Litchi, Pistacchio E Zenzero Recipe

Prepare gelatin

Sprinkle the powdered gelatin over 40 ml cold water in a small bowl. Let bloom for 5–7 minutes until softened.

Drain the canned lychees well (reserve a small amount of syrup if desired). Place drained lychees in a blender with 40 g granulated sugar and 15 ml lemon juice. Blend until completely smooth.

Warm the bloomed gelatin gently in the microwave for 8–12 seconds or in a small saucepan over low heat until fully melted but not boiling. Stir a tablespoon of the hot lychee purée into the melted gelatin to temper, then pour the gelatin mixture back into the remaining lychee purée and blend briefly to incorporate.

Chill the lychee purée in the fridge until it reaches about 10–12°C (cool but pourable) — approximately 15–20 minutes. Meanwhile, whip the chilled heavy cream to soft peaks (should hold a gentle peak but still be glossy).

Fold one-third of the whipped cream into the cooled lychee base to loosen it, then gently fold in the remaining cream in two additions until uniform. Do not overmix. Transfer mousse into a piping bag or portion into serving vessels. Chill at least 2 hours to set (4 hours preferred).

Place raspberries, 60 g sugar and 10 ml lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring to a gentle simmer until the berries break down and begin releasing juices, about 5–6 minutes.

Pass the hot raspberry mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing to extract as much purée as possible. Discard seeds. Measure 260–280 ml of seedless purée (you should have roughly this volume from 300 g berries). Return the sieved purée to the saucepan.

Stir 2 g agar-agar into 30 ml water to hydrate briefly, then add to the saucepan with the purée. Bring to a full simmer while whisking, and continue simmering gently for 1–2 minutes to activate the agar.

Pour the hot raspberry gel onto a shallow tray lined with plastic wrap or acetate to a thickness of about 4–5 mm. Smooth the surface and chill until fully set, at least 30–45 minutes. Once set, cut into small discs or use a small ring cutter to make decorative pieces. Alternatively, keep slightly softer to spoon over the mousse.

Preheat the oven to 170°C (338°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, combine 150 g flour, 70 g ground pistachios, 70 g icing sugar and 1 g salt. Pulse briefly to mix. Add 100 g cold cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.

Add 1 egg yolk, 6 g finely grated fresh ginger and 3 ml vanilla extract. Pulse just until the dough begins to come together. Do not overwork. If needed, add 5–10 ml cold water to bring dough together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, press into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for 20–30 minutes until firm.

Roll the chilled dough to 4–5 mm thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut rounds or desired shapes. Transfer to prepared baking sheet spacing them 2–3 cm apart.

Bake for 12–14 minutes until edges are lightly golden. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely. For a crisper texture, bake an additional 1–2 minutes but watch closely to avoid overbrowning.

Once cooled, roughly chop some of the sablés for sprinkling and reserve a few whole rounds for plating.

If mousse is set in bowls or glasses, spoon or pipe a small layer of raspberry gel (or place one disc) onto the mousse surface. If the gel is firm, briefly warm a small spatula and press the gel disc gently into the mousse to adhere.

Top each portion with a whole pistachio sablé or crumble of sablé. Scatter chopped pistachios around for texture and color. Dust very lightly with powdered sugar if using.

Garnish with micro mint or edible flowers. Serve chilled. Keeps refrigerated for up to 48 hours; texture of sablé will soften over time.