Voted ‘World’s Best Pastry Chef’ in 2018 and renowned for his stunning, precise and often mind-boggling creations, Cédric Grolet shares the secrets to his signature lemon dessert

Ingredients

For the whipped up yuzu ganache:

• 150g ivory cover

• 5g edible gelatin powder

• 45ml cold water

• 530ml cream

• 120ml Yuzu juice



For the poached Meyer lemons:

• 250g Meyer lemon

• 500g sugar n°1

• 1000ml water

• 500g sugar n°2

For the inserted yellow lemon compote:

• 120ml water

• 180g lemon juice

• 30g sugar

• 5g Agar-agar

• 170g crystallized lemon

• 55g caviar lemon

• 40g pieces of lemon

• 15g chiselled fresh mint

For the lemon yellow coating:

• 250g ivory cover

• 250g cocoa butter

• 4g yellow colorant PCB (liposoluble)

For the solution for the airbrush tank:

• Kirsch

• Golden powder

Method

For the whipped up yuzu ganache:

1 Soak the gelatine in cold water for 20 minutes

2 Boil half the cream then add the gelatine

3 Pour little by little on the chocolate without forgetting the emulsion

4 Add the other half of the cream, then finish with the yuzu puree.

5 Mix well to obtain a perfect mixture and then store in a cold room

For the poached Meyer lemons:

1 Remove the peduncles, cut them in 8, remove the inside leaving just 3 mm of flesh. Whiten 3 times in water (cold water).

2 Boil the syrup, dip the fruit in it and leave to shiver under cover without exceeding 70 ° c.

3 Add sugar n °2 several times in the syrup in order to concentrate it. When the fruit are tender, drain them, and cook the syrup at 103 °C.

4 Cool the syrup and add the fruit in the syrup, store it then.

For the inserted yellow lemon compote:

1 Heat up the water and the lemon juice together.

2 Then add the sugar and agar-agar. Boil for 2 minutes then cool very quickly. When the gel/freeze is cold, blend it (be careful to not add air into the mixture).

3 Add the chiselled fresh mint, the caviar lemon, and finely chopped crystallized lemons.

4 Mould in a spherical mould with a diameter of 3.5 cm. Freeze.

For the lemon yellow coating:

1 Heat the ivory cover with the cocoa butter, then blend it with the yellow dye. Use the coating at about 25.

2 Mix together, then chin and fill the airbrush tank.

To finish:

1 Whip the yuzu ganache up with to a cold mixer, realize the lemons in 5.5 cm silicone spherical molds. Freeze it.

2 Remove from the sphere pans and start sculpting the whole sphere (with the little dots) Apply some of the yuzu ganache on two extremities of the sphere and smooth the tips in order to give the real lemon shape.

3 Once satisfied with the shape, place it in the freezer in order to cool the lemon. Temper “lemon” in the yellow coating, then glue them partially on a plate with some almond paste.

4 “Velvet” them with the same coating making sure to make some smooth spots to create an irregular effect. Slip over a light neutral hot topping.

5 Give it a golden look with the airbrush.

* Be careful not to have any frost or condensation between the soaked layer and the velvety one!