Lemon & Mandarin Entremets

To make this lemon and mandarin entremets recipe, begin by preparing all the ingredients for the lemon cream.

Lemon cream: Pour the lemon juice and caster sugar into a saucepan. Zest the lemon directly over the saucepan using a Microplane Classic zester grater.

Add the whole eggs...

...and heat over medium power, stirring constantly with a whisk. The heat should not be too high to prevent the eggs from coagulating too quickly.

Continue whisking until the mixture thickens slightly due to the heat. This thickening indicates that the eggs are partially coagulating.

During the cooking process, the cream will start to foam (a white froth will form on the surface).

The lemon mixture is considered cooked when this froth has completely disappeared and the cream has thickened. This process will take some time over moderate heat. If you cook this mixture over too high a heat, the coagulation will be too intense, and you'll end up with bits of cooked egg in the cream.

Once the lemon cream is cooked, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the butter to the hot mixture. Whisk thoroughly.

Then transfer the cooled lemon cream to a piping bag. A nozzle is not needed here.

Place the silicone mould with 15 rond-petit fours Ø 4cm on a wire rack and pipe the lemon cream into the cavities, halfway up. Keep the remaining mixture aside for later use.

Tap the mould on the work surface to smooth the surface of the cream...

...and cover it with cling film, directly in contact with the cream. Place in the freezer.

Mandarin confit: Take fresh mandarins to extract their juice. You can also use Ravifruit mandarin purée.

Start by zesting two mandarins over a saucepan.

Then cut the mandarins in half...

...and juice them using a citrus press until you get the required quantity of mandarin juice.

Prepare the remaining ingredients needed for the mandarin confit.

Pour 90% of the caster sugar (around 54g) into the saucepan with the mandarin juice. Weighing the sugar is optional—you can estimate by eye. Start heating.

Mix the remaining 10% of sugar (about 6g) with the pectin NH coating to avoid lumps.

When the mandarin juice comes to a boil...

...sprinkle in the sugar and pectin mixture while whisking.

Bring everything to a boil and maintain it for at least 1 minute to activate the pectin.

Once cooked, transfer the preparation to a container...

...and cover it directly with cling film.

Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating.

Lemon sponge: Prepare all the ingredients.

Pour the eggs and caster sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the whisk attachment. Beat until pale and doubled in volume.

Add the zest of one lemon, while the eggs and sugar are being beaten.

When the mixture has thickened, fold in the melted, slightly warm butter.

Once the butter is fully incorporated, add the dry ingredients (cornstarch, baking powder, and almond flour) sifted through a sieve.

Then gently fold with a rubber spatula until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous batter.

Take a non-stick baking tray 40 x 30cm and lightly grease it using an oil spray.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on the tray...

...and grease the paper as well for easier release results.

Pour the batter for the lemon sponge onto the parchment...

...and spread it evenly using a offset metal spatula.

Place the tray in a fan-assisted oven preheated to 180°C and bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Baking time may vary depending on your oven.

At the end of baking, the lemon sponge should be golden brown.

Remove the tray from the oven and let the sponge cool on the work surface. You can also slide the sponge with its parchment onto a wire rack to stop the cooking process and cool it more effectively.

Yuzu praliné crunchy insert: Prepare the ingredients.

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 20 to 30 second intervals, stirring every time to prevent burning.

Pour the melted white chocolate over the yuzu praline paste...

...and combine the two with a rubber spatula.

Add the crispy feuilletine flakes and mix with the spatula.

Also add the zest of half a lemon...

...and mix again until you get a uniform crispy mixture. Set aside.

Double lemon mousse: Prepare all the ingredients. Mix the powdered gelatin with the hydration water (tap or mineral water), and let it sit for 15 minutes. You'll also need 260g of the remaining lemon cream made earlier.

Pour the lemon juice into a saucepan and heat.

When the lemon juice comes to a boil...

...remove the pan from the heat and add the hydrated gelatin.

Mix vigorously with a whisk to fully dissolve the gelatin in the preparation.

At this stage, the lemon juice should be around 50 to 55°C.

Pour it into a cold stainless steel mixing bowl for quick cooling. The goal is to bring the juice down to 30/35°C. I recommend using a laser thermometer.

