Apple & Shiso Shaved Ice Recipe

Prepare apples

Place the peeled, cored and roughly chopped Granny Smith apples in a blender or food processor.

Add 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 120 ml cold water and a pinch of sea salt to the apples.

Pick 6 of the shiso leaves, stack them, roll tightly and chiffonade (very thinly slice). Reserve 2 whole leaves for garnish. Add the chiffonaded shiso leaves to the blender.

Blend on high until completely smooth, about 45–60 seconds. Taste and adjust: if too tarter, add up to 1 teaspoon sugar; if too thick, add 1–2 tablespoons cold water. Blend again briefly to combine.

Strain the apple-shiso purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a shallow metal loaf pan or baking dish, pressing with the back of a spoon to remove pulp and yield a silky liquid. Discard coarse solids.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. Freeze until mostly solid but still slightly scoopable, about 3–4 hours, stirring and scraping every 45 minutes with a fork to encourage small, flaky crystals (shaved-ice texture). For faster method: freeze 1–2 hours then process in a food processor/blender in 30-second pulses to create shaved ice crystals, returning to the freezer briefly if needed.

Chill a medium mixing bowl and whisk (or beaters) in the freezer for 10 minutes to help whipping.

In the chilled bowl, add 1 cup cold heavy cream, 60 g cold mascarpone, 3 teaspoons powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons yuzu juice, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon yuzu zest (if using) and a pinch of salt.

Whip the mixture on medium-high speed until soft peaks form and the cream is light but still pipeable, about 2–3 minutes. Taste and adjust sweetness or yuzu intensity by adding up to 1/2 teaspoon more powdered sugar or 1/2 teaspoon more yuzu juice.

Transfer the yuzu cream to a piping bag or covered bowl and keep chilled in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.

If you prepared a bed of crushed ice for serving, spoon it into chilled serving bowls or glasses to keep the shaved apple ice from melting quickly.

Use a fork or spoon to fluff and break the frozen apple-shiso block into light shaved-ice crystals (or scoop from the freezer if you periodically scraped it). Fill each serving bowl about 3/4 full with the green apple shaved ice, mounding slightly.

Pipe or dollop 2–3 tablespoons of yuzu cream atop each mound of apple ice. The contrast of cold ice and creamy yuzu is key — do this quickly so the cream stays chilled.

Garnish each serving with a few very thin green apple slices, 2 small shiso leaves, and a light drizzle (about 1 teaspoon) of yuzu syrup or honey if desired for extra sweetness. Optionally sprinkle a few micro shiso chiffonade pieces over the cream for aroma.

Serve immediately with a small spoon. If not serving right away, keep assembled bowls in the freezer no longer than 10 minutes to preserve texture; otherwise store components separately (apple ice frozen, yuzu cream refrigerated).