99.

Maria Elia's carrot keftedes

If you're giving up meat for Lent try these delicious carrot keftedes from Maria Elia's excellent book Smashing Plates, one of the cookbooks that impressed me most last year.

Maria writes: Normally keftedes are made with minced meat (they're basically meatballs). These vegetarian alternatives are packed with flavour. Pre-roasting the carrots brings out their natural sweetness which is balanced by the salt-sour feta and Kefalotyri. Mint and parsley add freshness with a hint of cinnamon for spice. Serve with pomegranate skordalia and carrot tabbouleh. These keftedes are just as delicious served cold.

Serves 4 (makes 16)

350g carrots

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, grated

150g feta, crumbled

50g fresh breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons dried mint

50g Parmesan, grated

10g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 free-range egg, beaten

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

plain flour, to dust

olive or vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6.

Peel and top and tail the carrots and leave whole. Drizzle with the olive oil and place in a roasting tin and cook for 30–40 minutes (depending on the size of carrots) until al dente, turning them halfway through. Leave to cool.

Grate the carrots into a bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients, except the flour and oil. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and refrigerate for an hour. (The mixture can be made the day before and refrigerated until required).

Shape into 16 walnut-size balls and dust in flour. You can either shallow fry them in olive oil or deep-fry them in vegetable oil. If using olive oil, heat in a frying pan over a medium heat, add half the keftedes and fry until golden on either side – about 3 minutes.

Repeat with the remaining balls. If using vegetable oil, deep-fry the keftedes for about 3 minutes at 180°C/350ºF until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm.

What to drink: I'd go for a crisp white wine with this. Greek assyrtiko would be perfect or a citrussy Sauvignon Blanc.

From Smashing Plates by Maria Elia, published by Kyle Books at £15.99.

A foolproof cheese fondue

If you’re making a dish as simple as fondue you need to use top quality cheese. Emmental and Gruyère are traditional but once you’ve got the hang of it you can play around with other alternatives.

Serves 2/3

425g finely sliced or coarsely grated cheese, with rinds removed
150g Gruyère or Comté,150g Beaufort and 125g Emmental or 225g Gruyère and 200g Emmental - i.e. 425g in all
2 tsp potato flour or cornflour
1 clove of garlic, halved
175ml very dry white wine (e.g. Muscadet)
1 tbsp kirsch (optional)
Freshly ground nutmeg and black pepper
Small bite-sized chunks of sourdough, pain de campagne or ciabatta to serve

You will also need a cast iron fondue pan and burner

Toss the sliced or grated cheese with the cornflour. Leave until it comes to room temperature. Rub the inside of the pan with the cut garlic. Start off the fondue on your cooker. Pour in the wine and heat until almost boiling. Remove from the heat and tip in about a third of the cheese. Keep breaking up the cheese with a wooden spoon using a zig-zag motion as if you were using a wire whisk. (Stirring it round and round as you do with a sauce makes it more likely that the cheese will separate from the liquid).

Once the cheese has begun to melt return it over a very low heat, stirring continuously. Gradually add the remaining cheese until you have a smooth, thick mass. (This takes about 10 minutes, less with practice.) If it seems too thick add some more hot wine. Add the kirsch, if you have some and season with nutmeg and pepper. Place over your fondue burner and serve with small bite-size chunks of sourdough or country bread. Use long fondue forks to dip the bread in, stirring the fondue to prevent it solidifying.

Suggested wine match: The one thing not to drink with a fondue, I was once told by a Swiss chef, is iced water. It coagulates with the cheese in your stomach and gives you chronic indigestion! Full bodied reds can also be an uncomfortable match. The best choice I've found is a crisp dry white like a Swiss Chasselas or Chignin or Roussette from Savoie. You could also drink a young grüner veltliner.

The fondue in the photo is not this recipe but taken by margouillat photo at shutterstock.com

Banoffee martinis and other cocktail desserts

If you’re looking for something a little different to serve for dessert on Saturday (which in case you’ve forgotten, guys, is Valentine’s Day) how about a dessert martini?

OK, purists will fling up their hands in horror - these are, of course, not martinis in the strict sense of the word, merely very pretty, seductive drinks - half cocktail, half dessert - which you serve in a (preferably frosted) martini glass.

What you need is a tub of ice cream or sorbet - the flavour is up to you, a neutral spirit (vodka, white rum or silver tequila) and possibly a complementary liqueur or fruit juice (a squeeze of lime juice with mango, for instance). Don’t be tempted to skimp on the ingredients though - you don’t want these cocktails to taste cheap.

Proportions should be 1 generous scoop of ice cream or sorbet per person, 11/2-2 shots of spirits and maybe 1/2 a shot of liqueur. Simply whizz all the ingredients up in a blender, check for taste (that’s the good bit), decorate and serve.

In the past I’ve made a sublime chocolate mint martini for two with a couple of scoops of Green & Black’s mint chocolate ice cream, 4 shots of vodka and 2 tbsp Kahlua. I see they don’t make that flavour any more but you could add a few drops of creme de menthe or peppermint essence to their dark chocolate ice cream.

Fruit sorbets respond really well to this treatment. Add a couple of shots of tequila to a few fresh strawberries sweetened with a little sugar, whizz then add a scoop of strawberry sorbet and whizz again for a delicious frozen strawberry margarita. Mango sorbet is great with white rum and a dash of lime, lemon sorbet can be enhanced by vodka and limoncello and orange by vodka and a dash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier.

The trick is to add the alcohol element cautiously (you can always add a little more) and carefully check the balance between the base flavour and the booze. It's useful to have some sugar syrup (gomme) to hand to add a little extra sweetness if needed. Oh, and start with all your bottles fridge cold so your frozen cocktail doesn’t thaw too quickly.

Finally for a sure-fire winner let me give you my recipe for a banoffee martini which also makes a very effective - and easy - dinner party dessert if you make it in slightly larger quantities.

Banoffee Martinis
Serves 2
1 medium sized ripe*, peeled, sliced banana (about 100g peeled weight)
3 shots (6 tbsp) vanilla vodka
2 shots (4 tbsp) toffee-flavoured liqueur (such as Dooley's)
2 shots (4 tbsp) whole milk (i.e. not semi-skimmed)
A tiny pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
Good quality powdered drinking chocolate to garnish

Whizz the banana in a blender with the vodka. Tip the puree into a shaker full of ice cubes, add the toffee liqueur, milk and nutmeg if using and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled martini glasses and sift a little chocolate powder over the surface.

* This is important. Don't attempt this with an underripe banana or the banana flavour won't come through.