The first Yuzu fruits of the season are available now.

I am trying to bring together two seasonal fruits in a very contrasting association.

The conversation between the juicy, fruity side of the pear and the unique aroma of yuzu is mediated by the spicy and floral notes of hibiscus.

Dessert or tea-time snack for 4 people:

For the tartlets:

• 125g cake flour
• 75g butter
• 35g cane sugar
• 1/2 beaten egg

For the curd:

• 100g sugar
• 25g butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of corn flour
• 2 yuzu
• 1 lemon

For the topping:

• 2 William pears
• 2 handfuls of dried hibiscus flowers

Since the shortcrust dough needs to rest, we will prepare it in advance.

Mix the dry ingredients, cut the butter into small pieces, add the butter to the dry ingredients and knead with your fingertips until the butter no longer sticks to your fingers. Add the egg, then gently knead with your fingertips while maintaining a crumbly texture.

If you have a food processor with a thick metal whisk, you can toss everything in there and mix at medium speed until you get soft small grains, but, also,  the butter is completely integrated, then collect and pack manually.

Wrap in cling film and rest in the refrigerator for an hour.

The pears also need to infuse for a long time. Once our dough is resting, we will peel our pears, cut them in half lengthwise, and remove the core.

Then we will let them infuse just below boiling point with the two handfuls of hibiscus flowers.

For the yuzu curd:

I cheat, since yuzu gives out very little juice, we will top it up with a dash of lemon.

Mix the corn flour and sugar.

Zest the yuzu, squeeze the yuzu, squeeze the lemon. Pour the dry ingredients and the juices into a saucepan in a bain-marie, add the zest at the end.

Stir until you get a smooth mixture, then add the beaten eggs.

The main ingredient of curd is patience. Stir regularly to prevent lumps or burning.

Reduce for about half an hour for a firm curd.

for that step, I also take the shortcut. With a cooking robot with a flexible blade. Something like a Thermomix, should work well too.

we take out our dough and roll out four discs to line the tartlet molds.

For baking the tartlets, I recommend 15 minutes at 180°C.

Take out the pears that have been infusing and slice them into even horizontal slices to make the assembly easier.

I recommend assembling the cooled out elements.

Divide the curd into four equal parts and place them in the tartlet shells.

Add the infused pears on top, for decoration, I’ll grate a little cinnamon over the plate.