Whip the whipping cream (very cold for best results) using the whisk attachment of the mixer.

Once you get a soft whipped cream consistency, stop the mixer. Set aside.

Pour the caster sugar into a saucepan and add a little water, just enough to moisten the sugar.

Cook the sugar by bringing it to a boil, and continue cooking until it reaches 118°C. At the same time, start whipping the egg whites into stiff peaks. These two preparations should be ready at the same time.

When the cooked sugar reaches 118°C, remove the saucepan from the heat and let the bubbles settle slightly before pouring it over the whipped egg whites while mixing.

Increase the mixer speed to maximum and beat until completely cooled.

You now have a cooled Italian meringue. Mix it well with a spatula. Set aside.

Pour the lemon juice, which should be between 30 and 35°C maximum, into the lemon cream.

Mix these two elements thoroughly with a whisk...

...until the preparation cools down to about 23°C.

Then pour the lemon preparation over the Italian meringue...

...and fold gently using a spatula. It is normal for the meringue to form large clumps and be hard to incorporate at first.

When the mixture is about 80% combined, add the soft whipped cream...

...and fold gently again. You will observe large lumps at the start.

Finish the mixture with a quick whisk, mixing vigorously to break up all the meringue lumps until the preparation is smooth and homogeneous.

Transfer this double lemon mousse into a piping bag (no nozzle).

Take the lemon sponge and place a sheet of parchment paper on top.

Flip everything and remove the original baking sheet.

Take a round cutter or a [PROD\:mfe-nonnette-ronde-6-5-4-cm:mousse ring ø 6.5cm]...

...and cut out discs from the lemon sponge. You'll need 12 sponge discs as this recipe yields 12 individual cakes.

Place about a teaspoon of yuzu praline crunchy insert onto each lemon sponge disc.

Spread the crunchy insert over the entire surface of the sponge discs using a mini offset spatula. If the crunchy preparation is too firm to spread, microwave it for 10 to 15 seconds to soften it.

Place the silicone mould on a baking tray and pipe the double lemon mousse into the cavities halfway up.

Tap the tray on the work surface to smooth the mousse and release any air bubbles.

Take the silicone mould containing the frozen lemon cream inserts out of the freezer...

...and release them carefully.

Place the inserts into the cavities of the silicone mould, rounded side touching the mousse, flat side facing up...

...as shown in the photo.

Fill the rest of the cavities with the double lemon mousse, leaving a small gap at the top for the lemon sponge disc.

Tap the tray again on the work surface to smooth the surface.

Place the sponge discs into the cavities, with the yuzu praline side facing down.

Press the sponge discs down a bit so they are flush with the rim.

Cover everything with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface...

...and place in the freezer. You can prepare the recipe up to this step several days in advance.

Finish: Take the mandarin confit out of the fridge. It should be set at this stage.

Remove the plastic wrap...

...and transfer the preparation into a mixing bowl.

Beat the confit vigorously with a whisk to smooth it out.

You can warm it very slightly to soften it and achieve a perfectly smooth texture, as shown in the photo. The ideal temperature for use is between 25 and 30°C.

Remove the silicone mould from the freezer and release the cakes. They should be frozen solid for perfect results.

Place the entremets on a baking tray lined with plastic wrap. Set the tray on a turntable to make spraying easier. Spray the velvet spray over the entire surface (including the sides) of the entremets. Be sure to shake the spray can well before use until the ball rattles inside (this ensures the spray is well mixed and ready).

Place the coated entremets on their serving platter.

Transfer the mandarin confit (which should be between 25 and 30°C) into a piping bag (no nozzle). The texture must be completely smooth.

Tie a knot at the top of the piping bag to seal it.

Cut a tiny hole at the tip of the piping bag to control the flow. Pipe the mandarin confit into the centre of each frozen entremets.

Also pipe a drop of confit into the grooves of the wavy parts. For greater precision, you can transfer some of the confit into a decorating cone.

Finish decorating by placing a small piece of gold leaf at the centre of each entremets using precision tongs.

Here are our decorated lemon and mandarin individual entremets. Let them defrost in the fridge before serving — allow 3 to 4 hours for complete thawing. Enjoy!